#there's still sand here

[bambiraptorx]

What is your opinion on the mystical magenta goat man? (Draxum)

Good dad? Deserved more screentime/emotional moments with the bois? (they gave us like 2 moments like that in the finale, and I'm sad that it's all we got)

owo

Ooh, I have so many thoughts about Draxum. Buckle up.

First of all, it's worst mentioning that when I started watching Rise, I knew ahead of time that he would get a redemption arc. (Reading the wiki and watching clips/analysis videos is what got me interested in the show, after all.) So admittedly, my view of how his redemption arc went was a little skewed just because I knew from the start that it would happen.

Personally, I wish more of it had been actually shown in the show. We get about ten seconds of him helpless in an alley then a hard cut to him in his apartment being bullied by Mikey, and I would love to see how that series of events played out. Also, his arc from mortal enemy to somewhat trusted by the turtles happened in one eleven minute episode, and I would have loved to see that tension be played with a little more. I do understand that the show was cut short, though, and I'm pretty happy with what we did get.

*looks at all my fics* honestly, I think part of the reason that they're all more or less about Draxum spending time with the turtles one way or another is because that dynamic was so underdeveloped and several things went unaddressed in order to give the show a decently cohesive finale.

For example, the roof incident. Leo is clearly very bitter about it and clearly mistrusts Draxum because of it, but the show just didn't have the opportunity to address it. Another issue that had to go unresolved was Draxum's relationship to Cassandra, because she seriously looked up to/trusted him in their episode together but he more or less threw her under the bus.

Not to mention all the little things that canon hints at but doesn't show. Like, somehow Donnie has Draxum's phone number, meaning they had at least one conversation off screen. How did that happen? Do they hang out or something? And really, the whole story of how Mikey got Draxum to move into an apartment and let him come over is so unexplored, at least within the show.

And speaking of things that canon doesn't show, I find Draxum's position among yokai to be absolutely fascinating, especially given that the only yokai he deals with in the show itself are antagonists to him (Big Mama, the Council of Heads, the cops) aside from the gargoyles.

There's a pretty big hole there about how he interacted with the rest of the Hidden CIty-- did he have friends? DId people know about his research and mutations? What did people think about him? And obviously the narrative doesn't address this because the story is about the turtles, not him. But still.

And why did he choose to create mutants in the first place? Its fascinating that the prophecy that motivates him is never actually shown in the show itself, just referenced. Why was mutating humans the best option to him? Did he try other things? When exactly did the Council tell him not to create warriors?

The timeline is pretty fuzzy, and frankly Draxum's motives aren't actually all that clear. That's probably why there's so many different interpretations of why he's doing what he's doing (and what, exactly, he's actually doing) throughout the fandom-- canon doesn't address it super deeply.

So yeah, his relationships with the turtles are really fun to think about and mess around with, but the gaps in the narrative (not a perfect phrase but the general idea) around him are fascinating to explore in their own right. And whether canon would have explored him more or not, I think its fun so I'm gonna do it lol. I have built so much lore about this man (almost none of which has showed up in my stories) because he's fun.

And he is genuinely a fun character, whether pre or post redemption. He's dramatic, he's arrogant, he makes bad quips (seriously, he has a line about "how very NOT NICE to see you" at one point, and that's how my sister used to talk before she figured out how to actually be sarcastic). He, the big bad of season one, ends up as a lunch lady at one point, which is frankly absurd and absolutely in tone for the kind of show that Rise is. He's a powerhouse at times and completely out of his element at others.

And once he's no longer actively fighting the turtles most of his screen time, there's a goofiness to the nature of his character, a powerful alchemist/warrior trying to live a normal life (mostly because a thirteen year old will yell at him otherwise) and not even trying that hard. Season 2 especially does a lot of fun things with his character, and I only wish that they're been able to do more.

TLDR: Draxum is probably my favorite character, and also I want to hit him with the hammer of 'forced to deal with teenagers'.

