To everyone who hoped for Sun to wear a dress as maid of honour, during the big wedding. I see ya!
But I also see why that didn't happen and he instead wore a suit.
First of all, Sun in a dress would outshine Terra too much, and that's simply not fair to the bride.
Secondly, it would have been too big a sudden jump back into femininity.
Sun had it bullied out of him, hard, by Old Moon back in the day. Even dressing up as a princess for the kids in the daycare was mocked, and we all know how rough Moon was about the mockery back then. Then came the jokes at Sun's expense of being gay, bi, a femboy, anything to bully him for being soft and unmanly every way possible.
And yes, quite the irony of mocking Sun for not being manly enough, from people that are genderqueer and genderfluid. But Sun simply is an easy target, because he takes it all in and carries it with him.
What is needed is him gradually finding his confidence back in his masculinity. It won't happen overnight, it will take time and small steps.
Letting Dazzle practice makeup on him, is a great start. Although he was clearly uncomfortable with everyone seeing and commenting on it. I'm sure as Dazzle explores more subtle makeovers, in less crowded settings, it'll go easier.
And his mentor, Dalhia, being a male openly presenting female just for comfort, will be a good role model to help Sun along, the more they get to know each other and relax.
Something I hc (for narilamb fanchildren) is that Lamb isn't really trying to bring the sheep kind back. They're all dead, and it's not like their kind will ever come back (it's kinda impossible at this point, they can look like sheeps, but they're not sheeps), so it's better to accept it at this point.
So when Lamb and Narinder decide to have kids, its bc they both wanted them.
They end up having very different parenting styles. Lamb is somewhat strict, after all, someone needs to teach these kids how the world works. Doesn't mean theyre less loving or that they're mean to them, but they try to include the kids in things that they know they can handle (even if it just watching).
For Narinder, he surprisingly spends a lot of time with them. They sometimes crawl inside his hoodie when they're still small enough to fit in, so it makes it easy for them to stay close. Narinder believes that the kids will learn on their own time, but its not like he'll complain much about it. Lamb has more experience on this realm of living things than he will ever have.
But would he, in a hypothetical argument, side with the kids, even if the kids did something terrible???? Yeah :)
And he STILL fails to realize why this is the main issue. Sun has NOTHING.
I want Sun to just.. go about things. Do his job at the pizzeria, but have HIS OWN ACCOUNT for his pay. I want him to build up HIS OWN value. So he can buy his own house, to raise Dazzle in.
Again, all this time, most of the characters tend to gather around Moon because he is the meal ticket.. He is the one bringing in the bacon. He runs the finances. Even illegally, when needed, as we have experienced in past episodes. Sun has to look into the finances to realize when things don't add up.
Again, I argue for Sun to split from Moon. Not as family, but as the main caretaker of EVERYTHING.
Sun never even brought up how Moon INSTALLS things in him in his sleep, to fulfil some greater plan. Because he knows Sun would say no. Something Moon never apologizes for. Sun needs more than to just run away for a few days. He need his own SPACE, to raise his child and not feel the pressure of how EVERYONE is indebted to Moon one wat or another. Why we see the entire family gathering around Moon, acknowledging Sun is left out, even when CLEARLY disagreeing with the things Moon says in those heats of the moment. Because they ALL are dependent on Moon.
Among reasons why Moon assume himself so superior to everyone. Even if subconsciously.
Even when that moment Sun had with Solar, going "I don't think you are weak", doesn't matter because Sun KNOWS Solar agrees with Moon that Sun is dump - We saw that when Sun provided the solution to fix NovaFrost and Moon and Solar BOTH still called him the moron needed to think outside the box.
Is no wonder Sun is not ready to forgive Moon, after EVERYTHING he has been put through. Moon has promised changes SO MANY TIMES only to go back on those promises, time and time again. Sun said as much himself "The only change is that you aren't physically beating me anymore."
Sun brought up himself their view as brothers can be changed, because.. he doesn't feel like family. He feels like a tool.
He needs distance. Why I still argue that he needs to buy his own space not paid for by Moon. To better focus on himself as a person. As a father. Not a tool, not as something that happens to be there when convenient. Sure they caught NovaFrost thanks to to the EMP Moon installed in him without consent when Sun thought he could just go and talk them into coming back, because they would be less scared of Sun than Moon. That's ruined now, for future reference.
Yes, Moon is sorry. He has been sorry before. Yes Moon finally has the help to understand better through Molten, but is fair Sun doesn't trust it. That takes time, to rebuild that long lost trust. Don't forget the amount of times Moon overstepped Sun's boundaries "for the better good", no matter the results.
