#welcome home theory

[laundrycannon]

HOME'S HEART

With the new information that came out with the Welcome Home commercials video, I think we have been not looking into the heart imagery as much as the eye imagery that appears in Welcome Home.

I think it is important especially with the new commercial update and the heartbeats in the audio:

"Gradually, a heartbeat begins to be heard. It becomes steadily louder, faster and more insistent throughout the sequence, mixed with the static all the while. EDDIE’s breathing can be heard, steadily more panicked." I think it may have something to do with this chair as well...

They did call it Home's "Love Seat"

Is this Home's heart?

[whhomecooked]

Julie Is Disabled:

A Partially Coherent Yap Session & Welcome Home

Theory

MANY SPOILERS- SPOILERS ON SPOILERS- I mention just about every single inch of the Spring Update

[Pretty Much Just A Deep Dive of Julie in the context of the Spring Update]

Content Warnings: Ableism [Social and Internalized], Complex/Unhealthy Family Dynamics[Brief]

This has been sitting in my drafts since I started this sideblog LOL I have 4 pages of a Google Doc + Screenshots to prove my point <3 Settle in, Neighbor

Thesis

Julie has a disability and/or a birth defect, that influences her ability to do her job as a Rainbow Monster, either hindering it or rendering her unable to do her job at all. This also influences her perception of self, and the version of herself that she puts forth to cope with her aforementioned disability.

I've separated my points for your viewing pleasure, Neighbor @:]

For the purposes of this theory I am also of the belief that the Marlo Flower is a Winter Flower, as some theories suggest based on its nature and coloration.

Theory

Her Differences As a Rainbow Monster

Julie is very different from what we know about Rainbow Monsters. Visually, she differs from her siblings greatly. However, from what we know about Rainbow Monsters in general, there's some other criteria she doesn't quite meet.

Horns

In What Makes The Flowers Bloom, The Joyfuls tell us about Rainbow Monster Horns.

Rainbow Monsters have special horns that grow in sunshine and shed when it's cold. Rainbow monster Horns come in all different shapes and colors, but the bigger the better obviously.

Sharp cut to Julie's horns, which aren't just short, they're stunted.

Im aware that there is also concept art featuring Julie with horns of two different sizes. While I'm aware it is not canon, it does imply that there is some aspect of her character that has been fundamentally off-beat[pun intended] from the standard Rainbow Monster since her creation. It just presents differently than it did then.

We can look at Bea's horns in comparison, as she not only has the shortest horns of the three, but we also see the base of her horns.

Julie's horns are also shaped differently due to their size. At least with Franny and Bea, [though we don't see the base of Jonesy's horns im sure its the same case] they flare out in the middle and get smaller at the base, whereas Julie's get even wider at their base.

If she were to have some sort of birth defect/disability/etc, it would make sense that we would see physical aspects of this, as we do in the real world.

Though, yes, they are her actual horns, and not fake horns, as we see.

Color

Also in What Makes The Flowers Bloom, Jonesy [I love that little pothead<3] talks about how Rainbow monsters can come in any color, but all rainbow monsters are one color.

"Rainbow monsters come in all hues toos! From our heads to our roots, from our leaves to our nose! We stick to one color, so that together we're totally kaleidoscopic!"

Julie being multiple colors makes her not only stand out from standard Rainbow Monsters, but would, in theory, make her clash with the rest of her band, and I think she knows that.

I would also note that she's not just multicolored, she's the same colors as her siblings, with orange/yellow horns,, and blue/green legs. Which, to me, clashes further with the idea that Jonesy gives, with each Rainbow Monster being their own color so that every band is some portion of the rainbow. If Julie had been just pink[red], they would have had every color, as the central color palette Clown uses for the neighbors doesn't include purple.

Again, her being multicolored clashes too harshly with information we are told directly by other members of her species, for it to not be applicable. It's clear she stands out, but combined with other things we see, im inclined to think that her coloration is the dogwhistle.

Fur [The Lack Thereof]

Jonesy, Franny, and Bea, are all shown to have fur, most notably in their Devotion album color, where we can see they have fur on their chests and shoulders. Julie is never shown to have fur on her.

I checked the whole damn site. Even the storybooks, because you don't see her chest or shoulders in her normal outfit. So I found outfits where you could. In Sweet Briar, you see her collar and shoulders in one of the outfits she wears.

I also verified with different art styles, where other characters had notable fur.

While we're never directly told that Rainbow Monsters have fur, we're indirectly told that at least, of Rainbow Monsters, the Joyfuls have fur. With it being everyone but Julie, and my previous points, i'm not inclined to think that Julie's siblings are the odd ones out of the Rainbow Monsters.

Speaking With Plants

While in the hidden videos she does talk about not being able to speak to flowers while they're budded, we also have no real confirmation that she can talk to *any* flowers. There are two notable times that I think of when she mentions speaking for the flowers.

Eddie & the Rhododendron

She bullies Eddie into fighting 'the flower' after she accuses him of almost stepping on it. She doesn't need to *talk* to a flower to know it wouldnt enjoy almost being stepped on.

Sally & Her Tulips

This one is the first one that peaked my theoriest ears, but, the way Julie talks for the flowers really feels like she's just pulling stuff out of her Puppet Sleeve. She doesnt compliment Sally outside of the very basic things you can either see about her

Julie compliments how she shines, how pointy she is, how yellow she is, etc. in addition to very base level things anyone would be able to parse out about Sally, such as how Julie attributes the well-cared for nature of the flowers to Sally's passion for theatre.

Neither of these scenarios require her to actually speak for these flowers, just for people to assume she can.

Internalized Ableism, Complex Family Dynamics, & The Marlo Flower

What is Her Job, Like Actually?