[vaguely-concerned]

the more I play the more I think lucanis basically knows it's illario who betrayed him right from the beginning (he's had a year in the ossuary to think. not that many people knew where he was going. when you ask him 'did Illario know you'd be on that ship' his only answer is the hardest flattest 'yes' you ever heard). so it's not so much about figuring out who the traitor is (because that's ludicrous. we all know. immediately. they didn't really bother to hide it lmao) as about methodically closing off every single avenue of denial lucanis has clung to that whole time with as much or little gentleness as you might prefer until he has no choice but to admit it. because the moment he has to admit it, he'll have to do something -- feel something -- about it. and that's such a catastrophic event in lucanis' inner landscape (he has had TWO people in this whole entire world up until now and will do anything to hold on to them with a heartbreaking child-like desperation, even at and especially through the detriment of his own self) that he'd rather just. not. what if we quite simply. didn't. what if we just stayed here in the emptiness where we can both pretend you didn't hurt me in a way I should never forgive. I have so much practice in that with caterina already it's always worked out great for everyone so far. (press x to fucking doubt but that's trauma logic for you lol)

after everything illario did, so much of the storm of lucanis' emotions around it is 'what the FUCK did you get yourself tangled up in this time and how do I get you out of this mess safely'. what's worse: the fact that your brother murdered you, or that he put himself in horrible danger doing so and thus exposed you to the risk of losing him forever. lucanis' heart certainly has an opinion here and it's fucking unhinged (affectionate)

the themes of dissociation in lucanis' character in general makes me feel nuts. allllll these contradictory messy things he needs to cut off from each other because they can't coexist or be easily reconciled inside him. but all remain stubbornly true separately anyway and will have their due one day. love and resentment. tenderness and fear and rage. terror and longing. love and freedom don't coexist. the burned out golden child anthem is playing in the background. he was always caterina's favourite and he has to keep striving to deserve that dubious honour with every breath he takes and then, presumably, mercifully, some day he will die and be excused and can rest. and until now he's suppressed all the -- natural, healthy, protective! -- negative feelings that threaten the few attachment relationships he actually has, at the cost of ever actually having his needs for connection and safety met and leaving his core self imprisoned and compromised. and spite goes 'what. no. that's dumb fuck that' (*spite voice* I do not understand that and even if I did I would not respect it) and does not allow him to fall back into that, which I think is what saves his life, ultimately. it took being possessed by a demon for lucanis to even contemplate telling anyone he loves 'no' in any way, but hey. whatever gets you there right lol

lucanis is dealing with the freeze response allll the way down baby. and he was even before the ossuary, that just turbo powered it and brought it to a breaking point way before it could happen naturally. but something was going to break eventually no matter what, and I'm just glad that in the end, through the power of friendship and also pure spite, it doesn't have to be him

[dankld]

shinobi of the sand

also on ig and twt

[httyd-art-requests]

Could we get a Night Fury/Sand Wraith hybrid?

I already did a Night Fury x Sand Wraith Hybrid riiiiiight here, so here's the Light Fury version :)

Dragons #116- Light Fury x Sand Wraith Hybrid (Sand Fury?)

They live primarily around white sandy beaches. They're exceptionally sparkly in the sun

[bird-inacage]

The Heart Killers: Character Interviews (Kant/Bison Focus)

So this proved to be super interesting. Let us see what can be gleaned from these brief little interview segments with Kant and Bison.

Immediately, I'm struck by how serious and stoic Kant comes across. He has a very mature aura, and is quite hard to read (which I guess is a plus considering what he gets up to). I didn't expect this, based on how flirty and forward he appeared to be in the trailer, and that makes me wonder if it's all part of a persona he's playing. Or whether the real Kant is in fact more measured and introspective, and Bison just brings out his playful side?

A notable trait that gets signposted repeatedly is Kant's care for his brother Babe. I believe Khao has made a similar comment about him being family-oriented. It makes a tonne of sense to me as to why Bison would be drawn to a 'family man'; someone who has strong family values, when Bison's essentially been rejected by his own.

"My goal in life is to make sure my brother grows up into a good man. I want to make sure he doesn't feel like he's lacking anything. We're all we've got right now." "I just live day by day, just keeping with my goal which is making sure my brother grows up well." This is so telling of Kant's mentality. Not only does it suggest that Kant is a stand-in parent of sorts, but that he doesn't live for himself. (Which could be something of a parallel to Bison - who is unable to live by his own rules). His goals centre entirely on his loved ones' needs being met and supporting them. This definitely gives provider with self-sacrificing tendencies.

"I feel like my goal is just to make sure my loved ones get to live their dreams. For now, I just want my brother to have a good life. But one day, if someone comes into my life and I love them, my goal would be to make sure they get to achieve their dreams." And yet another selfless, touching sentiment. The desire to aid your loved ones to actualise their dreams, possibly before or over your own. I expect Kant will be a very doting, nurturing soul. (Lucky Bison).

I wonder if Kant and Fadel will empathise with one another over their respective little brothers, and the sense of responsibility that comes with it. Bonding opportunity perhaps?

