#and like specifically of the attention she gets from Elphaba

[moghedien]

there is something so funny about the book having Glinda basically realize that she wants to be close to Elphaba right and keep her as a roommate right when Nessarose has to come and start living with them

It’s like:

Glinda: I think I’m gay and in love with Elphaba

Elphaba: hey we’ll be kicked out unless my hyper religious sister comes and lives with us and third wheels constantly and also I’m going to give her more attention than you

Nessarose: you’re going to hell for being a sorceress Glinda

[alrawabi-imagines]

Pink goes well with green

~~SMUT~~ @shynightwerewolf

You had been dating both  for months,you were the it throuple of the school. You loved your girlfriends,they gave you everything you could've possibly wanted and more. You had always wanted to do something special,special for them and had just thought of the perfect idea. They were both in your shared room,it was a bit later when you returned to your room. 

"There you are,I missed you" Glinda hugged you,picking you up and twirling you around.

"Glinda,put her down. You're gonna make her dizzy." Elphaba stopped her and Glinda put you down. "And she's been gone for a couple of hours," Elphaba added.

"Yes,but I did miss both of you"

"We missed you too,honey," Glinda said as she and Elphaba sandwiched you in between them. 

"Why were you gone for so long? We've been worried." Elphaba questioned.

"I was just taking care of something" you put your arm around Glinda and turned your head to look at Elphaba who was behind you. 

"What were you taking care of?" Elphaba asked with an eyebrow raised,she was being a little suspicious and was worried it might be something bad.Glinda leaned into your touch,she loved your cuddles and attention. Her head immediately resting in between your boobs,using you as a pillow.Glinda just looked so adorable,nuzzling her head into your chest,her hair was messy and her face was red with blush. Elphaba stood there with a smirk. 

"You know I'll want cuddles too,right?" Elphaba pointed out.

"Of course,but first I need a kiss" you moved to press your back against her chest. Elphaba wrapped her arms around you,resting her head on your shoulder. 

"How can I say no to that?" Elphaba smiled,kissing your neck softly. Slowly making her way up to your lips. Elphaba smiled against your skin before moving her head and slowly moving up the side of your neck to your lips,pressing her plump green lips against yours. You kissed her,still holding Glinda against your body. As you kissed Elphaba you licked her bottom lip,asking to be let in. Elphaba opened her mouth,letting you slip your tongue in. She let out a soft moan,pulling you closer to her. You wondered how long it would take for her to feel your tongue piercing,that you specifically got for her. Elphaba froze for a moment as your tongue passed by hers,before her eyes went wide as she felt the metal of your piercing. After a moment,Elphaba resumed kissing you,now more desperate than before. Glinda looked up at you and Elphaba,jealous that she wasn't the one being kissed like that. She tugged on your shirt to get your attention,wanting to be kissed too. But Elphaba didn't let you pull away from her. Elphaba's grip on you stayed firm,if anything she pulled you more into her,not wanting to break the kiss. Glinda tugged on your shirt again,more desperate this time. You let your hands roam her body to try and calm her. Hoping to buy some time until Elphaba let go. Glinda's eyes closed as she enjoyed your touch,her body relaxing under your hands while Elphaba's grip stayed tight. Elphaba refused to let you go,her tongue explored your mouth with every moment the kiss went on. Glinda tugged on your shirt again,her face pouting at the fact that you weren't giving her any attention. 

"Hey,don't leave me out." Glinda whined,looking up at you with puppy dog eyes. Elphaba broke the kiss,separating your lips from hers before smirking at Glinda. 

"Jealous, Glinda?" Elphaba teased,knowing that Glinda wanted your attention too.

"Hmph,yes I am. You're hogging her all to yourself." Glinda pouted,crossing her arms and turning her head away. Elphaba chuckled at how adorable Glinda was being. Elphaba smirked knowing that now Glinda would be surprised with your new piercing. Glinda glanced at Elphaba before she turned to look at you,she was still a little angry for not being given any attention,but her expression softened when her eyes met yours. She gently took your face in her hands and pulled you down to her level,planting her lips firmly on yours. You kissed her back,sliding your tongue into her mouth. She jumped away from you at the unfamiliar feeling. Glinda's eyes quickly widened,feeling the cold metal of your tongue ring. She separated herself from you,her face bright red at the realization. Elphaba just chuckled at her reaction,finding it funny and adorable. You chuckled softly too. Glinda pouted once again,not believing that you'd go and surprise her like that. 

"You're mean, you didn't even say anything about you getting your tongue pierced!" Glinda said,lightly hitting your shoulder as Elphaba laughed even harder.

"It was meant to be a surprise" you explained

"Well it was a surprise, a very unpleasant one." Glinda complained,crossing her arms and looking away. Elphaba wrapped her arms around your waist,holding your back against her chest.

"I figured" you chuckled. "That's why I got this for Elphaba. I figured you would prefer these anyway" you unzipped your top,taking off your bra which was both pink and green,their colors. They'd often argue about whose color you'd wear so you compromised by wearing both. A took everything off to show off the two new piercings on your chest.One pink and one green. Both of their eyes widened,taking in the sight of your naked chest. Both of them stared at the green and pink piercings,the surprise silencing their bickering. Elphaba just stared,mouth agape while Glinda's face was as pink as her cheeks. Glinda swallowed,unable to find words to speak as she continued to stare at your chest. Elphaba took a moment to recollect herself before she managed to regain her composure. A smirk appeared on her face as her eyes darted over your body,her possessive nature coming out. They both ogled you,admiring the jewelry and your body. It wasn't long before they were both on either side of you,hands moving and touching every part of you that they could. You were once again sandwiched between the two women.They were everywhere, hands roaming your body as they both pressed against you. Glinda's lips were on your neck,leaving hickies on your skin while Elphaba placed kisses down your shoulders. Glinda's hands cupped your boobs,touching her favorite part of you. Elphaba's hands went across your stomach,moving with a much more firm touch than Glinda's. Elphaba's fingers moved lower,tracing the edge of your pants.

Glinda gently squeezed your chest, enjoying the feeling of your skin under her hands. She planted a trail of kisses along your collarbone,leaving a plethora of faint hickies. You threw your head back on Elphaba's shoulder,as her hands went further down making you moan. She gently bit the skin of your neck,leaving an even darker mark than the ones Glinda left. Her hand drifted even further down,her touch making you shiver with pleasure. Elphaba smiled as she heard a moan leave your mouth,taking pleasure in the sounds caused by her touch.You moaned louder. Glinda bit down on your skin, adding another small love bite to the plethora of marks that now decorated your neck. Elphaba's hand continued to move lower, now just under the waistband of your pants. Both of the girls were pleased with your noises, enjoying the sight of your body shuddering from their touch.

"Just take them off" you managed to string together in between moans and kisses. Elphaba and Glinda heard your breathless words and quickly got to work,both of them eagerly taking your pants down along with your underwear, throwing them somewhere on the floor. Glinda planted kisses up your inner thighs, taking extra time on the skin near your core. Elphaba attacked your neck and chest, her tongue swirling around the cool metal of your piercings. They both paused, taking a moment to admire your body before moving on. They both began trailing kisses along every part of your body possible. Glinda moved closer and closer to you,one of your legs over Glinda's shoulder. Elphaba was behind you,her lips on your neck,leaving more of her own marks. She held you tight against her body, pressing her chest against your back. Glinda had her head between your thighs, planting hickeys on your skin. She held your hips against her,not allowing you to squirm away. You put your hand on Glinda's head. She let out a small hum, signaling to you that she wanted more, she wanted you to hold her still when she found the right spot. Glinda loved when you put your hand on her head, it always gave her a sense of purpose while also reassuring her that she was doing a good job. Slowly your hand moved down the back of her head,pushing her until her nose touched your skin. She ran her tongue against your core, wanting to taste you. Her nose pressed against you when she made direct contact with where you wanted her. Glinda let out a soft moan when your hand pushed down,her breath fanning across your skin. She knew what you wanted and wanted to give it to you. The feeling of her tongue on you made you arch your back, a loud moan leaving your mouth. Elphaba was behind you,holding you still as Glinda worked, pressing small kisses to your neck as she saw your reaction. You quickly came undone by her tongue. She let you ride out your high before stopping to let you catch your breath. Elphaba chuckled as she saw how breathless you were, knowing that Glinda's talents had done her work. Glinda pulled her head away once you had reached your high, her eyes staring up and looking at you with pride. Elphaba still had you held tight against her,letting you rest against her chest as you tried to recuperate. Elphaba also smiled, enjoying the sight of you tired and still trying to catch your breath. They loved it when you were breathless like this, knowing that they were the reason for your exhaustion. Glinda made her way up your body until her face was even with yours. She was pleased with herself, smiling with pride at the state she left you in.

"Don't you think it's unfair that I'm the only one undressed right now?" You asked,smirking.

"You're right," Elphaba admitted, her face turning a slight hue of green. "We both should take them off to make it fair." Glinda and Elphaba both blushed at the realization that you were right, they were still fully clothed. They both looked away, embarrassed with the fact that you had to point it out. In a swift flurry they undressed and were tangled up with you on Glinda's bed,which was big enough to fit all of you and then some. All three of you were pressed against each other, skin touching as you all relished in the feeling. Everyone was completely bare as you all were tangled up in a pile on the bed. It was warm and comfortable, but not cramped. The bed was more than large enough to fit the three of you, although Glinda had insisted on the size. Their hands and eyes roamed your body. Every part of you was touched, caressed, and ogled over by them. Glinda and Elphaba’s hands roamed and squeezed as they took time to appreciate your body. Their eyes moved across your body, taking in the sight of you in your entirety. Elphaba and Glinda both took turns kissing and marking your skin, leaving no spot untouched by their lips. They made it their duty to caress and admire every inch of you, wanting to commit every detail to memory.

"So like the piercings?" You asked both of them.

"Very, very much..." Elphaba voiced her agreement, her eyes raking over your chest once more.

"Yeah, we like them," Glinda said in a tone that was almost sultry. They both hummed as they took in the sight, nodding their heads in approval. Glinda and Elphaba both took a moment to look down at your chest, their eyes roaming over the jewelry in your skin. Glinda's hand made their way up to your chest, her fingers gently tracing the metal as she let out a hum of appreciation. Elphaba's eyes followed Glinda's hands, her gaze lingering on your chest as she admired the view. They couldn't keep their eyes away from your chest, their glances constantly moving over to the new piercings. Each piercing colored after each one of them. Glinda couldn't keep her eyes off the pink one, appreciating the color. Elphaba was more focused on the green piercing, her gaze constantly going back to look at it. They both liked how the jewelry was to represent them, it was like you were wearing a permanent token of love from both of them. Both of them loved how you looked with their colors decorating your skin, marking you as theirs. Glinda's hand moved up to gently touch the pink jewelry, her fingers running across the surface as she looked at it. Elphaba's gaze was fixated on the green piercing, her eyes glued to the piece of jewelry. They loved the idea that you had gone and gotten something special done just to symbolize them. You watched Glinda trace the metal. Elphaba, who was next to you, watched Glinda as well. Her eyes never left the blonde's hands as she watched her touch you. Her eyes were focused on the pink jewelry, as she had a look of appreciation and awe in her eyes. You watched as Glinda's touch moved across the jewelry, her movements soft and gentle as she ran her fingers over the metal.

"So,should we go for round 2?"  Glinda, not willing to let Elphaba be the first to comment, quickly chimed in with her own answer. 

"I don't think either of us would object to that idea..." Glinda replied, her eyes scanning over your body as she thought about it. Elphaba also agreed, 

"Absolutely, it's still not morning yet, we have plenty of time."