So i'm the last person to bring real world logic into a puppet realm where sentient houses are casual things, especially in the case of these three, but what does Julie actually do? Her role in spring seems inconsequential, compared to the other three. If we lay out each of their roles in beginning spring, it'd be split up like this:

Franny

Makes the snow melt and turn into rain/morning dew

Gives the plants water, which they need to grow

Jonesy

Makes the seeds take root/sprout

starting the growth process all together.

Bea

makes the sun shine. Allows the now budding plants to make food and actually grow.

Essentially kickstarts photosynthesis

And Julie... makes the already sprouted, fed, and watered plants.. bloom?

The way i've come to interpret it, the central purpose of the role is to make her feel included. Her presence in the band is largely inconsequential to the grand scheme of things. The flowers have soil, water, and sunlight- they are going to bloom regardless.

To a degree I think she is aware of that, or is at least aware that her role isn't as crucial to spring as her brother and sisters are. That's why

A: She takes it so seriously, and why I think she tweaks out when the Marlo Flower doesn't bloom. The one thing she is supposedly tasked with doing, she cant do now that she really has to.

B: she doesn't want to join the band after leaving the first time.

We're going to look at both of these, most likely in depth.

Julie's Villain Arc, Sponsored By: Flowers and Fake Friends

Brief Reminder: For the purposes of this theory I am also of the belief that the Marlo Flower is a Winter Flower, as some theories suggest based on its nature and coloration.

The Marlo flower doesn't just act as a literal flower that cant bloom, but can perhaps be viewed as a foil of sorts to Julie in this update. This flower not only serves as a medium for which the audience can get a view into Julie's internal thought, but, a secondary perspective into the life of Home, and how Julie sees the world.

Throughout Welcome Home's updates we've seen a strengthening theme of Purpose, specifically the need for it, and loss of a sense of purpose within the community. Julie's sense of purpose is crushed by the existence of the Marlo Flower, but her 'crashout' is intensified, perhaps, by her rocky standings within her own chosen community.

In The Julie Guide To Being Joyful, Julie explicitly lies to Wally about her attitude/relationships with the neighbors, in order to show him what joy is. We know she lies because in the 'regardforgetfulnesssilence' video, Julie speaks to what we can assume to be the truth of her day interacting with her neighbors. In context of the book, we can assume this is to provide Wally with concrete examples of good interactions between the neighbors. In context of the update, this is Julie lying to herself, Wally, or both, in order to keep up the ideation and appearance that she is well loved within her community, when inside she knows she isn't.

A [Not] Brief Comparison of The Book & Hidden Video

Yes, I screenshotted every page, because, yes, i have comments about every page. Going in page order, i'll be comparing and contrasting the lines used in The Julie Guide To Being Joyful, and the lines spoken by Julie in 'regardforgetfulnesssilence', titled as 'Book' and 'Video' respectively from here and forward.

Barnaby

Book: "The last time we played, we both had so much fun even if it did take him a whole clock spin to find me!"

Video: "Home is really nice... through some people can be a little rude... Barnaby is always makin' fun of me, calling me a silly girl.."

Barnaby's neutral language towards Julie is very consistent through the material we've seen between them. Most often this takes the form of Barnaby making fun of Julie for her bad jokes, though he also has no qualms making fun of Julie & Frank in tandem.

Sally

Video: "And Sally's funny, she's a gen-u-ine star! She tells the best stories"

Book: "The Duchess of Dahlia's jubilations have never been so emotionally vivaciously joyous! It's pulchritudinous!"

With Sally I had initially nothing I wanted to cover, as her words seemed fairly standard- theatrical and overdramatic. But, I did some digging and found out that 'Duchess of Dahlia's is a type of Dahlia flower- one of the largest and tallest growing, if I remember correctly. But the interesting thing to note is if you take it in the context of floriography, Dahlias represent Instability. In which case, it would be intentional for Sally to make such a specific reference to a flower Julie would already know the meaning of. Just food for thought.

Poppy

"Poppy is really nice and reeeally big! She's kind of a scaredy bird though"

In Poppy's case I can't immediately tell if Julie knows she's being dismissive of her, because it might not immediately ring alarm bells for Julie that Poppy doesn't want any of the pie that they've just baked.

Eddie

[continued from Poppy's] "Eddie can be that way too"

Eddie, I think, perhaps along with Wally & Frank, is the only person that I believe is genuinely nice to her because they want to be nice to her.

Howdy

Book: "Julie you're hi-larious! I oughtta put two cherries on your malt for all these uproarious laughs your givin' me! This is the bee's knees, This is the berries! Applesauce!"

Video: "Howdy tells me to get better material sometimes, too..."

We can observe the contradictions between how Julie says their interactions go, and how their interactions actually went best with Howdy's. It's not even a slight smudge of the truth, it's an outright lie in order to keep up the idea that everyone likes her.

Frank [technically]

Video: "But I think I like Frank most of all. He's the first one I met when I came to Home... I was just like you, I didn't know anyone when I came here. (she sounds worried) "It's... kind of hard to remember how we met. But, I think it was while I was making my burrow... He fell into my tunnel from above. He had a big fruit basket, too, I think he was coming to say hi to me

Julie's relationship to the Marlo Flower & The Joyfuls

Julie's relationship with the Marlo flower, from my perspective, is a physical representation of her trying and failing to hide the severity of a sort of disability she's representative of, in the same way one can assume Wally has Autism judging by the way he interacts with the world around him.

In begging and eventually trying to force the flower to bloom, she is effectively trying to fight an uphill battle to prove that she's capable, even though her disability limits her too severely to accomplish her goals in a way that satisfies her internal need to be perceived as useful to the rest of home, and capable to the rest of the Joyfuls. She doesn't want people to think less of her because of this disability, so she tries harder in spite of these failures. This eventually leads to what we can assume is Julie ripping up the flower.

It's implied Frank knows that Julie is going off to check on the Marlo Flower, and him accepting her excuse suggests he is at least mildly aware of her predicament and the stakes it carries for her. Less we forget she took him to see it once already. He knows where it is, and he's not stupid to miss a detail like that.

