#filler character

[luckynightkryptonite]

[egophiliac]

swipes everything else off of the table to yell about diasomnia flower bookmarks

(I gave Silver one too :D)

[cozylittleartblog]

gooseworx in the glitchx livestream: i want to see people draw jax in a suit. people should draw him crying

me: sure thing, boss o7

[thenotoriousscuttlecliff]

Starting to think many don't really know what a filler episode is if they think all of these are filler. A filler episode isn't just a one-off story, but normally something that just feels like it is utterly forgettable and disposable and mainly there to fill out the schedule because the writers didn't have any better ideas. Episodes like Move Along Home, The Storyteller, Second Sight, The Muse, Let He Who Is Without Sin, Resurrection, Profit and Lace, etc. The type of episodes many will just skip on a rewatch.

[dominosecho]

they’re filler episodes TO YOU. to me they’re little windows through which i watch my favorite characters make the stupidest decisions imaginable

[byoldervine]

The Trick To Writing Filler

(TL;DR at the bottom)

Filler is when you spend a chapter padding the length of your story between plot-related events. Filler chapters have little to no impact on the overarching plot and can be self-contained, and thus in TV shows filler episodes are often reran the most as people unfamiliar with the show can casually watch without being confused without the knowledge of prior plot beats

So with the chapter being largely self-contained and acting outside of the plot, what do you use to make the filler chapter engaging? I’m going to use filler episodes from Avatar: The Last Airbender to provide examples

1. Worldbuilding. Zuko Alone depicts Zuko’s travels taking him through an Earth Kingdom village and becoming acquainted to the family that allows him to stay with them, especially their young son. He learns about what the Fire Nation’s impact on this village has been; destroyed houses, families torn apart, constant robbery and other abuses of power and injustices. And even after Zuko defends the villagers and his new friend, he’s venomously cast out from the village by even the little boy because he outed himself as a firebender. This episode explored the impact of the war on the people of the Earth Kingdom, the victims of war that have no involvement in it and no way of defending themselves from it

2. Character exploration. In The Beach, we learn more about Mai, Ty Lee, Azula and Zuko and how their own traumas and personal upbringings have impacted their personalities. For Zuko this is part of a turning point for him, but for the girls it’s more to understand why they are the people we’ve gotten to know over the seasons, especially Ty Lee and Mai. The episode also serves to showcase how Azula and Zuko are so out of place being just normal teenagers; Azula has no idea how to talk to her peers and no identity outside being Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, while Zuko’s hotheadedness and jealousy issues lead him to lash out and be far too confrontational and controlling for his own good. This episode isn’t really used to develop these characters, or at least not the girls, but instead explains and showcases their behaviours and the reasons behind them

3. Character development. Going back to The Beach, Zuko does indeed receive development rather than just character exploration like the girls do; he comes to understand that he’s not just angry at the world or angry in general, but angry with himself. This is a notable turning point for Zuko’s redemption arc, because he now understands fully that he truly regrets betraying Iroh and sacrificing his new start in life in favour of returning to the Fire Nation. He might not yet be fully decided on turning his back on Ozai, but without this moment I don’t know if he’d have gotten there, or at least not as quickly as he did

4. Relationship development. Sokka’s Master has a C plot of Aang, Katara and Toph all being rather bored and lost without Sokka’s presence. The A plot exploring Sokka’s feelings of inadequacy and uselessness in comparison to such powerful and formidable bending masters being contrasted with the Gaang unable to function without him already speaks volumes about their dynamics, but looking deeper into the C plot also shows how much value Sokka really does bring to the team; structure, planning, humour, a quick wit, strategic moves. The Gaang always supported Sokka and never seemed to view him as expendable outside of the occasional teasing, but having it acknowledged so clearly and plainly that they can feel a little aimless and flat without Sokka and being so delighted when he returns really shows us the kind of value Sokka brings to this team and brings us and the characters to further appreciate it

5. Downtime. The Ember Island Players depicts the characters taking a break to watch a comedic play based on their wacky adventures, only to be largely underwhelmed and displeased by how they’re portrayed. There are no stakes to this episode and barely any plot, just the Gaang taking a breather as they react to a bad play. This chance to relax and watch something inconsequential is just as important to the viewers as we’ve got the show’s finale in the next four episodes, which will be very plot-driven and intense. The Ember Island Players also has the additional viewer bonus of recapping the events of the show right before it all ends, giving the viewers time to reflect on the journey they’ve gone on with these characters. In order for the stakes to feel high and the tension to rise, there has to be downtime where there are low stakes and low tension; if things are intense all the time, the moments that are supposed to feel super intense will just feel average in comparison. Resetting that intensity right before such a big event while still acknowledging the looming threat coming soon will feel like the calm before the storm and allow your audience to soak it all up like the characters are

Wow, did I just go through all that without talking about Tales of Ba Sing Se? I’ll save that for another post if people are interested in more

TL;DR - filler provides a moment to breathe, reset the intensity levels the audience are experiencing and take a chance to step away from the external conflict (the overarching plot) in favour of worldbuilding and the characters within your setting. Small moments can amount to something big, and can help make large scale decisions or plot twists feel more build-up and in-character

[panharmonium]

NARUTO REALLY SAID “BOOOOO” WHEN YAMATO WOULDN’T GIVE IN TO HIS BEGGING

[cometrose]

okay but episode 9 of queen of tears is a lot about family and i think the commentary on all 3 families is super cool.