The most mysterious thing Kant says is "One more thing I'm not a big fan of is the beach." (The reason is personal). Curious. First has specifically talked about filming on the beach, where they were able to do a lot more improv. Any speculations on the above are wide open.

Now let's move onto our resident Murder Kitten. I've always said that Bison reads as a real sweetie-pie based on everything we've seen thus far. He's very animated and expressive. Khao very deliberately uses a softer, lighter vocal register as Bison, which just accentuates this cute, darling image. A real child at heart who wants to make up for a life he didn't get to lead. "I go out, I'm just trying to live outside the burger shop." His childhood dream about seeing the northern lights is just another example of a boy who has daydreamed of escape, and welcomes any excuse to be as far away from his actual life as possible. He also mentions being fond of a stray cat who resides near their burger bar, who he enjoys feeding and playing with. This precious boy, I cant. (Note: I need to have scenes of this in the show PURR-LEASE).

Everything about Bison as a person feels at odds with his violent lifestyle, which seems to be a central conflict in Bison's character arc. It does beg the question of what if Bison had never been adopted, what kind of life would he be living instead? And I think this drives Kant's desire to fight for Bison's chance at a new start. A boy with big dreams meets a man who wants to realise them. What a match.

Another comment we've heard before in the pilot is "I also don't like liars", no doubt foreshadowing the fallout when he finds out Kant did exactly that. I do think it's likely that whatever drives Kant to take the detective job has reasons to do with his own brother. He may wish to clear his record of anything untoward for his brother's sake. Based on this premise, when Bison does find out why Kant did what he did, I think that will help soothe any hard feelings.

On a side note - I've seen a comment mention that Kant apparently calls Bison 'kitten' in the novel. ERM HULLO?!! I will allow one spoiler, and that is whether this is true or not. And if so, I DEMAND that it is a featured pet name in the show, because why on earth would you miss an opportunity like that?!

You can keep tabs on bird-inacage’s BL meta directory for other long-form posts around The Heart Killers, which I'll be updating as the show airs.

[askblueandviolet]

MASTER POST

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[caterpillarinacave]

Using the computer as a babysitter for Jed and Octavius is all fun and games until they figure out how to use Larry’s credit card

[wangbotam]

todays obscure cookie run character is dark chocos friend who eats dirt and sand from the operation survival/survival masterpiece comics

[deliriousblue]

sorry. but what do you mean the original version of the reconciliation between kant and bison (absolutely crucial to the arc of the show! we have to believe that kant is in love with bison and moreover we have to believe that bison believes that!) was two sentences long...

yes it's impressive and speaks to their talent as actors and their understanding of the characters (and i appreciate that jojo trusted them to go off script especially hearing how far off-script!) and i'm all for improvisation and actors contributing to the end result. but they shouldn't have to write or rewrite entire scenes in order for the audience to be able to correctly understand the characters and their relationship.

i would be interested to know what the original vision was (did it include kant saying he hadn't gotten to be truly himself? bison saying he gave him the chance to leave? kant pulling the gun to his own chest??) but fundamentally. the wound between kant and bison is deep; bison is incapable of killing him because he loves him but he also has no solid ground to rely on because — as far as bison knows — their entire relationship from the very beginning was built on a lie.

kant needs to convince him that it isn't, and yes obviously the whole episode leading up to the scene on the beach is part of that, but i do actually think we need that confession, after bison has given up trying to get some kind of pyrrhic revenge on kant, after he's admitted to himself and to kant both that he's not going to kill him. he needs to hear in that state that kant loves him, that kant liked being with him and making plans with him, that the lie hurt kant just as it hurt bison.

without that i do not think the scene would be as convincing. and this is a pivotal scene for the characters without which the back half of the show would simply fall apart....

[is-the-owl-video-cute]

So anyway you repeatedly say we only feel corn husks and similar inedible parts to cattle but Never add a source to back it up. Having worked on farms I’m afraid for the most part the feeds I’ve seen have been parts entirely edible to humans. And like fuck man 5% of all grown soy is fed to humans or however the stat goes, do you really think the remaining 95% is inedible? really?

Anyway yeah I’m asking for a source here cause I don’t want to add this on to months old post

Ingredients such as “grain by-products” are referring to the husks, stalks, and other “green” parts of the plant that we humans don’t actually have the digestive capabilities to eat. The breakdown of most livestock feeds looks like the above when you actually take a look at it.

