#TLDR: playing the blame game in TD love triangles is kinda dumb because it's always the writters' faults /j

[fraudulent-cheese]

Consider talking about the parallel lines of roti. PLEASE this is literally my roman empire and I'd love to hear your take

Oh geez, hope i can do them justice then!

So generally when people talk about the parallel lines plot in roti, it's to criticize it in various ways - and it deserves it, mind you - but a common pattern i see in those critiques is trying to find someone who's in the categorical 'wrong'. While i have entertained discussions related to that sort of thing with the other love triangle, im not sure it really applies here if you try to look at it from the character's perspectives themselves.

This isn't to say they're all innocent, they still make mistakes and aren't good at communicating (they're teenagers. duh.) Yes, Zoey's overly possessive of a guy she isn't even dating. Yes, Anne Maria gushing about Vito to Mike's discomfort during one elimination ceremony isn't great. Yes, Mike trying to actually talk it out would've helped resolve their issues quicker.

However... You can't really pin the full blame on anyone involved here. Yeah Zoey and Anne Maria fighting over a guy was dumb, but it makes sense in character; Zoey's both judgemental and was previously isolated, so i can see Anne Maria affirming she knows the "real Mike" really getting under her skin and overriding her people pleasing tendencies, while the other girl doesn't take any shit and especially won't take it from a girl who seems to think she's dating the guy she's currently seeing.

in my mind, they've ALL been screwed over in this situation in some way and it somewhat makes sense! Vito's being screwed over because he's an alter in a system with a host who's determined to pretending he's a singlet and doesn't remember what Mike does with Zoey. On top of that, no alter in the system is actually communicating at this point, so there's no real way Vito would know or care about it. Mike's being screwed over because of past experiences of telling the ones closest to him about being a system and rejecting him for it (it's heavily implied in one of his confessionals), a lack of memory for what Vito does and not wanting to screw up his friendship with/crush on Zoey. Anne Maria and Zoey are being screwed over because from the former's perspective she's in the right and trying to romance a guy who only seems to be truly himself around her, while from the latter's perspective it's almost like she's been lead on since both parts of Zoke are not subtle about their mutual crushes. Neither girl knows what's truly going on either since Mike won't tell them.

And of course, there was probably already going to be friction between Zoey and Anne Maria due to Zoey's own issues with making connections and projecting at least some of her baggage on the other girl and Anne Maria (reasonnably might i add) not wanting to take that. And also because the roti writters wouldn't allow the girls to be friends despite the things they could've bonded over but that's a seperate tangent and a half-

NOW i haven't been very critical of this plotline so far, and that's for a veryyyy specific reason; my biggest issue with it is how the narrative treats it. IE, by desperately trying to place Anne Maria as being in the wrong and siding very obviously with Zoke as the end point; they're already set up by episode fucking 1, Anne Maria doesn't get an arc or story outside of being the romantic rival, the alters in general aren't focused on as individuals throughout their short time on screen, zoke is literally the canon ship AND the campfire couple TWO SEASONS IN A ROW... It results in a plotline that is both predictable and boring to watch (for me at least.) and it's the origin point for most of the things wrong with it, at least the parts of it that aren't linked with writing issues that already plague huge parts of the show (cough cough the misogyny)

The saddest part for me though is that half the parallel lines don't get closure in the end. Vito and Anne Maria never talk again after Anne Maria's elimination, they never clear things up (on screen) between eachother, or even have Mike clear things up with Anne Maria! It's just never resolved, and it's never brought up again.

I'd like to think, even if it's post canon or whatever, that Mike/Vito went to talk with Anne Maria alone and tried their best to explain what was going on. It would take some adjustment and good communication to work-out, but i'd like to believe that it could! In my little brainhole i think that Anne Maria and Vito could just end up as friends who kiss sometimes for fun or are just close in general. Hell i could even picture Anne Maria and Mike + Zoey and Vito being friendly after the show's over and they've actually had a conversation about things. But alas, this is Total Drama, so the best we have to deal with these things is fanfiction and spinning the characters in our heads like microwave. Sad! Or joyous? Depending on your perspective.