You see the Baek family just slowly integrate the Hong family into their lives. Feeding them, taking care of them, welcoming them when they get home. When Hyunwoo and Haein coming back from the hospital and everyone is like "let's go eat now” and they all walk back home together. Plus you see how supportive the community like the nephew promising Haein not to tell anybody or the grandma comforting aunty Beomja.

Then you see the Hong family realizing they don't have real friends as everyone has turned their back on them. Friends, lovers, they don't have anyone and they don't know how to comfort each other. Haein struggles to comfort Soocheol after his wife ran off, the father doesn't know how to reassure his own family. They are very much a family that doesn't know how to be a family.

Lastly is Eunsong and his mom which is unsurprisingly more fucked up than Haein's family. Abandoning your son for 25 years just so you can climb the social latter is crazy but getting shocked that he doesn't listen to you or respect you is crazier. Also the son is crazy he needs to be hit with a brick.

[musicalchaos07]

Sighing in Steve & El have never interacted onscreen together so how exactly is he her big brother

Meanwhile, her ACTUAL big brother performed emergency surgery in a mall food court and drove across 3 states trying to find her

But y'all don't like him.

[snailsnaps]

Color practice bluh bluh

[enixamyram]

So, we all know the first season was a little rushed since they only had 8 episodes to work with. It is my (desperate) hope that since the show is doing so well, they'll be given more episodes for season 2. Now let's pretend they'll be given enough for filler episodes as well as the main story. Here are some of my dream filler episodes I would love to see happen!

A Chaggie date (Vaggie sees Charlie is getting stressed and worries about her so she insists on taking her out for a night off.)

A Keekee and Fat Nugets episode (something happens and the two end up away from the hotel and work together to find their way back home.)

An Earth Visit (not sure why, but somehow for some reason, Charlie and co visit earth for a day and chaos ensures because how could it not.)

Emily Visits Hell (maybe brings Molly with? It would be kind of hilarious for people from Heaven to see how it really is like in Hell. Maybe this is Charlie trying to get them to be more part of the hotel transition.)

A Blackout Episodes (One of those, how various people deal with something -Vox- causing a blackout throughout the city. Maybe even one of those Charlie or Vaggie gets stuck in a lift with Velvette or someone to have some fun interactions between different characters.)

A Gambling Episode (No idea the story but at some point it involves Husk making some bets to let off steam and Angel ends up tagging along as arm candy and I read somewhere that Husk cheats so maybe Angel helps him!)

Lucifer rejoins society (he attempts to pick up his role as King of Hell but finding it increasingly hard since his long absence and preppy attitude means not many people take him seriously.)

Nifty chaos (maybe she somehow wanders from the hotel while Alastor is away so Chalie and the others try to find her, worried she'll get hurt, meanwhile she's terrorizing the rest of hell and just having a blast before they eventually find her safe and sound if not covered in a lot of someone else's blood.)

Overlords episode (Maybe Charlie or Lucifer want to try and get on the good side of the overlords so try and spend some time with each of them to get to know them better.)

The Vees meets Hangover (this one is really silly and in general I just want a Vee filler but it'd also be hilarious if there was a Hangover style one where one of them - take your pick, it'd be hilarious either way - goes missing after a bender and the other two struggle to put together what happened to find them.)

[egophiliac]

Is there any indication that Fellow Honest has a limp like the original Honest John?

I don't think so? but we haven't actually seen him walk or anything (the sprites just zwoop around the screen like everyone's on skateboards), so no indication he doesn't either! no reason it can't be headcanon. :D

the first part of the event was pretty much all setup, so we still don't really know anything about him or Gidel at this point! we might learn a bit more when the next part comes out tomorrow (but more likely it'll be in part 4, maybe some crumbs in part 3 if we are lucky) (I am expecting part 2 to be standard "walk around and look at stuff and talk about it forever" event filler with perhaps a dramatic cliffhanger to hook us for next week) (but who can say for another...checks watch four and a half hours, wow, that next part really snuck up huh)

[theninthlaw]

テミス GIVE. ME. MORE. PANDAEMONIUM.

[nocofamilyau]

not related to noco at all but what is katie and sadie’s relationship like now?

pretty good all things considered! while they're both married to two sweet guys and have separate families (none of their kids are other td characters, unfortunately...) they're still really close, and still live next to each other at that same beach town they grew up in, now both running that successful 80s themed ice cream business they've been dreaming of! its safe to say they probably suffered the least on Total Drama, only leaving with a couple of minor scars, good god were they lucky..

[thresholdbb]

I can fix him

Except he is a beloved 58-year-old science fiction franchise being smashed into the ground for profit and I am a potato

[sasukeless]

why do people talk about izumi as if she was an actual canon character and not… a filler one lol