[atalana]

so i'm thinking about dancing through life, and that interlude between glinda and elphaba, and specifically how in the movie they make a point to draw the audience attention (the audience who is following glinda's perspective) to elphie's magic books

and it seems like a minorly odd detail to put in there, given how the only relevance they have to elphaba's side of this song is that she has a magic teacher she can ask a favour from, which isn't news to anyone

but glinda specifically looks at those books before she says anything to elphaba, and she also has this look after giving her the hat, like it's a decision she already partially regrets

and i think, as much as glinda does profess to hate elphie at this point in the story, and as much as she seems to be doing this just to get one over on her, i don't think that's the case at all

i think she was partially talked into the prank by her friends, who definitely encourage her to put on her usual the world revolves around me social mask, but i think she justified that decision to herself with the reasoning "well elphaba's my favourite teacher's favourite student, she has everything i want, i should take her down a peg", as the magic books remind her

she clearly already cared about elphie in some form, or she wouldn't have regretted it at all, but she thought that made them even

until elphaba turned the entire thing on its head by freely offering glinda everything she wanted, everything she thought elphaba had been spitefully keeping from her

and that's when she realises she can't actually knock elphaba down a peg, bc there's nowhere lower to go. glinda has everything and elphie has nothing, and elphaba just gave up the one thing she had, because she thought glinda deserved to share it with her

so glinda whose entire life has been about collecting social power, who knows exactly what she has and what it takes to hold onto it, she gives that up at the ozdust too. because elphaba deserves to share it with her

[lily-onher-grave]

anyway wicked movie round three thoughts

i tried to pay more attention to musical motifs this time around and there are so many gut punches i was sitting there going oh fuck this over and over again. i can't wait to spend the next five years watching music analyses of this soundtrack i swear to god

i won't talk about sad glinda and the effigy again but i will talk about how glinda doesn't even look scared once she says elphaba was her friend. she's so immediately lost in the memories and her wistful smile as we start the flashback is e v e r y t h i n g

if you think ariana and cynthia crying through the entire press tour is ridiculous wait 'til you hear about me crying at the damn fish during the transition to shiz. it's just so magical okay! and glinda is so excited! and it makes me think of how hard book glinda worked to get to shiz, and idk man i just got swept away by the wonder and charm of a magic university alright god

idk how popular/unpopular an opinion this is but i have such a soft spot for dear old shiz and i love that how it plays in the dormitories, it's so sweet

also i finally noticed the time dragon clock this time around

(also fine yes bowen yang's pfannee is the perfect crope/tibbett when he's not being a mean girl. fuck i miss crope and tibbett)

((i need bookverse ideas so i can write crope and tibbett again))

i love the touch of glinda being like no, no way to pfannee and shenshen about the hat but then when elphaba shows up glinda specifically looks down at her sorcery books before deciding to give it to her. i love that silent tipping point in her decision

at the ozdust glinda says it's her heart's desire to become a sorcerer. elphaba giving glinda her heart's desire the way the wizard is supposed to (and not just now, but presumably i part two as well when she gives her the grimmerie)

the poppy in nessa's hair the day elphaba brings a bouquet to class for dr dillamond (fiyero and glinda have flowers on their desks too which is just so sweet)

((also i do love glinda and elphaba arguing about the way dillamond says glinda as they walk to their seats. it's so silly it's so real. i would watch 3 hours of shiz shenanigans i swear))

when jeff goldblum walked out from behind the wizard's head a woman in the theater went "oh!" and tbh it was the perfect little addition to that scene. give that random theatergoer an oscar

if elphaba had said her heart's desire was to not be green i think the wizard would have pulled out a non-green doll and given it to her and that would've been the scene

hey do you guys think they're gonna change the lyrics of wonderful in part two to address the fact that glinda is the one who chose the yellow brick road?

(my other theory about part two right now is that the opening is going to be very different. i really just dont' think you can open a movie with thank goodness and have it hit. idk what they'll do but there needs to be some sort of buffer)

also i think this movie has made me a fan of sentimental man. it's just so charming! like elphaba, i am not immune to a sweet little number about home and family and a sense of belonging

it's been said before but the betrayal scene in the palace truly is everything. elphaba is so hurt by it all. morrible's actions really do sting in this one (and michelle yeoh, hoooly hell, the switch from warm headmistress to intimidating head sorceress is so good)

idk man. it's just nice to know that i'll never be over this movie i think. after spending like 8 years building up unrealistic expectations about it i was still surprised and amazed and tbh 2024 has been so freaking disappointing, it's nice to know that this one thing was as close to perfect as it could have been (imo)

[thedawningofthehour]

Well, from what I could research the reason the shoes are not changing is because of copyright, Warner actually owns the right to the ruby slippers, among other things original to the 1939 film, such as the witch's shade of green and the spiral of the yellow road. For "Back to Oz" Disney had to pay Warner to use the ruby slippers.

The director of Wicked was not interested in paying for the slippers and using the silver ones all the way through was always in his plans.

OMG I hadn't noticed that the slippers are tornado themed, I'm used to seeing a lot of shapes in costumes in movies like this that I don't notice. Also, they are small, and it reminded me of the scene in Elphaba where she mentions that Nessa was born with small feet. And then in the trailer they fit Dorothy perfectly.

BOO, capitalism ruins everything.

Those are weirdly specific though, wouldn't they also own the characters themselves? I guess you could make the argument that Elphaba, Nessa, Boq, and Fiyero don't count because they go by different names and look completely different, aside from Elphaba. But they definitely own Glinda and the Wizard.

What about every stage production of Wicked, did they all have to pay Warner or did it not count because they were basically performing a stage trick with lighting?

It really doesn't actually matter that much, that one shot of Dorothy in the Wizard's chamber is probably going to be the only shot of her in the entire movie, since she's offscreen the entirety of Act 2. And the silver looks gorgeous with the blue of her dress. It's just...weird that they wouldn't push for that. Considering how much marketing they did for this movie, how iconic the ruby slippers are, you'd think they wouldn't want to miss out on the branding opportunity.

(that does explain a gripe I had with the beginning of the movie, when they show the beginning of the Yellow Brick Road and it's clearly a single yellow swirl, while in the original movie it's swirled together with a red brick road leading to another land in Oz)

Oh, once you can see it in the theaters pay attention to the little details, there's tons of little foreshadows and easter eggs. When Elphie's powers go haywire at the beginning of the movie, she shatters a relief of the Wizard-to reveal the Animal professors and scholars at Shiz before the Wizard arrived and began his purge. There's hot air balloon iconography everywhere, referencing how the Wizard came to Oz, his birth name and hometown printed on luggage you see when Elphaba and Glinda hide in the attic. The whole story of him arriving in Oz and immediately flinging around magic by saying "oh-ma-ha" over and over again-because he's from Omaha Nebraska and was asking how to get back, but the Ozians thought it was a spell. Every book you see are actual Shiz textbooks, they literally thought up what courses would be offered at this magical school and came up with assigned reading for them, like you can see how much everyone working on this movie loved the story and the world. Everyone involved was hyperfixated af and it really shows.

I believe it's stated somewhere that the slippers fit Dorothy simply because magic, but I could be misremembering. Nessa having small feet is a detail that fits really well though, since Dorothy is supposed to be twelve.

[ohlookitstomorrowff]

Been legit talking everyone’s ear off about Wicked today - specifically regarding Glinda…

I just love her so much, I don’t know whether I want to be her or if I want to marry her, and I’ve realised how many headcanons I have for her and I just wanted to share and hear everyone else’s ideas.

Glinda is very curvaceous (I hate to use the term ‘plus-sized’)

She also has so many body/image issues due to her curves but tries her best to mask them - her obsession with image that can come across as narcissism, her corsets and crinolines, etc.

She’s a lesbian. 100%. No one can change my mind. (She’s also very much in denial until she starts to get closer to Elphaba.

She’s not as upper-class as she portrays herself to be - she’s more middle-class with aristocratic ties (the Arduenna link in the novel) and she’s been socialised to believe that a woman’s power comes from wealth and social status and thus becomes a social climber.

Did I mention she has ADHD?

Although her mother and father raised her with rather old-fashioned, patriarchal (slightly misogynistic) values, they loved her deeply, hence why she finds it easier to demonstrate her affections (most of the time) but hides her personal emotions and thoughts.

She’s actually really intelligent. She chose to major in sorcery because of family ties, a sense of feminine power, and the fact that it’s viewed as arty and socially acceptable for someone of her standing and perceived aspirations. However, she has more academic talents like…

Her love of architecture!

She loved once, and only once. Elphaba was the only person she ever let into her heart, and she never got over their separation.

She always held out hope that Elphaba would come back to her - legit sharing a bed with Elphie on the road to the Emerald City was all she could remember about her youth in later life.

She’s pragmatic.

Even though he was only a Baronet and not nearly as high up the pecking order as everyone expected her to snag, she chose to marry Sir Chuffrey to gain her independence. Chuffrey was like 15+ years older than her, he was kind and really wanted to protect her and give her everything in a fatherly way. It wasn’t a sexual relationship, and I think she was more of a trophy to him? (Think Onassis wanting to marry Jackie Kennedy after JFK’s death).

She had moments with other women after Elphaba - touching someone else brought her comfort in the moment and made her feel less alone, but she couldn’t allow anyone else to touch her.

She couldn’t have children despite wanting to be a mother more than anything.

She used charity work to find meaning and the impact she made is what caught the attention of The Wizard who then made her Glinda the Good.

She never ever got over Elphaba’s death. It haunted her forever.

After her husband’s death and the Wizards’s departure, she retired to the country where she would only employ female servants. She definitely promoted female empowerment there… in a lesbians can rule the world way…

She was imprisoned in Southstairs later in life for the disloyalty she showed to the Wizard. It was here that Elphaba saved her - whether Glinda died and Elphaba came to retrieve her and take her onwards, or they were both alive, I don’t care. But Glinda deserves her happy ending.

She deserved so much more than both the book and the musical thought to give her. What an absolute Queen.

I did say she was a total lesbian right? Like she definitely had a collection of Sappho’s poems, and she read Rebecca, and watched Hitchock’s film (although she probably complained about the underlying misogyny and ‘male gaze’ theory afterwards), and definitely had a thing for Mrs Danvers.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk… sorry you had to hear it. :)

[lesbiten]

like. okay. prefacing this with the fact that if fiyero were like Presented as a guy the audience isn’t supposed to like and we aren’t supposed to root for i would not care about this and i would attribute it to regular character development. However. given that we ARE supposed to want fiyero to survive and we’re supposed to care about him. it’s something i’m going to complain about

like......it just makes me so mad the way he treats glinda in the second act. how he is so Genuinely self absorbed and Deeply shallow (in the serious and unfunny way) that he completely disregards her feelings the entire time. from their first interactions in thank goodness all the way up to the finale. and you know what makes it even more infuriating? glinda, the whole time, shows him nothing but kindness!!!! she has every single reason to hate him, but she still cares about him and tries to protect him!!! when he didn’t do the same for her!!!!

he tells her how SHE feels to her face rather than trying to listen to her. when she expresses that yes, obviously, of COURSE she misses elphaba just as much (if not more) than fiyero, he flat out just disagrees with her. accuses her of just wanting the attention from the crowd and insinuates that she doesn’t care about elphaba at all. and it’s just infuriating because what does he gain out of berating glinda like that besides boosting his own ego and trying to assure himself that he’s the only one who cares about elphaba. like. sure!

and then there’s of course the scene where fiyero and elphaba run off and glinda of course is upset to find out her fiance had been cheating on her with her best friend. naturally. and fiyero’s line in this scene, the “well it was. (.............) uhh but it wasn’t!” like. it’s played for laughs but holy SHIT does that reveal so so much about the way he sees glinda. the way he is so easily able to say something like that to her face with barely a second thought? does he even like her? because hoo boy it doesn’t seem like it!

and the thing that gets me and i guess part of the point of this post is like. i just worry that post-canon this is how he treats elphaba. look at the finale. elphaba wants to tell glinda that they’re alive. fiyero shoots her down immediately, presumably with the thought that if glinda knew, she would throw them in jail or send a mob after them. and on one hand, i would not blame glinda for doing that to fiyero, personally! but it shows how much fiyero doesn’t respect EITHER of them. even after spending years with glinda, he doesn’t put enough faith in her to have the basic decency not to Straight Up Kill Them. and he doesn’t respect elphaba enough to even entertain the idea of telling her BEST FRIEND that they’re alive! he shuts it down immediately! 

and it’s just got me thinking like. how long is elphaba gonna last out there with fiyero if THIS is how he’s gonna act, y’know? i feel like she isn’t gonna take kindly to his superiority complex, especially if she has to spend the next Forever alone with him and nobody else. how long before she returns to oz and risks getting killed simply because hearing fiyero complain one more time about how glinda used to do [insert thing that’s completely reasonable but bothered fiyero specifically] is a fate worse than death

[thewickedmerman]

My Fan-Cast for the Movie Adaptation of Wicked

As many of you are aware, I absolutely ADORE Wicked and I'm so excited about the movie adaptation that is just taking FOREVER to be made, even before the pandemic came along. So, like many people, I just keep wanting them to make some casting announcements for the movie already and have been making my own fan-cast for the movie, even making a video of my fan-cast. However, I felt like taking the time to explain my casting choices so everyone knows why I made my choices. I will provide my fan-cast video at the end, so you can hear the vocal capabilities. Please keep in mind that this is just my personal opinion, so there's no need to be rude. Let me know what you think of my casting choices because I LOVE reading comments/retweets, especially long and detailed ones. Enjoy!

Emma Thompson as The Midwife

This is a minor role and I know that it is a waste of Emma Thompson's talents to put in a minor role but I just keep imagining her in the role. I mean, her voice just suits the character. She has a beautiful voice, even if it's not really among the great singers. Plus, the character would require a good actress because of how there isn't much required of the singing. Besides, there are major stars who have been in minor roles, despite that they were already major stars at the time of the release. I don't have much to say with this as I do with the others.

Rebecca Mader as Melena Thropp

Everyone probably knowns her for her role on Once Upon a Time as the Wicked Witch of the West, Zelena, which would make her playing the role of Elphaba and Nessa's mother all the more perfect. It may be a minor role, but she has proven she can make an impact even in a minor role like she did in the third Iron Man movie. She clearly has the acting chops for the role and the musical episode of Once Upon a Time has shown that she has the singing chops because she had the best voice out of the entire cast. I mean, Melena Thropp only sings one line, but the original Melena and Rebecca sound a lot alike. She's proven in Once Upon a Time that she can be very convincing as a woman in labor, which is a major thing for Melena because the biggest thing she does in her screentime is that she gave birth to Elphaba. She also looks like she could be the mother of my choices for Elphaba and even like she could be related to my choices for Nessarose.

