The world would be a better place if all men were like Jesper Fahey
Let me elaborate. So.
One thing that's always irked me is that many men see women as potential partners first and as individual human beings with valuable thoughts second. They evaluate whether she's attractive or not, whether she's worth keeping around- if she's not willing to enter a relationship at some point in the future, she's not. It's becoming so blatantly clear when you see how many men complain about the "friendzone" because they simply cannot fathom being friends with a woman and spending time without the promise of sex or a relationship.
Then we have Jesper Fahey. He flirts with just about everyone and he's an absolute whore, and of course he compliments women and evaluates whether he finds them attractive or not, it's normal; but he's able to keep women around AS FRIENDS. He compliments Nina's looks the very first time he sees her, but he doesn't need or expect a relationship with her. They're just buddies, they value each other, and they value each other's thoughts and ideas. Sure, you could say it's because he knows that she and Matthias have a weird thing going on, but if he didn't respect her as a human being the way so many flirtcoaches (🤢🤮) do, he'd talk to Matthias more than to her, and only talk to her if it's necessary since she's taken and not part of "the game" anymore. That's not the case. Nina didn't suddenly become invisible for him just because he knew a fling was off the table.
And Inej? He LOVES her in the most platonic way and it's beautiful. They have such an unbreakable bond, and at no point of it does Jesper see the metaphorical unattainable carrot dangled in front of his face when it comes to her.
Hell, he's literally stuck in the "brotherzone" with Kaz, who he canonically has a crush on, but does he complain?? NO, this is good enough for him, because he cares about and values the men and women in his life, whether they're attractive to him or not, OUTSIDE of what they can do for him. He sees them as PEOPLE. Not as assecoires that elevate his status as a man.
He's the prime example of "You can be a player without disrespecting women". I want a friend like Jesper Fahey.
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hello again everyone i'm putting on my tinfoil jester hat & passing out Hefty grains of salt. its batshit theory time!
in short: i think Julie is gonna get violent & might end up killing someone - or she'll at least try. and i'm pretty sure something terrible is gonna happen to her.
in long: hoo boy. strap in
first off, i'd like to say that i love womens' wrongs And rights! all of this is said with utmost affection & respect for Julie. i love it when characters do terrible things, its interesting and so tasty for the story and their development <3
second disclaimer: most of this is just based off of what we have / know as of now. which is, admittedly, not much! so despite having short arms, i may be reaching very far! i'll get the based-on-knowledge part of my thoughts out of the way before getting into the more abstract I'm Just Making Shit Up At This Point part (educated guessing, yk yk!)
not sure where to start so i'll begin with what starting this line of thinking - flower symbolism. I've gone a little bit into it in a previous post from a while back (where i just made observations about the neighborhood map), but i'll restate the relevant parts. there are two flowers in the neighborhood with greek myths attached, and similar ones at that: the hyacinths outside of the Post Office, and the sunflowers outside of Frank's house.
most people know the hyacinth myth! Apollo, while playing metal frizbee with his (male) mortal lover Hyacinthus, Apollo's thrown discus bounced off of the ground and accidentally hit Hyacinthus in the head, killing him - then Apollo turned the spilled blood into the hyacinth flower. in another - popular - version of the myth, the wind god Zephyrus was jealous and blew the discus off course to kill Hyacinthus. as for sunflowers: Clytie, a nymph, was in love with Apollo and grew jealous of his relationship with a princess, Leucothoe. Clytie informed Leucothoe's father of the relationship, and he buried Leucothoe alive as punishment. Apollo turned his murdered lover into a sunflower. two flowers attached to greek myths about Apollo falling for a mortal, and that mortal gets murdered by a jealous non-mortal.
next, I would like to bring attention to This Concept Artwork from 2021. now i'm not gonna use this as a definitive "oh this exists so it must mean-" but there are always elements of concept work, especially Canon concept work, that sticks or can allude to themes or information that will be revealed later in the story. concepts are concepts for a reason - it means there's a solid idea that's being explored in depth, most times for use (especially that deep into the story crafting).
specifically, right now i'd like to look at the type of flower Julie is holding. pansies. normal ones + the primary fucked up pansy. pansies are symbols of love - both romantic and platonic, but predominantly platonic. it can also symbolize nostalgia, thought, admiration, remembrance, and can even be used as an "i'm sorry" flower. in victorian times, it was often used to represent forbidden/secret love.
