#IDk if i'm back to the total drama hell but | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mrscarmenbearzatto · 2 months

Text

exes with benefits | lip gallagher

inspired by: olivia rodrigo's "bad idea, right?" (2023)

wc: 1.83k | nav post mae note: okay i hate the ending of this so if anyone else hates it please lmk and i will adjust it because ugh i changed it like three times and it still feels... meh? idk i feel like i need to make a part two (if people even like this??)

rating: 18+ post, minors dni. :-) content warnings: fem!reader / afab!reader, unwrapped p in v (wrap it before you tap it!), kinda public sex??, exes hooking up, plot with little plot, unsettled ending lmfao, fem!fingering, oral (f recieving) bc lets be honest lip is a munch, brief mention of reader wearing panties/a bra

House parties were never really your "scene".

The chaos and uncertaintiy of whose house you're even in, the smell of colognes and perfumes and sweat, the alcohol being mixed together in plastic cups that are discarded on the floor later that smell like Disneyland if it wasn't cleaned in a month-. Every part of a house party sounds awful. So, why are you standing in one now?

Well, your friend Lauren would be the reason why. Work had been a bitch for her recently - her words not yours - and you had gone through a breakup recently, prompting her to suggest a girl's night out. How you ended up at a house party from the crappy bar she dragged you to in downtown Chicago was beyond you.

"C'mon! This is totally gonna distract you from Lippy and all the drama he brought. To being single!" Lauren drunkingly cheers as she holds up her plastic cup of (you're sure) three different kinds of alcohol. You hold up your glass of water barely, running a hand over your face. "Yeah, can we not announce that?" You ask.

Two seconds later, she's giggling with a guy leading her up the stairs. You sigh, turning to go get some fresh air when there he stands. Lip Gallagher. Your freshly appointed ex-boyfriend. Or Lippy, as Lauren refers to him.

You and Lip had dated for two years, but you'd known him since you were kids. Your relationship was perfect, until one night. When he called you clingy, a bitch - this was of course after not talking to you for almost a whole week. You told him that night you were done with him. That he could call when he figured himself out.

He didn't call. It'd been a month.

It doesn't feel real that time has passed that quickly, because part of you is still stuck in his bedroom. Right where he left you. A lesson well learned.

"Hi." He says, as he stares at you. You stare right back.

"Hi." You manage to get out, clearing your throat. "I have to go-"

"Wait. Can we talk, please?" He asks, walking over to you, a hand on your arm as he whispers to you. The world stops for a pause before you nod. "Fine." You agree.

You let him lead you upstairs into an empty room, taking it in. It looks to be a guest bedroom, few decorations other then picture frames with the "welcome to our home" and flower vases on the nightstands.

"Welcome to my hell" would be a better fit.

"Why are we avoiding each other like this? You've been my best friend since I was fucking ten years old, I don't want us to lose each other like this." He says as you sit on the edge of the bed, taking note of the floral bedspread. "We already lost each other, Lip. A long time ago." You point out.

"Don't do this shit, don't be all cryptic." He rolls his eyes as you stand right back up, almost giving yourself whiplash. But that's disregarded when every memory floods back to you.

"Oh my God! What the hell do you want from me, Lip, huh? You want me to just forget every single thing you said to me? Or maybe you want me to just forget how you avoided me like the damn plague for a week before you finally did call me just to blow up at me and tell me you didn't want to be with me anymore. You can't go from telling me I was your favorite person to telling me you think I'm a bitch. And I can’t even look at my favorite person anymore, so what the fuck do you expect me to do?" You burst out, turning away from him, staring out the window.

It's silent for what feels like an eternity before you feel his arms wrap around your waist from behind. "I don't want to lose you. I- I haven't been me since you left. Please." He isn't sure what he's even begging for from you, but his voice is soft enough where you feel yourself wanting to give in.

This was a bad idea, right? After all, he was your ex. But you're both mature adults, can't two people reconnect? You'd only see him as a friend this time, it wasn't like he had to be something more.

You sigh as you push his arms off, walking for the door, waiting for a moment before locking it. You turn back around to face him, walking over to him and barely grazing his lips with your own to tease him before he kisses you. His hands find themselves on your waist like how he used to put them there when he kissed you like this.

Used. It still doesn't feel real to use parts of your relationship in the past tense. How you used to kiss him, how he used to hold you, how he used to be yours.

You kick your shoes off, and he does the same.

He pushes you back onto the bed, deepening the kiss. His tongue slides into your mouth easily, one hand on your back, the other sliding up your thigh. He knows your body so well, it's almost a science to him. He knows how your body reacts to certain touches. Certain places to kiss to make you giggle. Parts of your body that if he touches them, your back arches or you naturally move closer to them.

Like right now. His hand teasing around your sex, not quite touching where you so desperately want him.

His mouth only parts from yours to begin kissing down your jaw, then onto your neck. Finding solace there, he makes a mark on your pulse point, low moans erupting from you. Hands running through disheveled curls.

His hand finally reaches your cunt, and you hear him groan at the wetness growing on your panties. He looks at you for confirmation, and you nod desperately in return, not sure what he’s planning in that genius brain of his.

He removes your shirt so he can kiss your chest. Then your bottoms, leaving you in only your bra and panties. A finger slides those panties to the side, and he lets out another groan as he slides the digit past your slick folds, and you let out a gasp in return. You give a little tug to his hair and he almost moans at it, which you make a mental note of.

He thrusts his finger out, at a torturously slow pace, all while kissing down your body. You quickly realize when he grins up at you what he wants to do. What he feels he needs to do. You give him a nod of your approval, moans still flooding out.

He stops thrusting and removes his finger, only to replace it with his tongue. Sucking and kissing your clit, sliding his tongue in you while his hands run over skin on your thighs. You bite on your hand just to muffle your moans from the still active party outside, just as his nose bumps your clit.

“Shit, Lip. I'm close- fuck..” You whine as he laps desperately at your sex, and you can feel his smirk. "Language. Let go for me, baby, please." He requests softly, rubbing tiny circles on your clit.

You don't last long after that.

He lets your climax drip down your thighs, grinning to himself as he watches, feeling some of it on his jaw. "Need to feel you, please, Lip." You beg, and he frees himself from his boxers. Giving himself a few strokes before he lines himself up with his enterance. "You ready, sweet angel?" He asks, pressing his forehead against yours and lightly trailing slobbery kisses down your cheek before connecting to your lips. You pull away only after a second, whispering a soft "yes, please" before you're kissing his jaw in anticipation.

He groans, inserting himself past your now damp folds, thrusting gently in and out. He watches as his dick is swallowed by your cunt, your walls fluttering around him like it’s a familiar friend coming back.

Truth be told, he wasn’t sure why he pushed you away. Maybe he let the negative thoughts that you were too good for him take over. Maybe it was just the Gallagher thing to do.

But he’d regret it for the rest of his life.

Your moan brings him back to reality, hands on his shoulders as he finds a new position to fuck deeper into you, and he finds himself groaning as your nails dig into his skin. You quickly learn by the way his dick twitches he enjoys that.

And he learns by the way your walls squeeze around him you like it when he hits that spot in you. The spot that makes your head feel blurry, the spot that replaces every thought with his name. The spot that makes moans come out of you, the spot that makes the familiar heat in your belly grow.

“Fuck, Lip, I’m gonna-” Your words are cut off when he hits that spot again, even with a new angle. His forehead pressed against yours, sweat connecting with sweat. “Shit angel, you were just made for me. Pretty pussy just missed me, huh?” His words slur from the pleasure clouding his senses.

Your moans and mixtures of his name are more of an answer for him. The room smelled like sex, sound of skin slapping against skin filled it. He pressed his lips against yours, swallowing your moans as he rubbed small circles on your aching clit, and he feels the familiar white heat pouring out of your cunt.

He doesn’t last long, burying his seed deep in you. Swallowing your whines and moans as he pulls out, only breaking the kiss to stare at you, both of your chests heaving as you catch your breath. Watch your eyes having a silent conversation with his.

He lays down beside you. He watches as you run a hand over your face, and he decides to wash you both up. Returning with a damp washcloth, he helps get you cleaned up and setting your clothes on the end of the bed.

“So, uhm..” He tries to think of a conversation starter, and you shake your head, holding a hand up. “We shouldn’t have done this.” You whisper, frowning as you grab your clothes, slowly redressing yourself.

“You don’t have to go. We can go back to your place or mine and we can just talk.” You don’t realize he’s begging rather than requesting. This can’t be how you and him say goodbye after seeing each other again for the first time.

"I can't do this, Lip." You point out as you fight to get your shoes on.

You’d only see him as a friend.. biggest lie you ever said.

"I love you." He says. "I was an idiot for not saying it before so I'm saying it now. I'm in love with you and I always will be."

Definetly a lie now.

˙ ✩°˖🌸 ⋆｡˚꩜

thank you for reading! please feel free to engage with this post by reblogging, commenting or sliding into my inbox to leave feedback! i appreciate all of you! if you enjoyed reading this you can definetly check out my lip gallagher masterlist here -> click me!

