One day I'm going to do a thread about how narrative storylines work, particularly in soaps, and how it's literally okay if the characters featured in a relationship or family always have stories around that relationship or family, because that's how ensemble dramas work.

The idea that characters MUST have a storyline all of their own in order to be properly respected by the show is not only incorrect, but it leads to shitty stories. Couples and families are part of each other's stories, that's how this works.

And its OKAY if couples with a compelling relationship never really have stories away from each other. A character that works best with another character is not a weak character, it's a character whose relationships make them most compelling.

Masood and Zainab were GREAT characters, but they didn't work as separate characters. It's why Max has flopped so hard since Tanya left, despite being a compelling character in his own right. Good, strong characters are built on relationships, not just individualism.

It's a delight when you have a couple where, if there's a story strand for one of them, it interacts with the other. I've never been in a ship fandom where people complained about this type of thing, about wanting one half of the couple to have 'their own' storyline. It's weird.

Callum having storylines around the Mitchells is GOOD. Ben having storylines is good because they're NEVER just about Ben. I don't understand this need to have Callum out on his own, bobbing away with 'his own' storyline. Sounds boring to me. And shit storytelling.

Point to where Ben has had his 'own' storyline recently, that didn't always have a huge focus around Callum. Callum is the centre of his world. Even in the hearing loss storyline, Callum and the relationship was front and centre. We got 'what about me!' out of it, for fuck sake.

There's a fundamental misunderstanding of how characters, relationships, and storytelling works.

Callum is not a neglected character and, if he is, then by that logic so is Ben (Ben mainly featured in other people's stories, after all, not 'his own').

Just...enjoy them, they are both getting great material as a duo, and trust me when I say you'll miss it when it's not that way any more. Characters are allowed to be made more compelling and interesting by other characters. They make each OTHER better characters. That's OKAY.

Apparently 'one day I'll make a thread' turned into 'today I'll make a thread'.

Woops.

Anyway, goodnight, I sleep now.