Art Blog

Canon Branch would stand up to them if he felt like they were treating him badly. He wouldn't just sit back and let that happen.

So for people to act like poor Branch who can't and won't say anything to his evil brothers and evil girlfriend is such a misinterpretation of Branch's character. He absolutely would.

THIS RIGHT FUCKING HERE ^^^^^^ ppl who always argue about Poppy or Brozone in bad faith always act like Branch never spoke up for himself along with Poppy and Brozone actually listening to him and becoming better people because of him

Like bruh World Tour the whole point of that movie was that Poppy needed to start listening to the people around her 😭 she wasnt just not listening to Branch she had a hard time listening to ANYONE.

I think for me personally, it's the fact she can mask her fears and grief so well, even the audience struggles to see it.

She isn't some flat, one dimensional character, but a deeply complex, yet caring person. Sure, she struggles with empathy at times, she can't always see within another person's perspective outside of her bias during the first two films, but she's slowly able to grow past that.

There's also the fact she masks her grief and frustrations until they can burst out, something I find relatable. Whether it be suppressing her anxieties and guilt from the first film until she went grey, or how in the second she never addresses her insecurities, and it's led her towards making avoidable mistakes.

Despite all of this, she's still a brave and selfless person. Willing to prioritize the well-being of others above herself, always reaching out even when it doesn't always work, and truly listening when she realizes she's in the wrong.

Some people might find her annoying. But I find her incredibly enjoyable. She's a sunshine female protagonist able to have complex thoughts and emotions, even if she'd rather mask them. And that's what makes her such an intriguing character

To me, she represents the neurodivergent women who struggle a lot, but still try to choose kindness, and keep whimsy in their hearts against all odds. In that situation, I consider her very relatable.

@c-v780

No worries! I genuinely love having these discussions and sharing my pov! This is the last one I can do for the night, but my asks are always open!

I do have mixed feelings on that situation. I have a friend who sees Poppy as 100% in the right for bringing the people down there and Branch as selfish for not wanting them to, but that’s not entirely fair to Branch. 

Don’t get me wrong, Branch was definitely a jerk earlier, but that doesn’t erase the fact this is someone, since childhood, hasn’t been getting any proper support growing up to deal with his PTSD. I’m sure the village did the best they thought they could at the time, but let’s not forget they have a toxic positive mentality, and that isn’t going to work on a neurodivergent kid dealing with PTSD and what I can only assume is clinical depression. 

Even Poppy, who genuinely had good intentions, couldn’t get through to Branch not because she didn’t care, but because she wasn’t able to see the situation from his perspective. No one as far as I’m aware, looked at this guy who was having panic episodes about Bergens, ever thought to themselves “hey, is this guy okay? He seems to be in such a state of distress he genuinely thinks Bergens are coming and that’s concerning.”

Whether intentional or not, the trolls there only seem to have a surface level understanding of Branch, and aren’t willing to accommodate his perspective. Instead, it’s played off as an inconvenience at best.

So now, when he’s tried to warn everyone that the party is dangerous, to the point it genuinely makes him so mad he’s willing to stomp on Poppy’s card (shocking everyone), he’s reached his breaking point.

Afterwards, because his warnings go unheard and the party has the consequences he told them it would, it’s a slap in the face to make him have to deal with the fall-out. 

If anything, it’s like the story of the ant and the grasshopper. Except, instead of one grasshopper and a bunch of ants, it’s a bunch of grasshoppers piling into a single ant’s home. 

While I do think it’s a good thing Branch was willing to let the people stay there despite his initial frustration, it’s still unfair that he was left to protect the people that didn’t bat an eye to his warnings or struggles.

Hopefully this taught the village to at least try to take his concerns a bit more seriously, and that they hopefully helped him restock his bunker. Years of hard work going down the drain must've sucked.

First, a couple of flashbacks from the first movie had shown that Branch did warn the village, but his warnings were usually false. Not to mention that it led to the disruption of multiple events, so it kind of gave him a bad reputation. I guess it ended up like “the boy who cried wolf” situation.

Second, I think another reason might be the fact that the village hadn’t seen a Bergen in 20 years. If their biggest threat wasn’t seen by anyone for that long, it makes sense that the village would take that as a positive thing and not want to worry about it. Plus, they weren’t aware that Chef was still hunting for them.

I do find it a bit unfair that people only blame Poppy for that situation. Aside from the reasons I explained, she hadn’t faced a Bergen herself, so she’s not fully aware of how threatening they are in person. Not to mention that her dad was still king at the time, and I haven’t seen as many fans blame him for the situation.