- mae:)

#maeberzatto #mae writes!#mae writes: shameless #lip gallagher x fem reader #lip gallagher x you #lip gallagher thoughts #lip gallagher smut #lip gallagher x reader #lip gallagher imagine #lip gallagher fanfiction #lip gallagher #lip gallagher shameless #shameless fanfic

155 notes · View notes

destinygoldenstar · 10 months

Text

Is Screen Time An Issue For A Character?

That’s a tough one.

I see quite a few arguments about some shows I’ve watched that ‘oh, this character is bad because they have too much screen time’. Or ‘I wish this character had more screen time to be interesting.’

Basically, too much screen time is now a valid critique to describe why a character is bad or doesn’t work for you. And to that I say…

Uh… no?

I’ll give some examples where I see this critique, but for now I want to state a case of examples where I expected to see this critique online, but didn’t, and I wondered why.

SPOILERS BELOW FOR THE SPIDERVERSE SEQUEL:

The main character of the Spiderverse movies is Miles Morales. Clear as day if you see ANY promotional concept art. The movies nail that home and give you a solid POV character among the Multiverse chaos.

The sequel begins with an over twenty minute backstory sequence involving Gwen Stacy, a side character in the first movie.

(Fun fact: When me and my dad went to see it in theaters together, he said that backstory was over twenty minutes long and that he thought they could've trimmed it down. Animated-phobia gives you weird opinions. He didn't watch Arcane with me and thought nothing of it because 'it was an animated show'. Not kidding.) (Both of my parents are like this, sadly.)

Now, in the context of the movie, it makes sense to include this to understand the full POV of her character going forward. As she is pretty vital to the story.

I tried imagining a version of the movie where we DIDN'T get this intro, went straight to Miles, and we just had to put the pieces together involving Gwen and her actions. And I don't think the movie would've worked nearly as well.

This brings me to another point involving Gwen Stacy in this movie: She's kind of become a protagonist as well, next to Miles.

Is this screen time theft? Under the screen time critique, it probably would seem that way.

And yet nobody I've seen complains. If anything, this solidified her as one of the best movie adaptations of Gwen Stacy out there. In my opinion.

Unlike the first movie, this one is not driven by the narrative of the main character, but rather multiple.

This is not uncommon. And it's an even bigger case with Arcane.

Yeah, this show is phenomenal everyone who says so is right Jinx is an icon Vi is my cartoon crush next to Petra I was crying so hard at the ending and for that alone this show deserves every ounce of praise it gets and I'm kind of an Arcane stan-

*Inhales*

I think I just have a thing for dystopian stories where characters walk through hell.

(Yes I consider TD a dystopian setting, that'd be a nice hot take to tackle one day.)

The Hunger Games is my favorite dystopian setting that I've seen, just because it's very memorable and inspiring. But Arcane is objectively the best dystopian story out there. If I fade out of my Total Drama obsession, this show might be my next target.

Cupcakes. El fin.

I could stop there, but lets talk about why we're here.

Arcane does not focus on the two main characters only as the driving force of its narrative.

Advertisement tell you that our main characters are the two growing war machines who go around calling each other sisters, Vi and Powder (Jinx. Idk how mad people get for which name I use for her. Sorry if I offend you). In fact, there's evidence to back that up. Other than they're the people with dyed hair, that's instant main character. They're the first characters we meet in the entire show. They're the characters with the final scene that closes off the season. EVERY ending to an act is with them. They're the main characters. Boom.

But wait. Nearly TWO THIRDS of this show doesn't even focus on them!

We have all the Piltover characters we keep switching back to. Jayce, Viktor, Mel, Caitlyn for Act 2 pretty much, Silco kind of becomes his own protagonist in Act 3. Really, the only people who remain consistent side characters are Ekko, and the two boys that get blown to pieces by Powder. And... some other people I'm forgetting the names of. (Sorry, I only had two watch throughs of this show so far and I know nothing about League other than the sisters become enemies.)

Now, why?

Why is this the case? I'm not saying characters other than our mains don't get fleshed out at all, but to the point where they're basically major enough to carry their own show? That SOUNDS like a detriment to the story if anything, especially how unfocused it kind of all gets until the end where everyone's in the same room.

Had Vi or Jinx interact with these characters, their fleshing out makes sense, and you definitely see that with characters like Caitlyn and Silco, who kind of need them to function.

But the Piltover gang? Jinx doesn't meet them at all, neither of the sisters meet Viktor, and Vi does meet Jayce, but in Episode 8 of 9.

Why does nobody complain about this? If anything, these guys are stealing screen time.

Well, it turns out, this is all done in Arcane's benefit, rather than fault. We are all the protagonist of our own story, and there are multiple POVs regarding the world.

It's basically if Hunger Games was third person instead of first, and we actually got a chance to flesh out the other rebels/children.

Me personally, and I know I'm not the only one out there, but the sisters were the most interesting thing about the show, and other characters that talk to them were how they caught my attention. That in no way means I don't care for anyone though, and it's COMPLETELY a PERSONAL thing.

So whenever we DO focus on the sisters and their story, not only do we get these other POVS on the scene that could clash with our view of them, but it makes it so that EVERY. SCENE. MATTERS.

No scene is wasted in fleshing out the sister's story. Everything has a purpose and drives it all to one heartbreaking simulation. There's no wasted space, there's no lack of attention to a certain detail, darn it, it's just right.

(I mean, I guess I would've liked to see what they went through in that time skip, like how Jinx was raised by Silco and processed her new identity, or better yet how tf Vi survived prison when it's heavily implied she beat people to a pulp and got solitary multiple times. But I think Season 2 is gonna cover it.)

Seriously, imagine a version of this show real quick.

Imagine a version of the show that took the Hunger Games approach, and used first person POV on one of the two sisters, doesn't matter which one, they'd both work. Cut out scenes not involving that sister. The other characters that appear revolve around scenes they're in with that sister.

Would that work nearly as well?

I don't think so.

Now First Person POV isn't necessarily a bad thing. Danganronpa is first person. Minecraft Story Mode is first person. Those are probably not great examples, but it can work. (TDDRI, a fic of mine, is first person, and I had to work around that to flesh out everyone else. It can work.)

This show is very hot topic and weirdly paced than what I'm used to. So take everything with a grain of salt as I am nowhere near an expert with this show. The show's story doesn't even get started until Episode 4, as the first three episodes are all flashback to explain where our characters are and why they're motivated to do what they do.

Again, I tried imagining a version of this show where we DIDN'T get those first three episodes, we started with Episode 4, and we just had to ASSUME all the backstory involving the sisters and the titular arcane and put the pieces together through Vi's words and Jinx's hallucinations. I don't think we would have been nearly as invested.

So with these two examples, WHY does nobody complain about screen time involving a character?

Is it because they're just really good pieces of media? Or is there a reason for this?

After all, Spiderverse and Arcane fall under the category of an 'ensemble cast'. A cast of characters in a story where there is no titular main character to drive the narrative, and everyone does instead. It's like if Harry Potter was 'Hogwarts' instead, or some title like that.

But lets take a look at some examples of ensemble casts where there's been a complaint of some sort with screen time:

Total Drama and RWBY.

Now I only like one of these two shows, so I'm gonna put that aside for now.

Total Drama. It has an ensemble cast. The show is about teenagers suffering-I mean competing for a prize, eliminating each other bit by bit as it goes along. Naturally with that setup, early boots are left to dry. But that doesn't stop people from complaining.

Ezekiel gets the most flack for too little screen time, and major fanboys say he should've had more focus. Personally I don't get that based on what role he's deigned to play. Caleb is a more recent example. I thought he was gonna have a bigger role and character than he ended up having, and him being a first boot gag makes even less sense than Zeke. Dawn is a fan favorite who isn't even in that many episodes. Axel is a ripoff of Shawn because of her lack of screen time. Scary Girl is... Scary Girl, who I don't see the fuss about her little screen time as she's comic relief, but the complaint is there. There is SO MUCH bashing about Noah's lack of screen time it is not even funny. So much so that he's sharing screen time with another person.

And who is to blame for this: Well, the characters who make it really far into the game, or course! How dare they steal screen time away from these guys!

I feel like Ripper is the most recent example of this. His character arc was about him breaking a world record. He broke it. It's Episode 5. Now he can leave the show, right-

Nope. He's around till Episode 8. Out of 13. And even then, in Episode 13, he's Millie's partner, which means screen time.

It sounds unjustified because it is. I'm not the biggest Ripper hater, but I definitely see the complaints. (Ripper and Damien swapping places are the only part of the elimination order I would change. Everything else is pretty spot on.)

We already have MK as a pre-merge antagonist and Julia as a post merge antagonist, we don't need this rando bully character as well as it adds nothing. Maybe Ripper would've been better liked if he wasn't a bully and just some morally average comic relief guy, but also... probably not.

But he's not the only fart based character in this show that gets complaints about screen time. Here's where I talk about the first gen.

For what I have seen, the ones with the biggest screen time complaints are Owen, Duncan, and Beth. I don't count Heather cause it's on purpose. I count Sierra because it's a personal gripe I have.

Owen was the original winner of TDI, came back on the show in the second season for a mole subplot nobody likes, and merged season three. He and Noah also got a spinoff.

Beth was the finalist of TDA.

And everyone hates it, including myself.