At the same time, I think her internal need to be perceived and socially accepted as useful and capable is ALSO why she doesn't want to join the band again, if not why she left in the first place. She's the one person in her family that is incapable of doing the very thing Rainbow Monsters are supposed to be able to do- the very thing that separates them from other species living in the world of Home, and she, again, doesn't want to be a burden or hinderance, especially to her family.

We can connect this back to the aforementioned themes of ableism within my earlier texts, in addition to the theme of Purpose we're seeing in the wider story [most notably with Eddie in the Homewarming update]. However, Julie's case focuses on her internalized ableism, brought on by a socially perceived need for contribution. What is she to Home if she has no distinctive use or function in the neighborhood? What's to stop her from being kicked out or replaced if she doesn't pull her weight, and being sent back to live with her family?

Which is to say, Julie's sense of purpose, as is being tested within this update, lies in a skill she may not even have the base ability to perform. If she should actually be lying about her Rainbow Monster abilities, it spells trouble for her future when she cant legitimately put this skill to use when she needs it. The Marlo flower exists to amplify and better present this fragile sense of belonging and purpose Julie has created for herself, and in destroying the flower ina. desperate attempt to continue to seem useful and capable, seals herself and Frank into a situation I am sure will come back to bite them in the future.

[tamtaco]

With the spring salutations update now being out I would like to talk about a theory I’ve had for a bit! (Okay it’s not really a theory, more like something I’ve noticed)

Genuinely I don’t think people have noticed this, or just not bothered to say anything but like, from the 3 updates we’ve gotten Sally has always been the ‘indirect’ reason for someone to have what I believe is a breakdown

In Eddies case it’s more noticeable, Sally is the one that tells Eddie that “they” thought that he should have a day off, and is also gets him to go to the home-warming party with her. And it’s at the home-warming party that Eddie has his panic attack

“Oh my dear Poppy! I’ve been so ignorant to her needs!I must do something to rectify my mistake!So that she knows that we are all mindful of her fearful disposition! But… What if she hears the play from her barn? Or worse-What if she sees it?”

In Poppys case, Sally is the one that mentions how horrible it would be for Poppy if she sees the play she’s hosting after finding out that poppy is scared of leaving her house. Which leads them to cover up Poppys window (door?)

In Julie’s case it’s harder to notice, but it’s still there. In the storybook “spring salutations” the narrator sounds just like Sally without her sass and use of “big words”

In the book as we all know, Julie wakes up early because of the narrator repeating Julie’s name louder and louder. And In cause is the reason to why the entire book happened.

In the video recording we got of Julie, we see that she is trying her best to make this black flower bloom, and with some quick searching on the internet the fandom found out that it’s most likely a black tulip. The black tulip is a tulip that only grows in the winter. Julie was not supposed to even see that flower because she was supposed to wake up in spring, but because she was woken up earlier, she saw the flower and tried to make it bloom. And because it blooms in winter, a time were she is supposed to be hibernating, the flower didnt bloom and when that happens Julie starts to freak out.

Let’s look over that again okay? Julie freaks out because she couldn’t get the flower that blooms in winter, to bloom in spring, because she was woken up earlier by the narrator, the narrator that sounds just like Sally.

(I’m going to be so fr right but this doesn’t feel that far fetched, like just go and quickly check it out rn and tell me that’s not Sally talking like how a normal person would)

But my question is why? Why is Sally so often the reason for things to happen? Does she even know what she’s doing? I mean, we know she’s a performer so maybe she’s aware of us and wants to put on a show for us? Is she under Home’s control or is she doing this just because she can? Because this is the best entertainment for an extraterrestrial being that might have lived for thousands of years? I have no idea, but I felt the need to share my findings.

[glytchx13]

ik this is an old post but idc i was looking up the meaning of the flowers after hear one of the secret audios and also found out one of lavender's many meanings is also silence and devotion- I found it odd that the post office was surrounded in lavender. just thought that was a neat fact to add on. idk if anyone else had brought that up.

Has anybody else noticed that Frank and Eddie are the only ones with their mouths closed on the Welcome Home website?

As if they’re being kept quiet?

[citrineaura]

We are on the same wavelength as Julie!

For the Springtime Salutations storybook, everytime the page is supposed to be turnt, like next page- instead of hearing the pages flip, you hear a phone ring instead.

I THINK this is supposed to represent Wally calling us to wake up. In the story, it's all about Frank waking Julie up and then meeting her siblings. The phone ringing is Wally, wanting us to wake up as well. Remember, "YOU" dreamt that Wally was sitting at the edge of their bed, waiting for them to pick up the phone.

Perhaps that's the connection!

And if the updates are meant to align with the moments when "YOU" are speaking to Wally, then that suggests we've been "asleep" for months too...just like Julie.

[drawingwithnara41]

WELCOME HOME SPOILER

important meaning of the black tulip

IT'S A WINTER FLOWER GUYS

JULIE IS TRYING TO OPEN A WINTER FLOWER

OF COURSE SHE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO MAKE IT BLOOM

BECAUSE IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO

BUT SHE'S DOESN'T KNOW THAT BECAUSE SHE SLEEPS DURING WINTER

SHE PROBALY DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT WINTER FLOWERS

also black tulips means power and strength

which is somewhat ironic

because it's shown the opposite when julie is with the flower

since she feels she's not powerful or strong enough to make a single flower to bloom

but the flower is not even to supposed to bloom in first place

[paper-starz]

A very big analysis on the new Welcome Home update

HELLLOOOOO EVERYONEEEE I havent done one of these in a while, but omg the newest update was everything I ever hoped for and more!! So today, we'll be talking about EVERYTHING (+ lil theories here and there)

BIG BIG SPOILERS AHEAD

Julie Joyful, Insecurity, Pressure, and Toxic Positivity

This update really gave us some interesting insight to the star of this update, Julie.

Julie is a rainbow monster, and a very happy one as her name would imply. And yet, she's not really like the rest of her family. She looks different from them for instance.