I also 100% agree that it would be so unfair to only blame Poppy for the situation at hand. Poppy might blame herself for what happened, but realistically, a lot of factors went into it. For one thing, the Bergens themselves get treated like a scary fairy tale. Not an actual threat that still has the potential to resurface if they aren’t careful. It was on the original adults to teach their children to be mindful of that, and to have them pass down said lessons. 

Even if Branch did make a lot of mistakes in the past. This party was very much a bad idea. The fact that he was the only one either able to willing to point that out is deeply concerning because it shows how reckless the elders have become in enabling the younger generations. 

Erasing parts of their history and treating it all like a small blip backfired big time when Poppy, someone who’s meant to be looking out for her people, felt comfortable enough to throw such a huge and loud party. 

@c-v780

No worries! I genuinely love having these discussions and sharing my pov! This is the last one I can do for the night, but my asks are always open!

I do have mixed feelings on that situation. I have a friend who sees Poppy as 100% in the right for bringing the people down there and Branch as selfish for not wanting them to, but that’s not entirely fair to Branch. 

Don’t get me wrong, Branch was definitely a jerk earlier, but that doesn’t erase the fact this is someone, since childhood, hasn’t been getting any proper support growing up to deal with his PTSD. I’m sure the village did the best they thought they could at the time, but let’s not forget they have a toxic positive mentality, and that isn’t going to work on a neurodivergent kid dealing with PTSD and what I can only assume is clinical depression. 

Even Poppy, who genuinely had good intentions, couldn’t get through to Branch not because she didn’t care, but because she wasn’t able to see the situation from his perspective. No one as far as I’m aware, looked at this guy who was having panic episodes about Bergens, ever thought to themselves “hey, is this guy okay? He seems to be in such a state of distress he genuinely thinks Bergens are coming and that’s concerning.”

Whether intentional or not, the trolls there only seem to have a surface level understanding of Branch, and aren’t willing to accommodate his perspective. Instead, it’s played off as an inconvenience at best.

So now, when he’s tried to warn everyone that the party is dangerous, to the point it genuinely makes him so mad he’s willing to stomp on Poppy’s card (shocking everyone), he’s reached his breaking point.

Afterwards, because his warnings go unheard and the party has the consequences he told them it would, it’s a slap in the face to make him have to deal with the fall-out. 

If anything, it’s like the story of the ant and the grasshopper. Except, instead of one grasshopper and a bunch of ants, it’s a bunch of grasshoppers piling into a single ant’s home. 

While I do think it’s a good thing Branch was willing to let the people stay there despite his initial frustration, it’s still unfair that he was left to protect the people that didn’t bat an eye to his warnings or struggles.

Hopefully this taught the village to at least try to take his concerns a bit more seriously, and that they hopefully helped him restock his bunker. Years of hard work going down the drain must've sucked.

First, a couple of flashbacks from the first movie had shown that Branch did warn the village, but his warnings were usually false. Not to mention that it led to the disruption of multiple events, so it kind of gave him a bad reputation. I guess it ended up like “the boy who cried wolf” situation.

Second, I think another reason might be the fact that the village hadn’t seen a Bergen in 20 years. If their biggest threat wasn’t seen by anyone for that long, it makes sense that the village would take that as a positive thing and not want to worry about it. Plus, they weren’t aware that Chef was still hunting for them.

I do find it a bit unfair that people only blame Poppy for that situation. Aside from the reasons I explained, she hadn’t faced a Bergen herself, so she’s not fully aware of how threatening they are in person. Not to mention that her dad was still king at the time, and I haven’t seen as many fans blame him for the situation.

It's more obvious in the first film, Branch was way more rude and cold back then, and while Poppy may have had a determination to save him from his sadness, that doesn't mean she was a pushover either. When Branch stomped on her card, she stepped back, when he chewed her out, she argued back.

Branch himself was the one who chose to change for Poppy. Not due to pressure, but because she inspired him to. He saw she needed support and her attempts at kindness were enough to make him want to change.

Poppy did struggle with empathy in the beginning. Not in the sense that she didn't care for others, but she had a hard time seeing things in other people's perspectives. Her learning about what happened to Branch as a little kid was one of the first moments she was able to gain that perspective. Her acknowledging his pain and respecting that boundary is part of the reason Branch began to feel comfortable opening up because he finally felt like he could be vulnerable with her.

So when Poppy was the one in a vulnerable position and completely grey, all the kindness she had given him, came back in droves, and he was willing to go as far as sing for the first time in two decades to cheer her up.