They need DISTANCE. More than just a few days apart. More than just a few helping voices going "You are brothers", because as robots, them being brothers is a CHOICE. And Sun has taken that up for consideration time and time again, for good reason.
I guess it's with good reason they been told Sun and Moon in the multiverse considering each other brothers is a rarity. At least in the long run.
When it becomes something that hurts this much.
Sun needs more distance, just to realize himself as a person, without Moon hanging over his every choice.
But that's just my thoughts on the this issue, as a lover of the show
Have an imaginary Internet cookie for reading this far.
Rosie is currently still locked away in the back room of the pizzeria, in an immobilised body - her only entertainment being internet access through her head, and her headphones.
All while the Celestials are busy focusing on the latest arcs on TSAMS.
I just find this very cruel and careless. Yes she betrayed them, but the one manipulating and controlling her is now dead. There are better things they could do than leave her stored away like a broken tool until something comes up making it worth remembering she exists.
I wonder if Titan could see potential for fun drama by setting her free, just to see what the isolation might done to the poor girl.
I really think we should appreciate the growth of Solar.
When introduced as "Nice Eclipse" he was very soft spoken and kind. He also lived under a very violent Moon who blamed him personally for Sun's coma. Always on the edge and doing his best to fill out Sun's shoes as a caretaker as Moon gave no time to keep the daycare going.
Once "Nice Eclipse" escaped that dimension, running for his life as his Moon was ready to kill him in a crazed quest to try bring back his Sun, this Eclipse was given more freedom.
Renaming himself Solar to distance himself from the name Eclipse and what that name made people remember and think of.
Today he is much more blunt and aggressive. A result of not having to keep trying to copy the Sun he knew, and not constantly fearing being scrapped for displeasing anyone around him.
Eclipses tend to be aggressive, a mix between Sun and Moon. He finally gets to just be himself, to be Solar. He is allowed to react angrily at things that annoys him. He's openly Autistic, angry at changes and things outside his set schedule. He loves Jack very much, but Jack's chaotic nature does set off his dislike of changes and surprises. Yet he doesn't have to fear being decommissioned and used for scraps, but reacting naturally.
Starting as a therapeutic exposure therapy for Lunar, now his own person free to express himself.
Ruin got nerfed and that's okay - SAMS Ruin retrospective
The man, the legend, the greatest villain of TSAMS, just by body count.
Ruin spent years plotting against his Creator, to escape his dying home dimension after losing everyone he knew and love to a mind controlling virus.
Playing acts upon acts, putting on roles and setting up backup plans behind schemes. He had a plot for everything, bidding his time, until he could finally get his revenge through the greatest genocide ever committed in the multiverse.
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Even when everyone knew he was up to something, they couldn't prove it enough, until it was too late. He was too prepared.
And he would do it all again in a heartbeat, regretting nothing about the loss of lives, because he saw the cost worth it for the outcome.
He did all this with full expectations of being executed for his crime, by whoever got to him first.
Only to be circumvented but another schemer on his own level - Dark Sun.
Once again Ruin loses his freedom to play servant and punching bag for someone who hates his very existence.
Once again he plots his way out of it and leaves behind assurance that his tormentor meets his end - Nexus.
No one trusts Ruin, they all know he's nothing but masks upon masks. There's no real person behind the facades, just a shell left with no purpose yet a newfound appreciation for life.
He finds his way to the EAPS dimension, a world created as a reaction to his destruction of countless of dimensions. He wish to study it, to possibly find somewhere to belong. He has nowhere else to go.
He finds a home, easily more accepted than Eclipse and Puppet, merely by being more adapt at being generally pleasant, than either of them are.
Then he loses everything all over again.
Facing his Monty, breaks every single mask and facade he has ever built up his entire life.
The last remnant of his original home, used as nothing more than a distraction and grim reminder of everything he has ever lost.
We get to see a more raw Ruin, desperate and fumbling. He doesn't have the time to plot or scheme, he's just desperately acting and pushing people away for a single minded goal.
He never recovers from this.
People sees he'll sacrifice every single one of them without a second thought, for his one goal. He drops the pleasant facade, only having one care he desperately cling to.
When he loses his Monty, he's broken.
Sure he vows for revenge, but we never see the return of the Ruin we knew. He's raw and grieving. He's no longer playing any acts, all his masks gone and holds no will to rebuild them. Wearing his feelings on his sleeves, he stumbles into danger without a second thought.
Even without Jackie, Ruin ought to know better. That he's out numbered by Afton and his lackies.
