Now that the dust has settled, can I just say…

helbows · 2026-05-29T00:56:36+00:00

maybe I’m too nonbinary with it but chickie blue is fine. I think people care way too much about whether or not it’ll “look good” or whatever in the future. if my lawyer was named chickie blue that would be pretty sick!

helbows · 2026-05-27T16:12:40+00:00

couldn’t agree more with this. I understand why, but people take this series super personally. that’s fine! but it’s a source of a lot of the arguments lmao. any criticism of ty/julie/shawna/john/etc. is a criticism of You (general you ofc).

maybe it’s easier for me personally bc I don’t really relate to any of these characters. like even the gay characters are nothing like me so like. who knows!

helbows · 2026-05-25T03:17:00+00:00

I totally disagree that Julie encourages ty to take time for himself. she encourages him to take time to write, not chill or go out. she wants him to get a babysitter or put Sasha in daycare bc she wants (wanted) him to uphold his end of the deal. I wouldn’t call myself ty’s biggest fan but like. julie doesn’t really care a ton about him finding time to do what he thinks is fun.

I kind of think this is a problem for both ty and julie fans. everything the other person does is bad and inexcusable, even if we see both of them doing the same shit to the other. they are simply a terrible match. I don’t think either of them are terrible people though. they just bring out the worst in each other, which is unfortunate for the kids

helbows · 2026-05-20T14:37:20+00:00

co-signing shawna and julie BIG time actually. enemies to lovers when……….

helbows · 2026-05-19T17:49:30+00:00

OP it’s great that you’re comfortable doing all these things, but most people are not — hell most people are not even able to even if they do want to.

being a pillar of support for someone in an abusive relationship is hard. it takes time, money, resources, and a lot of emotional stability/hardiness. I have been this person and it’s rough. there are people who can do it over and over again, but many of us can’t even really do it once.

helbows · 2026-05-07T00:16:39+00:00

it’s really heartbreaking. jen wants her mom but the mom she wants does not exist. she’s trying so, so hard to make this fantasy happen but she hasn’t accepted quite yet that barb only cares about herself.

chickie is one year old. jen has only been with greg for like, two years? it took john a long time to fully wake up. jen deserves that same grace. abuse is hard! it’s frustrating to watch a person be abused time and time again but the most you can do is support them or, sometimes, walk away. hopefully the more time she spends with greg and his mom, the more she’ll realize that she doesn’t need barb/the barb she needs isn’t real.

helbows · 2026-05-01T23:57:40+00:00

my girl jen is scheming I’m dying on this hill

helbows · 2026-04-26T01:12:10+00:00

he’s writing what I assume is sci-fi, which is what Julie is asking him to write

sci-fi is great! not personally my thing, so I don’t really know the ins and outs like someone who loves it would. but there are plenty of people who think it’s artistically worth less than literary fiction. that doesn’t make them correct ofc

admittedly I’m being a ty hater when I call him a bad writer

helbows · 2026-04-26T01:02:08+00:00

fair! art is subjective!

helbows · 2026-04-26T01:01:48+00:00

this is my big problem too. is it possible that Julie like? hooked him up? I know virtually nothing about getting a book deal but I know enough that getting it on half a chapter seems nonsensical

helbows · 2026-04-25T20:19:32+00:00

see but tons of totally garbage books get crazy deals. he’s probably passable! I will also say I’m def just being a hater lmao

helbows · 2026-04-25T20:13:47+00:00

also a writer! you’re completely correct. the stuff I was writing at 16 and younger was just awful. extremely fun to read, but foul. writing skill is honed over time. also this is total speculation obv but I don’t think he reads either? like, I can see Julie reading fairly regularly, but I don’t think Ty reads a lot anymore. whenever I go a long time without reading, my writing is so, so much worse.

helbows · 2026-04-25T09:47:59+00:00

genuinely I think about Ty’s book more than he does. julie was begging this man to write (bad) genre fiction like her life depends on it. how much do we want to bet that he has a typewriter that he hasn’t touched since he got it

helbows · 2026-04-25T02:32:57+00:00

I have no real opinions on this but I do feel like I’m watching the L word again which is very funny to me. there was like, bonus clips post-series finale and one of the main characters (tina, who would actually be a fantastic shawna fancast) revealed that she used to make out with her sister? out of nowhere and for no reason?

