this isn’t necessarily new information (and is kind of inspired by various dash conversations I’ve seen), but there’s a difference between characters holding the Idiot Ball as a plot hole/authors awkwardly trying to maneuver their characters or plot towards a conclusion without making it make sense in-universe, and characters holding the Idiot Ball in ways that are actually congruent with their established character flaws or shortcomings, and actually make their character arcs more interesting as a result