He rambles his plans out loud to himself when Charlie was spying on him. The genius who never showed his cards and able to think ahead in 5D chess moves, now lost his focus and just throwing whatever at the wall to see what sticks.
He fumbles, he struggles in ways we have never seen before. He's grieving and not allowing himself time to mourn, just wishing to bury the feelings he can no longer hide.
When the Mimic finds his lair, he has no backup plans. Just stumbling his way out, until faced by Solar Flare that he has nowhere else to go but back to the Pizzaplex.
Where he knows he'll be laid bare, for everyone to see how far he has fallen.
The genius with the greatest death count of all villains, the animatronic that cheated against lie detectors without a sweat, the monster who managed to leave all rivals in the dust to die.
He's nothing now. He has nothing. He expects nothing, assuming he has no friends after what he pulled during the virus arc.
Even made immortal, unable to join his Monty wherever animatronic souls go. Expected to pay for his sins no matter how long it takes, through the heat death of universes, to witness it all, until his debt is paid.
He never expected consequences. Least of all lasting ones.
He has nothing.
Except.
He's still wanted back at the Pizzaplex. Eclipse is putting effort into finding Afton as well. Tiger Rock is probably the first person ever to get to know Ruin from the start, without his masks and facades, and only shown acceptance.
Ruin is far from the character he once was.
And it makes sense.
From a story perspective, any powerful antagonist finding themselves converted to the good side, always end up nerfed to show struggle instead of too easily beat their goals. We like struggle, it's what good story telling is built on.
I like how you can watch the very timeline when his redemption truly began - when he began to struggle.
He's now making mistakes and unable to plot his way out of the usual obstacles and confrontations. He's only now learning to actual trust someone - Tiger Rock.
He was never redeemed, but now his redemption arc truly begins, whether or not he wants it to.
Ever since he had his Monty returned to him, his façade broke down, to show the desperate and lonely being he is deep down. Throughout every arc of TSAMS and EAPS he has been there for, he has his facade and masks, his perfectly acted out roles to never truly show his cards.
But after losing his Monty, we see him being sad and broken in a genuine way. Awkward and fumbling, like we have seen him in his flashbacks while still being new to being HIM, after Sun and Moon fused together to create him.
He's ACTUALLY apologizing, ACTUALLY feeling bad.
When he caused an event that destroyed over 5000 dimensions, including erasing Solar from existence, he had no remorse. He would do it all over again if given the chance. He saw his actions as for the better good.
He always had an answer to why he does whatever he do at any given time.
But now.. his apology is not an act. He's broken, unable to keep up any acts or roles like in the past. He admits to his flaws and guilt, he has no excuses or explanations other than facing he was selfish.
THIS is what I like to see. A villain of a strong conviction, finally broken and falling apart.
He has no escape.
He didn't even want to go back to the pizzaplex because he knew he would be forced to face the consequences of his actions.
All he could excuse it with was "I don't want to" when confronted by Tiger Rock learning there was a place where Ruin still had allies he could go to. Tiger Rock knowing the importance of people having your back, not shy from scolding Ruin on this, before carrying him in his arms all the way back to the pizzaplex.
He was not being redeemed when having tea and doing ballet lessons with Ballora. When gaining Charlie's trust, or with Lefty excusing him being around while running a campaign against Puppet and Eclipse by proxy. All those moments were just his usual acts.
What we see right now is RAW, the real Ruin. Vulnerable and broken. No longer able to keep up his acts or plot his way out of things. He has lost too much.
Back in the day his end goal was the expectation of dying by the hands of who ever wished to avenge for his interdimensional crimes.
Now he doesn't even have that, thanks to Puppet.
Truly cornered, in ways he could never predict.
NOW begins his arc of redemption. Not out of choice. Forced upon him, because he has nowhere to hide, nowhere to run.
To him not an ideal situation. It is uncomfortable and awkward. No longer having shields to hide behind at mere words from the people he hurt. People has seen who he is. How willing he was to sacrifice them for his own gain. He can never take it back.
FINALLY... Ruin has to face the consequences of his actions.
Roxas is sooooo lucky that Earth snapping is her YELLING and not, you know, commit violence.
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I understand Chico really wanted to help Earth out. Give her a confidence boost and help solve her biggest issue, of how much everyone takes her protection for granted. And it could probably have worked too - if Roxas had been excluded.
The wolf clearly couldn't care less about being there. He has been the one to given Earth the most hard time in the past, and it is obvious he does not see himself in the wrong ever. The least grateful of the bunch, and most disrespectful.