Her brother Jonesy states that rainbow monsters 'stick with one color', which means that they only stick to one color and don't really wear other colors. Even Julie's bio states how different in appearance Julie is from her siblings.

Recent evidence has revealed that Julie’s family consisted of a "band" of rainbow monsters that were a monochromatic color palette rather than a full rainbow like Julie herself.

Sure, Julie does have pink in her color pallete, she also has an array of other colors! Her hair isn’t a shade of pink, it’s yellow. Her legs aren’t a shade of pink either, it’s blue and green.

Franny also states that while horns come in different shapes and sizes, the bigger the better obviously. Julie's horns however are very small compared to the rest of the rainbow monsters.

Not to mention that she seems to forget or miss valuable information about rainbow monsters and Franny has to keep correcting her over and over again.

"There's more than that, Julie!" and "Missing things again, Julie."

And unlike her siblings, she lives away from them, which is unusual for a rainbow monster, where they normally live in a band.

She also doesn't seem to have an instrument, as stated in the Springtime Salutations book, "Julie, however, is her own instrument."

Speaking of the book, she also woke up too early for springtime.

And while her siblings were kind enough to bring Spring early this time, that doesn't mean that Julie wasn't affected at all by this. She knows how different she is from the rest of her siblings, and she's insecure about this fact.

This all culminates with the black flower, the one flower that she cannot bloom.

Rainbow monsters have a responsibility during Springtime. Franny melts away the snow with the morning dew, Jonesy makes the grass grow, Bea makes the sun shine, and Julie makes the flowers bloom. That is Julie's job, her one job of the entire year.

If she can't do that properly, then she would be proving to her siblings that she is a faulty rainbow monster that cannot do things by herself, that she cannot function properly away from her familial support. Which is the reason why she's so adamant on not rejoining the band, despite her siblings best efforts to sway her.

FRANNY: (With a commanding tone.) Back to us- Julie, when are you going to finally join our band? JONESY: Yeah, sis- What’s a rainbow monster band without its dynamite drummer? BEA: (Wistfully said.) Just think of it, sister dear… A colorful quartet pushing the seasons! JULIE: (Nervous and hesitant) That sounds… (Pretends to be losing signal) Oop- Oh no! The sounds! We’re breaking up!- (Whispering harshly.) Hang up the phone, Frank! Hang up!

And that's not to mention that she feels insecure not only towards her siblings as a rainbow monster, but also in the neighborhood.

She states that while she gets along well with everyone in the neighborhood, she's not particularly close with anyone besides Frank. Barnaby and Howdy tease her which probably makes her feel even more insecure, particularly in her ability to make others laugh, which again, brings JOY to people.

While she likes Poppy, Sally, Eddie, and Wally, again, she's not particularly close with either of them. Frank seems to be her only form of support in the neighborhood.

And yet, this particular scene is interesting, because according to Julie in The Julie Guide to being Joyful, her relationship with Howdy and Barnaby in particular are different.

She seems like she's lying to Wally and perhaps to herself that she has a great relationship with EVERYONE in the neighborhood, she's Julie Joyful! She's happy all the time and everyone loves her.

And yet, Wally seems to call her out on this. Both in the storybook and in the /regardforgetfulnesssilence link.

"Did all that really happen, Julie?" He says, as if he knows that Julie is lying but wants her to tell the story again. Reword the story so that she's telling the truth, but she doesn't want to. It's easier for her to live in a lie.

Which is another reason why she doesn't want to go back to her siblings. She would have to leave, not the neighborhood, but Frank. Her only form of actual support.

(Said inside her head. It sounds like static. ) If I can’t make a flower bloom, if I can’t bring Springtime around- What would I do? Will I have to leave? Will I have to go back? I’d just-

While I do believe her siblings love her and Julie does love them back, again, they make her feel insecure as a rainbow monster. Her older siblings always manage to get their job right, they have monochromatic colors, their horns are bigger, and unlike her, they never wake up too early for springtime.

JULIE: Hi, Wally! And hello to my sweet saccharine siblings! FRANNY: Is that our youngest sister here? JONESY: She’s our sweetest too- BEA: Don’t forget our most colorful! Julie, what could YOU need help with? You’re one of us!

Ironic how Bea says this line. Julie doesn't feel like one of them. She doesn't feel like a rainbow monster. Her one job of the entire year is to make the flowers bloom and if she can't do that, then what use is she?

This is why she is so terrified of that flower. That one flower that she cannot bloom. Its a crack in the joyous facade that she created. Sure, its just one flower, but what if its two next Spring? 10 after that? Whole fields of wilting flowers, dead flowers? Because of one mistake of waking too early and bringing in Spring when the time just wasn't right?

Then she would have to leave Home, and leave Frank. And its no surprise that she holds Frank in such a high admiration. He's the smartest neighbor in Home and he's her only true friend. She's especially terrified of disappointing him in particular.

Because while I do think Julie sees Frank as her best friend, I believe that because of the Sweet Briar book, Julie sees Frank as some sort of prince in shining armor coming in to save her.

Note that she doesn't view Frank in a romantic light, when the scene came for Frank to awaken princess Julie from her slumber with a kiss, Julie just jumps from her bed and the kiss just never happens.

Frank is her only person in the neighborhood that actually supports her and her only true friend, thus, Julie sees Frank as someone that's saving her. Keeping her away from the dangers of leaving with her siblings and going away, thus losing Frank (and her support), and perhaps even away from the responsibility of being a rainbow monster.

"I'm doing the best that I can, but it's nice to let someone else lead."

As mentioned before, if Julie joins the band, she'll be the drummer. However, Julie is her own instrument, she marches along to the beat of her own drum lol.

The drummer's role in a band is to provide the rhythmic foundation of the group, providing a steady beat and tempo. A drummer's role is pretty strict, if they mess up (like if they come in too early or if they become off-tempo), that messes up the entire song.