Then there's Duncan. Easily the character the show focuses on the most. Season 1? 4th place. Season 2? Winner. Season 3? Gone half the season so he's only in 8 episodes not counting what he didn't compete in, but he scored 5th overall. Season 5? Weakest performance, but he still merged. That's 8th place by the way.

By far, THIS is the character in this show that gets the MOST horrendous flack for his screen time. And from what I've learned, if you think this, you probably hate Duncan as a character.

Like, I haven't watched Winx, but I saw videos on YouTube that made fun of Bloom for getting too much screen time.

Somebody do those but with Duncan! I'm not a Duncan hater, but I would like to get a laugh!

So it'd just be easy to say the writers played favorites, it was an issue, and be done with it, right?

Except no.

My GF watched World Tour just recently. (And she was mixed on it.) Her comments regarding Duncan and Gwen were that she wished they had more interactions to sell them (she was routing AGAINST Duncney, basically) and it didn't help that Duncan was gone half the season. She said that it would've helped all the characters involved if he stayed to flesh that out.

To that I went: "Huh. That's interesting how you take no issue with this character's screen time."

But why though? She's not a stan of him, she's a casual viewer, so that can't be it.

And that's when it hit me.

Beth and Sierra. These two make it through an entire season each. And we both collectively hate them as characters. And we hate seeing them on screen.

That's because it's what the characters DO with their screen time.

See what I'm talking about:

Season 1: Duncan is an established character that develops relationships and friendships and learns to open up to people outside of his comfort bad boy zone.

Trent spends 16 episodes sitting still and looking pretty with a guitar. (Okay that's probably not a great example, and I don't hate Trent, but you kinda get it)

Season 2: Duncan is dealing with revenge on Harold for his spoiled relationship with Courtney where he gets abused by her, fights to hold his own, and dumps her.

Beth spends the entire season talking about a fake boyfriend and cheating on it.

Season 3: Duncan, again, is only competing in 8 episodes out of 26, but what does he do? He establishes a new relationship with Gwen, gets her cancelled, forms a friendship with Alejandro, and gets played.

Sierra is there the entire season sexually harassing Cody and passing it off as quirky. We hate to see it. (Seriously, you guys think the love triangle is worse than this? My GF and I agreed we would rather watch the love triangle ten times again, over Sierra being on screen at all.)

What's the difference here? STORY.

Certain characters have story to follow, that NEEDS that screen time to work. Ironically, the plotline of Duncan's that comes across the least genuine, is the season where he's on screen the least. (Not counting All Stars, but they're kind of equal in episodes Duncan's in.)

Again, imagine if we never had that backstory sequence of Gwen Stacy. Yes it eats up screen time, but without it? She would come across as an ingenuine traitor who supposedly ditched her dad for some cool spider society. We NEEDED that sequence.

Duncan is always doing something when the screen is focused on him.

The reason Beth and Sierra don't work despite having all the screen time in the world is that they do NOTHING with the screen time they get. Nothing of value at least. We could've learned a lot about their origins, Beth's underdog status, or Sierra's fanclub, flesh them out as dynamic characters to route for, with different sides of them that slip through time to time that gets the audience thinking.

Nope. Sexual harassment makes up for all of that. (I question why I put up with this show sometimes.)

That would be the case and that's the answer, just do something with your screen time and you're free to have as much as you want.

Except there's ANOTHER key to the puzzle here.

Duncan is in the top 4 of the TD cast for a reason.

He's a main character.

Something Jaune Arc is not.

Hello nemesis my old friend.

Look, I respect people who like RWBY. People can feel any way they want to about a show. Opinions are valid.

If you think Arcane is the worst show ever made, that's valid.

If you think Velma is the best show ever made, that's valid.

It's all VALID.

With that said I think this show is an absolute trainwreck when it comes to writing characters.

Now hold on before you say I hate everything about it, I don't. This show does have SOME merits to it. The music is stellar and I actually listen to the soundtrack from time to time. For a limited budget animation, it's impressive. The choreo is neat. I want these weapons. I actually like quite a few of the side characters. Keep in mind I said side.

But what I look for in a good show is a compelling story and interesting characters to follow.

Something this show just does not have in my opinion.

I keep saying I'll do an analysis post on why Team RWBY are awful protagonists, but I've been busy and my plate has not emptied. But one of my main points regarding them is screen time.

Keep in mind, I've only seen fully up to Season 8. I've only seen clips of Season 9, so whatever I say about 9 may not be accurate.

Team RWBY are the main characters of the show, and yet they have not done a single main character thing throughout EIGHT SEASONS. It's kind of incredible.

If I didn't know the name of the show but saw a clip, I'd assume the main character was Jaune, or Oscar, more on them later.

What have these girls contributed in the battle of Salem's forces?

Season 1: Blake helped stop a robbery. Not even all four of them, just Blake. (So did Sun and Penny.)

Season 2: They broke into the White Fang's secret operation and busted a train into the city to fight off some Grim, in time for Team CFVY to wipe them out. (Those characters appear TWICE in the ENTIRE show, this is the first time. Just to speak my point.)

Season 3: Yang got framed for assault which helped the bad guys. Ruby watched Pyyra die and she blasted an eyeball off Cinder.

Season 4: UH...

Season 5: They housed Oscar, they met Raven, and they took place in the battle of Haven where Yang got the relic. (So did Oscar, JNR, Qrow)

Season 6: They took the relic to Atlas. (So did Oscar, JNR, Qrow)

Season 7: They lied to the general about vital information that could've helped them get one on Salem, and doomed all of Atlas.

Season 8: They caused the death of a kingdom and fell through a hole.

Season 9: UH... (That's not me not knowing what happened in 9, they just climbed out of the hole, basically, as the season has nothing to do with Salem's forces.)

Now, because the main characters are not involved with the main plot very much, does that make them bad?

No. There ARE ways to utilize them outside of driving the external plot.

Some stories are Character vs Self, Internal Conflict. The basis of this show's story is that these kids who grew up to be military soldiers are learning that their lives and the world is not a fairy tale, and they're not the good guys. That SOUNDS like the show is all about internal conflict, right?

Well it's not.

I mean, they DO realize this and make a morally questionable choice with consequences they regret.

In Season SEVEN.

And even THEN, they're treated by gods themselves like they've done nothing wrong!

If you ask me, it should have happened a LONG time ago.

What internal conflicts do these girls have?

Ruby is a naive prodigy who wants to be a huntress and live out a fairy tale reality. And she lives out that dream. Then Pyyra dies and she loses that home. And then she's back to fairy tale land, just doing more crimes and hating authority. And I GUESS she learned a lesson in 9...? I just saw her as depressed.

Weiss is an heiress of a rich company trying to overthrow rule of her father, who hates her. She hates Faunus. She learns not to hate Faunus. And she gains a lot of powers.

Blake is part of a civil rights movement with Faunus and she likes assaulting her own kind and burning their homes. She also has an abusive boyfriend and kills him with a girlfriend by her side.

Yang lost her mommy and wants to find her. She loses her arm. She finds her mommy but doesn't give a s**t because plot. She also gets a girlfriend.

That's like Vi and Jinx's reunion, only they didn't care about seeing each other again after years, they just pointed fists and guns at each other and said, "Where's the arcane?! Where's Silco?! I'm not here for you, I have a police GF now!" "I'm not here for you, I just wanted an easy route to blast Piltover to pieces! Mwahaha!"

See where I'm going with that?

Internal conflict is a key to making characters screen time worth while.

But lets face it, Team RWBY not having very well established internal/relevance to the external conflict is not the full reason why this is a problem with their screen time.

It's their lack thereof.

Three quarters of every season, they're just sitting at some random place that's not even pretty to look at, and the SIDE CHARACTERS do all the plot relevant stuff.

See why I like the side characters better?

Lets look at that chart again:

Season 1: Sun and Penny stopped that robbery.

Season 2: Team CFVY stopped the Grim invasion.

Season 3: Pyyra's story and downward spiral to her death.

Season 4: Nora and Ren the season.

Season 5: Oscar. The tribe.

Season 6: Oscar again as he's responsible for the exposition involved in that season.

Season 7: Ironwood's descent into insanity AND Penny's descent into accidental heroism.

Season 8: Both those characters die. Everyone dies.

Season 9: ...okay, good point, there was no one else.

Okay so maybe Season 9 gets a pass, but the others? Can you really put Team RWBY in a plot summary?

And that's just external conflict talking, let's talk the MAIN CHARACTER with the INTERNAL conflicts throughout the ENTIRE show.

Jaune Arc.

A SIDE character, voiced by one of the writers, has some of the most plotlines to follow due to his internal struggle and conflict in this new war throughout the entire show.

He has something to do in MOST of the seasons of this show. Not unlike Duncan. The only time I think he didn't have anything going on was Season 7.

In the very first season, Jaune has an entire character arc surrounding him trying to find his inner strength with a one off bully character as an antagonist. That sounds fine, so what's the issue?

This character arc takes up FOUR episodes out of 16. A WHOLE QUARTER OF THE SEASON.

"Well, maybe those episodes cut away to other people at some points-"

No. They don't. It's all Jaune in all these episodes.