Different cattle feed, similar ingredients. Still primarily things that, and I have to stress this, you cannot eat. This one is slightly higher in quality and does indeed have actual grain products included. Some of those are edible to humans. Some are not. Generally cattle are fed cattle cubes with supplemental mineral licks and hay. Some also supplement with whole corn, but I can gladly assure you that corn is not in short supply and even if all the corn sold to animal feed was donated to the poor, you can’t actually live off of corn because there’s very little nutrition in it. Hence why in both human and animal food it’s typically seen as a filler ingredient. Keeps the mouth busy with a meal without making your stomach feel full and you end up eating more without feeling satisfied.

Soybeans are really only often used in feed for pigs because they’re a great source of protein for these animals. I would state that soy is also a terrible option to use as an emergency food for humans in need because while, yes, it is indeed a healthy bean, it’s also one of the top eight foods that humans are frequently allergic or intolerant towards. I’d also ask you for whether your 5% of all grown soy statistic is referring to the beans or the entire plant because yeah the beans are the edible part. The rest of the plant isn't especially healthy for humans to eat. I would say the beans are around 5% of a mature soy plant sure.

[lesbians4armand]

much to be said i think about how in iwtv the tragedy often boils down to either “this character died too soon” or”this character should have died a long time ago but didn’t”

literally “let us die young or let us live forever” but both are tragedy

[hotasfahrenheit]

i was fully on board the "Mix Must Be Boeing Who Else Could Be As Perfect" train until THIS MAN SHOWED UP

[bird-inacage]

Only Friends: Why Ray's reaction speaks volumes about his feelings for Sand, rather than his feelings for Mew

It's natural to think Ray reacted so strongly in the fight with Boston because of his residual feelings and loyalty to Mew. But let's be clear, this revelation doesn't adversely affect Mew in any immediate way if you read this as Ray being upset on Mew's behalf.

Boston's bombshell is instead targeted to hurt Ray specifically. An attempt to make Ray look like a villain and Sand to feel like a victim of Ray's 'deception'. Sand being the unwarranted collateral of this fight.

Why is Ray angry?

So let's break down all the reasons Ray is angry in the first place.

This wasn't Boston's story to tell. He saw and recorded the kiss without their knowledge or consent. He frames it like a 'dirty secret' that Ray intentionally hid from Sand. But it's Ray's right to choose when and if he felt it necessary to share this with Sand, depending on the progression of their relationship.

What Boston is claiming is only partly true. Yes they did kiss. But no, Ray did not 'take Mew's virginity'. Nothing further happened and Boston is embellishing, which implies more gravitas to a 'history' which doesn't exist.

Sand is being fed this information without full context. He doesn't have the benefit of understanding Ray's past (namely his breakdown), the nature of his friendship with Mew. Without it, Ray is going to look categorically bad, especially through the lens of his affectionate behaviour with Sand that day.

The revelation could ruin what potential future there may have been between Ray and Sand, if Sand is driven away. Ray's newfound happiness dashed in an instant.

The initial part of his Ray's reaction is defensive - the shock, the betrayal regarding such an invasion of privacy. Ray's first punch is thrown after "keep track?" The audacity and complete lack of justification felt as to why Boston would even do such a thing. Ray's second attempt to enact violence is when Boston says, "are you going to be two-timing?" I saw the following through his response: 'It's one thing to hurt me. I'm your friend. I know what you're like. But why on earth are you dragging Sand into this? How dare you.'

Attacking Ray's Weak Spot

We can't change our pasts. Whether it was one kiss or years of unrequited feelings - ultimately, nothing became of it. Ray can't erase the fact he did once love Mew (and probably always will in some capacity because of what Mew did for him). But if Ray were to eventually fall in love with Sand, then his romantic feelings for Mew would become past tense. So whatever he felt then would have no bearing on his here and now. Ray shouldn't be made to feel ashamed.

The progress Ray made with Sand this episode has essentially been unravelled through this one act. It's been hugely difficult for Ray to even consider loving anyone other than Mew. He only just started to display inklings of welcoming the idea. We should all be afforded the opportunity to move on. For Boston to use Mew (someone who means so much to Ray symbolically) as ammunition to hurt Sand (someone new he's grown to care about), is pitting his past and future against each other. And it's not fair to do so. Your past doesn't negate what you may do in future. Similarly the future doesn't discredit the past. Both are important for different reasons.

