Julia is such a fascinating main character because in the first season she’s completely unbearable, and if the story were told from the perspective of any other character, we’d hate her. Imagine Kamille — a lesbian in a small conservative village who finally finds a way to escape the state‑imposed straight marriage, and then her best friend shows up and says, “They’re all freaks, we should go home right now.” Or Sahed – he literally went through a concentration camp as a child and then here’s this cop’s daughter who believes he belongs behind bars. I feel like sahejul would have fewer fans if he were the main character.
Gosh from the perspective of ANY troupe member Julia is delightfully insufferable! They’re always so kind and nice to her, even as she says things like that.
On the one hand the fact that they’re so patient with her feels like a plot armor — everyone just puts up with the main character no matter what she does. On the other hand I can easily believe that over the long centuries they’ve spent together the circus performers’ worldview has changed A LOT. Why would they want to quarrel with the new girl who’s stuck with them for forever? Tbf Sahed also avoids the others and they also treat it with condescension, as if it were some teenage rebellion. The troupe looks at these two touchy grouches and probably thinks “yeah we’ve been there, we know.”
Julia is the main character so readers can see what drives her in her actions; we know where her beliefs come from. Moreover overcoming her prejudices is her main arc and she handles it great, so we let Julia get away with a lot. BUT OH MY GOD. This is the kind of character whose growth is fascinating to watch but god forbid you ever meet someone like that irl