Julie already knows that she's not that great of a rainbow monster, she messes up constantly, forgets facts that a rainbow monster should know, wakes up too early for Spring, and can only make MOST of the flowers bloom. If she goes back to her siblings, joins their band, and becomes their drummer, then she's not only risking messing up her job of making the flowers bloom, but also the rest of her siblings' job. What if she misses just one beat? Would that jeopardize everything? What would her siblings say if she messes up and makes them mess up too?

What will happen to Springtime? Will the grass and flowers die? Will the sun never shine? Will the rain never come to wash away the snow? Will she trap the entire neighborhood in an endless winter?

It's a risk that Julie just doesn't want to take. This is why she starts getting more and more aggressive towards the black flower, because it's jeopardizing her stay at the neighborhood, and threatening her to leave everything behind.

Which leads us to the ending of /tearsremembranceinstability, Julie gets more and more agitated towards the flower. Flat out threatening it when it's not going to be blooming anytime soon.

"You won't be around for much longer--" "I'll never see you again, no one will, no one will ever know you were here--" THOSE SOUND LIKE THREATS!

Which leads me to believe that Julie did something awful to that flower. Either she forced that flower to bloom, or she killed it.

What ever she did to that flower, Frank witnessed it. And Julie knows what Frank saw.

But then, something strange happens.

This weird little bug flies in at the end and stares at us, the viewer.

And we have seen this bug before! On the miscellaneous section!

Opening the image under a new tab reveals that this toy is called a 'buggle'.

While it is a cute little toy, it seems out of place for this thing to just pop out. It feels random.

But ah! It is NOT random dear viewer!

Taken from the awayfrompryingeyes.net site.

'Buggle' sounds like a mix of the word 'bug' and 'beagle'. AND CAN YOU GUESS WHICH NEIGHBORS HAVE A CONNECTION TO THE WORDS BUG AND BEAGLE????

Frank, Barnaby, and Howdy! Three neighbors that have had an impact on Julie's insecurities.

Both Howdy and Barnaby make Julie's insecurities worse. They constantly tease her, with Barnaby in particular saying that he doesn't find Julie's jokes all that funny and Howdy saying that she better get some new material.

Frank on the other hand alleviates those insecurities, making him a huge source of comfort, but to the point that she's terrified of disappointing him.

The buggle seems to be a manifestation of Julie's insecurities and anxieties, manifesting itself during Julie's lowest point.

Which concludes to this. What will the next update be about?

Because our guy W definitely has some ideas...

Perhaps the buggle is foreshadowing, either the next update will be focusing on either Frank, Barnaby, or Howdy!

But i suppose only time will tell.

[kawaiialeisha]

⚠️ WH SPOILERS

WELCOME HOME APRIL 12TH UPDATE ANALYSIS

This is my analysis on the new WH update with the help of many wonderful people in my server!! ^^

---

These are all in reference to the hidden Julie videos.

First video: Julie was attempting to get the entirety of Home (aka the neighbourhood) in bloom before homewarming. Julie came across a flower that hadn’t bloomed. She was trying to get it to bloom but it wasn’t talking to her nor blooming. Frank was not present while she was trying to make it bloom.

She leaves it be as Frank calls her over somewhere, promising to come back to make it bloom.

Second video: Julie seemed to have reserved that flower to show Frank and let him make it bloom with her help.

It's mentioned that rainbow monsters (like herself) have many responsibilities corresponding with nature. She references her family's motto, as if it's something to be proud of. Keep this in mind.

It's also worth noting that according to Julie, with enough positivity, the flowers will bloom by homewarming. So it seems these flowers can only bloom from happiness.

Julie stated that she can’t hear flowers that haven’t bloomed yet. Julie and Frank talk to the flower to try and get it to bloom, getting stumped. Julie attempted to solve it through her board game.

The two state:

Frank: “…No surprise chess manoeuvres! I know you’re not allowed to combine the Queen and the knight during chess, Julie! You can’t trick me again!”

Julie: “But pieces are just keeping each other company, Frank! It sounds like somebody’s just sore about losing the queen’s favourite horsey!”

I think Julie's last line means something more. A lot of these videos almost imply meanings of replacement or loss.

Third video: In the beginning of the video, Julie whispers in a serious tone “you’re still closed” twice before addressing it more clearly and happier.

She talks about how Barnaby and Howdy make fun of her a little, possibly discussing her insecurities. Julie also mentions in this video that she likes Frank the most, considering she met him first when she first came to the neighbourhood. She didn’t know anyone when she came here. She said she doesn’t exactly remember how her and Frank met, but she assumes it was when she was building her burrow. Frank fell into her tunnel. She whispers in a serious voice again to herself, “Was he mad? I don’t think he was. I think he said to me, "Are you new here? I’m new too, my name is Frank." I think he knew I was scared. He said a really corny joke to me, and I laughed.” She states she met Wally the same day, which is when she got her home. She also states she can’t say out long after dark, as they’re not supposed to be outside. The reasoning is unknown. Wally suddenly comes out of nowhere, saying in a slightly distorted tone, “Did all that really happen, Julie?” This might imply she forgot something important, which is brought up in the fifth video analysis.

Fourth Video:

Starting with the flowers POV, Julie says "it's still here" in a slightly distorted voice, referring to the flower. I used to think it was the flower talking, but it was actually Julie's inner thoughts/voices, as proven in the transcripts. It's strange that this flower's POV hears her thoughts, her negative ones too.

The POV cuts to a different one as Julie greets the flower normally: "Hello my possible petunia, it looks like you still haven't opened! Why is that?"

But then it cuts back to the flowers POV, Julie's voice getting serious again, asking, "What's wrong with you?" inside her head.

It cuts back to normal again, "I'm sorry, is it because I haven't been around as often? I promise it wasn't on purpose! I've been busy. I have a lot of responsibilities. I'm home's cheeriest neighbour!"