Ray has every right to value both Mew and Sand, because his feelings for each of them will be entirely different in their own right. But what Boston has tried to spin here is a comparison game. 'Ray loves Mew. He's always loved Mew.' The further insinuation being: 'Ray will never find you as important Sand. You're lesser than. You'll never compare in Ray's eyes'. It's simply not Boston's place to say that. How would he know? It's possible that one day Sand could match Ray's love for Mew, surpass it even. But Ray isn't to know that yet.

There's also a palpable air of derision in how Boston delivers this. He makes Ray's feelings out to be a slightly pathetic, sad little obsession, by wording it as "Ray's whole ass is owned by Mew". Reducing Ray's incredibly complex feelings for someone who saved his life to a more superficial pining. The nuances of which Sand won't be aware of.

Hurting Ray by hurting Sand

Not only is Boston trying to tarnish Ray's character by accusing him of misleading and lying to Sand - but in doing so he's humiliating Sand for not being aware of this. If he can tell that Sand has feelings for Ray, he knew this information would hurt an innocent third party. All 'disguised' under a feat of righteousness.

I'm sure Ray is more than aware of how Sand treats him. Sand has been nothing but kind and accommodating where he's concerned. Willing to bend to his will and soften to his demands. Sand absolutely does not deserve to be dragged into any unnecessary drama, (drama which involves a notable part of Ray's history). So Ray is forced to feel somewhat responsible, based purely on the fact that this very 'drama' concerns him.

It's because Ray cares about Sand's feelings, cares about Sand's opinion of him, cares about what Sand feels towards him, and is also concerned by Sand being caught in this crossfire - that Ray is so clearly flustered. No matter what he's done, Sand shouldn't have to suffer along by association. That's not fair on Sand. It's his past in question. It's his best friend doing the damage. And it's because of him that Sand is now getting hurt too.

He can't outright deny it, because part of what Boston is saying is true. (Trying to vehemently defend yourself can sometimes come across even more as an admission of guilt). He can't apologise to Sand, because he hasn't figured out who Sand is to him yet. (If Ray doesn't deem him as a boyfriend at present, then he can't be sorry for liking someone else). The kiss with Mew also relates closely to an absolute rock bottom period of his life, which he probably wasn't ready to share with Sand just yet.

Ray has been made out to be a liar and a cheat and he's just praying that Sand can give him the benefit of the doubt. There's absolutely no way he can possibly explain all the intricacies to Sand in such an instant, but he's allowing Sand to ask him should he wish to. It's the least he can do. But Sand is going through his own internal battle now, and both need time to process what this has led them to realise about how they feel about each other.

[demonwebs]

reminder vhaal is so fucking pale he puts astarion 2 shame

[fights4users]

Ok new rule for all active in the Tron fandom rn I am begging you even if it’s years down the line do not nuke your blog, your ao3 etc. right now we’re in a weird spot where we’re sitting on a wealth of fan content dating back to at least 2010– were on top of a long gone fandom that wiped almost all of it apart from reblogs which is absolutely devastating as all of it is fantastic.

I don’t want us to do the same, even if it’s years down the line and you think no one will care, someone will. We shouldn’t make the same mistake and Nuke it for the next group to find nothing, you know?

[bright-hope-spot-19]

You know, I was just chilling when I remembered something I saw a long time ago. Now, for context, I was scrolling through YouTube one day, as one does, until I stumbled across a very peculiar Naruto short. Now, the channel this short belongs to is an ATLA centric one. As in: the guy has very interesting videos analyzing every episode of Avatar: the last Airbender. That's why it struck me as weird when I saw he'd made a Naruto short cause he'd never made any Nart content before. His channel was purely ATLA. The short was kinda analyzing the scene where Kankuro and Temari were introduced. As you can imagine, it was less of an analysis and more centered on this guy praising Temari and saying, "She had a better role than Kankuro" or something along those lines.

That surprised me, cause? Anyone who's watched the scene can tell that, before Gaara showed up, the scene was completely centered around Kankuro. He was the focus of attention. He was the one who got into a fight with the Konoha kids, starting the conflict. He was the one who threatened to murder both Konohamaru and Naruto. He's the one who first got his abilities foreshadowed by making Nart trip on his strings. He's the reason Sasuke and Gaara even showed up in the first place. He's the one who also starts a conflict with Sasuke cause he doesn't back down from Sasuke's warnings. He stands up to him, making Temari even more worried. He's the one who immediately gets a duality added to his character when Gaara shows up, and he immediately starts apologizing, showing more facets to him. Kankuro's not a coward cause we've seen him stand up to Sasuke, but he shows fear towards Gaara. It just makes you more curious about Gaara and Kankuro.