Alan Cumming as Frexspar Thropp

This is the last of the minor roles, but this character does have more going on than the other two. This character would require a strong actor who can be emotionally distant and cold without coming off as robotic or stale. He needs to be able to show how doting he is with Nessa, though still reserved and composed, while also being able to show his disdain for Elphaba. Alan Cumming is a brilliant actor that can play a variety of roles, so he would be able to capture the character. He even has experience with musicals, most notably being his role in the 1999 film version of Annie where he played one of the main antagonists, Rooster. He has a great voice so he would be great for the role both in terms of acting and musicality.

Chris Colfer as Boq (Act 1)

Yeah, for the characters I'm doing double-casting because of how Act 1 takes place when they are in school and Act 2 takes place many years later. Starting off with this double-casting is my choice for Boq in Act 1, Chris Colfer. Boq in Act 1 is a very awkward character that is in love with Glinda but she doesn't give him the time of day, which is a character that Chris Colfer plays very well. He'd be able to capture the awkwardness, the sweetness, the hidden frustration, and the overall dorkiness of the character in Act 1. His face practically screams all of that. He not only can act but is has an incredible singing voice that can handle the moments when Boq belts out. Plus, his very feminine sounding voice would just add to the character being seen as a dork that Glinda just doesn't have any interest in but he keeps pining for. Plus, he has such a youthful look to him that he can pass as someone who is still in school.

Daniel Radcliffe as Boq (Act 2)

I feel like Daniel Radcliffe has the right look for Boq in Act 2 because he can be more serious and intense, which is required for the character when he becomes heartless and the Tinman, but can still look awkward and dorky. His performance as Harry Potter shows he can look emotionless while also not coming off as a bad actor, which is important for when he's Nessa's butler, as an attempt to force him to remain by her side along with taking away the rights of the munchkins. He needs to be able to show how he resents Nessa while appearing emotionlessly professional, despite her pining for him. Not only can he act, but he even has musical experience by playing the protagonist of the show How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. I had no idea that he could sing so well. His voice is powerful enough to handle Boq's singing during the song "March of the Witch Hunters."

Kevin Kline as Doctor Dillamond

Kevin Kline was just the first and only actor that came to mind when I was thinking of who to cast for Doctor Dillamond, especially after watching his performance in the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. First of all, I know that Kevin Kline's true vocal abilities weren't displayed in that movie because he actually has a great voice and a lot of Broadway experience. However, Doctor Dillamond is not a character that really shows a lot of impressive vocal ability. His voice is a lot more limited and I felt like Kevin Kline captured the qualities of Doctor Dillamond's singing perfectly when he sang "How Does a Moment Last Forever" in Beauty and the Beast. That role also showed he could pull off the tender, loving, and quirkiness of Doctor Dillamond. He's just perfect for the role.

Sofia Carson as Nessarose (Act 1)

She has the perfect look for Nessarose, at least the type of Nessarose that I imagine. I always imagined her as someone with light skin (With Sofia it depends on the lighting), long and silky black hair, and of course so damn gorgeous. Nessa is described as being a radiant beauty, which Sofia Carson clearly is. Not only that, but she has played characters that are a little spoiled and selfish like Nessa, who never appreciates all that Elphaba does for her. She also has a beautiful voice. I mean, her voice is very breathy and nasally, as well as kind of frail and fragile, but I feel like that would suit Nessa. First of all, in Act 1, there isn't really much required of Nessa in terms of vocal ability, though she still has to be able to sound good. Secondly, her voice being kind of frail and fragile, though her voice isn't weak by any means, would really suit Nessa because of how she is treated as frail and fragile, due to not being able to walk or take care of herself. It suits her and the sheltered life she's lived that matches her falling instantly in love with the first guy who asks her out on a date.

Lucy Hale as Nessarose (Act 2)

First of all, don't Sofia and Lucy look like they could be related? Secondly, Lucy Hale really suits Nessarose in Act 2 where she is now the Governor of Munchkin Land (A position that is apparently isn't done through election but rather through a family bloodline) and known as The Wicked Witch of the East, despite her not having any magical powers like her sister. Lucy Hale is absolutely GORGEOUS! Just like Sofia Carson, she is what I imagine when I picture what Nessarose should look like. Light skin, dark hair, and red lips. Not to mention her sharp eyes would be able to show the cruel nature of Nessarose in Act 2. Do I even need to mention her acting chops? She is a brilliant actress who is best known for her hit show Pretty Little Liars. She also has an amazing voice that is very different from Sofia Carson's but would still suit Nessa in Act 2. Unlike in Act 1, Nessa isn't really treated as frail and fragile but rather seen as a cold-hearted dictator. Lucy's voice is much deeper and more powerful, which shows Nessa's maturity from a delicate girl. Plus, during the song "Wicked Witch of the East" (Which was never included in the soundtrack for some dumb reason), she has a moment where she actually does belt, which shows her desperation of wanting Boq to be alright. She's more demanding than she was in Act 1, which I think Lucy Hale can display with her incredible acting and singing abilities. She's proven time and time again what a strong actress she is.

Glenn Close as Madame Morrible

I don't even think I need to list Glenn Close's acting credits! She is right up there with Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore, only that Glenn is LONG overdue for an Oscar win. She is a brilliant actress! One of THE best actresses that ever existed! My favorite role she's been in is as Cruella De Vil in the live-action remake of 101 Dalmatians and its sequel, 102 Dalmatians. So she has experience playing villainesses. That is important because of how Madame Morrible doesn't really sing much and requires more of a strong actress than a singer. However, Glenn Close has a great voice and has a lot of Broadway experience, particularly the lead role of Sunset Boulevard. She has the right look for Madame Morrible. Like, she has a face you'd expect her to have when you think of Madame Morrible.

Kelsey Grammer as The Wizard

First of all, I know Kelsey's voice is a lot deeper than people are used to for The Wizard, but I feel like that doesn't make much of a difference. An important aspect to capture for The Wizard is that he is a total ham that loves to get a bunch of attention. If you have seen Kelsey Grammer's performance as Frasier in Cheers and more specifically Frasier (The FAR superior show), you'd know that Kelsey can definitely ham it up while still not having it come off as bad acting. When it comes to hammy acting for a hammy character, you need to be able to find the right balance, which is hard to do. Kelsey is an expert at this and would just love eating up the role. He can also capture the sentimental and tender side that tries to convince Elphaba to join him, twice. His deep and dulcet sounding voice would be able to capture that better than the typical high pitched and nasally voice The Wizard usually has. Not to mention he has a great voice that can handle the energetic nature of The Wizard while still maintaining the vocal quality. He has a lot of Broadway experience and a lot of you who aren't familiar with his work have actually already heard him sing if you've seen the animated movie, Anastasia, where he provided both the speaking and singing voice for Vlad. He's absolutely PERFECT for The Wizard.

Jordan Fisher as Fiyero (Act 1)

First of all, I have to point out something and that is that in the book that the musical is based on, Fiyero was brown. They were never specific on what race he is and it's kept ambiguous but he and the people of his kingdom are described as having brown skin. This is something rarely ever seen in the stage show, though you could argue that it was among a long list of things that were changed from that terrible book. Anyway, I feel like this is something that should be taken into account when casting for the movie because representation is important. Now, with that out of the way, Jordan Fisher would be absolutely amazing as the cocky and fun-loving Prince Fiyero in Act 1. He has the right look, can seriously dance, is a great actor, and has a PHENOMENAL voice. He has proven he can play cocky characters in Rent: Live and Grease: Live. Those helped display his Broadway experience and that's not even the tip of the iceberg of his Broadway experience. His voice is so incredible that he is basically the male equivalent of Mariah Carey with those impressive high notes. He can play a cocky character and still show tenderness and charm, which is important for Fiyero.

Corbin Bleu as Fiyero (Act 2)

First of all, don't Corbin and Jordan look a lot alike? But that's not the only reason why I cast him as Fiyero in Act 2. I discovered that he has done a lot of Broadway work and really showed what an amazing voice he has. I mean, when he was on Disney, I thought his voice was great but in a kind of pop singer way that felt like he was holding back. Broadway-style music really showed what he was capable of with his powerful and strong voice that is full of energy and tenderness. Not to mention he's an incredible dancer. He's a great actor that would be able to capture Fiyero's more mature nature he has in Act 2 and how protective he is over Elphaba. He'd capture the charm of the character perfectly!

Dove Cameron as Glinda (Act 1)

First of all, the original actress for Glinda, Kristin Chenoweth, is campaigning for Dove Cameron to play Glinda in the movie. That shows that Dove is an amazing choice! I trust Kristin Chenoweth's judgment, apart from when she thought it was a good idea to play Maleficent in that AWFUL Descendants movie. Anyway, Dove has proven in her performance as Amber in Hairspray: Live that she can play the part of an egocentric, girly, primadonna VERY well. Glinda definitely needs a strong actress to capture the negative and basically white privilege that is Glinda while still being charming and engaging, which Dove is more than capable of doing. She definitely has the vocal chops to pull it off with her powerful voice that can even do operatic singing and hit really high notes, which is required for the role of Glinda. She may be a Disney Channel star, but she is also classically trained. She'd be perfect for Glinda in Act 1!

Megan Hilty as Glinda (Act 2)

As you can see, I've included an actress who has actually played one of the characters on the stage. I didn't do that with other characters because screen acting and stage acting are two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT skillsets. What works for one doesn't work for the other. Stage acting is a lot more exaggerated and broad because they have to make sure their performance can be seen by everyone in the audience. Screen acting can be a lot more subtle and intimate. That's not to say that there aren't actors that can do both stage and screen acting, almost all of the actors here have. Megan Hilty has played Glinda many times before and is the second-best Glinda after Kristin Chenoweth. She has the bubbly personality, the comedic timing, and the maturity (That comes later in the show) that is required for the role of Glinda in Act 2. She has a brilliant voice that has sung these songs MANY times, so it's obvious that she can hit the high notes and sing in an operatic voice. She's proven she can play Glinda on stage and I think she has the acting talent to be able to play her on-screen.

Ariana Grande as Elphaba (Act 1)

I know that this is the most controversial choice on this list because people either love or hate the idea of Ariana Grande as Elphaba. First of all, guess what two people want her to be Elphaba. Kristin Chenoweth and the original Elphaba, Idina Menzel! Those two are among the QUEENS of Broadway and know these characters VERY well since they played them MANY times. I trust their judgment. Now with that out of the way, she may be known as a pop singer but she got her start being on Broadway LONG before her pop music career took off. When she sings Broadway music, that is when her voice manages to really shine through because of her background with Broadway. You can actually understand what she is saying because she has proper enunciation when she sings that style of music. She even sang "The Wizard and I" at Wicked's anniversary special. Her vocal ability is undeniable with her powerful and strong voice that can seriously belt and has such a beauty to it. Now, I know what people are gonna say, that she isn't a good actress. First of all, it's not fair to only judge her based off the roles she's been given where she's being typecast as the dumb chick thanks to her iconic role as Cat Valentine. However, she still plays that role well, but there is so much more to her than just that. In her performance on Saturday Night Live, where she got to show more of her acting range, she caught the attention of the legendary director, Steven Spielberg, who personally contacted her because he wanted her to be in one of his movies. However, she turned him down because she wanted to focus on her music career. The point is that if she managed to get the attention of one of the most successful and critically acclaimed directors of all time, you know that she truly does have acting chops that have just never been given a chance. Playing Elphaba would give her that chance!

Anneliese van der Pol as Elphaba (Act 2)

Finally, we have my choice for Elphaba in Act 2, the brilliant and wickedly talented, Anneliese van der Pol. You all know her as Chelsea from That's So Raven and Raven's Home but there is SO MUCH MORE to her than just that. She has mainly thrived off of being on Broadway, with her most iconic role being the last actress to play Belle from Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and was the BEST out of all of the women who have played her. She has such a powerful and incredible voice! Her voice can actually give Idina Menzel a run for her money! It's a shame that she's not more famous because she has the phenomenal talent to be an A-list celebrity. Not only that, but she's a great actress too and can do so much more than just comedy, which she's proven with her performance as Belle. She also just has a face that is perfect for Elphaba, especially her nose. Another fun fact is that she is actually Jewish, just like Idina Menzel, which would make it even better if she was cast as Elphaba. She is the PERFECT choice for Elphaba and is not likely to get the role because she's not considered famous enough and that's considered more important than actual talent. But this is my fan-cast and I can cast whoever I want and she is just pure perfection for the part of Elphaba.

[margridarnauds]

Did you watch some Shiki Stage Musicals ? I also love how their productions look through th PV and the documentaries but it seems to me that people not talk so much about the Company contrary to Toho Stage. Is that because they have another politics concerning their musicals ? Also what you can tell about the Shiki Actresses ? What are the differences with the Toho Actresses ?