stick with me, i'm getting to the point i promise
now, another thing is how much of Julie's character (meta-wise & in regards to the WH show as a production) is centered around love. her house is the "cutest" or most feminine one in the neighborhood, and it's downright infested with hearts, from the windows to the bushes to the chimney. she exists as Frank's foil, and it's almost definitive that she was meant to be Frank's love interest (there's just. so much evidence that there's no way that's not it). and just look at her! she looks like a love interest! if WH was a real show that i sat down to watch, i'd see her and immediately go "oh, ok, that's her base role"
this contradicts with what we know of her character - Julie seems big on platonic love, loving her friends, but other than that? she very much steps around what her house/character design is trying to say. she's hopscotching right over what the production wants from her. the only thing she kinda sticks with is the whole flower thing
but. but but but. i wonder! after the update, I'm pretty confident that the neighbors are influenced by the "script" and the workshop, even if they're not aware of it. see: the difference in how they act in the "recovered media" (where they behave more like they're characters playing out a bit, their dialogue has no natural lulls and it just sounds like a (really good) script) vs the 14 audios & the phone calls (natural dialogue, they seem more layered & like actual people instead of just characters, there's no set shenanigan - they're just doing their own things). and we can assume that the latter audios are from the neighbors off-script off-the-air.
despite this, they still somewhat try to fill their roles. the question is: how much of that is authentic, and how much is them still feeling that pressure to perform? just like how We as people feel pressure and expectation from societal rules/norms, even if we're not conscious of it. like, say... kids growing up thinking being queer is wrong, even if they've never been directly exposed to / made aware of homophobia/transphobia. We fill in the absence of being told "this is right" with "it must be wrong", and We act accordingly
so apply that to sapient puppets who were (again, most likely) made with set relationships, dynamics, and character details in mind. they're meant to be This Way, even if they want to be That Way, and that internal "programming" has to conflict, at least a little. like how I've seen Clown mention that homophobia will/may be a theme, and the only way i can see that happening among puppets who have never been directly exposed to it is if the above happens: they feel pressure from something they're unaware of. expectation from a "higher" plane of existence. as above, so below.
OKAY NOW WE'RE GETTING TO IT I PROMISE! blend this all together into Frank & Eddie catching feelings. they weren't meant to fall in love. they're not supposed to be together. it's - from the perspective of Playfellow & society (in the time period WH was active/created) - wrong.
Julie is supposed to be with Frank. Frank is supposed to be with Julie. in a way, they are together - they're best friends. they're foils. they were created to compliment each other and click. in the media audios, they're almost always together. if one of them is in a scene, so is the other.
so what happens if Frank starts to pull away? if he starts to spend more time with Eddie - what if Julie feels like she's being pushed out? what if she asks Frank to come play, only to be told he already has plans with Eddie, and if Julie tries to join in, what if Frank tells her no?
if it were me in this situation, I think I'd start to panic a little. everything has always been the same - it's always been Frank and Julie. that's how it's supposed to be. Frank and Eddie, well that's just - that's just wrong! and if, at this hypothetical point in the story, things are tangibly starting to degrade/go wrong, Julie might cling even harder, panic even more.
you see where I'm going with this? what i meant with the flower symbolism and what it could point to?
their world is falling apart, and Julie's one constant - Frank, her best friend, her grumpy rock - is pulling away. for Eddie. the mailman. and so what if the jealous "lover" takes action? Julie can make things go back to normal. she needs Frank, and in her mind she's losing him, but she can't lose him. she can't. and maybe that little whisper of expectation that she can't hear but feels nonetheless, fuels this fire. it makes her feel justified, makes her feel the need to act and "correct" this. maybe if she gets rid of the distraction, Frank's love and attention will be hers once more.
i mean, people do insane things when they're under that much pressure. from current probably-horrible events, a loss of control in their own life, their closest person seemingly distancing themselves, subconscious pressure from societal expectation. especially when it comes to love - platonic or romantic. w/ Julie, i'm pretty sure it's platonic in regards to Frank. though she is bi, so you never know! could be both!
and maybe it won't be about Frank & Eddie, if any of this turns out to even a little right. maybe there's a factor I'm not considering or haven't seen yet. but i really do think that there are things pointing to it.
like yeah, the Concept Art linked above. the caption saying "liar", the specific species of flower, Julie holding it over her mouth as if keeping a secret, the hammer. not sure if the person standing over her is her primary puppeteer, an abstract, or something else (it seems cracked?) but that's not what this theory is about!