What did Temari do in their introductory scene? Shrug her shoulders and stand in a corner while Kankuro created the conflict with the Leaf kids, absolving herself from it. Kankuro was the center of that conflict, while Temari stood outside of it. Blush at Sasuke when he showed up. Be used as a plot device to explain the chunin exams (which literally, anyone else could've done). Then, she started begging when Gaara appeared, which doesn't make sense for her. Kankuro got into trouble. He was the one beating these kids and making death threats. It makes sense for him to be scared. Temari was just minding her business. She'd done nothing wrong to really warrant Gaara's anger, yet she's as terrified as Kank. Now, we can say it's because knowing Gaara and how unstable he was, he really could've killed her too, for just existing. So, it makes sense that she was scared. But you see, that only makes sense when you're doing a re-watch and already know Gaara's backstory. For a first-time viewer who doesn't know who Gaara is or why they're so scared of him, Temari's fear is unwarranted. It just paints a negative image of her, that she's easily scared. Unlike Kankuro, she didn't get a 'moment of courage' confronting the Konoha kids before showing her being terrified of Gaara. Of course, that notion of Temari being a coward would be disproved later on in the arc, but overall, it's not a good 1st impression. So, it baffles me when her fans not only imply but affirm with their whole chests that of her and Kankuro, she's the one with the superior introductory scene.

Kankuro got to show the main traits of his personality at the moment: irritable, mean, cruel, takes joy in the suffering of others, kinda selfish, but also proud, confident, stubborn, and cocky. It also shows a strained bond with Gaara that makes you curious to know more bout them cause, as I've said: Kank had a reason to be scared, Tem really didn't. The fact she was so scared with no real reason, immediately joining Kank in appeasing Gaara, just does one thing: show her as a peacemaker. It's not a good role to be stuck with cause all it means is that other people around her (her brothers in this instance) create the conflict, and she has to assuage it. It means she's more of a reactor than an actual active participant of the plot.

It tracks cause it happens again in the forest of death. Now, another thing I wanted to mention is that Gaara is never shown actually threatening her. The two times the sand sibs were caught in an argument (their introduction and the fod), he's threatening Kankuro, not her. Now, people just took this and wrongly assumed that it points out to him loving her more than Kankuro or favoring her in any way. Which is simply not true, lol. Not getting death threats doesn't mean he loved her any more than Kankuro cause there's also a lack of any positive interactions between them to point to a possible less toxic bond they could share. It's like, to give an example, when there's students in a class, and one of them is sent by the teacher to the headmaster office for misbehaving. We can't just assume this means the teacher loves all the other students more than the misbehaving one, cause that one got punished and the others didn't. Of course, teachers will have their favorites, but to ascertain who the favorite is, we'd need to first see the teacher showing that favoritism. Like, giving extra points, being gentler with, and always siding with one particular student. That's when we can assure the teacher has a fave. This simply doesn't happen with Gaara and Temari: yeah, he only ever threatened Kankuro onscreen, but at the same time, he never showed Tem any favoritism. So, the notion he loved her more or she was his favorite and understood him the most is utter bs.

It's also skipping over the fact that this was all done to show a particular tension between the brothers. One she was excluded from as the peacemaker. As well as the fact, Kank was the one chosen to stand next to the main character and narrate the entirety of the Gaara vs. Lee fight. It's not similar to Temari explaining the chunin exams, as narrating Gaara's abilities is something only him or Tem could've done while explaining the chunin exams could've been done by anyone else, cause it's more general information. Kank was chosen for the narrator role to show he has more private knowledge of his brother's techniques and abilities. Temari has almost no shots pan towards her, except for when Lee took off his weights and started kicking Gaara's behind, we get a shot of her surprised face with the others. Outside of that, Gaara and Lee were the active players, Naruto, the reactor, and Kankuro, the narrator. By the end of the arc, he's also the one picking Gaara up, commenting on his beat-up state after the fight with Naruto, and the first to react to Gaara's apology, while Temari says nothing.

This is all to say: Temari was indeed a 3rd wheel. Some of her stans are right when they note the fact that the two brothers seem to have a special bond she just seems to be excluded from. Even the anime studio seems to have picked up on it, as her whole infinite dream revolved around her, wishing they'd care more about her opinion. Yeah, people can interpret that as the distance that comes with being the elder and only girl, who just naturally grows to see her brothers form a closer bond. But the truth is: she really isn't better written than Kank in any way, shape, or form. That's a fact you gotta live with sweeties.