Your timing is actually IMPECCABLE here, because I was only just looking at Shiki’s channel as you sent that on and thinking about how I’ve somewhat neglected it. In Toho’s defense: It’s only really as well known as it is because me and a few others worked our tails off to get it SOME recognition, and we’re still actively working on trying to keep things that way. An awareness of what Toho is has been slowly spreading through the last few years, since we’ve been making gifsets and posting material, but it’s still very much in the shadow of Zuka, in many ways. There just...is not that much attention paid to non-Zuka Japanese Musicals, sadly, and even Zuka tends to fall into the “niche interest” category, and for the past few years, my attention’s been kind of spread thin trying to go from new Toho musical to new Toho musical while also checking on whatever’s happening in Korea at the moment. 

As a warning, I do not know NEARLY as much about Shiki as I do about Toho and Zuka; it can be on the elusive side as far as tracking down material, especially as a non-Japanese speaker, so I’m very willing to be wrong here. 

So, what I would say, off the bat, is that there isn’t really the same rivalry between Shiki and Toho that there is between, say, Zuka and Toho. Or at least. None that I’ve personally witnessed. I think that people are generally willing to attend both, though Toho does have the prestige of having The Imperial Seal™ (at Imperial Prices™ to match.) On a personal level, the reason for why I *personally* don’t work with it as much is nothing really personal against Shiki, but more that, specifically because a ton of their musicals are taken from Broadway, that means that the rights to distribution are...well. Complicated. Which means that you don’t really GET proshots of Shiki musicals as such. Not saying it will never happen. But I’m saying that, as of the present, Shiki doesn’t really do it. Which means that I have considerably less material to properly work with, as opposed to Toho where, okay, proshots are limited, but they do happen, and so I can watch the entire musical and draw material from there. With Shiki, I only ever have a few minutes to work off of. Shiki is, in that sense, still very much kind of confined to Japan, since the only way to REALLY support them is to go to Japan and attend a musical yourself, which...well. I can’t really do. That and, at the risk of being perfectly blunt, I’m a sucker for really, really expensive costumes, and Toho happens to know how to appeal to that. 

Looking online at fanboards, whenever someone asks the question “Toho or Shiki?” the general consensus really seems to be “It’s impossible to really compare them because they’re essentially different styles of musical entirely.” Shiki is....I don’t know how to say this in a way that doesn’t devalue one or the other, but it tends to be a little more light-hearted, it has a little more of that family-friendly “People can bring their families for a night out at the musicals” charm, while Toho....well. Okay, if I theoretically had spawn, I would be willing to take them to, say, Roman Holiday or Fiddler on the Roof at Toho, but....1789? MARIE ANTOINETTE (with its lovely depictions of mob violence, swearing, and references to incest and sexual abuse)? NO. NO. SAVE YOURSELF, SMALL CHILD. And, of course, the light, happy Black Butler musicals. Toho.....not ALL the time, of course, but it tends, in my opinion, to have a darker edge. The musicals are glorious, the production values are high, and the costuming is fantastic, but still. A darker edge. Even among their more family friendly musicals, like Fiddler, they’re still....mature, you know? You get the feeling with Toho that the people watching it are all very much adults. Takarazuka....I’d have LESS trouble bringing my hypothetical spawn to, but also, traditionally, Takarazuka is generally, in a Japanese context, associated with middle-aged women. Also keeping in mind that children have low attention spans and I’m not sure they would REALLY want to watch a 20 minute revue at the end, though the revue is undoubtedly cool. 

But Shiki? It’s bright, it’s colorful, it does musicals like The Little Mermaid, Frozen, The Lion King, and Mamma Mia (which is DEFINITELY not for kids, really, but still has that kind of....happy, sparky vibe to it). Also musicals that have come to really represent BROADWAY tend to get staged there, like Phantom of the Opera, Evita, and Cats. Yeah, it doesn’t quite have the budget of Toho or Zuka, but it’s FUN.  Everyone there IS trained, and it can actually be a decent way of checking who might be up and coming in the Japanese musical world, since, of course, just because someone STARTS OFF with Shiki doesn’t mean they can’t move to Toho (I believe that Mitsuo Yoshihara, for one example, started with Shiki, as did Rie Yoshizawa, who is better known by me for playing Mary I in “Lady Bess” but also played in Mamma Mia and A Chorus Line at Shik, and Megumi Hamada, who is arguably one of the most respected female Japanese musical performers of our time, with her roles in Wicked (Shiki), Mamma Mia (Shiki), Beauty and the Beast (Shiki), Death Note (Toho), Sunset Boulevard (Toho), Love Never Dies (Toho), and Jekyll and Hyde (Toho) giving her a reputation of a truly world-class diva, in the best possible sense of the term.)

As with Toho, you have to go through an audition to get in -- Personally, I think that Shiki has more fresh blood passing through it than Toho, which can sometimes cycle the same cast around repeatedly, with the exception of musicals like Les Miserables and Miss Saigon that tend to be star creators. (ALWAYS take note of who’s playing Enjolras in Les Mis in particular; a lot of Toho stars have made their careers that way, ditto for Eponine and Kim in Miss Saigon. Not that I recommend anyone watch Miss Saigon. Because it’s a racist, orientalist mess. But at least check the cast list for it.) So, as with Toho, you do generally have people who went to school for acting and singing, though you don’t REALLY get, say, former Takarazuka actresses. I don’t think that Shiki is generally (underline generally, because no sooner do I give out a rule than I find that someone broke the rule) considered to be prestigious enough for the REALLY high profile stars. It’s a good place, again, it isn’t like there’s a STIGMA against it, but it’s just a matter of degree. So, my dream of seeing Sayaka Kanda playing Princess Anna of Arendelle on stage is tragically doomed. 

Compared to Toho, I have relatively few actresses I’m really ATTACHED to, mainly because I think that Shiki doesn’t really emphasize the performer as much as the musical, if that makes any sense? Shiki, unlike Toho, subscribes to what is called the “auteur theory” which, put to its core, states that it is a strict meritocracy, with no famous celebrities being cast, and that actors exist to make a musical shine, not the other way around. (Takarazuka is the polar opposite, emphasizing the Top Star system, while Toho is halfway in-between the two of them, as discussed here.) Which is good, to some extent, since I firmly believe that a musical should never be about one person and, quite frankly, I have seen my fair share of cases where a single actor’s vanity tanked my impression of a musical, but it also makes it a little harder to get attached to individual actresses/actors when I don’t really get to see that much of them. Two that I’ve noted: 

- Azusa Hirata - A particularly interesting case because, unlike the usual cases I see where you have a Shiki actress “graduating” to Toho in a sense, she actually went from doing quite a few Toho musicals in her youth to doing Shiki. She actually won the 1st International Szilvester Levay International Singing Competition, where she performed “Blind vom Licht” from Marie Antoinette (of course I have to like her). Her rendition isn’t my FAVORITE in terms of the context of the musical, a little too polished for my personal tastes, but still brilliant, and she definitely earned her spot. 

- Masae Ebata - The youngest Donna Sheridan in the world, at the age of just 30, and renowned for playing both Donna and Sophie in the same performance period. Also the VERY first Korean performer to play the role of Elphaba in Wicked, before the official Korean premiere in 2012. It’s been noted that, along with her voice being very good, she pronounces her Japanese VERY well, which is something that many Korean performers coming to Japan have trouble with (another performer who’s been noted for it is Park Hye-Na in Death Note.) 

- Marie Wakana - Her performance of “Part of Your World” in the PV is SO good. 

(I actually suspect that this might be partially why Shiki doesn’t have as much of an international following, because foreign fans will generally get really attached to a singular STAR, whereas the Shiki musicals don’t have that same bait. They don’t really have a Furukawa Yuta of their own, someone who, just by name alone, they’re like ‘Ah, yes, they’ll be playing in this musical, so it’s going to be a good show.’ And, for most international fans, I feel like, without the allure of a castmember they’re attached to, they might look at Shiki musicals and essentially go “What are they doing that I can’t get closer to home?” That’s my SUSPICION, at any rate.) 

[classpect-crew]

Aspects and Narrative Structure

What exactly are Aspects, anyways? Well, in the comic itself, Aspects are forces of the universe that influence and are influenced by the “Heroes” present in the story. But what does this mean on a broader scale? We all have a pretty good idea of what each Aspect represents in canon, but what if that’s not the whole story?

Before we begin, I’d like to direct you to an excellent video by @revolutionaryduelist (optimistic Duelist on YouTube) that will prime you for what I’m about to discuss. I highly recommend checking out their channel, as it’s extremely informative and fun to watch!

So, now that you’ve no doubt enjoyed the video I’ve linked, let’s get into what each Aspect represents in terms of a broader narrative. One of the big narrative themes of Homestuck is that the story is essentially a stage performance, or an “interactive play,” which we see throughout the comic, from the “Acts” and “Intermissions” to the curtains opening and closing on each Act. There are plenty of times where the “fourth wall” is completely shattered, and the layers between the cast and the audience start to blend together. With this in mind, it’s not difficult to reason that each Aspect not only represents a certain universal force in the comic’s universe, but also represents an aspect of narrative structure. I’ll begin with the definitions shown in optimistic Duelist’s video, and then expand upon them from my own perspective.

Let’s start with some easy ones: Space and Time. Space and Time represent the Setting and Pacing of a story. In our stage play metaphor, we can expand this further. Space is represented by the scenery that tells us where the characters are, but it also represents the physical space that the actors take up. Different prop placement, lighting, and scenery can make the stage feel bigger or smaller to fit the needs of the scene, and a change in these things will naturally translate to us as a scene change. Time, on the other hand, is represented by the progression of the story through actions, dialogue, the opening and closing of curtains, and even the music that accompanies each scene and plays continuously during intermissions. In a musical, this is even more obvious, as each song tells a distinct part of the story and opens up ideas about character motivations, illustrates choices, and so on—though this aspect of Time is merely the lens through which these things are viewed, since choices/motivations/etc. are truly representative of other Aspects entirely. As in real life, these two Aspects intermingle considerably, creating “spacetime” as the spatial and temporal backdrop of all the events we witness as audience members, the framework that allows both depth and progression to occur in the narrative and sets the foundation of the stage itself.

Light and Void represent Relevance and Irrelevance. The difference between the cast and crew on stage is easy to tell because the spotlight will always be on a character, not on a member of the crew, unless ironically referencing a crew member (thus breaking the illusion) is a part of the performance itself. Those who are illuminated hold the attention of the audience, and the light allows us to see their facial expressions, their clothing, their movements, etc. and understand the character better through these things. A character who is self-assured may wear a smug grin, holding themselves upright with confidence. A character who is poor might wear old, ragged clothing. Light is all about which characters are relevant, and it also allows the audience to discern information about the characters and about the larger world within the play itself. On the other hand, Void is represented by the unlit areas of the stage, the shadows behind props and characters, and even the crew itself. The ties between Void and the stage crew can be illustrated through bunraku, also known as ningyō jōruri, a traditional Japanese puppet theatre with a long and fascinating history. Puppeteers are clothed in black robes, often hooded, and blend into the black backdrop in order to direct attention onto the puppets themselves and away from their operators. Stage crews in American theatre will often wear dark clothing for the same reason, moving props and scenery as necessary without drawing attention away from the story itself. Although they’re absolutely vital to the execution of the play itself, the crew is in most cases irrelevant to the play’s narrative, thus they work in the shadows to place pieces where they need to be, going unnoticed by the audience.

Life and Doom represent Agency and Conflict. As every good storyteller knows, both of these are vital to the lifeblood of a story, as characters who have no agency are simply puppets, empty vessels with no will of their own, and a story with no conflict doesn’t go anywhere or challenge the characters in any way. In our stage metaphor, Life is the appearance of each character’s free will. Even though we recognize that a script is in place, and the actors are simply working within the framework of scripted interactions, they bring the characters to life through their performances and give the illusion that the world presented onstage is a vibrant one. A good actor can draw an audience into the story by fully embodying the character in question, stepping into the role and allowing us to relate to them, cheering on the heroes and rallying against the villains as the story progresses. We begin to forget that the world we’re presented is mere fiction, and we come out of the experience feeling much different than when we entered. This is what makes a good stage play so compelling, as we watch these characters grow and change based on what they endure and how the world reacts to their actions. In the same vein, Doom is the conflicts, obstacles, and limits placed in the way of the characters to challenge them and help them to grow. In the case of a tragedy, this can also be the end result, whether through a character failing to achieve their goals, a villain succeeding in their heinous plot, or even the death of a protagonist, which removes their agency in the story itself. No real person becomes stronger without facing hardship, and the same is true in fiction. What sort of character would Hamlet be if he wasn’t challenged to find a way to cope with the death of his father, or the knowledge that his uncle was the one who killed him? These conflicts enrich the stories we’re told and provide roadblocks on the road of success, testing the limits of each character’s willpower and strengthening their resolve, or even forcing them to reconsider their goals entirely. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and these necessary hardships fill out the story itself, ensuring that something is learned through the experience through delayed—or, in some cases, entirely absent—gratification.