then there's the flower patch - both behind her in the concept art, and the one behind her house on the map. it's striking me now that the two look very similar. they have mostly the same flowers, even. blue/yellow/white/orange "daisies", some daffodils, what i think are roses (it's hard to tell specifics on the map). an odd choice to make them so similar (unless it's coincidence!).
when I first saw the patch, my immediate thought was "holy shit is that a body dump?!" bc it's oddly green compared to the rest of the map, it's placed at a noticeable distance behind Julie's house - as if it's supposed to be "hidden", and it's the lushest spot in the neighborhood. now, to provide a counterargument to my own claim: it could be very green because that's how things are shaded, it looks like it's at a distance from the house bc the map is 2D, and its the lushest spot bc Julie's all about flowers - also, i doubt flowers would spontaneously grow since we can assume none of them are real. it's a puppet world of props. but who knows.
(and okay this might or might not be relevant but we can assume Julie is the one who made the chalk drawings on the path, right? i think there's a spiral in front of her house. just making a note of it.)
and there's just how much "pressure" seems to be on Julie compared to the others. she doesn't match her house. she doesn't fit her "role" the way she's meant to. AND OH AND I ALMOST FORGOT - by the swingset, there's now a bowling ball and what looks like red scissors. idk about you guys but i associate scissors with Eddie. he's all about crafts, after all! now i'm really reaching but hey? murder weapon? Julie does seem fond of bowling balls... that's a perfect bludgeoning weapon to have on hand (in abundance!)
in conclusion, i just think Julie has major potential to do some deliciously fucked up stuff. in fact, i hope she does! it could be handled/done in an absolutely fascinating way, and could have intriguing consequences.
who knows, maybe i'm right about her trying to get rid of Eddie (not out of malice or anything, just fear & pressure), and there'll be a whole thing where he keeps on coming back, completely unaware that she tried to off him, bc he's a puppet and it's probably really tough to kill something that wasn't really alive in the first place. i mean, in This Observation post i made about some new map secrets, there's a strange window shine on the Post Office door that could be spelling out either "nexus" or "new us". that plus the apparent extra hands/faces behind the door... Eddie is quite accident prone. who's to say he's not used to being replaced by himself? it's not like he'd remember. or is that the reason his memory is bad? holy shit wait - no wait this is a tangent. sorry. this post is about Julie lmao maybe i'll make a different post for this Eddie Thought i just had bc ough. ough...
and also, before anyone tries to come at me - because there's always people who twist words to Start Shit or misinterpret/miss the point - i'm not saying that Julie is like... homophobic. or hates Eddie. or is a "jealous crazy-" just. yk? and if you think that, maybe reread the post. or take a reading comprehension class <3
AS FOR THE SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAPPENING TO JULIE. this is based on Two things and also Vibes. this section will be mercifully short compared to the rest of this clusterfuck of a post
so in the Livestream Trivia doc compiled by @/theneighborhood watch, yes i'm referencing this again sorry, there's this tidbit:
that, plus This Artwork, which features Julie (they're her shoes!) standing at the edge of an apparent chasm (the edge of the set, i assume) paints an interesting hypothetical picture. maybe she wanders a little too far and falls off the edge of her world. maybe she discovers something and Wally has to do something he doesn't want to do, but "needs" to. hey, who knows. maybe she is gonna hurt / try to hurt someone, and in an attempt to save them / stop her, Wally pushes her - either accidentally or on purpose, either way the end result would be the same. now I'm just pulling things out of my ass so lets move on lmao
then there's the Unknown Record in the website's media section. i actually recorded the audio and sped it up - i'll post that video later - and it seems to be an excerpt from Alice in Wonderland. the only part of it i've been able to clearly pick out is "Alice found herself falling down.... down... down..." followed by, presumably Alice speaking - who's high pitched voice reminds me of Julie's. so that's another point in the Julie Goes Bye-Bye Via Rapid Descent theory. or just goes temporarily missing! it could be that the only relevant part of the above trivia tidbit is the "falling down a cavern", and not the "never seen again" part. but it could. be. both.
though! though. Clown has stated that if all the neighbors were to take on roles in Alice in Wonderland, Wally is the one who would be Alice. which follows his direct connection to the spiral/eye pit, and the phrase "down the rabbit hole". so it could be either or. it could be both! it could be neither! this is all speculation, which brings us to....
the end! we made it! i hope you're still carrying your Hefty grains of salt! soon you'll be able to fill a large chicken-shaped shaker with it all!