And yeah, especially back then, people definitely fell into the “i can fix them” trope when it came to discussing or writing Poppy and Branch’s dynamic. Now, could we argue that Poppy had a bit of that mentality in the beginning? Sure. She said herself that happiness was inside of him and that he needs their help to find it. While the lesson of the movie is that you can find happiness inside you with some support, it also does a good job showing that Poppy’s logic was initially flawed. 

It wasn’t as simple as doing fun activities or going to parties that would make Branch happy again. What worked was being able to show support and genuine care. It’s why he kept all her invites. Poppy may have had a bit of a savior mentality with Branch, but her attempts were always sincere, and Branch himself seemed aware of that, otherwise he wouldn’t care for her as much has he did in the first film. 

Poppy doesn’t fix Branch. She just learns the truth of his situation and is willing to recognize that his pain can’t simply be brushed aside. Branch doesn’t fix Poppy either btw. He’s always been the first to call her out on her naivety or lack of different perspective, but she rarely listens to it, and only sees it as negative commentary. That isn’t really her fault either though. It’s obvious she’s lived an extremely sheltered life, and Branch in the first movie wasn’t exactly kind with his wording.

It isn’t until TWT and Poppy learning her point of view isn’t always the right one, that Poppy is finally able to acknowledge that at least in the second film, Branch isn’t calling her out with the purpose of putting her down, but it’s because he wants her to do better, and believes she has the potential to do so. 

They don’t fix each other. Instead, Poppy inspires Branch to make changes to himself, and Branch shows Poppy to think critically and outside of her biases. 

Don't get me wrong, while Branch acts like he's above the village's mentality, he's still picked up on the habit of suppressing his emotions. It's just led to more outbursts during the first film as a result.

But it was clear Branch was on board with the plan, and Bridget was just projecting her insecurities during that situation. I also think that the reason Poppy chose right then to snap at Branch for singing was her own build up of pressure.

While Branch still chased after her and managed to save her life in the nick of time, he still lashed out when Poppy pushed him too far. That's seen during the campfire moment when he burned her ukulele. So if anything, she herself wasn't seeing the situation clearly and was instead just done with Branch.

It's more obvious in the first film, Branch was way more rude and cold back then, and while Poppy may have had a determination to save him from his sadness, that doesn't mean she was a pushover either. When Branch stomped on her card, she stepped back, when he chewed her out, she argued back.

Branch himself was the one who chose to change for Poppy. Not due to pressure, but because she inspired him to. He saw she needed support and her attempts at kindness were enough to make him want to change.

Poppy did struggle with empathy in the beginning. Not in the sense that she didn't care for others, but she had a hard time seeing things in other people's perspectives. Her learning about what happened to Branch as a little kid was one of the first moments she was able to gain that perspective. Her acknowledging his pain and respecting that boundary is part of the reason Branch began to feel comfortable opening up because he finally felt like he could be vulnerable with her.

So when Poppy was the one in a vulnerable position and completely grey, all the kindness she had given him, came back in droves, and he was willing to go as far as sing for the first time in two decades to cheer her up.

And yeah, especially back then, people definitely fell into the “i can fix them” trope when it came to discussing or writing Poppy and Branch’s dynamic. Now, could we argue that Poppy had a bit of that mentality in the beginning? Sure. She said herself that happiness was inside of him and that he needs their help to find it. While the lesson of the movie is that you can find happiness inside you with some support, it also does a good job showing that Poppy’s logic was initially flawed. 

It wasn’t as simple as doing fun activities or going to parties that would make Branch happy again. What worked was being able to show support and genuine care. It’s why he kept all her invites. Poppy may have had a bit of a savior mentality with Branch, but her attempts were always sincere, and Branch himself seemed aware of that, otherwise he wouldn’t care for her as much has he did in the first film. 

Poppy doesn’t fix Branch. She just learns the truth of his situation and is willing to recognize that his pain can’t simply be brushed aside. Branch doesn’t fix Poppy either btw. He’s always been the first to call her out on her naivety or lack of different perspective, but she rarely listens to it, and only sees it as negative commentary. That isn’t really her fault either though. It’s obvious she’s lived an extremely sheltered life, and Branch in the first movie wasn’t exactly kind with his wording.

It isn’t until TWT and Poppy learning her point of view isn’t always the right one, that Poppy is finally able to acknowledge that at least in the second film, Branch isn’t calling her out with the purpose of putting her down, but it’s because he wants her to do better, and believes she has the potential to do so. 

They don’t fix each other. Instead, Poppy inspires Branch to make changes to himself, and Branch shows Poppy to think critically and outside of her biases.