Breath and Blood represent Plot Development and Character Dynamics. As the Aspect of movement and change, Breath translates into our metaphor quite nicely, ensuring that the story is as dynamic as the characters themselves. It’s the sequence of events that takes us from exposition to resolution—in essence, it’s pretty much the story itself, which is why John is able to do what he does, escaping from the narrative of Homestuck entirely in order to affect things from the outside. The plot is the engine that drives the story—the twists and turns that the narrative takes as difference pieces take their turns on the board. Character motivations are explored, actions are taken, unexpected events take place, and lessons are learned. All of this happens within the plot, and it’s a very external force, as opposed to what we’ll explore in a moment with Blood, which hones in on characters specifically, rather than the whole narrative. Breath is also represented by change, and any change in motivations, scenery, tone, and even tempo can be attributed to Breath in addition to the Aspects normally represented by those things. Blood, however, is a matter of interpersonal relations between characters in a story: their feelings about—and for—each other, the various factions within a story, and the natural associations one can make, such as “protagonists/antagonists, nobility/commoners, obedient civilians/ruthless scoundrels, and so on. Part of what makes characters so interesting is their dynamics with other characters. For example, on her own, Elphaba Thropp from Wicked is a very interesting character. Blessed with innate magical skills, but cursed with green skin, she is ostracized by many and reluctantly admired by some, and this makes her interactions with others very dynamic. Her insistence on bringing much-needed attention to the oppression of Animals in Oz, social consequences be damned, comes in direct conflict with a character like Galinda Upland, who strives to maintain her place in the social hierarchy, even if that means masking her true feelings on controversial subjects to paint herself favorably in the eyes of others. As the story progresses, the two find that they have much more in common than they could’ve guessed, and they begin fighting for the same cause, shifting from bitter enemies to best friends through the course of a few excellent musical numbers. This shift in their dynamic is vital to the story, yet this is merely one of many such dynamics.

Let’s move on to two Aspects that are a bit more abstract in our narrative format. Hope and Rage represent Coherence and Contrivance. These words may sound quite different from what we’re used to from these Aspects but hear me out, because there’s a method to my madness. A story’s coherence is how well it can be understood, and furthermore, how well it can be related to by an audience. It also represents the enthusiasm with which an invested audience will respond to the narrative taking place. In our stage play metaphor, this is part of what drives us to immerse ourselves in the story. It’s the excitement we feel when our favorite character completes their goal as set up in the exposition, or the fear we experience when an adversary comes close to unraveling it all. It’s the ability to escape from our own lives and enter the world presented onstage, and a big part of why walking out of a great performance can feel like we’re waking up from an intense lucid dream. It’s the magic of excellent storytelling. Hope is what drives us to overlook mistakes, either in the narrative itself or in the performance, and allows us to enjoy it as a whole. On the other hand, Rage’s contrivance delights in tearing open plot holes, exposing the divide between performers and the audience, and dispelling the illusion that the world on stage is in any way “real.” It’s the heckler at a comedy show, or the critics in the nosebleed seats. It’s the breaking of the fourth wall that occurs when a character in the story directly addresses the audience, or begins to critique the narrative itself. While it can certainly seem like a negative force, this Aspect is what keeps us firmly grounded in reality, pulling us out of “la la land” when the show is over and it’s time to return to our lives. It marks an end to the magic, a disbelief in the “miracles,” and the voice of reason.

Finally, our last two Aspects, Heart and Mind, represent Inner Character and Outer Character. This is fairly obvious, given what we already know from canon, and it translates fairly literally in our metaphor. Heart is represented by a character’s “true self,” or what remains the same in every performance of the play. It’s what makes each character recognizable, no matter how the script, costumes, set design, etc. have been adapted. Peter Pan, for example, is always presented as childlike and carefree, bold in his actions and protective of those he loves. He can also be incredibly naive and immature, which humanizes him and allows room for growth. Regardless of which actor might play him, or whether the story is adapted to a sci-fi setting, or tells the tale of a much older Peter, or is even presented from the perspective of an entirely different culture, these character traits and motivations will always be the same. They’re what make him the “Peter Pan” we all know and love. The “true self” involves every trait that is essential to a character. If these traits were changed in some way, they would cease to be the same character, much like adding or removing a proton from an atom would change its element entirely. On the contrary, Mind is represented by a character’s “projected self,” or how they present themselves in the company of others. For some characters, their “true self” always shines through, and they rarely act in ways that aren’t in accordance with their deeply-held values. For others, such as Billy Flynn from Chicago, the creation and maintenance of a constructed, outward “self” is vital to their survival and prosperity, and sometimes deception is the name of the game. Billy, an incredibly successful defense lawyer, comes across in his musical number as a caring, compassionate man who couldn’t care less about money and values “love” more than anything else. This is extremely ironic, however, as the audience is soon presented with a very different view of Billy: as a stern, ambitious man who’s very concerned with money, but also loves the challenge of winning cases for clients on death row. As his “true self” is revealed, his choices and motivations begin to make sense to the audience, and we gain a deeper understanding of the man behind the mask, so to speak.

Each Aspect plays a vital role in the narrative structure of any story—or performance, in this case—and perhaps we can use these interpretations to further understand what our own Aspect connections are. After all, all the world’s a stage, right?

[takaraphoenix]

So Aurora is your favourite Disney princess? And what's your opinion on Maleficent? Not the life action movie, just a character.

Very solid clarification there in the end! xD But also, thanks for asking, because I do love talking about the things I love and I do love Maleficent.

Yeees, Aurora is my favorite Disney princess. Maleficent is my second favorite Disney villain (sorry, Hades takes the win, Mal).

And - well, now I do have to mention the movie because prior to its release, or even shooting, it was pitched as a “Wicked twist on Sleeping Beauty”, you know, like my favorite book that takes a classic villain and makes her the heroine. And I LOVED that pitch. I was looking forward to Maleficent and Aurora having an Elphaba-Glinda like dynamic. But clearly that didn’t happen.

But the point is, I do think that Maleficent has the potential to be such a type of character. The misunderstood one who isn’t actually the villain. And yes, that potential could have been achieved without a freaking r@pe-analogy personal vendetta body mutilation plotline. That’s it, I swear I’ll limit myself to that one dig on the movie, but I can’t not say it. That was incredibly disturbing and unnecessary considering that literally the only thing we already know about Maleficent is why she cursed Aurora...

Maleficent is a powerful fairy! One of only eight powerful fairies around. But she was the only one not invited to the baby shower. The only one. That’s incredibly offensive, like why would you be dumb enough to do that. You invite the very scarily powerful magic user. She ain’t gonna show up anyway because she doesn’t really care but the gesture matters. (Seriously, it matters a lot, because in medieval times this kind of slander, not inviting her as the only one, was insanely offensive.)

Show us what makes Maleficent special. Why does she have green skin, why doesn’t she have wings, why can she transform into a dragon. She is such an insanely unique character, I am head over heels in love with her character design.

And it really is such a peculiar choice in character design. I mean. Green skin. Why. Where are this fairy’s wings? Or does she just choose to not use them, posing as human the way the other three fairies did when raising Aurora? And why can she so easily turn into a dragon?

There is so much potential to explore there, in the same way that Wicked did for the Wicked Witch of the West. The actual origins of her powers and her looks.

And her villain gig gets me too. Cursing the baby makes sense, far as anything makes sense, considering it was the baby shower that she wasn’t invited to. But the curse was, even before the other fairies made it better (which, also: the intrigue as to why the fairies are on opposing sides. Fairy diplomacy and lore to explore!), one that... you could have... avoided if you just watch your kid for one damn day in her life.

Seriously, Stefan and Leah never made sense. They sent their kid away for sixteen years. Why. The curse was always very specifically about her sixteenth birthday, you could have just -- just watched her one bloody day of her life. Also, you know, even with the precautions you still managed to fail to watch her that one day. Never mind why they had to do it so early? Just? Just keep her in hiding one day longer and celebrate after her birthday? You guys are ridiculous.

Also, why a spindle. I was serious when I said there are many things about Disney’s Maleficent that could be explored and oh I would love to have seen it actually explored.

Though, admittedly, all those things are what make her such an appealing villain.

I mean, look at a Cruella and her motivation is very clear and her character design is incredibly on the nose for what the movie wants to achieve with her - that’s not a dig on Cruella, I love her as a villain too, but she is very much a piece that fits perfectly into the overall picture of her movie.

Grimhilde? An averagely beautiful white lady. Wants to be the prettiest so she’s trying to kill her stepdaughter. Sure. (Admittedly, could also easily get a Wicked treatment, but for all intends and purposes, both her visual design and her motivation are very settled.)

But Maleficent! They went so hard on the visual character design, they gave her all these fascinating little things that make her different from what she ought to be. They could have made her an easily fitting villain by just making her a thinner, taller version of the good fairies, but dressed in black. But she got them cheekbones and the hornes and the green skin and the animal sidekick and the peculiar lack of wings and the power to turn into a dragon and her own entire castle filled with minions and I love it and I’d love to see the character more explored, even if I never will.

(Unless Gregory Maguire himself will finally turn his attention to Sleeping Beauty. At this point in his career, I am really just... waiting for it, to be quite honest.)

[musicalidiotthe3rd]

A bit of a rant, more of a concerned fan asking other fans to look at their behavior.

Before you read this, please bear in mind that I do not think these musicals are terrible, or the actors are untalented, or that anyone in the fandoms are terrible people. This is simply about something that has bugged me for a while and I’d like to bring to the attention of people.

I have loved musical theater from the moment I watched Idina and Kristin as Elphaba and Glinda from the computer screen at my grandmothers house. Since then I have inhaled Broadway like it was crack and I was an addict; my mind was full of POTO, Wicked, Sound of Music, Annie, Les Mis, White Christmas, Hello Dolly, Funny Girl, Mary Poppins, Cinderella and so much more. I fell in love with the storylines and the harmonies and especially the characters. I loved them so much I tried to emulate them; I drew them, I wrote about them, I fawned over them. But I also understood something vital that many people now tend to forget; my heroes on stage were not perfect.

Glinda wasn’t totally good, she sold out Elphaba for fame. Annie wasn’t a saint, she could be annoying and stubborn. Mary Poppins wasn’t a flawless woman, she could be stuck up and arrogant. Cinderella wasn’t totally a bean, she lay down and allowed her sisters to walk over her. Characters are people, they have flaws and dark sides and quirks that are not meant to be ignored, but to humanize the powerful and to open them up to be relatable to the audience.

Who would want to be so perfect, no one could ever stand to be around you? Who could ever relate to someone who could do no wrong? Who would want to be seen by everyone as a small child in need of constant protection? Nobody. To be held on such a pedestal or viewed as such a child holds stress and anger over the image you must keep and the chains you can never break.

And yet, that is what Broadway Fans, more specifically, new Broadway Fans have done. When I say New Broadway, I’m really referring to fans of musicals like DEH, BMC, Heathers, Hamilton (though my thoughts on Hamilton will be discussed in a later paragraph), and Mean Girls. These fandoms are notorious for many things, but the one I’m talking about today as you can guess, is glorify and deify characters.

Take for example, Evan Hansen. Many people in the fandom paint him as a smol uwu cinnamon roll who made one tiny mistake bUT LoOk hE JuSt wAnTEd tO hELp, or He GoT ScAreD, or hE diDnT mEaN tO hurT eVeRyOnE. Let’s dismantle that. One, Evan Hansen is not a childish, beanie, naive character. He very clearly understands what he is doing, and he knows what he’s doing isn’t right. Two, anxiety does not make someone a bean. It does not make them cute. It does not make them a child. Stop romanticizing Evan’s anxiety now. Three, he is manipulative. Don’t fight me on that, it is very clear and very not ok.

Then Heather M. She is often made to be a bean, portrayed as sensitive, fawned over as the kind one. First, she is not a bean. She is as harsh and cold as any of the Heathers. Second, depression and anxiety doesn’t a sensitive child make. No, her character is not a sensitive soul, she is a bitch with mental disorders all of us have witnessed or experienced. Third, she is not kind, she is cruel. She set Veronica up to be raped.

Our last example, Michael. I’m not going to be elaborate here, instead I’m going to get to the point. Michael having a panic attack in the bathroom doesn’t make him cute or smol or a bb. It makes him a stoner that is carefree and loud and supportive that has anxiety. Period.

One aspect of a character does not define them. To do so erases their relatability, their message, and their meaning. It vilifies characters that shouldn’t be vilified. I’ve seen so many people call Jared a dick or a douche for turning on Evan, seen people hate on Jeremy on account of Michael, seen people ignore Heather Duke’s pain and humanity in favor of Heather Mac. But that’s not the point these characters are trying to make.

Heather Mac serves as a reminder even cruel people can be hurting, everyone hurts. Evan Hansen is a lesson, you can’t undo what you did, and you damn well should not use someone’s pain for your own gain. Michael Mell is a glimpse at how someone’s actions can hurt others, with or without meaning to. To take these characters and define them with only one instance or trait is to ignore why they are the way they are, and not only is it ignorant to do, but it’s really annoying. And when someone romanticizes anxiety, or depression, it can be harmful, as then people start to think it’s cool or a minor inconvenience or even what defines people.

Then these new, deified characters are taken and eaten up by the masses, and people form unhealthy attachments or become extremely protective of them. They protect the idealized version, worship it and go to war if someone dares to challenge that. It’s not healthy.