Season two is less so Jaune focused, but he has a little subplot surrounding letting go of his feelings for Weiss and finding another girl who would gladly take him. I guess it's priority respect because Neptune was into Weiss at the time? But those two wound up never being a thing, so...

The whole time I thought Weiss was just asexual, but then 9 came in to screw that idea.

Season three focuses on Pyyra, Jaune's love interest, and therefore he's vital to her story and her thought process, so much so that the big angst moment in the season is with him and their death kiss.

Season four and five are focused on Jaune's thirst for revenge on Cinder, a member of Salem's forces, for killing Pyyra. He learns about Salem's forces along the way, makes his own opinion about all this lore, and decides to help out due to his personal necessity.

Wow. He has an internal conflict going on, AND he's active with the external conflict. HMM...

Season six is him letting go of his grief after his moral failure from the Battle of Haven nearly getting Weiss killed. And also he pins Oscar to the wall because why not. It's brief but it's also a full on character arc.

Season eight, he kills Penny, a girl he has never interacted with before this point, and he's a grieving mess. So much so that season nine also includes Jaune dealing with MULTIPLE grieving instances and personal failures.

Everyone else got a seasonal break from the story, and yet Jaune could not.

Now, is this a screen time issue?

Yes.

But NOT for the reasons you might think.

Let's go off of Duncan again, a character with a major status in the show's story and conflict from day one. He was designed that way.

Jaune was not designed that way. BUT I don't actually hate his story for the screen time he gets. In fact, he's probably one of the most interesting characters in the show because there's so much time dedicated to his struggle and his story.

The elephant in the room isn't because Jaune has a story.

It's because the main characters don't have a story.

Again, Arcane, that show focuses on a LOT of characters that aren't Vi and Jinx. You could argue Jayce is the Jaune in their universe. But why does it work? Because there is NOT a neglect of characterization of the leads.

In RWBY, there's a serious neglect issue.

And it's not just Jaune. There are other side characters who've been stealing time away from the leads.

Oscar, ever since he debuted Season 4, has been devoted to screen time stealing, and stealing the main character status with a Chosen One narrative and a pretty offensive way of portraying Multiple Personality Disorder. He's the one with the chosen one story, he's the one who interacts with the bad guys, he's toe to toe with Ironwood, he's the one related to Salem, and he does all of it with the personality of a hollow pine tree.

I mean I guess he also has a crush on Ruby, but... I don't want to get into that.

Hell, CINDER, an ANTAGONIST of the show, has more conflict and screen time than the leads. And she's one of my least favorite characters in the entire show, isn't that sweet?!

On top of that, she's a VILLAIN. We shouldn't be routing for her!

Then there's the rest of JNPR. Nora and Ren have a season focused on them, that being season 4. Pyyra is the same case with season 3. Pyyra dies in that season, so she's obviously not getting screen time any further. But Ren and Nora are alive, AND they have a subplot in the Atlas arc. Having a subplot isn't a problem, it just becomes jarring when the main characters don't have an arc and they do.

Penny gets revived and dies in the Atlas arc. That's also a thing.

The fix here should be really simple! Swap roles! Have the side characters sit in the houses with their little arcs, and have Team RWBY on the fields reacting to everything. It wouldn't excuse their lack of inner struggle, but at least they'd be involved with the plot.

There are many ways you could fix this. Like Oscar's role of being related to Salem. Ruby's mom is dead, but like, what if her mom was Salem and was taken out in war and revived/corrupted into this monster figure? That'd be an interesting narrative.

And RWBY is not the only show, the previous season of Pretty Cure, Delicious Party, ALSO has this issue. And arguably they did it worse because I don't even care for the side characters there either. I'd be repeating myself with criticism there:

Yui, the supposed main character, has no character trait other than be a glutton and a stand in for her grandmother, the other Cures are also irrelevant to the plot and just spend their time eating. The boys of this magical girl show are the focus and have all the wishy washy plotlines, and none of them are even that interesting.

I will give RWBY this over Delicious Party to prove I can see its merits:

At least they only have ONE forth wall narration and do know boundaries to that stuff, as opposed to Delicious Party that thinks their viewers are IDIOTS, and needs a narrator to explain EVERYTHING. CONSTANTLY.

(What a new low for that franchise, am I right? At least we have Hirogaru Sky.)

So what have we learned here?

To answer the question: Is Screen Time An Issue For A Character?

No. It's not that simple.

It's what the character DOES with that screen time that matters. And their role in the story that warrants this screen time.

They need to have all the details of their story laid out for you to care about them.

They need every scene involving their story to matter.

They need to have a plotline that justifies the screen time, small role or big role.

They need to be involved with the main story if they are a major character.

They need an internal conflict to keep the time on them engaging.

They need to be doing something.

If they are a minor character, additional screen time is not a bad thing.

A minor character with a lot of screen time could be there to advance the world building, they could be heavily connected to major character, relationship or otherwise.

But the minor characters don't become favorites and neglect focus on the people the story is revolving around.

First Person POV is a difficult storytelling technique when it comes to screen time, but it's not a bad tool. It can be used as a certain perspective for every character involved if done properly.

And just... screen time alone isn't a valid criticism in my opinion. It's WAY more complicated than that.

What's your opinion? Reblog your thoughts, I'm very curious, especially with media with this issue I did not cover.

71 notes · View notes

snnbnny · 2 years

Note

Sad anonymous back at it again.

How would Bokuto, Ushijima, and Kyoya (or pick one you don't have to do all three) react to a s/o who starts crying after a verbal fight. Feeling extra sad today.

Hi sad anon!! love your lil asks omg!!

Wakatoshi Ushijima reacting to his partner crying after a verbal fight!!

'•.¸♡ C/W for W.U : Stone cold ushi, Repressed issue, miscommunication, several mentions of pregnancy so afab! reader or if you wish omega reader, little out of my own cannon ushi, soft ushi at the end, this is hurt comfort btw, its nice I swear, mentions of jealousy and falling out of love ♡¸.•'

'•.¸♡ Tagging: @wakatshi @towoshi♡¸.•'

'•.¸♡ A/N: this totally went in my own spiral but I hope its something similar to what you wanted! I'm low key proud of this so.... also listen to FINNEAS while you read this,, just a suggestion. Idk the vibe kinda fits.♡¸.•'

╰─▸ ❝ W. Ushijima

"Ushi?" The two of you were halfway threw yet another silent dinner which you had graciously created. "Has everything been ok?"

"Why do you ask?" His tone was flat, you tried to reason with yourself that the lack of emotion in his voice was the same as normal. But the past few weeks had felt so different to you, you were so worried that you had upset the man in someway or that your first fear has come to florishion- he didn't love you anyone or never really did and he found some he did love.

"You've been acting strangely," you couldn't really name the small things that really drew your attention to it.

"You have to be specific, Y/N." A shiver went up your spine.

"You've been distance, more emotionless. Ignoring my messages, hell you've barely made eye contact with me this whole night!" The anger came out of the depth of your chest, it was not truly anger- more like grief.

"Sound's like my normal behavior to me, Y/N." A pin could drop and it wouldn't break the tension. He stood from his seat and walked to the kitchen in order to dump his half-eaten plate and place the dish in the freshly cleaned sink. "Maybe it's you that has a problem."

You couldn't bring yourself to look at the man, your watery gaze fixed on the barely touched dish before you, "Yeah, maybe..." There was barely any confrontation but you were already so defeated. So tired. You had waited so long, hoping it would have resolved by itself- instead it only festered and exhausted you.

"I'm heading to bed, I have an early flight tomorrow." God, you forgot he had an away game in the following days prompting him to be gone for at least a week. Of course you had forgotten, you were so wrapped up in the drama you were possibly creating in your head that everything else lost precedence.

"Goodnight, Ushijima. Good luck." You couldn't let yourself move until he was gone. When he did, the dam broke. Choked down sobs accompanied your waterfall of tears. Quietly you placed your plate into the sink and rushed into one of the guest rooms you use to store some of your personal items. The sound of the soft click which accompanies the closing of door gave you enough sense of safety that you let out a loud sob, followed by others and other sounds of saddness.

It was only made worse by the secret you had yet to tell your husband, one that would normally only tie the two of you closer if it wasn't for

a) the current turbulence in your relationship

b) his past hesitance towards the topic of children

Your hormones were so all over the place, you didn't know what emotions to believe at this point. Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones causing you to flip out at something which was probably non-existent.

You were to lost in yourself to hear the sounds of your husbands heavy foot steps coming closer only noticing the hint of his existence when three soft knocks wrapped at the door, "Darling, are you alright?"

"Y-Yes!"

"Then why are you locked in the guest room instead of in bed with me?"

"I-I'm not feeling well Wakatoshi! You need your sleep!"

...

Even Ushijima could smell the bull, "I'm coming in!"

The sight he was by was pitiful, but pulled on his iron heart strings. There you sat curled on the floor still dressed in your day cloths and face covered by tears, snot, and running makeup. He hurt more when you scooted away from him, it took him this long to realize he had truly upset you- that the last interactions the two of you had just had were actually a fight of some manner.

"Y/N-" He knelt down so he was closer to your height almost as if you were a scared dog. "I'm sorry, dear. I didn't mean to upset you. There is nothing wrong between us."

