so in a theoretical transmasc stan au of the “sort of happy” au, would noah be trans too 🥺 lowkey thinking of transfemme noah but just trans nonbinary noah in general bc like father like child… i am fr rotating the complicated dynamics around in my mindddd
Oooh an interesting question. I definitely wasn’t leaning this way when coming up the au but what a great sandbox to play in! Because the twins are growing up in the late 50s and into the 60s and with Filbrick and Caryn as parents. Even if Caryn was over there like “eh, the queers and trannies are harmless” ain’t no way Filbrick thinks that, and he’s definitely the authority in the house. We definitely see in canon that the twins are raised with a very rigid definition of manliness and so we can assume the same for femininity and which one is worth more. What is Stan thinking hearing all of this and realizing that she doesn’t fit what a woman is supposed to be. She feels more like what their dad says about men. How difficult is that to come to terms with under a roof that doesn’t allow for these types of questions. But Stan knows in his—not her, that’s not right—gut that he isn’t a girl. And it’s Stan, so i think he can’t help but love that, because if he’s a boy, well, ford is a boy too! he’s even more like ford now!! And that’s great but then he also has to deal with the feelings. Is he actually attracted to his twin or does he just want to be more like him? Is it somehow both??
And nailing down where Ford lands on all of this is difficult bc on the one hand, I really love it when that idiot is stuck in that backwards type of thinking. I always think it’s way funnier that he then has to confront the multiverse and comes out as the kinkiest motherfucker known to man who can’t remember what taboos are what in which dimension. But since we’re in the Sort Of Happy au and there’s no multiverse adventures (yet? Idk it could be fun for them) does Ford remain locked into that Men Are This And Women Are That binary mindset or does his intrigue about anomalies win out? How odd that his twin who was raised in the exact house and manner he was thinks this way. Ford is a weirdo and freak on the outside. Stanley is a weirdo and freak inside. they compliment each other, always and in all things. And he’s got to deal with his feelings too. He wants Stan as a woman and as a man,as his sister and his brother. What does that say about him?
And if we go with that first option, Men Are This/Women Are That, Stan is having to hide who he actually is in even more ways. It’s bad enough that he’s “married” to his twin and they have to be so careful about what they say if anyone else is around, but he also has to pretend that he’s a woman still and it carves gash after gash into his soul every day. He does what he can, keeps his hair short, wears clothing that could go either way, but it’s not him and that hurts. Stan lives in that constant vigilance mode. Just so many things have gone wrong in ways he didn’t expect and he got blindsided before, he doesn’t want it to happen again. So he’s always watching and paying close attention to everything that’s happening in the house and he notices some things about Noah that are familiar. He sees the way that Noah seems to be intrigued by feminine things, and their house is pretty short on that because Ford just Doesn’t Do That and Stan tries to steer away from as much as he can for his own peace of mind and sanity (boxing was the only non feminine thing he was allowed to have growing up, everything else was dresses adn bows and home ec and be a lady so you can find a good husband and make babies). But Noah seems curious and seems like he’s going to start pushing against boundaries, and Stan is scared of that too bc what is Ford going to think about all that? Especially as Bill comes into the picture and he gets worse and worse.
I think in this case, even with his parents being kind of set on this binary, Noah isn’t into that. Whether it’s because she’s trans femme or bc he’s nonbinary, it’s more about the vibes. Noah’s got a lot of rough and tumble about him, so even if we’re going femme, she’s not going to be thinking she needs to be a walking embodiment of a Barbie doll to be a girl. She’s still just going to throw on whatever clothes and barely brush her hair and go run outside to play and get dirty. I kind of like the idea of Noah being so unburdened by it compared to Stan and Ford, adn she’s unburdened completely on accident. Stan is confused and a little jealous but also so so happy that it’s so easy for his baby to just be themself bc he has never had that luxury.
Ford would take a long time to notice what’s up, if he notices at all. Maybe not even until Bill is gone and everyone is finally happy. Like Ford is accepting of Stanley as a man now, fully supportive and on board adn if that makes him gay, well ok whatever, he loves his husband then. I think it would be very funny if Noah just like dropped it on him so casual one day and ford is like “??? Since when??????????????” And Noah just like points at this plastic clip she put in her hair (same mop cut of curls she’s always had) that’s purple and shaped like a flower and is like “dad I’ve been wearing this for like five months, how did you not figure this out? Don’t you have like 12 phds?” And Stan is crying from laughing so hard and Ford pouts for the rest of the day