Now I said I’d speak about Hamilton. Hamilton is almost an exception. It’s characters are difficult to take and make perfectly good or perfectly bad, and most people do recognize that Burr isn’t actually always a dick and Hamilton wasn’t the ideal husband or person. But still some people do tend to put the characters into boxes, and that also defeats the story Hamilton is telling you. None of these characters were heroes or villains. They were people. They were complex. They were walking oxymoronic statements. To put them in a box is to erase half the character.

In conclusion, the romanticization or in some cases vilification of characters in the mainstream musicals is not only annoying, but ignorant and unhealthy.

Thank you for reading and if you have any questions or concerns or comments, please reach out.

[ficsinhistory]

We are finally getting close to the debut season of BH6's second season, so I'm going to combine two of my favorite things: Character Analysis and Karmi, one of my favorite characters in the series.

I want to remember here that my intention is not to excuse any negative traits she has, she needs to change and improve, and I do not close my eyes to that, but, she is not pure evil. Remember that in the end, she is a fictional character. No fights, okay?

Come on!

If you just arrived at fandom and do not know who Karmi is, she's a deuteragonist (practically at this point) in the Big Hero 6 series. She was SFIT's youngest prodigy until Hiro arrived. She is described by Disney wiki as: Intelligent, moody, lovesick, envious, sensitive, obsessive, oblivious, what are all truths. But here, I'm going to get deep into what I've been able to perceive in order of appearance, and believe me, there's a lot!

"Issue 188"

Here we have her first appearance, which already gives us some ideas.

At the first contact, we saw that she was pretending and that all the enthusiasm she showed was pretense, and that she was not at all enthusiastic enough to socialize. The one who takes the first remark, she can pretend, but she can not do it for long, and when she does it, her attitude becomes very strange and superficial, being easy to know when Karmi does it (she's so good at pretending as much as Hiro knows how to lie and it was proven that Grandvile did everything to help Karmi, soon she should know of her adverse reaction) so she is not a pathological liar or something, although what she did was not cool and Karmi did not need take such an aggressive attitude.

Then we saw her as normal, doing her job and seeking the least contact with Hiro. Showing that even though she does not like it, she tolerates his presence and things do not seem to walk so bad. We also learn that she loves her viruses, and even treats them as friends. And that shows very interesting things.

Karmi has a very bad socialization. Not only that, she has suffered a lot in the past with this. How I know? Not only because of the fact that the scenes show that usually she does not go to the cafeteria - bringing up the fact that she is reclusive, since she does not even go out to have lunch in public - besides when she questioned that she spoke with Hiro she answered aggressively and exaggerated.

When you first see it, it seems to be just a thick answer to an innocent question, which it was, but, from experience, those words reveal much deeper things. Karmi is on the defensive.

Before, she was calm, but when asked to be "strange" while doing something she loved, she soon replied, exaggeratedly to a seemingly innocent question. This situation shows someone who has probably been so provoked because of her interests that she went so far as to assume that any questioning by someone who is not known to her is a joke or has mean intentions. This is sad and explains a lot, besides Baymax himself saying: "Hiro, you have a strong network of friends. Karmi does not. "Baymax is programmed to recognize the health of a patient not her social, so with a simple contact she may know of with Karmi is isolated, this must have deeply affected her mental and emotional.

Things only get worse when Hiro accidentally kills one of Karmi's viruses, the one with which she has a strong emotional attachment, and Baymax copiously says that was a good thing. There, for me, it's the exact moment when she decides that she does not want Hiro's friendship at all, not only did he take what Gogo said she most prized, how she killed one of her "friends" with his robot saying that this was good while she outplayed how much N5-4 was important to her. (And Hiro did not even apologize, he just said he needed to leave, which, in Karmi's already traumatized head, might sound like he just wanted to get away from the damage he had done without consequences. done before.)

Then we saw her in the cafeteria, which I think is a very cool symbolism, in my opinion.

I like to notice how she is among the stacks of books, as if they were a round about her. For me, that means how much she lifts walls around herself, as well as illustrating well the only environment she feels comfortable with: among her books, research, and viruses. This is painful. She must have been through so much that being alone with no one is better than risking. Which sums it up well in the episode: she does not want to make friends, she does not want Hiro around, she does not want anyone around. Because she does not want friends, she does not want to go through everything that has happened again.

Then we find out that she has a fall on Hero Hiro, which is hilarious and cute, and in the end we have what I find most interesting, Hiro does not talk about how she really treated him. And how she reacts: she is satisfied, confident, happy to maintain a false reputation? Not! It looks like this: 

She is astonished. She did not expect him to say good things about her, even if she had said it before, Karmi obviously had no faith and was probably just to push him away. She does not believe anyone really gave her the benefit of the doubt after all she did. She did not plan everything meticulously to protect her reputation in the end, here I see a girl who tried hard to fend off someone who is equally stubborn in approaching, she was willing to let Grandville know how badly she treated Hiro, and that could change the fact of how Grandville saw her, if it meant she would not have to socialize again. She was counting on him telling her the truth of how she treated him badly! Karmi wanted Hiro to deliver her. She does not believe he really tried to be cool. Here's a link to Ari's review of a specific scene from that episode that I could not do better to close here. 

"Failure Mode"

Here we see the worst of it, honestly. It was boring the whole episode and I recognize it.

She was quite annoying and did not need her to act this way and that to me how much she is flawed. And it was really cool to see the end where Hiro takes a picture of her, giving the change for what she did the whole episode. And what I want to point out is that she can change and that involves ceasing to act as she acted this episode and that we have a way to go and that's okay. Someone can be boring and learn to change, as long as we do not close our eyes to those flaws. Being one of the things I expect, let her apologize to Hiro as she acted before if the writers really want to present a healthy relationship.

"The Impatient Patient"

She appeared little here, but it does not mean that I'm going to stop pointing things out. It is from this episode that comes out this incredible analysis and shows how much Karmi is responsible for their work and safety, draw their own conclusions. In addition to showing how cheerful and agitated she is because of her work, which is cute and shows how much she appreciates her interests. Check

here

. 

"Small Hiro One"

Oh, I love this episode! Mainly because it shows how many layers the character of Karmi has!

(besides showing off cute moments from my ship!)

Here the first appearance of Karmi is as usual, she and Hiro being like elphaba and Glinda, with her disturbing Hiro and vice versa. Karmi can enter the lecture while Hiro is left out because of her age, however, she ends up being expelled early on. After a while out, she sees Hiro and will try to annoy him by saying that she had only take in a clean air when this happens.

This boy says she was lying. Instead of being angry at having been discovered or tried to lie more to not admit anything to the boy who until recently was implying to try to feel better for not being able to enter, she simply decides to tell the truth. When she was exposed, she did not lie, did not get angry or awkward, she looked like this:

Here she seems to be reflecting and pondering her own actions and probably coming to the conclusion that it makes no sense to annoy Hiro if she herself was expelled, something much more humiliating than being barred by age. Karmi here recognizes that he is wrong and that in the end they are in the same boat and that the truth is better. Not only that, she was waiting for Hiro to make any comments, but one that would show empathy. So much so that when he spoke a simple word of solidarity, her face changes completely.

If in "Issue 188" we can see the exact moment when Karmi decided that she would hate Hiro with all her strength for killing N5-4, here I see how the exact moment things could change for the better. She is genuinely touched by the empathy that Hiro showed, and for the first time in the series, she actually smiled at him. So yeah, it's possible these two get on well and she recognizes here how cool he was. She has the most beautiful smile in the series fight me! However, this does not last long and they soon return to normal. The next attitude that Karmi takes catches my attention.

Here, I see one of the cutest things she's done in the whole series. After being expelled, Karmi here tries not to focus on her problem, trying to help Wendy with the children and strives to sing a song about Biology. The most interesting thing here is that she does not seem to have been forced or anything like that, Karmi truly seems to like children and tries to cheer them up, doing the same thing Wendy did when she had her work stolen. This shows an important feature: Even though she was sad and sulky for a while, she did not dwell on it all the time or gave up and went home. She is a prodigy, blessed with incredible intellect and always, ever since the first appearance, wanted to help people. So she searches her viruses for therapeutic uses, studies hard and sings for these children, she wants to help people like Honey, Gogo, Hiro, Wasabi and everyone else, their motivations for study are people. Because she's a good person, though. Karmi does not always make all the right decisions or always acts perfectly, but she is not a heartless soul or something, Karmi is a 16 year old adolescent who does not like Hiro, that does not mean that she is insensitive to everyone  all the time. They say that you know a person by observing what they do when they do not have control of the situation and need to adapt to the environment in extreme situations, and they try to do good by doing good deeds. The point is: just because Karmi does not like Hiro at the moment, does not make it a lost case or is destined to be a villain. This proves how well written she is, because she has nuances!

"Fan Friction"

I always thought this ep should have come before the series timeline, but ... anyway! Here we find that Karmi likes to write fan fictions about Big Hero 6, to the chagrin of Hiro.

First, I would just like to punctuate how important this is on a level of recognition. Let's be honest, we all at some point already write fan fics and see Karmi, a girl of color, doing so, is a good example. Girls of color seeing this and relating is incredible.

Second, I felt personally attacked with this episode, lol!

Well, fan friction was strange in large part because our protagonist was also the protagonist of the stories, so we see everything, in large part, from the perspective of Hiro who as such, was panicked because of it all. And honestly, it was hilarious to see that. And I do not shoot his reason, writing about real people is always delicate. But as I am here analyzing Karmi, I will try to see things from her point of view.

We know that she has a huge passion in Hiro's superhero version, even that is her primary motivation to write, so much so that she was really happy when Momakase thought they really dated. More thinking a lot about the whole episode, I came to a conclusion.

Karmi does not mind writing about real people because she treats them like characters. Let me explain.

Hiro was annoyed, for obvious reasons, however, Karmi does not know that Hiro and "Capitan Cutie" are the same person, so the idea of ​​writing about it does not look so strange and she would expect the heroes of her stories to be people who nor knew it well. Then we saw that she was surprised to discover that Capitan Cutie actually read the story and she asks if he liked it, why? Because as much as she is completely in love with this hero and writes insert fics about it, she never really expected him to read or respond to what she feels. Karmi likes him yes, but she knows how to separate reality from fiction and she does not expect him to fall in love with her either. Because as much as she writes, it's her feelings there, not his. She gets excited about everything that happened and she practically fulfilled her dream, she fancy yes about her great love to match what she feels and wishes he was there, but she knows to separate the real from the non-real, so much that she sees problems in writing about it because she knows it would not happen. Because in the end, she's just an ordinary girl. And that what she feels involves the feelings of another person. (Man, I really want to see when she finds out that Hero Hiro and Hiro are the same person.)

"Big Problem"

Ah yes, the episode! I love it! Here we see that in fact the relationship of Karmi and Hiro is a little better. They are not teasing you so much and all her attention was to something she was projecting. Needless to say it was amazing to watch that, was not it?

The point that called me were several: The first and most important thing I found: She and Hiro do not like each other, but Karmi never did anything that actually harmed Hiro. In every episode, no matter how much she implied with him, it irritated him, she never caused any of these situations that she took advantage of. She did not arrange for Hiro's work to be ruined in the presentation in "Faliure Mode" for example, it was for Hiro to procrastinate that everything went wrong; she did not set up so that the age of the lecture would be for the acclaimed 14, it was Yama. Even when they were forced to work together, it was Grandvile's idea. Karmi, even if he had an affair with Hiro, always had a sense of morals and never sabotaged or threw him dirty, and if you watched cough * ladybug * cough , you know what "rivals" do to stay on top.

Second, we know that Liv is her heroine and that she was very excited to see her. Even so, she knew that Amara had gone to see Hiro, so what did she do? Did you sabotage the meeting, interrupt them, or say bad things about Hiro? No. Even excited, she waited patiently for Liv to finish talking to Hiro, only then did she introduce herself. She did not interrupt or disrupt Hiro's abilities. On the other hand, even knowing how much Karmi was excited about the visit of her heroine and that she did not have many friends and who had finally found someone with whom she had something in common, Hiro could not bear the idea of ​​liking Karmi more and not only interrupted their conversation at lunch, but also tried to steal the spotlight and bring Liv's choice to the personal side. Even knowing that Liv is studying biotechnology and it would be easier for Karmi to have her sympathy, he detracts from Karmi's scientific abilities by saying that everything she does is the worst, out of sheer jealousy! In addition to Karmi's attitude on how she defeated Knox, and I've done a whole review here!

Anyway, in short, Karmi is a flawed character, but that does not make her either evil or a villain. She has good qualities and a perspective of change for the better and her central nature is not essentially evil, cruel or sadistic, in the end she is just another teenager. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. Rebloguem and speak if you got, thanks!

[forkanna]

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NOTES: Sorry about that huge delay - that was totally unintentional. I've been trying to make a game, which I know, is a completely ridiculous thing for me to do considering I've never tried to do that before. Also, I'm terrible at it as it turns out, haha. BUT! If I ever finish it, you'll be the first to know - I'll also probably post it to AO3 if it's at all possible.