He was dumbstruck by the following question you asked, "Is there anyone else, Wakatoshi?"

He almost laughed at the inclination, "No- not at all. Not ever. I don't think any one else could stand me."

Just as quickly as you had pulled away from him, your were jumping into his arms- hiding your face in the green t-shirt he had deemed appropriate to sleep in after knocking him on his ass. He smelt of freshness, sandalwood, and home.

" 'M sorry." You whimpered, he was holding the back of your head and had an arm wrapped around your back.

"It's alright love, it was my fault. I got so wrapped up in my work life I didn't notice that you were hurting." He kissed the crown of your head as he petted your hair.

"The hormones don't help though," the remark slipped threw before you could think about it.

"What hormones? You aren't on your-" For once, your husband was truly thinking. It was like it clicked right away, you could even tell before he said anything by the fact he pulled you back and looked you up and down before whispering. "Are you- Are you pregnant?"

"Yes." You responded, no strength to try and change the subject or be coy in any way.

"Thats-" A pause, "-That is amazing, Y/N."

"You're not mad?"

"Mad? No not at all, my love. Having a child with you is a gift! I know I've been awkward about the subject due to the timing, but I've always wanted a big family with you. Our children would not only be as pretty as you, but have so many inherited talents."

You laughed, kissing him in order to stop him from rambling.

663 notes · View notes

lunar-years · 1 month

Note

Ngl when I see ppl shipping Jamie and Dr. O'Sullivan I think they're at least a little homophobic and very straight.

well, i disagree with a blanket accusation of homophobia, but I do think it's an opinion that holds a very ~straight appeal~, definitely, lol.

there are honestly a boat load of reasons i hate it but they boil down to:

i kind of get why people (esp. a segment of the general audience) might be attracted to it because it's soooo something (bad) shows/sitcoms would do. Like, my god is it TRITE. Predictable, formulaic...boring as all hell! Of course he's going to get with the nameless sister who has less than five minutes total of screen time, just for a little added spice and drama, sure. That's what happens in (bad) shows. But luckily for the rest of us, Ted Lasso even at its worst is not that brand of bad, lol.

it's completely baseless? Nothing wrong with a baseless ship i guess, but at the same time...literally why this one? lol. Like, Jamie and Roy's sister share one scene together in which I don't believe they even say anything to one another directly? There is no chemistry, no...anything? The entire premise for the ship seems to be Jamie telling Roy his sister is hot. Which was very clearly intended as a way for Jamie to get under Roy's skin. Nothing about the scene makes me want to see those two dating.

the big proponents of it i've seen (often, definitely not always) seem to fit into one of two categories 1) people who don't really like Jamie and/or are upset Jamie "got in the way" of their ship, and thus want him to be written into a corner that pulls him away from their preferred couple/inherently shuffles up their dynamic. they don't actually care to watch a plot between Jamie & Roy's sister, they just want Jamie firmly categorized as Taken and thus Not Interested in Roy and/or Keeley, and this is a convenient and predictable(y stupid) way to do it. lol.

OR 2) people who DO really like Jamie and in fact really like Roy & Jamie, but in a very "no homo" way, who want to see more of their dynamic and have a way to define/further explore their closeness, whilst also justifying their own enjoyment of it, that's well set apart from "they have homoerotic tension." Jamie & Roy's sister dating holds an appeal because it more explicitly puts their relationship into firm "brotherly" territory. And I unabashedly loathe that for the same reason i loathe "Roy is Jamie's father figure!" ...foremost because no really, they can just be best friends!! Even if you do not want to ship roy-jamie romantically, you do not need to slap different familial labels on them (or put them into random other pairings) to make their relationship "more." Their relationship is already "more"...they are canonically best friends!! idk if I'm explaining this in the best way but the mindset behind it often feels very rooted in ~the nuclear family is the most important relationship a person can achieve~ and thus a need to fit everyone into traditional family roles (and in some cases that PLUS blatant homophobia) and it gives me a personal ick. Ew.

If you want to see quirky jamie & phoebe antics or roy and jamie bickering, Jamie x Roy's sister getting it on is in fact not actually necessary for any of that? (and imo doesn't add anything to anyone's arc) Going back to point one...using that pairing to get there feels TO ME very boring and sitcom cartoony.

(i also obviously dislike it for my personal shippy reasons and must acknowledge my bias. 🫡 Jamie dating his best friend's sister when he clearly has a crush on said best friend is a relationship-based mental low point/cry for help i do not actually want him to go through as my fav character, LOL.)

(disclaimer: people can of course feel differently and are entitled to ship whoever they want without even needing a clear reason or explanation! that's totally valid! i want to reiterate I don't think it's inherently problematic as a ship. I just personally think it's a rotten tomato of a plot point and i'm so beyond glad the show didn't waste time entertaining it.)

#ted lasso #asks #ship post #anti jamie x dr. o'sullivan #anti jamie x roy's sister #jamie tartt #dr o'sullivan #like. i also dislike roy x ms bowen but at least i see what attracts people to their dynamic. This one? not so much. idk.#booo the crowd is throwing tomatoes!!#hater hours

18 notes · View notes

bp-zb1fics · 1 year

Note

which zb1 member would be which Disney prince,, I'm curious 🎤

Not cherrie giving me the best questions to answer 💜💜💜 when it’s literally 6am and my insomnia won’t leave me alone 😭

On principle, I find Disney’s portrayal of the princes as very shallow and gender-norm enforcing (i’m sorry I feel very strongly abt this😅) we are not fans so instead I’d probably go for what Disney princess movie fits the vibe of which member when I assign them to princes. I’m also going to be rewriting that movie as I go, sorry in advance to the purists

Pls note I’ve not great at headcanons and indecisive as hell so here we go ~

Jiwoong: The Beast/Prince Adam

If this man could play a Prince in a drama, this is the kind of content I’d pay for

Just like my hogwarts headcanon, man probably invited the sorceress to dinner and asked to be turned into a beast because everyone just liked his face

And he thought he’d be better off if someone liked his personality

Yes he asks for his servants to be turned into furniture for shit and giggles but not like permanently, maybe they all go back to normal at night

reader wonders why he always insist not that they don’t go to the west wing at night. It’s not just the rose but that’s where he and the servants go to like chill and be their human selves (this is getting a little Cupid and psyche lol)

Hao: Prince Eric (The Little Mermaid)

Just the scene of him playing his violin and mer reader listening from a distance

Sometimes they sing along while Hao is playing and Hao is like woah who dat

They probably met as kids and he gave mer reader his old violin because they were curious

Definitely have it displayed in the center of their collection

Wants to be human to hear Hao play more

Hanbin: Prince Charming (Cinderella)

If this man isn’t Prince Charming, idk who is, do not argue with me

Does not have a shoe fetish

Definitely remembers reader’s face, he just wants to return their shoe bruh

And maybe ask reader out idk, not marry them right away

Just imagine dancing with Hanbin to “So this is love” and tell me u aren’t soft

Matthew: Aladdin

For the record, the genie in that lamp would probably be Keita bc he’s been training for 10,000 years (jk)

Watch me cast the whole KTL team (except Hao idk unless we want crossover)

There’s Matthew and there’s Seok Woohyun, don’t tell me he doesn’t think those are two diff people

Just…Matthew singing a Whole New World is a song cover I didn’t think I needed until now pls and thanks

Taerae: Snow White’s Prince

For all the OG Disney fans, you know that one scene where Snow White’s singing by the well and the Prince fucking jump scares her by singing back

Yes that’s Taerae, man will take the opportunity and he has a guitar

yes he will bring the guitar

Once again watch me cast all the Wake One trainees (K+ G) and Junhyeon as the seven dwarves friends who help reader out

Ricky: Prince Naveen (Princess and the Frog)

I’m sorry my eternal headcanon is spoiled Prince Ricky and reader who puts him in his place

Would probably be a bit more sus of this voodoo man turning him into a frog

It’s probably not even a villain, it’s one of the Yuehuaz who happens to know voodoo being like oh you know what would be rlly fucking funny

He gets his whole character development arc and becomes a better young and rich, tall and handsome Prince that’s totally down bad for reader

Gyuvin: Flynn Rider (Rapunzel’s Tangled)

This man steals hearts everywhere he goes (I mean he won every challenge yo)

A lot goofy like they told him during the sleepover, he’s lucky he’s got a nice face

I haven’t got that much for this one

But energy is the same

Gunwook: Captain Shang (Mulan)

He is a leader (class pres/vice pres every year anyone?)

Dude literally takes forever to realize that reader isn’t supposed to be there (literally the en garde hidden cam)

Casting the three other Jellyfish trainees as the soldiers yo

He’s slay “Be a Man” even if I dislike the title of that song, it’s hella catchy

Yujin: Prince Philip (Sleeping Beauty)

He’s a baby YALL pls

Shy, literally just watching reader do their thing in the forest like how this boi literally watched taerae the whole signal song filming (pls see zb1’s bp commentary for red)

He’s not slaying dragons just yet but he be slaying my heart with Noona saranghaeyo

Gives reader an innocent lil peck and they wake up

Maybe it isn’t true loves kiss just yet, more like boy with pure intentions bc literally that’s equally hard to find

Ok thanks for coming to my TED talk and thanks cherrie for this very lovely question. Y’all need to keep asking me more stuff like that very much please and thanks in advance 💜💜💜

81 notes · View notes

vole-mon-amour · 1 year

Text

3x08, part 1.