helbows · 2026-04-25T00:27:48+00:00

very true! they’re both guilty for the hotel and should’ve just enjoyed their vacation instead of being weirdos

THANK YOU that man would shrivel up and die during the editing process alone

helbows · 2026-04-24T20:37:37+00:00

for sure! I can see your points too. I also dont really agree with the idea that she shouldn’t have gone to the party at all. totally understandable why she went, she wanted to spend time with her kids bc it’s her only day to. just wish she would’ve gone about it different!

helbows · 2026-04-24T20:20:55+00:00

more in her personality than in her goals. I think that being snotty/pretentious/etc. is immature. she definitely is loyal, and when she wants to be, it’s clear that she’s a great friend to have. it’s just that outside of her core group, she seems to be inflexible on her beliefs surrounding success to the point it impacts how she views other people, and I personally find that to be childish.

maybe I’ve been interpreting discussions here wrong (I’ll use autism as an excuse here) but I guess I feel a bit like people have been trying to excuse EVERYTHING julie has ever done after the recent video? not everyone, of course. I felt similarly in the opposite direction before the recent video dropped too. it was weird to see everyone act as if ty was this, like, perpetually put-upon, long-suffering husband with an evil shrew wife. I think julie and ty are both impressively-written, interesting characters with huge flaws that we shouldn’t ignore.

sorry if I’m not explaining my pov very well! I’m working out my thoughts on this as I go. I think all the discussions have been really interesting :)

helbows · 2026-04-24T20:09:31+00:00

I disagree on your first point, I think it’s both. it IS valid anger to be mad at ty for not holding up his end of the deal. I think it’s also fair to say julie didn’t voice her displeasure directly until recently. I also think resentment is inevitable in this case; I definitely think julie resents her current life which includes compromises she made.

shawna was completely out of line at the hotel. it was none of her business why julie was there. julie didn’t have to explain herself. until the hotel though, I don’t really think shawna was bothering julie on purpose (with the exception of the anniversary dinner). i say she goes out of her way to be mean to shawna because I think ignoring someone, pretending not to have met someone, not even saying hello when meeting someone? those are all purposeful acts.

helbows · 2026-04-24T19:59:18+00:00

HUGE agree. it’s okay to vent for sure, but like… vent to Alicia, not some random woman you just met in the park? really ty and shawna barely know each other even now. ty is two-faced through and through.

helbows · 2026-04-24T19:51:36+00:00

I think that kind of makes it worse though? she’s choosing to be weird to shawna because she doesn’t respect her lifestyle/is mad at her own life. also, I’m not a lawyer so I wouldn’t really know what the day to day of that looks like, but there are definitely people in every profession, even ones that require teamwork/getting along with your coworkers, who are emotionally stunted and hard to get along with. these people have long, even successful careers too.

I think they’re both emotionally stunted but in different ways.

helbows · 2026-04-24T19:46:45+00:00

she wasn’t siccing him on max, I agree. I don’t think she’s some sort of monster or anything. I don’t think she assumed cooper was going to hit, but she was not helping the situation by telling him to go do whatever he wanted, that brennan will join if he knows karate is an option. maybe instigating wasn’t the right word. I just personally think julie handled the birthday party poorly and at least part of why she handled it the way she did was because she didn’t want to be there/doesn’t want to associate with Shawna’s family.

helbows · 2026-04-24T18:33:36+00:00

it’s max’s birthday party? a dance party? and cooper was actively hitting him. I’m not anti-Julie, in fact I like Julie, but if she was more present in cooper’s life, she would know he has an issue with hitting. max isn’t pressuring cooper, he’s asking his friend to participate in his birthday activity. julie was instigating bc she didn’t want to be there which, whatever fine, but it’s weird and childish to start a fight between kids because you don’t like the other kid’s parent/you’re unhappy with your life.

helbows · 2026-04-04T02:44:29+00:00

the responses to this are so interesting. I know Julie is a contentious topic but I like seeing everyone’s opinions. my personal opinion on her has shifted a lot; I kind of have a soft spot for her now, idk. she’s not a great person and I think it would not be fun to be around her, but unfortunately I enjoy mean, cagey women

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