Hopefully, the length of this chapter (and the sheer amount of events set off in it) help to make up for it! We're doing a time-hop forward. Part Two is much longer, and Part Three will be about the same length as Two. Have fun!

                                                  ~ PART TWO ~

                                                  CHAPTER SIX

"Come on, Illianora, spill! What did they say, exactly?"

The round-faced girl smiled back at her friends, swinging her legs back and forth just below her chair in the corner of the inn they so often met up in for lunch. Any fool could tell that this was a unique opportunity for her to be the center of attention, and she was about to milk it for all she was worth. Not that anyone other than the barkeep and the one or two of the customers were going to pay them the slightest bit of attention — and the former only because he distrusted anyone who had not come to the age of adulthood.

"Oh, come on, you don't want to hear this boring old Emerald City gossip."

"We do, we do!"

"Okay," she giggled, relenting far too easily. Scooting a bit closer, she said, "Well. First, they were making this big proclamation about appointing Fiyero to be Captain of the Guard!"

There were a chorus of gasps. One of the other girls whispered, "Not Prince Fiyero!"

"Yes! I mean, I really wanted to go congratulate him… tell him personally how proud we all were of him. A Vinkus man being given such a high position in the Wizard's army! Put in charge of the search for the Witches themselves! But I couldn't get close, of course."

"You wanted to tell him how much you wanted to be his wife," another girl accused. When Illianora only shrugged, they all laughed. "Knew it! You're shameless!"

"Oh, stop that; you know I'm only interested in Liir. Even if Fiyero is a handsome devil." Then her eyes sparkled. "But I haven't told you the half of it! The press secretary — Marble something — she announced that after almost two years of searching all of Oz, they're finally tracking down where the other two Wicked Witches are hiding!"

More gasps, these of a different nature. Darker, more fearful; still just as excited and eager for hearsay as the ones over the guard captain, but laced with the appropriate apprehension.

"Well?" one of the girls needled, given that Illianora had taken overlong continuing. "Where?"

"Here."

"Here? You mean the Vinkus?" When she only shrugged again, she pressed, "Not in Kiamo Ko?!" They turned to each other with whispers of alarm. This was a lot more personal, more pronounced, than the quick jolt of adrenaline they felt about the vague existence of the witches. This was local.

"Well, maybe not in Kiamo Ko specifically, but in the Vinkus, at least. We all know they've patrolled our streets enough to have flushed out any two witches."

"Have they? I hear they can shed their skins as easily as a snake!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Sarima," another girl snapped. "Go on, Nora, tell us what else the Marble woman said — further north? South? Or out West?"

"Might be West, because they kept calling them 'The Wicked Witches of the West'... though that could just mean in the Vinkus," she added in a thoughtful mutter.

Sarima pushed a hand into the side of her face. "I was a lot happier dreaming about that Prince Fiyero than worrying about witches holding us for ransom." The others were quick to agree.

"That was about it," Illianora reluctantly admitted. "Just to stay alert, try to tell any Animals that still speak that she and the Wizard are offering a reward for any information on where the witches went."

"Weally?"

"Weally- I mean, really. Oh, and that they're keeping a close eye on the Witch of the East; you know, the one in Munchkinland?"

They all muttered lazily about that for a moment. By now, the strict policies and threats of that particular "witch" were well-known everywhere, even if they weren't nearly as sensational as hearing about fires and explosions and freed Animals courtesy of the other two. With no more exciting news about the East to pick apart, they just muttered for a minute or so about her before letting the subject return to the more immediate threat.

"I've heard that one is green and the other is blue," a girl whispered. "And that when they get mad, they switch!"

"That's ridiculous, Nastoya. How can a person switch colours?"

"How can a person be green or blue in the first place?" Sarima cut in, shaking her head.

After a moment, Illianora asserted herself again, hoping to recapture the spotlight from her friends. "Well, they say one of them was from Gillikin; the emerald mines are near there. Maybe there was an accident, and now she's green forever! Wouldn't that be awful?"

As they continued to chatter on, a robed figure passed behind them and left a handful of coins on the counter before making good her discreet exit. For the time being, she had heard quite enough to be going on with.

                                                  ~ o ~

"...And that's the scuttlebutt."

A green chin nodded up and down as two spindly fingers stroked either side, glittering emerald eyes sharpa as they always had been. "Intriguing. Not that I know what 'scuttlebutt' means."

"It means the butt of a scuttle, of course! Come on, Elphie, aren't you frightened?"

"Why should I be?" Gesturing around at the sparkling insides of the cave, she announced, "Saint Aelphaba is safely tucked into this hidey-hole behind Wicca Falls, where none may enter but her closest companion, Glinda the Ghastly. What's to worry about? They're no closer to finding us than they were last year. I doubt they could find their hats if they were on their own pointed heads."

Glinda the Ghastly scowled as Elphaba chuckled, folding her arms over her chest. "I don't find that particularly humourous, you know. Just because I'm resigned to living like a common criminal on the lamb doesn't mean I want to joke about it."

"Who's joking? Maybe I really am Saint Aelphaba." At Glinda's eyeroll, she gave one of her own. "Fine, you aren't in a laughing mood."

"I'm not. But… I do have some good news to go with the bad." Reaching behind her, she produced a large, round disc of light-tan bread, lips pulling into a small smile. "See what I picked up?"

"Ooh, honey loaf!" Elphaba breathed, smiling in spite of herself. "It's been awhile since we splurged. By Oz, to eat something besides fish for once!" Her fingers twitched toward it, then pulled away. "But… you bought it, I should let you break the bread."

"Here, then," she giggled as she split it in two easily and passed half of it over. "Eat up. No sense waiting another hour until supper."

As Elphaba drew it closer, she glanced upward. "You always give me the bigger half."

"Well…" Squirming, she shrugged and feigned indifference. "You're taller than me, aren't you? More to feed. I'm just being practical."

"Sure," Elphaba chuckled, breaking off a small piece to nibble. They ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Then she said, once her hunger was not so gnawing, "I'm worried about the Animals."

"This again," Glinda sighed.

"No, listen; it's been a week since I heard from their camp in the Great Gillikin Forest. The Crows were supposed to come days ago. What can be keeping them?"

For a minute or two, Glinda simply watched her companion wring her hands. It confounded her, but yet again, as she had the past several times this subject turned in such a direction, she found herself very faintly jealous. Why should she? It was because the Animals demanded Elphaba's attention, of course, but the part that confounded her was that she cared so deeply whether or not her friend had concerns outside the two of them. Perhaps it could be merely attributed to them spending far too much time together; they were becoming codependent. It was to be expected when you were living in a cave with only one other person, but sometimes, she worried that it was going to ruin her for keeping company with others. Would she remember all of her social graces, her manners, once this crisis was over?

It had to come to an end. It had to; the Wizard and Morrible couldn't possibly keep up this witch hunt forevermore! Someday, they would find a way to bargain for the Animals to be left alone, and to return the Grimmerie to its rightful owners. She had no idea how such a plan would come together, especially after two years of feeling defeated, but she was determined to make it so. Until then, she supposed she would have to put up with playing second chair to Elphaba's zealous crusade now and then.

Her friend must have sensed her displeasure. After swallowing her current bite, she said in the soft voice Glinda had grown so accustomed to over the past years, "I missed you the past few days."

"You did not. You're just sorry I didn't bring back a Pig for companionship," she griped.

"Glindie…"

Chewing on her lip for a moment, she decided not to be too mean; it wasn't worth it. "Did you really?"

"I always do. If only I didn't stick out like a green thumb, I could go with you when you head into the cities."

"Yeah, I know. Any, um… progress on degreenifying yourself?"

"Nope," she sighed, glancing over at the Grimmerie's vaunted place on a very basic table on one cave wall, next to a candelabra of wax stumps. "You know, I did manage to turn my knee orange yesterday."

"Oh, can I see?!" When Elphaba only snorted, she wilted and mumbled, "Don't joke! I don't like it when you joke about magic, it seems… I don't know."

Throwing up both hands, Elphaba began to rise, only just catching the last bit of her honey loaf before it toppled to the grotty cave floor. "No joking about magic, or Animals, or Saint Aelphaba. What can we joke about?!"

"We can joke about how ugly I'm getting, without my makeup artists and hairdressers." When Elphaba only frowned deeply at her from the "kitchen" area of their hovel, Glinda pursed her lips. "You know I stopped caring about that after the first few months, but you still won't laugh. I always thought you'd be thrilled I gave up on that."

"But you gave up on them because they're out of reach for you, not because of disinterest." Having stashed the rest of her bread for the time being, she returned to help Glinda up. "You know I would give you back those things if I had a spell for that."

"Don't turn my knees orange," she warned, and Elphaba grinned in spite of herself. "But… you're learning to do much more important things than giving me supernatural lipstick."

Glancing around the cave, as if someone would jump out and interrupt them, Elphaba leaned in and pressed her lips against Glinda's ear. The latter shivered at the feeling of air caressing her lobe and neck, at the closeness of the vibrations of sound.

"I perfected fire."

"Perfected?" she breathed, licking her suddenly-dry lips. Elphaba knew that she was still a bit skittish about being so close as that, and she often used it to tease. This time, she could tell it was unintentional, so she did not bop her on the nose.

"Yes, perfected. Here…" Raising a hand, she began to whisper under her breath; seemed she didn't even need to read the words from the Grimmerie's pages anymore. In the very center of her palm, a plume of pale green flame began to flicker and dance.

"O-oh! It's a tiny fire! You've really done it, you- and it's not even raging out of control like the last time!"

A smile ghosted into the corners of Elphaba's mouth, and she fell silent, allowing the flame to continue its presence there. After a few more seconds, she closed the hand and it vanished. "Yes. It… well, I still feel guilty about our hut down in Yips, so I promised myself I would only practice somewhere safe. The connecting caves go deep enough that it's easy to find somewhere without any wood or brush. Look how much it's paid off!"

"It's truly wonderful, and wonderfully true; your control is getting as good as your arcane arsenal!" With a little titter, she went to join her in working on getting their supper finished. Honey loaf was well and good, but it was not enough sustenance. "And I've barely mastered the flight spell; everything else, I have to read it out of the book or I'll mess it up. Even then, I still mess it up sometimes!"

"Glinda, that's alright." Perching her free hand on her forearm, she went on, "You're the one running around Oz, trying to acquire things for us, listening in on gossip. I'm stuck here all day, hiding and waiting to talk to Crows, so this is the way I can be useful. Well, other than fishing." As she stoked the fire higher underneath the several fish spitted on a stick, she added, "And anyway, you're a lot further along than that and you know it."

"Maybe," she muttered, embarrassed by the attention toward her inferior spellwork.

"Definitely. Just keep at it and you'll be floating around over Oz in no time."

Soon after, they set to plating and eating the fish. Though they were literal cave-dwellers, Glinda had still insisted they could bother to pick up kitchenware and eat as civilised as they could manage. Elphaba cared a bit less for manners, but she still did her best to maintain some decorum for her companion's sake. After all, small gestures such as those went a long way toward keeping the peace.

It wasn't until they were washing up that Elphaba announced, "I'm thinking about visiting my sister."

"Oh?" Glinda asked as they stood in the mouth of the cave, hands outstretched to let the waterfall blast away the food remnants. They sometimes lost dishes that way due to unexpectedly powerful bursts of water, but they knew now to tighten their grip against the torrent. "You… want to see Nessa? Why?"

"It's all this talk of her being 'wicked' like us. The details are so vague, I don't… what are they talking about? She never acted the slightest bit wicked in all the years I've known her, which are all the years she's had. I know it's not really the focus of what we're trying to get done, and it might not help us clear our names, either. But… she's my sister, isn't she? For better or for worse."

At that, Glinda had to nod glumly. "I might be an only child, but I imagine having a sibling must be the bestest. A very special bond, especially! So… so why should I stand in your way if you want to see her?"

"Because it's foolish," Elphaba sighed, turning away with the cleansed dishes to dry them over the table. Glinda hurried to follow. "It's a needless risk of exposure. I'd have to be careful flying almost literally from one end of Oz to the other, and for what? To have Nessarose snap at me that I've 'disgraced the family', probably."

"Oh, come on, Elphie. She wouldn't be that cruel!"

"Wouldn't she? You've met my father. She's his child."

"So are you, and I don't see you being that cruel." When Elphaba glanced at her, she shrugged. "Not that often. We have our quarrels, but we always work them out, and you're very rarely cruel without cause."

"But I am cruel, then. Right?" Glinda didn't answer right away, and Elphaba sighed. "I'm sorry, I… sometimes, I get so passionate about saving the Animals from being muted and massacred…"

"I know," she soothed with a hand on Elphaba's back. "Of course, I understand. And… even though I hate it when you shout at me, you've never struck me or… or insulted me unless I've already insulted you somehow. So I think you're quite an admirable person, overall."

At that, Elphaba snorted and patted Glinda's arm. "Such lavish praise. If you don't want me to go and see her, I won't, but… oh, I just feel like I must. Something in my gut tells me it's important."

A sigh escaped Glinda's lips as she pondered. Not that there was much to ponder at all. "Your gut has served us well a few times before now, so I feel like it would be sheer ridiculosity to ignore it now. Go to your sister; I'll hold down the fort here."