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What about transfem Sanji and Robin?? Like I need some headcanons. Please🥺🥺
OMG YES YES YES!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS WEFNLSNDFLKEN I LOVE THEM!!! I have SO many headcanons for these two <3
Sanji comes out to the crew not long after the time skip, but the first one to know is Robin and she's the one that encourages her to tell the others. However, Sanji is worried (and yes, I am making it Sanuso because I am just that annoying with them) because she isn't sure whether Usopp (they're dating already btw) will still love her after knowing this (not the fact that she's a girl, bc Usopp is like, extremely bi and Sanji knows this. It's more like the concept of being trans and her body and etcetc). Robin tells her about her and Franky and how she was also anxious at first (she's also transfem btw. She has wise older trans girl energy) but he loved her body just the way it is. Perfect. "SUPERRR!" in his words, of course. So Robin tells Sanji that she's sure Usopp will love her either way, but if, for any reason, he doesn't want to keep going with the relationship, that doesn't make Sanji less valuable. Just like Robin didn't need Franky to tell her she's beautiful for her to accept it.
Turns out everyone accepts her, of course, even Zoro is nice to her. Robin is next to Sanji when she tells them the truth about herself and how she'd like to be treated now. However, Sanji is looking at Usopp and Luffy the whole time. Her boyfriend and her captain. Luffy's the first one to break the silence, saying that as long as she's free and happy and still cooks for them, then it's alright!! Robin gives her a fond smile while it happens. Usopp approaches her when everybody is walking away, and without saying anything else, he just kisses her. A thing that is completely new because Usopp is mostly a man of words, but right now he just wants to kiss her, and Sanji isn't complaining. Also, if you're curious about the other straw hats' reactions (can you tell I'm super into this whole thing):
Franky: Now we have three SUPERRRR beautiful ladies on the ship!! 😎 (Or, another option: *Dramatically sobs because Sanji just told them the most heartbreaking story about her life and how she struggled to realize she was a girl*)
Nami: Oh fucking finally, I thought I would have to deal with this forever. I thought you were a pervert but turns out you were just repressed as hell! Way to go, girl!!! Welcome to the club!!
Zoro: She's still a pervert- Good for you, though. I'm still going to beat your ass when we fight. Not going easy just because of this, shitty cook.
Brook: Oh, dear, I'm so glad there are more women here blessing us with their presence. Now, may I see your- *Nami hits him so hard his skull almost breaks in half*
Chopper: Sanji!!! I'm so sorry we didn't know anything!!!! Now I feel bad for treating you like a man!!! You're not!!! You're a beautiful woman, Sanji!!! (Sanji: Chopper, I didn't even know. How the hell did you expect to realize first-) *Sobs* I- I don't know!! But I'm sure you'll be even cooler as a woman now!!!
Robin tells Franky ASAP to build a bed for Sanji in the girls' room, but she doesn't tell Sanji right away. Nami helps her move Sanji's stuff from the boys' bedroom to theirs, and they make it a bit cozier and wider for the three of them. After dinner, they show Sanji what they've done and she almost breaks down crying.
Sanji is kind of self-conscious about her body, and she actually really likes wearing her suits, so it isn't a problem. But sometimes she envies Robin and Nami's clothes and bodies, and she wants to be able to wear dresses and more fem clothes too. Robin notices without Sanji saying anything and ends up lending her discreet clothes from her wardrobe for now until they have the chance to go shopping. Nami, then, is the one to buy clothes for Sanji with her own money (as surprising as it sounds) because it's, and I quote: "A real emergency. The fact that I haven't seen you in heels yet is a crime".
She starts thinking about her hair one day when Usopp notices it's getting a lot longer, running his fingers through it. Sanji has always been used to short hair. She doesn't even mind having it like this. A lot of girls have short hair. But perhaps she can... Try. Not cutting it for a while. See where it goes. (Lil spoiler: Turns out she likes long hair because it reminds her of her mom <3 Usopp loves it because this way he can do all sorts of hairstyles with it!!!)
The first time she showers with the girls at some thermal baths they find on an island, she almost has a heart attack. Being a girl does not keep her from simping, she's just a lot more normal about it (I have the lil headcanon that Sanji's constant pervert behavior is just gender envy). But also it's the excitement and feeling of belonging!! Besides, bathing with them is sooo much calmer and nicer than with the boys.