Opening the episode with literally Jamie's name is !!! I'm already smiling. My boooy. <3 A streak of four wins just bc Jamie saw the flaw in Total Football, fixed it, and there we go <3

I am so incredibly sad for what Ted has to go through. This SUCKS. Some other man is bad enough, but your fucking therapist is a punch in the gut. Especially when you still have feelings for the woman you love, but she doesn't love you anymore.

I don't UNDERSTAND! If TedBecca isn't supposed to be romantic like Hannah and the writers say, why this? Like, yeah, they've been to the same party, obviously. And the mention is casual, "they're brother and sister to me", but I still see the foreshadowing. Like, I'm all TedTrent and bi Ted, but ????

Mae is so sweet. What a woman.

Seeing wlw in s3 of Ted Lasso was the last thing I expected, but hell yeah. Please don't make Jack evil. Please. If they're gonna break up, let it not be a scandal and a mutual breakup or something. However, I can see Keeley staying with Jack and Roy telling her he has feelings for Jamie and they hit it off pretty nicely. But that's just my shipper heart's desire. We'll see bc I don't think this show might be that bold.

I wonder how many women actually sleep with their bra on. It's the most uncomfortable thing EVER imo.

Keeley is such an excitable puppy. Just like Jamie when with Roy. :)

I'm actually surprised about Nate and Jade. Like... it's almost a complete 180? Idk, I still dislike him. I think I understand the point, be kind and and not judgemental, all of that, but I can't with him. I don't like him and his storyline. A lot of screen time was wasted on him when imo when it could've been something way more interesting.

She might as well might be a butch bi.

Laughing. Trent with his what I almost sure is an empty mug, just for the drama of it. Doesn't matter that he 'drinks' from it after. Show me liquid in there or I'm not fooled.

S1 Roy would never, and I'm proud of his development. Ted is one of his people now, isn't he? A good friend for sure. It's also very interesting for me to watch in terms of Roy's other relationships and interactions. He already went somewhat there with Jamie in Amsterdam, "I was a dick today, I'm sorry" and how he realizes that he often releases his negative emotions on Jamie "whether you deserve it or not".

Crying with laughter. Roy is ready to "talk about it", but definitely isn't ready to do THAT. It makes me feel good for getting this part of a relationship right in my fic, lmaoooo. Also, where is Higgins?

A real conflict here, hehe. Hopefully, one day, he's gonna be ready to join them and talk about it. That would be fun to watch.

Higgins summoning succeeded.

What are you doing there, Helga soft boy, with your sparkling pencil? This makes me think of that "Jamie — Jamie" thingy. Yeah, no, Roy and Jamie are in love.

This is more like a soft howling/whining :')

Babe, wake up, new reaction meme just dropped.

He sure does, but he's still repressed about it.

Trent Crimm woof'ing with a soft look on his face can be SO personal. I love him, your honor. I wonder what he'll write in his book about that. I also wonder when is Roy gonna join them. Oh, i'l watch him barking and woofing, alright. Jamie wouldn't let that go, EVER. At the same time I feel like Roy would refuse to imitate barking & they would let him just bc that's Roy. A simple "fuck you" and that's ok.

The difference in body language, wow. Love hounds though? Nate, you need to get back with Ted then. Gosh, this entire storyline is SO awkward.

I think I'm still in love with her a little bit. What a woman.

#natiswatching #ted lasso #roy x jamie #rebecca welton #trent crimm #keeley x jack #jamie tartt

83 notes · View notes

hughjidiot · 5 months

Text

Thoughts on Season 2, Episode 1 of the Total Drama Island Reboot

So I still haven't seen season one of the reboot in full, only bits and pieces. (IDK what the hell is going on with the US release schedule.) But I've seen enough to get a feel for the plot and characters, and it seems really good. Now the second episode of season two has been leaked and I was able to watch it in full, so here are my thoughts. Spoilers below the cut, obviously.

So Priya is mentioned multiple times as being the season one winner, and to my knowledge Bowie's ending hasn't aired anywhere. Some are wondering if Bowie will even get an ending, but I think he will - alternate winners have been a thing in Total Drama since the beginning, and the finale of the season one was shot in a way that the winner can be interchangeable. So I'm pretty sure Bowie will get an ending where he canonically wins.

Not sure how long Priya, Milie and Bowie will stick around to be honest, since they already got a lot of screentime in season one. Pretty sure Bowie will stick around for a little bit to give us some Rajbow, but I'm not sure about Priya and Millie.

Speaking of Millie, she continues to be her socially awkward self. It's also a nice change of pace to see her genuinely trying at the challenge, even if she still isn't very good.

Caleb is an interesting one. He's obviously still bitter about being voted off first last time, and now he's determined to prove himself. Some have been predicting that he could evolve into a full on antagonist like Justin did in TDA, but I think it's still too early to tell one way or the other. If they go the antagonist route I at least hope he's better than Justin was, who was basically just Alejandro's buggy prototype.

Chase and Emma broke up offscreen, which I'm honestly glad for. I hope this doesn't lead to another "will they/won't they" that lasts for much of the season. In fact if I'm being honest I kind of hope Chase is an early boot and Emma finally moves on to someone who can actually treat her right. That'd be some good development on Emma's part.

Ripper... I'll be honest, he's one of my least favorite contestants of the new generation. He does fit his role of an obnoxious jerk, I'll give him that. But if I'm being honest I hope he's also an early boot because there are other characters far more deserving of screentime; particularly those that got eliminated instead of Ripper back in season one. Which leads me to...

Axel is one of the contestants I'm most excited to see in season two. She's the newest in the "abrasive tomboy" archetype after Eva and Jo. Eva never got any major character development and Jo always stayed a jerk with the occasional moment of kindness, so I was hoping Axel would be the one to break the trend and get some real character development. What we've seen so far with her saying she's trying to be nicer has me cautiously optimistic.

Speaking of character development, how about Nichelle? I and many others expected her to get training and become a stronger contestant, but I wasn't expecting to see evidence of that right off the bat in the first episode! She's another contestant I'll be watching closely.

Damien didn't do a whole lot, which kind of surprised me. Damien was at the top of my list for being a major character in season two, after he lost in season one right as he vowed to start taking the game seriously. But that can still happen; it's only episode one after all, and you can't frontload the first episode with every single plotline right away.

Seeing Julia and MK being on good terms and showing mutual respect was something I didn't see coming after how things went down between them in season one. But you know what, I'm here for an MK/Julia alliance arc. Also MK is my favorite character of the new generation and I look forward to seeing her schemes, especially after she talked about getting her hands on an intern uniform.

Wayne and Raj are wildcards to me, I honestly have no idea how long they'll last or what their specific plots will be. But like I said earlier with Bowie, I think at least he and Raj will stick around for at least a little while for Rajbow. It's genuinely one of the best written couples the show has given us.

Zee I don't picture getting very far. As much as I like Zee he already made it fairly far in season one, and not sure how much material they can get out of his whole "influencer" arc.

Last but not least, Lauren AKA Scary Girl. As a fan of her it hurt to see her voted off first, but I understand; there's other characters that are far more deserving of screentime, and Lauren is pretty one note. That being said, it's obvious we haven't seen the last of Lauren. I'm guessing she'll pull an Ezekiel and keep sneaking back onto to the show to disrupt things.

And that's everything. So far I'm really enjoying this new season and I'll be following it closely.

20 notes · View notes

bewilderedbuck · 11 months

Text

having devi vs. david thoughts about season 4; particularly which one we will hear first and why - this is just spec, ofc, but i can't stop thinking about it, so...

i think we're going to get a "devi" before we get a "david" this season, and i think it's going to be spoken directly to devi - as opposed to most times when ben refers to her as "devi" only when he's around other people. right now i'm just looking at 2 particular scenes in the trailer that i think the first "devi" could be from:

immediately post-boink. i don't have a screenshot for this one, bc they didn't give us ben's reaction to devi immediately bolting (which i'm thankful for, bc i really want to wait to see his reaction!) but i can see him saying "devi, wait" or something along those lines. i'm not totally sold on this one, honestly, but the thought's there.

the other scenario - and the most believable to me, from what we've seen so far - is immediately after devi sees margot kiss ben and confronts him. we can see they have a bit of a....i wouldn't call it a fight, but fight-adjacent, and from the looks of the trailer it doesn't seem like it gets too heated, but....

ben looks hurt and confused which - is so good (obv not for him but like - i live for the drama, whatever, it's just good entertainment). i don't know exactly how this would go, but i know how i want it to go: after ben tells her he thought it was a one time thing, devi tries defending herself, and he says "devi, you left," to parallel this fucking amazing scene from 2x04:

(cue everybody moved on i stayed there dust collected- yeah it's been almost 2 years and i still haven't gotten over this scene. jaren lewison the actor that you are.)