I understand why Earth's breaking point was him admitting to only being there due to Chico providing bribery. She could have gotten much more done had he just stayed away. At least DJ took it seriously, Chico really meant well, and Bonnie was showing interest. But Roxas was causing a disturbance over and over, making it clear he is the very essence of what Earth has most issues with, with everyone in the pizzaplex. Entitled, uncaring, ungrateful, rude, unengaging.
Don't forget the bad dream Earth had, where her being too small to defend herself, had everyone show no care or directly aimed to harm her, whether physically or emotionally. She has been under a lot of stress almost from the moment she awoke the first time in the pizzaplex. She is the one bringing up ideas to MAYBE get something alike.. a frigging ROOM to rest in, like the Glamrocks have. Instead of her and Lunar sleeping in cupboards and whatnot. She literally has nothing, but work, duties and ever growing responsibilities upon her shoulders. Because, as a caretaker and protector, she cannot help but take it all upon herself.
Her creator might done too good a job with her, especially compared to how everyone else was designed and programmed. Not even Mars, designed and built by same creator, compares. He cannot offer the support she needs, to keep everyone safe. Yes he does his best with what she got, he is a great help the more he learns to use Day and Night's technology in the lab. Took in a few lessons from Moon while he visited.
But Earth also needs help wrangling everyone, she is tasked to keep safe. Lunar tries, as he is the one she turns to when needing to speak her mind. He tries to pop as voice of reason, to bring up points Earth doesn't dare to speak out loud herself. But he is not respected by the others, and he knows he is too small and weak to provide protection to anyone. In a situation, best he can do is not get in the way. And then be a listening ear for Earth's frustrations.
DJ Music Ma'am, being built to help against Day and Night, is still not able to truly compare to Earth. Not as strong and durable, and still finding herself as a person among other robots, currently being the youngest among them, as in new arrivals. At the very least she listens, when Earth takes charge. But not as firm herself when speaking up, and with her way of talking like everything is a joke, it is fair to assume she's not taken seriously by the rest either. Not as badly as Lunar, but ending every sentence with "haha" is not exactly helping (man, Lunar and DJ's creator sure must have a specific kind of humour, with how they designed their two animatronics to behave).
Earth did at least have some means of venting, by training under Harvest. But even Harvest is getting under her skin, because his encouragement is being blunt and rude. He's very forward in his expectations and unable to accept anything outside his own hyperfixation - to fight. While Earth needs more than just that.
And as much as she can rely on Chico to provide a peaceful calm that she needs, even he has begun to frustrate her. She sees so many flaws in everyone around her, forced to mother an entire pizzaplex of unruly robot children with no respect for her yet ever growing need for her protection.
She has snapped before, at Andromeda and Roxas. She has yelled before, wanting to punch someone. She admitted to feel GOOD when she smashed in Night's head to knock him out, while selfaware that THAT is NOT a good thing!
She is breaking, and worst is that she is aware of it. She wants to be perfect, to do good, to please everyone, keep all safe - and she feels the cracks spreading, every time her temper rises. Every time she fixates on someone else's flaws she cannot change.
Poor girl put so much stress, paranoia and responsibility unto herself, she feels she needs support for everything in ways no one else can provide. Chico can provide calm and rest, but he cannot wrangle the others, nor fight. DJ can investigate and to some degree fight, but not as good as Earth and comes off as immature. Bonnie could support, but she is too stuck in the ways of the Glamrocks, unable to get distracted or fixate on her bandmates instead. Mars is tech support, at best a replacement for Monti, keeping more to himself and his learnings. Lunar would love to help, and does his best when she needs to vent, but is too small to provide anything else than morale support. Harvest is a huge liability she feels doesn't even like her, so why bother.
Andromeda, Roxas, Comedy Bot and Dazzle not even up for consideration, due to her relationship with each of them and how they each behave.
Earth cannot split herself to delegate, to make more use of everyone's strengths, because she feels no one can carry even a fraction of the load she holds up.
No one is truly right in any of this, and it was truly unavoidable to see Earth crack more and more.
I do wonder if this is something President Earth was waiting for, or wanted to avoid. Her true intentions for this Earth is still kept on the downlow, while she is still keeping watch through Dazzle and Lunar.
And then the questions of the entity calling itself Eclipse, that tried to chastise Earth for her anger, while another Eclipse in Lunar's head is trying to push for the Star being built despite warnings from every other side.
I feel, should Earth learn that Lunar, her closest confidant, has been going behind her back and keeping secrets (under duress from La Presidente) - she would truly break for good.
These are just my thoughts, looking over all the things in Earth's life, that provides stress and frustration. Why she snapped at Roxas the way she did.
And wondering where it'll be taking her for the future.