Issues with her voice? Not to worry because Robin, being the wise older transfem she is, teaches Sanji how to feel more comfortable about it and shows her tricks to train it for her voice to sound more soothing and high.
Eventually, Robin asks Sanji if she wants to try and contact Ivankov because they could help with her body, if she wants to. Sanji isn't sure. She feels like changing it completely would be like betraying herself because she doesn't want to be ashamed of her body. She's a girl no matter what, after all. But sometimes dysphoria is just... Too much. And perhaps living with a more fem body would help her. Robin tells her to take her time to think about it, and that no matter what she chooses she'll still be beautiful and a wonderful young woman!!
Silly lil thing but I think Robin would always use her hands (like, her extra hands) to keep Sanji's skirts covering her legs because girl be fighting with Zoro without realizing she's wearing a dress, lmao. The thing about her fighting style being all about kicking doesn't mix with well with some outfits.
Usopp used to be invited to girl nights, along with Chopper. Because Chopper is just, like, y'know, kind of their lil brother and Usopp is... Usopp is Usopp. He's the bestie of the gals. He's one of the girlies (he is not. He's just there because he's like the token gay friend in the girl group that always stands out. Like in teenage movies. Dude wants to be there and Nami doesn't complain). But once Sanji starts joining those girl nights, Usopp is completely banned from them. No boyfriends allowed.
Robin and Nami start using "Sanji-chan" to talk about her and it just makes her feel so so so happy!! (Actually I had to look up if Robin uses -chan for Nami and she actually does when talking to others about her???? Which is cute. I think they'd do it with Sanji for gender-affirming reasons mostly rather than just using honorifics).
Whenever Sanji argues with Usopp (surprisingly more often than you probably think, but it's just about stupid stuff) she always goes to Robin because she's the rational one and will probably help her better than anybody else. And also Usopp asks Nami for advice so Sanji can't exactly go to her.
If I start talking about my ideas for Whole Cake Island with transfem Sanji hiding that she's a girl and Luffy going after her to save her I might actually die so I won't (and this would probably change this whole thing to a Lusan post and we don't want that right now). But!! Thinking about Sanji in WCI missing Robin's presence because she always knows what to say, and not knowing if telling Reiju is a good idea.
I'm out of ideas ngl
Have these Sanjis as a peace offering for not being able to write more creative stuff:
SHE'S MY WIFE!!!!!!!!!!!
Also shout out to our queens:
(Sanji would SO wear these outfits btw) (I actually have so many ideas for how transfem Sanji would dres aaaaaaaAAAAAAA)
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even though I've never read the books, i love how you handle the women in this series.
The utter lack of interest in the internal lives of women characters in WC kills me. If you don't read the series it's hard to put it into words, but it really does not value women on the same level as their male counterparts
I think the best example I can use is Turtle Tail. All of her choices, from going to live with Bumble, choosing a "cruel man" as a mate, and even her grief when Bumble dies, all only happen as accessories to Gray Wing's arc.
Living with Bumble was because Gray Wing was obsessing over a woman who didn't love him, neglecting Turtle who does
Choosing Tom the Wifebeater was also because Gray Wing didn't appreciate her enough
She accepts that her friend's murder was just an unfortunate accident and her emotions carried her away in the moment, because Gray Wing needs to be right that his brother is a good boy
In this way, Turtle Tail's emotions and motivations aren't allowed to really be about her. They're about how her romantic interest influences her. And then she's crushed by a car for his man pain after they've explored every other way her life could make him sad.
This does not happen with men. Even characters like Stemleaf and Larksong, whose primary narrative purpose is dying for their wife's pain, have functions outside of that. Stemleaf gives his life opposing the tyranny of the impostor in a rebellion, and Larksong has input on The Kin, SkyClan, and even serves as a source of comfort and support to a son who he's never met in contrast to the unreasonable mother.
There's just so much more respect and reverence to the toms in this series. You have to be in the POV of a molly to get depth, and even then, they nearly always (exceptions being mothwing and mistystar) include a major conflict over romance and/or parenthood
(And they usually get punished for their choices a lot harder than male counterparts. Directly contrast Crookedstar and Sparkpelt, who both distance themselves from their children out of grief, but only one has to deal with the lasting consequences of being a "bad parent")
Anyway, enough wistful analysis. It is MY kitchen and I get to choose the conflicts. It is my personal mission to write lots and lots of women persuing a higher education in STEM. Sadism, Torture, Evisceration, and Murder <3
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