i could be completely off-base here. the first "devi" could be neither of those of course, and hell we might even get a "david" first instead. and while 3 seasons isnt enough to establish a pattern just yet, i'm hoping that after 4 seasons we can. see below:

season 1, we get a "david" first:

season 2, it's a "devi":

season 3, we're back to "david":

i'm hoping they continue the back-and-forth trend of this first devi vs david in the final season - idk! i like patterns! i like repetition! and like, his choice of which one to refer to her by first each season shows the status of their relationship:

season 1, "david," that playground nickname that's used to antagonize her (even if it doesn't work), showing their immature animosity for each other

season 2, "devi" to show her he's serious, he wants her to be his girlfriend, he doesn't want to hurt her, or annoy her, or make her feel less-than anymore - he's all in!!!!!!

season 3, "david," now evolved from an immature nickname almost into a term of endearment, a mark of friendship.

i just think a "devi" in the beginning of season 4 would be a great way to show the status of their relationship with each other; he can't use "david" because "david" has turned fond. so using "devi" would feel like - like a level of separation between them, if that makes sense? to make this whole interaction between them less...familiar. less safe, i guess. to show her he's hurt and confused, confused as to why she left and confused as to why she's the angry one when she made him feel like it was a one-time thing - using her name and his tone of voice to convey, "you walked out on me, you ghosted me, you made me feel like it wasn't special, like what we had wasn't special." i want devi to see the consequences of her leaving in his eyes and hear it in his voice - he's not angry like he was in season 2, hell, maybe he's not even totally heartbroken over this, but he's still hurt, you know?

(and again like i've said before - i'm not totally, solely blaming devi for what happened here - we still don't have enough facts, so as far as i'm concerned right now, the miscommunication [and like, total lack of] is both of their faults in my eyes, at least until s4 paints the whole story for us.)

#this feels like it makes no sense to me but i just cannot stop Thinking about that possible parallel ok it would just be. so fucking good #devi vs david #ben gross #devi vishwakumar #benvi #nhie #never have i ever #nhie s4 spec #s.txt

60 notes · View notes

queen-of-boops · 6 months

Text

Volume 6 Thoughts

Geri is about to catch some hands. Girl cannot take no for an answer and is beyond delusional when it comes to Joyo. Telling her off felt good.

Why does Joyo's little pouty face get me every time? It's so sad and cute at the same time.

No Travis, I don't want you, I don't know how many times I have to say it.

I'm sorry, but why do none of the couples change anymore? There was so much drama last week and still nothing changed.

The sleepwear options are cute, especially the teddy. My MC is fully embracing her Barbie era with all the pink outfits this season.

I've seen quite a few other people say it, but why the hell do we need to sneak out to the daybeds? I want Travis and Geri to know we don't want to sleep next to them.

Joyo mentioned in casa that he loves dirty talk and girls whispering in his ear. Idk if the other boys said that or not in this volume but it is a Joyo specific thing in my head now.

All the boys smell like cedarwood apparently and I reject it. Joyo's a scuba diver from a beach town for Christ's sake, he should smell like the sea and maybe something like bergamot. Not cedarwood (that should be Alex specific and I'll die on that hill).

Bits scene itself was short ànd kinda lackluster.... I don't have time to rewrite it, but it's tempting.

Okay, again, idk what the morning chat looks like for everyone but I was kicking my feet and squealing like a little girl. It was established in casa that Joyo hates camping and sleeping outside, but he goes on this little rant about how much he enjoyed sleeping under the stars with us and how we're the only person he'd do that for. Can you say swoon-worthy?

Fuck off Geri, JOYO DOESN'T WANT YOU.

Okay, on a non Raf route, Daph is adorable. I love her and Raf together.

Movie night titles were way better this season. I particularly liked 'Jumping for Joyo', 'Geri Much In Love', and 'Daph-Need Your Love'.

But the movie night drama was not it. Wow, a bombshell came in and flirted with me, call the press! Thank God Evan said something. The rest of the clips felt contrived or like they were just there to make Geri look bad (can't Joyo just pick me cause he likes me more and not cause Geri's a hot mess hypocrite?)

Can we also just appreciate that when I say my head isn't turning, everyone knows it's still on Joyo. We've been asking for this since casa s2 and it's finally, consistently remembering who I said I want to be with no matter how many people are interested in me.

Date with Evan was fine. Love that he seems to respect the word no. His sprite is fine AF, but I really just want him to be my villa bestie.

Love how soft and melty Joyo is one on one now, it's precious.

I absolutely howled when Joyo came to pull me for a chat and talked right over Geri's protests. She was so shocked.

Yes, Joyo! Admit you're a jealous motherfucker and let's get back together already!

Travis. Get it through your head. I'm telling you I'm closed off with Joyo, that doesn't mean I want to keep getting to know you like that. I don't want you.

Flowers, really? Kinda hoping they actually aren't from Joyo (and think they might not be just so FB can have him be jealous and start more drama). It's a little weird honestly and an interesting choice for a cliffhanger.

Still really enjoying this season for all its faults honestly. Joyo has me in the palm of his hand and I'd happily go with him anywhere. Not totally sure I see the vision for where they're gonna take the rest of the season, but as long as I get to keep flirting with Joyo, I'm good.

#mo rants about s7 #litg #litg s7 #litg season 7 #litg stick or twist

22 notes · View notes

barclaysangel · 20 days

Text

Junior Wheeler Playlist

*pats playlist* This bad boy can fit 207 songs that lasts in total 12 hours and 27 minutes. I fixate too much on Junior. But I got inspired by @high-functioning-fang1rl Nica playlist so I had to do one for Junior too.

This is on my iTunes account and idk how to manage Spotify so if y'all wanna listen to it, I'm going to put all the songs down below. The ones with * on it are the ones I 1000000% relate for Junior. And feel free to send asks about any of the songs and I'll legit do a lyric analyst to explain why I chose it for Junior.

Anyway, enjoy :)