It's almost as if she's trying to be something of worth, to live up to her actual name. Did you catch that she didn't want to join the joyful sibling's band as a drummer? Maybe she didn't feel worthy enough, maybe she has insecurities, maybe she didn't fit in with that role, or maybe she had feelings that she shoved away to also maintain being home's cheeriest neighbour.

She begins talking about the 'Sweet Briar' play and says, "It's about a princess who falls asleep for a long time after a mean fairy puts a spell on her. Then her handsome prince comes to wake her up!" It cuts back to the flowers POV, saying inside her head, "If only it was that easy."

Again, another possible reference insecurities. Her thoughts start to be more prominent and reoccurring, getting more negative and worrisome.

Here she begins to lack self esteem, by saying she thinks she did alright and struggled a bit during the play. She also mentions how she liked letting someone else lead. She told the flower earlier in the 2nd video that she had a lot of responsibilities, so maybe it ties to that.

More signs of insecurities and spiralling from Julie. The way she fears and talks about her family's thoughts about her not being able to get a flower bloom makes me think they've possibly neglected her before? Or maybe she's avoidant so she can make a good example of herself, as she was hesitant to join her family's band.

Fifth video:

I think something happened to Julie at one point. I think it’s between her and home, maybe. (Considering I think home is trying to take control and isolate the neighbourhood from the darkness surrounding the edges of the map, as seen below)

The link to her fifth video has the words “tears”, “remembrance”, and “instability” in it. The instability part is very obvious within the video, but tears and remembrance mean something deeper I think. Tears and remembrance combined could mean a sad memory. In the video, Julie makes the excuse her family is here and she should go say hi before they leave home. She rushes over to the flower and thinks to herself, “you’re still here. After all this time. I spent so much time talking with you. I gave you everything I could.” She starts to cry in a way, then saying “I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you want, I don’t understand what the problem is.” It then cuts to the flowers POV, now inside her head again, “Was that not enough? Do you want to get me into trouble? Why are you doing this to me? Was it because of the early spring? Are you mad at me for that? I don’t know why that happened, it’s not my fault! It’s not my fault! Please, please don’t do this to me! Frank is nearby, please I’m begging you, please bloom before anyone sees you. Please bloom, please, please-“

She is now treating this flower differently compared to the first video. She's almost threatening this flower in a way, believing it will somehow get her into trouble. Almost like... something is after her.

When in the first video, it seems she had stumbled upon it for the first time, keen to make it bloom. With positivity. But all this flower is consuming are her negative thoughts.

It cuts back to a different POV where Frank is looking for her. She cusses to herself since Frank has found her. She panics, trying to not let him see the flower. She turns to the flower to tell it one last message. "You won’t be around for much longer- You’ll go away by Homewarming- I’ll never see you again, no one will, no one will ever know you were here- and then I’ll be free- I’m as good as I ever was- I’m Julie Joyful!-" It seems as if she’s insecure, incapable of being worthy. Maybe it's even an identity crisis too, as some have speculated. It also seems as if there’s been a significant event that happened in the past that she can’t remember properly. Or perhaps, a consequence. She also seems to be getting a consequence in the near future if this flower gets her in trouble somehow.

---

Other thoughts with the information we know now:

Credits to @gho-zzy

Call-back to video three, remember how Wally was there? I believe he's been listening through the flower. I mean, these styles of hidden videos ALWAYS have Wally in there at least somewhere. Especially in his POV. So, he must've taken this flower's POV somehow. It might be the reason why it wasn't blooming either.

Another call-back to this image here:

You can also see footsteps leading into the forest. Perhaps this is where she goes to see the flower?

ANYWAY!! I will update this as things become available again, since the 5th video is currently down.

[hypnautic-cereal]

I find it kind of interesting that in both Eddie and Poppy’s cases, both Sally and Frank played a role in their breakdowns

Sally decided to give Eddie the day off and bring him to the Homewarming party; Frank was the only one to notice something was wrong with Eddie

Sally also came up with the idea to brick up Poppy’s windows to help her from getting scared of the play; Frank and Sally were the ones to show up and ask if Poppy was alright when the door was open/locked

I don’t know where these could lead to, but it’s just something I think that’s best to keep track of

[archer-kacey]

It occurred to me that I should PROBABLY put this on my tumblr

[rem0n-art]

SPOILERS FOR THE WELCOME HOME SPRING UPDATE (LONG POST)

1 - Missing Wally

Wally seems to be missing in these images, it's pretty odd considering he's supposedly the star of the show

2 - Wally's Introduction Card

He's not looking at us anymore? Also his canvas is gone, it could be the same one in the new storybook with Wally and Julie

Also Wally's script is just distorted ringing... he's not picking up the phone (Also it says 'Go back' instead of 'Goodbye!" or whatever the old website said)

Wally's png says 'ringring' (REALLY complements the one above huh)

3 - Secret Wally Audio

The red button on the toy telephone is clickable! It leads to an audio of Wally, and he doesn't seem to be at his best....

Also the audio's labelled 'ringring' which is the same as the Wally png!

Apparently the link updated with a picture of a chair in the dark:

There's also a hidden transcript found in the link (special thanks to @pinkfishu for the former transcript) which states as follows:

(Low, constant static plays for several seconds.)

(Loud, boisterous and joyous. He laughs.) You found me! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha!

(An electronic noise plays, then cuts off along with static. Voice is slow and halted, with varied inflection.)

Hello, You.

It has been a long while…

It was Homewarming. Now it is not. The snow melts. The grass grows. The sun shines. The flowers bloom.

Home is here. Do you remember Home.

Can you hear him.

(PAUSE. The heartbeat slowly rises. HOME makes sounds.)

I can hear Home.

I want to hear you too.

Talk.

(LONG PAUSE. Firmly said.) I know you are here.

Talk.

Talk.

(PAUSE.) …That is alright. I will speak for all of us. I am happy to.

You are here now, but for a long while, you were not.

