#benji blackwell

[persephoneggsy]

what being in love does to a motherfucker

(aka the Blackwell siblings know two VERY different versions of one Professor Thomas Hunt)

[persephoneggsy]

words cannot describe the chokehold this mobile game had on me in highschool

so! long story short, i was feeling nostalgic for an old game i used to play called Hollywood U, found out someone brought the game back from the dead, and have thus spent the past week obsessing over my little hollywood babies and now i'm making it YOUR problem

my original MC was the girl, Vivian, but I've decided to give her a baby brother who's the actual MC (as in, the one all the Plot:tm: happens to) while she's chilling in the background as an assistant dance instructor at Hollywood U. also she's dating Thomas Hunt

rapid fire fun facts about the sibs:

their surname is Blackwell; full names are Vivian Ruth Blackwell and Benjamin David Blackwell

they're half siblings (Vivian's dad had an affair which resulted in Benji)

Vivian calls Benji "Button". he thinks it's because he's cute as a button but actually it's because he looked like an old man as a baby so it's a Benjamin Button joke. she will never tell him the truth

Viv's ballroom dancing career got cut short when her dance partner/boyfriend cheated on her and dumped her for a "better dancer"

Viv got the job at Hollywood U at Benji's urging

Viv and Hunt bond over a love for classical films (she loves musicals, big surprise)

Benji does not like that Hunt and Vivian are dating. like. at all.

[persephoneggsy]

more benji blackwell lore:

he used to take dancing classes with his sister, and then their community theater was putting on a production of The Wizard of Oz, and he got cast as the Scarecrow

he got REALLY into it, and even though he got a little overzealous during one of the dances and broke his wrist, he got a lot of laughs and decided he wanted to be an actor

this is fun because 1) it gives him a parallel to Chris Winters, whose first acting experience was also in The Wizard of Oz (and they end up dating later so that's something they can bond over)

and 2) Vivian's (his sister) has a photo of a little fourteen year old Benji dressed as the Scarecrow, his wrist in a brace, beaming widely, that she uses as her phone's lock screen. Chris asks her to send him this photo when he and Benji start dating and she refuses lol

[persephoneggsy]

Current thoughts on dynamics for Benji Blackwell’s potential love interests:

Benji x Lisa Valentine: Malewife x Girlboss

basically wild child girl constantly on the edge of crashing out and her himbo sweetie pie. my only issue is that Aria sort of fulfils that role already AND she and Lisa are childhood friends so Benji feels redundant here lmao

Benji x Spencer “Crash” Yamaguchi: Two Halves of a Whole Idiot

being each other's hypemen to often disastrous but epic results. also could be a fun parallel about both being younger brothers who love their big sisters

Benji x Chris Winters: Oblivious (Benji) x Wants to Rail Him But Is Polite About it (Chris)

mostly this is bc chris is so obviously into the MC no matter what so it's very funny to imagine this humble, respected, mega-popular celebrity just barely restraining his desire for a wannabe comedian who until age fourteen thought Greece was a made up place like Narnia