Avril Lavigne

Losing Grip*

Wish You Were Here

Let Me Go

Billie Eilish

COPYCAT

lovely*

you should see me in a crown*

bury a friend

everything i wanted*

Therefore I Am

Happier Than Ever*

Christina Perri

Distance

The Lonely*

Tragedy

Human

Digital Daggers

Where the Lonely Ones Roam*

The Devil Within*

Can't Sleep, Can't Breathe

Still Here*

Bad Intentions

Dorothy

Raise Hell*

Wicked Ones

Beetlejuice the Musical

Dead Mom*

Say My Name

That Beautiful Sound

Home*

Evanescence

Going Under*

Bring Me To Life

Everybody's Fool*

My Immortal*

Tourniquet

Hello*

My Last Breath

Whisper*

Sweet Sacrifice*

Weight of the World*

Lithium*

Like You

Lose Control*

All That I Am Living For

Made of Stone*

The Change*

My Heart Is Broken

The Other Side

Lost in Paradise*

Sick*

Never Go Back

A New Way To Bleed*

Even in Death

Missing*

Farther Away

Fall Out Boy

I Don't Care*

My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark

Alone Together*

Young Volcanoes*

Irresistible

Centuries*

Immortals*

Halsey

Empty Gold

Hold Me Down*

New Americana*

Ghost

Colors*

Colors, Pt. II

Gasoline*

Control*

I Walk the Line

Alone*

Now or Never

Sorry

Good Mourning*

Lie*

Angel on Fire*

Devil in Me*

clementine

Graveyard

Forever ... (is a long time)*

I HATE EVERYBODY*

3am*

Finally // beautiful stranger*

Still Learning

Bells in Santa Fe*

Easier than Lying*

Lilith

Darling*

1121*

honey

Whispers*

Ya'aburnee

People Disappear Here*

Hollywood Undead

Young*

Paradise Lost*

Another Way Out

We Are*

Medicine

Renegade

Imagine Dragons

Radioactive

Demons*

I'm So Sorry*

Monster*

Who We Are

Natural*

Enemy*

LINKIN PARK

Faint

Numb*

What I've Done*

Heavy

Livingston

Shadow*

Surprise!*

Marina and The Diamonds

Oh No!*

Teen Idle

Melanie Martinez

Dollhouse*

Soap*

Training Wheels

Pity Party*

Milk and Cookies*

Mad Hatter*

The Principal

Show & Tell*

Drama Club

Lunchbox Friends*

Orange Juice*

High School Sweethearts

DEATH*

VOID*

FAERIE SOIREE

LIGHT SHOWER

SPIDER WEB*

LEECHES*

BATTLE OF THE LARYNX*

THE CONTORTIONIST*

NYMPHOLOGY

EVIL*

PLUTO*

Olivia Rodrigo

brutal*

Can't Catch Me Now*

Queen

Bohemian Rhapsody*

Under Pressure

The Show Must Go On*

Set It Off

Nightmare*

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead*

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Skillet

Falling Inside the Black*

Monster*

Taylor Swift

I Did Something Bad*

Don't Blame Me*

Look What You Made Me Do*

my tears ricochet

seven*

this is me trying*

hoax

Anti-Hero*

You're On Your Own, Kid*

Vigilante Shit*

Three Days Grace

Just Like You*

I Hate Everything About You

Born Like This

Overrated*

Pain*

Animal I Have Become*

Riot

Let It Die

Bitter Taste*

Break

The Good Life*

Someone Who Cares*

Chalk Outline

Misery Loves My Company*

Human Race*

Pain Killer*

Fallen Angel

So What*

Nothing's Fair in Love and War

One Too Many

twenty one pilots

Stressed Out*

Ride

Fairly Local*

Other Artists

Let Me Down Slowly by Alec Benjamin

Here by Alessia Cara*

Panic Room by Au/Ra*

I'm Gonna Show You Crazy by Bebe Rexha*

Dark Side by Bishop Briggs*

idfc by blackbear

Break the Rules by Charli XCX

Arcade by Duncan Laurence

The Monster by Eminem*

Gorgeous Nightmare by Escape the Fate*

Seven Devils by Florence + the Machine*

You Found Me by The Fray

Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths*

So Alive by The Goo Goo Dolls*

Blood // Water by grandson*

Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day

Impossible by James Arthur*

Human by John "The Ragin Cajun" Jones*

Broken by lovelytheband

How Villains Are Made by Madalen Duke*

Twisted by MISSIO

Voices by Motionless In White

Funeral by Neoni*

How You Remind Me by Nickleback*

Don't Let Me Get Me by P!nk

Cradles by Sub Urban*

Bad Things by Summer Kennedy*

Shattered by Trading Yesterday*

Unsteady by X Ambassadors*

Heads Will Roll by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

10 notes · View notes

canonically47 · 2 months

Text

thoughts on every ridonculous race duo including don at the beginning because i just finished watching it for the first time. continued in reblogs

don is such a fun host! he doesn't want anyone to get hurt, and doesn't push anything 'for the ratings'. and even so, he manages to have a lot of funny, witty moments. of course, chris is still my favorite host, but don definitely cuts it close!... especially because, let's be real, we all forgot anyone else in the universe. (don't come for me blaineley fans she's fine I SAID DON'T COME FOR ME STAY BACK PLEASE I HAVE A FAMILY)

the LARPers. definitely some... interesting characters. they're the prime example of total drama's flat and boring personalities, most of which were distributed in pahkitew island. i'm kinda mad that, of all those horribly mid and boring characters, we got the most mid and boring one back. hell i'd have preferred dave there, he'd had given us some substance to the story. i don't even remember the girl's name and i don't wanna google it. forgettable, but definitely annoying for as long as they were on screen.

the tennis rivals. good, but overhyped i think. at least, i've seen a lot of people talk about them and ship them, especially since their cameo in the reboot. i for sure thought they'd last longer because of that. i really liked their banter but they don't come close to my favorites. i will not be calling any of their agents. sorry :(

the geniuses. yeah they definitely existed! i mean their characters were fine and i really don't have anything against them, plus their concept is kinda fun. but i absolutely despise courtney's character and hearing her voice come out of another contestant's mouth made me hate her immediately. I STILL KINDA LIKE HER... like, her character design is fun... i just don't care for them that much

the vegans. they look sooo pretty and.. that is the sole reason i put them down as 'i vibe with'. i really don't care for them. i don't even know their names lmfao

the fashion bloggers. sooo fun whenever they were on-screen. unfortunately this show is so predictable and i can tell when a character's arc comes to an end and they're going home. i don't wish they stayed longer tbh? i like them but i think they've had their time. the wlw/mlm solidarity ever next to the ice dancers but we're getting to them. anyways, solid duo!

mom and daughter. ugh. fuck you

the adversity twins. i don't want to sound like a copypasta so i'll keep it short but GODDD THEY WERE SOOO ANNOYING. does NOBODY else feel this way?? i swear before i watched RR i only saw good things about them. HOW? LITERALLY HOW??? they are so fucking annoying and all they do when they're on screen is whine. "ooh mickey is allergic to breathing :((" "actually jay has a water allergy :((" AND THEN THEY HAVE THIS OP SUPERPOWER WHAT THE FUCK IS TEMPERATURE DYSLEXIA THAT DOESN'T EVEN EXIST ahem. excuse me. getting too worked up over thE WORST DUO. SHUT THE FUCK UP let's move on sorry i'll control myself

the step-brothers. idk about you guys but they are really close to being my favorite duo. just... their entire gimmick is so good. the build-up to finding out they're so similar... ough the bros ever. i was so sad when they got eliminated :( they were so funny AND fun. lorenzo is higher than chet because i like his character design more. tbh they're kinda the same person to me? but this is a mistake i made before watching RR, thinking every duo is the same person. which they're not, i quickly learned. at least not most of them. but yeah these two were very fun, they bounced off each other very well. i really liked them. they should've gone further methinks.

#total drama #total drama island #total drama presents: the ridonculous race #the ridonculous race #ridonculous race #not tagging everyone

9 notes · View notes

voidaspects · 8 months

Text

My initial thoughts on what we've seen from Little Nightmares III so far:

okay, first of all-

ohmygodohmygod it's happening this is the best day of my life I'm eternally grateful we get more of this oh my god I'm so happy-

okay, with that out of the way, I have more in depth thoughts. My overall feelings on the reveal are incredibly positive, but with the caveat that this is still visibly missing some elements from the initial LN formula. This isn't to say that this will be bad in comparison, just different, and I feel it's worth it to put a spotlight on that.

The most obvious example of a change in philosophy is the inclusion of multiplayer. To be totally honest, I was actually worried about the idea of them including it, because the addition seems to stand against the linear artistic experience that the series is recognized for, but the way they've pitched the multiplayer does sound pretty unobtrusive, so I'll bite my tongue on that. I do think it has a risk of making the experience less cohesive though. It's clear that the decision was inspired by LN2, but that undersells the amount of individuality that six has in that game. You can't recreate the volatile emotions of your interactions with her if there wasn't the moments where she's not there with you, and you couldn’t have the scripted moments where she acts of her own accord to serve the narrative, if she was meant to serve the dual purpose of being a vessel for another player. idk, I suppose we'll see.

The other visible element that branches out from the original philosophy is the very clear push towards grounded, overt storytelling. Little nightmares from the beginning has presented it's story in a very deliberately vague way. Typically, it pushes the story beats through implication, and let's your brain fill in the gaps to get the intended story beats alongside some lingering uncertainty of the conclusion you've come to. it's not a game that is meant to be explained (contrary to what some youtube videos might tell you lol). the truth of little nightmares story is, explicitly, what you personally take away from it. some people view six as sympathetic, some people view her as purely heartless, and neither conclusion is wrong (please don't fight about it ; ;)

anyway, point is... this new entry is distancing itself from that element that's been inherently baked in until this point. like in the initial development of the first game, they removed all references to real world language, there is deliberately no spoken language in the series. the only exception so far, out of every piece of media in the series, has been the comics, which were cancelled and decanonized (though those characters still exist in that universe somewhere, in my heart ; ;) and the press release material, which has been the backbone of all explicitly stated Little Nightmares facts. we wouldn't even have character names if it weren't for that stuff, there are no names stated in any of those games!

with that said, and while it is cool as hell that they exist... making the new announcement of additional story media in this universe be through audio drama is a bit of an odd choice, isn't it? like... inherently? with this in mind? Like I'm over the moon with excitement, I'm not complaining, but the change in philosophy is pretty visible, right?

also, speaking of the universe, another example of the shift to more overt and clear storytelling is that they've officially given the setting a name. this isn't strictly new, we have "The Maw" "The Nest" (still canon in my heart ; ;) "The Pale City" and the new game, in turn, has "The Necropolis"

and yet, another name in the marketing has been "the Nowhere," a name that has been exclusively described with language implying we are already familiar with it, e.g. "welcome back to the Nowhere" and "are you ready to return to the Nowhere?"

This name has never been used in any previous media, as far as I know, but I think it's pretty clear that the underlying implication is that "The Nowhere" refers to the entirety of the LN universe.

not to sound like a broken record, but... my reaction remains a simultaneous "this is cool as hell" and "this was made with a very different philosophy in mind."

I predict that LN3 will have a much more cohesive story, grounded in a specific and defined setting. We've lost the ambiguity present in the series' identity, but that could lead to some cool things in the future.

overall? I'm extremely excited and incredibly optimistic, but do think that we should go into this new experience with the understanding that it might be a different one. There is visibly a new team working on this one, and while they may not have put as much focus into the subtleties of this franchise's identity, they are very clearly trying to stay true to the overall identity. you can tell in the art style, it's borderline perfect, and it's very clear that the people working on this knew how important stuff like that was to this game, and to us. This won't be the same experience that Tarsier would have made, but Tarsier was content to not make any more of that experience, so a new direction is far from blasphemous. I'm overjoyed that we're getting this new experience, with all it's little differences, and I can't wait to see what they do.

(also, to anyone who's curious about the design philosophy of the original game, I highly recommend this presentation. I feel like not enough people have seen this, and it's so interesting. Its all neat, but since It was partially to promote the game while it was still being developed, a lot of stuff in it is just showcasing a demo of the game and showing the trailer. All the cool stuff you'll wanna hear starts around the 16 minute mark)

#little nightmares 2 #little nightmares six #little nightmares #little nightmares 3 #little nightmares spoilers #little nightmares game #very little nightmares #ramblings

23 notes · View notes