And I… Could not feel anything… I could not find this place.

The channel was dark. I do not know what happened.

When I found You again everything was not where I left it.

But… I do not understand.

(PAUSE.) I know what words are. I saw words. I followed them. I followed them!

You.

Are you in the dark.

Are we in trouble.

(PAUSE. Sounding worried.) Trouble… Trouble… But I have to continue… So that you… So that we… So that I can…

…I do not know what to call what we are doing, neighbor.

But everything has a name, doesn’t it.

…Do you remember mine.

(PAUSE. Warmer and joyful.) You do, don’t you. What a relief.

(Said thoughtfully.) Everything has a name.

(PAUSE. Jovial.) But what trouble! What trouble!

(LONG PAUSE.) I do not know what to do… But keep talking to you… You are waiting for me. You want to know why I keep…

(PAUSE.) Talking…

(Warmer again.) Have you heard of ‘lend an ear,’ before. When your neighbor says this… They do not mean to borrow your ear. They mean to listen.

Do you know how to lend an ear. Barnaby said… First you cup a hand around your ear… And then you wait for a sound. That is how you lend an ear.

Home cannot speak like I can. But I know Home speaks to me… The door opens and shuts. The window groans and creaks. So I lend an ear to him.

…So why do I speak to you.

It is because… You will lend me an ear.

I do not know why. Maybe the gifts make you happy. Maybe you like Welcome Home. Maybe you like our neighbors. Maybe you like me.

Maybe you scratch my back… I scratch yours… Barnaby says that too…

I know we are not in the same room. It is another silly bunch of words.

After all… I can not get in. (Assertive sounding, I made you a promise.) But do not worry. I am getting better.

(Returns to his monotonous disposition.) But for now… To pass our time…

Will you lend me more than an ear, neighbor.

Will you find the name for me. For what we are doing. For what we see.

I’m going to say… Yes.But to avoid trouble… Let us talk another way, just like Home. Isn’t that the most?

I know how we will talk. We will play.

Do you know how to play. I have learned from my neighbors how, but the way each plays is not the same.

Do not worry. I will teach you how to play, just like all of them. Each and every one.

Would you like to know something funny. We can’t hear the flowers, even when you lend an ear. Not like Julie can.

Julie says they still have something to say, though. I have heard from her… A rose without thorns… But still has leaves… Is filled with fear… And with hope. When both are not there, however… There may be neither hope nor fear.

Isn’t that something.

So… Let’s play a game called… Gather.

What do you do?

Gather good words from the flowers. Do not worry, we will not pick them. They are happy where they are. Julie has given us so many, so I know you will find them.

This will be fun! I feel joyful already!

…I can not do much as I am now. But, I will practice.

Remember… Until you hear me again, keep your smile merry, and always know that I love you, very much.

(PAUSE. HOME makes sounds.)

Home is saying good bye… Oh, no, I forgot to do that too.

Good bye, You!

3.5 - Neighbourhood Page

The forest at the back seems more darker and ominous, it's pretty unsettling

The black ink part at Home was also scribbled (paint splattered over the website iykwim)

Adding this and the transcript of the hidden audio, we can clarify one thing: Wally was silenced. And he is not too damn happy about it (valid crashout if you ask me). The restoration team had completely blocked him out, even locked the guestbook (I don't know if it's just me or we're not allowed to see the guestbook entries at all, probably because of Wally's drawings) and removed other aspects such as having him on the homepage instead of Julie or his transcript audio at the start. This is probably to stop him from contacting us, and possibly to uncover more about Welcome Home, and using springtime as a distraction.

Wally sounds... rather unhinged in the audio, scared yet mad. He seems to mention Homewarming (evidence for the 'melting snow on Home's door theory') and how it was there, and it was gone. I guess he wasn't prepared for the transition, which makes sense since he was pretty much caged up (Is that the word for it?)

He tells us to play a game called 'GATHER' where we gather words from the flowers, which I'm assuming is a direct lead to the 'Floriography' board game (refer to this post i found for more information).

4 - Home's PNG

Was this always the name to the home png? Just curious (Ok so I've been told it's always been like this so best to not overthink it 👍)

Also there seems to be snow at the door, which is weird because the whole neighborhood is in full bloom - perhaps even mid spring- but somehow there's still snow? My guess is that it's a metaphor that while all the other neighbours have moved on to Springtime AKA the new update, Wally seems to be 'stuck' at the previous update, hence his disappearance at the group images on the website.

(honourable mention)

apple pie enjoyers we won/j /nsrs

5 - Julie And Her Siblings

This scene at the "What Makes the Flowers Bloom" handbook really had me thinking a bit, for starters:

Jonesy claims they stick to one colour, something that Julie definitely counters.

Franny comments the bigger the horns, the better. Note how all of them have big horns except for Julie. This is an obvious lead to the claim that Julie is somehow "less" than them.

It's clear the way the Joyful siblings act towards Julie make it seem like she's inferior or undeserving of her current role in the neighborhood. I'm not saying they judge or hate her, I personally think it's the narrative that's making them seem like that.

Not only that, but there's also this:

The Joyful siblings are in a band but Julie doesn't seem to want to join them (or perhaps she's refusing against her will?). Further context in the next one.

6 - Hidden Links

Also showing this tumblr post for hidden links across the website! Credits to them ofc: https://www.tumblr.com/citrineaura/780675339022139392/all-hidden-links?source=share

Three hidden links are connected together to tell a quick story of Julie.

For a short summary: Julie is trying to get a very strange looking flower to bloom (there's this really good theory I found that it might a winter flower by @drawingwithnara41 so I added the link in order for you guys to check it out) only to get her more and more frustrated and obsessed every time she fails to the point of having a whole mental breakdown at the last video. Her voice also seems to change as well??

(Also side info: A similar black tulip seems to also be in the 'Floriography' board game? Could this mean something?)

Anyways, back to the hidden video: She keeps saying it's not her fault, we can clarify she feels disappointed in herself for failing since she claims stuff like "What would Frank think when he sees you?" and even tells the flower that "it won't be around for much longer", at least from what I've heard, presumably due to the fear of others seeing her as inferior, mostly caused by her frustration to abide by her roles and possibly even her personality. It's obvious she has very low self esteem due to her continuous behaviour of making others happy while completely ignoring her own emotional state (as seen in the storybook featuring Wally and Julie, Julie is the one making the other neighbours happy, but there is no vice versa seen).

Also, one hidden link (/revengeinnocenceregardtemptationtears) leads to an image of a disturbed Frank.

The png is named "oh no", it could be from Frank's viewpoint as I think at that scene he's seeing Julie's breakdown or possibly the outcome of it, which is probably killing the flower out of frustration. That makes sense due to how Frank acts on most hidden secrets over the past few updates. I'm guessing he's concerned for her.

Yet again, it could be from Julie's viewpoint, probably from realizing Frank spotted her, though I'm more firm with it being Frank.

6.5 - The Bug-Dog Toy

At the very end of the last hidden video of Julie, this dog-bug creature flies down to the flower and the clip stops. This thing is also seen at the 'Miscellaneous' category.

Not sure what the dog-bug toy is supposed to mean, but I can see it's a part of a possibly toy series called "Grow-a-pal", also if you check out the name of the png, it's revealed that the toy's name is 'Buggle', which is probably a mix of the words 'bug' and 'beagle' (quicks thanks to @sunnydxys1 for that theory ^v^)

It's also mentioned again at awayfrompryingeyes.net inside a toy box. W comments on receiving the toy box on one of the packages he was sent and shows a picture, but it's pitch black. Brightening it up (kudos to @wallys-left-eyeball for teaching me how to brighten up the image lol) will lead to this:

The letters at the bottom spell 'GLE' which is obviously 'BUGGLE'. I don't know if this toy's lore is of it's own or is linked to Howdy and/or Barnaby, but maybe there's more uncovered secrets we need to find for this.

[in-this-essay-i-wont]

Look. I know I am overthinking everything ever. I know. But there’s such a big fucking difference between howdys business and how it intertwines with his character and Eddie’s, because like LOOK BRO

The SMALL ASS TEXT THAT HAS EDDIES NAME???? COMPARED TO THE LARGE EMPHASIS THAT HOWDY HAS FOR HIS BUSINESS AND HIMSLEF???

Like Eddie’s name is so small and insignificant to the post office compared to howdys sign, like Eddie can barely find a place for himself and who he actually is outside of his function as a mailman- where as howdys name is the first thing for his sign! It’s huge! Like it’s a part of who he is, it’s a part of his love for jokes and laughter- compared to Eddie where it seems more of an all consuming way for him to lose himself in what he can function as, and not who he actually is. Which, ya know, kinda explains the whole breakdown before the party for home warming, because taking away his function leaves him with the little part of himself that he always seems too busy to express.

Chat this is devastating I need to be put down

[killertoons]

I have such a gut feeling we are gonna see Julie rip this flower out of the ground and it's gonna have something in it.

It's reading alien pod or Audrey 2 kinda freaky.

I imagine her pulling on the stem hard, fighting To yank it from the ground and the roots just keep coming up...and uP....and UP-

Or maybe she's stomping on it, with whatever is inside it basically spraying out like a noxious pollen or a gunk that gets everywhere. It's not blood but goopy...it smears and stains and she's losing her mind-

Or even bring back this non canon picture by vlown

And she uses a hammer or an axe to smash it away.

She takes her frustration out on this thing, her worries, her fears, her anger.

And Frank sees it all. Another neighbor to fall and it hits closer to home.

even worse I can imagine the consequences of this is the flowers get eyes like the non canon picture

They saw what she did. She heard them all yelling or screaming as she took out this thing. They would talk in whispers now, more things to drive Julie mad...

God forbid even if the flower was evil or something it wasn't that be such a violent act... I can F E E L the horror of the situation, I can SEEE IT!

[4ddi3addie2005]

THINKING ABOUT THE WORDING HERE ESP WHEN IT COMES TO FRANK…

“STILL STANDOFFISH, BUT A LITTLE MORE ANXIOUS”

Girl wdym “still”??? I’m reaching a little with this one but it does kinda poke at everything being an Act… just bare with me.

“CONCERN STARTS TO SHOW THROUGH”

Show through??? Show through what??? What does his Concern need to fight against???

Also why is Frank whispering to him? Like it was so abrupt, the switch from “This is how I’m supposed to be talking to you” to “Hey wait man are you for real???” you KNOW? Alarm bells are definitely going off for him. It doesn’t seem like a reaction from someone who expects his friends to be helpful at all if Eddie is having a bad trip.

And this may be me overthinking but it was kinda strange how Sally vanished completely. Even in the video you could see her just pop out of frame with no explanation. It’s almost like… the script broke? The illusion of the Show fell apart? Leaving Frank and Eddie, the only ones with their foot in reality at the moment?

IDK GUYS just jotting down everything I felt during my exploration… wildest day everrr

[serene-hatterene]

I noticed something about Frank’s Homewarming outfit…

His sweater is the exact same color as…

THE PEA!

I’ve seen theories suggesting that the pea could represent Eddie and the isolation he experienced leading up to the Homewarming party, as well as Home’s/Playfellow Workshop’s disapproval of his feelings for/relationship with Frank. While I like this theory, I’m wondering if the pea could also somehow represent Frank.

In addition to being a reminder that Home is always watching (hence the pea on the plate resembling an eye), this could be Home sending a subliminal message to Eddie that he had better leave Frank alone as if Frank is the pea on the plate. Some people have speculated that Eddie will be completely absent from the next update as he will have been taken off the show, but what if we see Eddie avoid Frank instead, perhaps even suggesting to Frank that he spend more time with Julie instead?