"No, no; I must wait for the Crows. But once they have arrived… shall we go together? I want her to know that we're on her side if she's being wrongly accused." In an undertone, she added, "Besides… if she isn't wrongly accused, I might need your help escaping her clutches."

"Her 'clutches'!" Glinda giggled. But when Elphaba didn't laugh, her own petered out quickly. "Oh. You really think… little Nessie? The one in the chair?"

"Just because she's in a wheelchair doesn't mean she poses no threat. You didn't grow up with her; you don't know how manipulative she can be if it suits her purposes. Maybe she isn't a villain, but she's no perfect princess, either."

Nodding, Glinda whispered, "I'm sorry. You're right, I don't know a twigging thing about her."

"No, I'm sorry," Elphie sighed as she put away the dried dishes and utensils. "No point in spreading doom and gloom about something that hasn't happened yet."

"Then it's settled. Once we hear from our fine feathered friends, we find your family for a fisit."

Elphaba had been nodding along until the very end. "You mean 'visit', don't y- oh, nevermind." But Glinda was so pleased with herself that Elphaba couldn't frown for long.

                                                  ~ o ~

Déjà vu settled upon Glinda when she spied Colwen Grounds for the second time in her life. However, it was not quite the same as the last occasion. Munchkinlander guards paced up and down the street, spears in hand. There was a distinct lack of civilian presence throughout all of Nest Hardings, now that she thought to look. How could things have changed so drastically in a couple of short years?

"By Oz," Elphaba breathed. Glinda tightened her arms around her waist to comfort the poor, shocked woman. "My home looks like a prison…"

"Or a fortress," she muttered. "Elphie, where would your sister be?"

"Upstairs, the third window from the right in the back. It's… oh, I wish I could have perfected that invisibility spell! All the rocks just turned lighter and lighter shades of grey, they never vanished entirely!"

Sighing, Glinda patted her side and whispered, "We'll just have to be quick. Act when the guards aren't looking. We can do that; I'm even wearing this hideous black cloak and it's the dead of night, it ought to be simple enough!"

"Ought to be, yes… but will luck be with us?" Neither of them dared answer.

With some relief, they found the window unlatched, and were able to slip in undetected. Of course, that didn't last long.

"ELPHABA!" Nessarose shouted. It had been so long since Glinda saw the black-haired, wheelchair-bound beauty, but she looked no less elegant now than she did in their days at Shiz. The chair squeaked as she made her way over to them, struggling to push it along with her own slender arms. "Wh-what- GUARDS! What are you doing here?!"

"Nessa, I'm sorry," Elphaba said in a stage whisper as she paced forward, their broom forgotten. "I just… I had a powerful feeling that if I didn't come soon, you…" Her gaze dropped and her voice petered out, as meek and cowed as Glinda remembered from when they met with her father.

"What? Come on, out with it!" Nessa's voice grew more terse as she went on, "You've spent the last two years terrorizing all of Oz, casting a shadow over the name of Thropp! And now, what, you want to waltz back in? To smooth things over?"

"Believe me, I'd love to smooth things over, with both you and Father. But that isn't why-"

"Oh, that's fabulous." A humourless laugh floated out of her throat. "With Father! You really must be a powerful witch now if you think you can manage that!"

Elphaba looked mildly confused. She glanced at Glinda, as if she might hold some key to deciphering her sister's words, but Glinda merely shrugged her own ignorance. Even if she did have any idea what this was about, she was smart enough not to butt into a family discussion. "What do you mean?"

"He's dead, you ignorant celery stalk!"

Glinda swooped forward as fast as she could to catch Elphaba before she crumpled to the ground, and just barely made it. Still, a struggle ensued as Glinda had to use all of her feeble muscle to support both of their weights — made all the worse for Elphaba going entirely boneless.

"Dead… no, he's… he can't- wh-what are you saying to me?"

"Dead. You know, deceased, passed on? Dancing with the Unnamed God? He's gone forever, and it's all your fault!"

"My fault?" Elphaba rasped. The accusation seemed to give her back some small shred of herself in the form of indignation. "H-how? I haven't even- I was on the other side of the kingdom!"

"Exactly." Her fists trembled on the arms of the chair as she shouted at her sister, voice turning hoarse, "After he learned what you'd done, how you'd disgraced us, he died... of shame! Embarrassed to death. You didn't have to lift a finger."

At the last phrase, Elphaba's posture went rigid. "I didn't have to- what are you implying? That I wanted Father to die?!"

"Didn't you? He told me what you said when you came begging for scraps, for protection. How you complained about me getting all of the attention! Look at me, Elphaba!" One hand swept down at her legs as her eyes bored straight through her green sibling. "How can you blame him for wanting to help me more? I am broken! But your legs work just fine; you can stand alone! Why should he help you when you can help yourself?!"

"You… you little…" Elphaba's hands worked into fists and back, and she clamped her mouth shut.

"Me, what?" A brief pause. After a moment, she bit out, "Go on, say it. Say whatever horrible thought is in that horribly wicked brain of yours."

"You think you know so much," Elphaba hissed at her. "But you're wrong. I never wanted Father to- all I wanted from him was love and acceptance. But he could never manage it. I was always treated differently because of how I look, which is something I cannot help. And he did it anyway. When you're the colour of Truth Pond scum, I guess that's how you get treated."

Nessa's expression darkened, even though Glinda would not have thought it possible given how dark it was before. "You take that back. He was always saying how proud he was of you, how you had grown up strong and independent. I don't want to hear these lies."

"He never said it to me! Never even said… that he loved me. The only things he said to me were about you, Nessa — unless he was insulting me, or telling me how much I've been fouling things up. Which, of course, was also usually about you."

"So instead, everything should have been about you?! Fine, that's rich; poor Fabala, she's green! It doesn't change anything else about her life, she can walk and dance and go wherever she pleases, but poor Fabala!"

"Don't call me that," Elphaba warned.

"Or what? You'll curse me?" A scoffing noise as she folded her arms. "You have everybody fooled that you're a witch. As if you could manage anything but weird explosions! Well fine, blow me up, sister of mine. If that's what you want, go right ahead; then you'll have both of us out of the way. The last Thropp can have Colwen Grounds all to herself."

The three of them stood in a tense silence for a long moment. Finally, assuming no one else was going to do anything to diffuse the situation, Glinda cleared her throat and asked something that had been bothering her.

"Um… I've heard the people of Oz calling you a witch, too. What's up with that?"

"What? Oh… oh, nevermind their nonsense," she brushed aside. "They don't like my policy changes."

"Policy changes? I don't understand, I thought your father… was…" Then her eyes widened slightly. "Nevermind, I get it. You're the new Munchkin Mayor."

"Eminent Thropp," she corrected.

"Whatever. So what kind of policy changes? You have to be this tall to ride?" Glinda held her hand only a few feet above the ground, alluding to how diminutive a lot of Munchkinlanders were. Not that Nessa or Elphaba were among their number.

"I closed our borders to emigration and immigration. No one goes in or out. It's a temporary measure for everyone's safety. And I increased taxes to funnel into our military, and the Lurlinist Pike Guild; you know our family doesn't believe in Lurlinism, but they're our strongest defense force."

Elphaba nodded her understanding. "Yes, I suppose you work with what you have. Why so much fearmongering, though?"

"That's you, too. What did you think would happen? You zoom around the kingdom, allegedly rescuing Animals and brushing aside the Wizard's forces like they're ants! Everyone's terrified of you!"

"You don't seem to be."

"That's because I understand who you really are; a coward. You made a mistake, got on the wrong side of either the Wizard or Morrible, and you won't face them directly. So you scurry around, using this weird thing with Animals to distract yourself. Isn't that right?"

Elphaba glanced at Glinda, who shrugged. Then she turned back and said, "Not exactly right, but not exactly wrong."

"Oh." Nessa seemed somewhat surprised by the admission. "Then… you really are afraid of the Wizard."

"Of course. Who wouldn't be? You see what he's doing to the Animals, silencing and herding them up to be slaughtered. Whether it's him or if it's Morrible's idea, they're both to blame."

Rolling her eyes, the girl tried to wheel over toward a small wooden cabinet that stood in the corner, but she was having such a hard time of it that Glinda tutted impatiently and strode over to take the handles on the back of chair, wheeling her the rest of the way.

"Thank you," Nessa said curtly. But at least she said it.

"No problem. Do you need help with anything?"

"I can take care of myself," she assured her, glaring over at Elphaba. She opened the door and withdrew a crystal bottle and a decanter, setting them on top. Then she glanced back at the other two as she poured herself a generous helping of a thick, dark liquid. "Can I offer you something? I have Qwice Wine, Gilligin, a pretty good year of Munchcatel…"

"Ooh, I haven't had a good Munchcatel in a while!" Glinda whispered. Nessa smirked slightly as she withdrew another bottle. "What?"

"Nothing. Just that you seem like the type for a sweet wine, that's all."

"Thank you, I think!"

"Nothing for me," Elphaba said flatly. "I'm flying later."

With a shrug, Nessa handed Glinda her drink and lifted her own to her lips, draining a third of it in one go. When Glinda wheeled her back over to Elphaba, she sighed as if irritated, but it seemed to be because she was getting closer to her sister and not from Glinda's actions directly.

"Alright, we've taken care of the small talk. Why are you here now? What is the point of this visit? You've gone two years without darkening my doorstep, so I can't fathom why you would now."

"Because I have a feeling something truly bad is coming. For you." When Nessa's eyes rolled, she snapped, "I don't care if you believe me or not! Or I do, but… oh, forget it. You obviously neither want nor need anything from me, and I don't care if you do. I just didn't want anything horrible to befall my only sister without trying to warn her."

"You can't give me anything I want," Nessa said softly. "You can't bring Father back, you can't make me able to stand. You can't even make Boq…" But then she cut herself off, gripping the glass tighter. "What's the point of you being a witch if you're useless?!"

Unable to stop herself, Glinda whispered, "Hey now, that's not quite fair, is it? Elphaba's not a genie, she can't just grant your every wish. Sorcery is a skill like any other skill; she can only do what she knows how!"

"Then why don't you ask yourself; what has her priority been? Me? Of course not. I've never been her priority."

"You've always been my priority," Elphaba bit out. "Ever since you were born, Father made sure you were the only thing that mattered. Only… only going to Shiz made me begin to see how much I was missing in my life. Being friends with Glinda."

"Aww," Glinda tittered softly, allowing herself a shy smile. "It's no big deal. I just wanted to help you feel pretty and popular for once."

"And you couldn't do that for me?" Nessa snapped. "What a selective fairy godmother."

Glinda turned on her, hands on hips. "That's enough, missy! You're already pretty! Prettier than me, lately! But you don't get popular by trapping everybody in their homes, do you? And speaking of Boq, I set you up with him in the first place! So don't tell me I haven't done anything for you, you, you… jerkity sad sack!"

Elphaba gasped. Nessa looked affronted, of course, but Elphie was the one most definitely shocked that Glinda had said something so hostile against another person to their face. Glinda knew she didn't do that often; it was part of being a member of high society. One didn't go around openly criticising your peers! But in this case, Nessarose was being unkind and unfair to her best friend. She had earned a little payback.

"Well, I…" Nessa took a drink to give herself an excuse not to speak for a moment. Then she said in clipped tones, "You're right, I can't deny you did encourage Boq to approach me. I'm sorry. But Elphaba… I'm not wrong about that."

"She loves you. She just… you can't be her whole life, y'know? But she never wanted to have to leave you for more than one short day. And we're here now, aren't we? You have no idea how long and hard it was for us to come visit you!"

At that, Nessa did look up at her sister, eyes narrowed. "Yes… how long did it take you? Where are you living lately? I'm curious."

"And I'm not that stupid. You'd sell that information to the Wizard in exchange for more protection in a heartbeat, wouldn't you?" When Nessa merely shrugged, Elphaba grunted, "Typical."

"Well, you can't do anything else for me. And it would be your own fault if you slipped up and told me; I'd feel no guilt over it."

"Of course you wouldn't." Elphaba folded her arms over her chest and went on, "Well, I can't bring back our father or get you out of that chair, so you'll just have to enjoy the visit for what… it… hmm."

"'For what it hmm'? What on earth is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing. Glinda, may I speak to you for a moment?" When Glinda merely shrugged and trotted over to join her in the far corner of the chambers, Elphaba steered her over close to the window.

"What? What is it?"

"You've been studying the Grimmerie, too, right?" At Glinda's nod, she hissed, "Do you remember anything that might make Nessa able to stand? I could put a flight spell on her underwear, but I think that would go pretty quickly awry — and she wouldn't really be walking."

Glinda's face screwed up in concentration. "You know… I have seen something, but I can't remember where! I think it was some spell for enchanted shoes, but it was for dancing, not walking."

"Yes, exactly, exactly. But as we now know, if we tweak a couple of spells… combine them…"

"The Glowing Stone," she breathed, referring to a rock that now glowed always. They actually had to stick it in a box overnight so that its radiance wouldn't keep them awake. "You're right, that was two different spells! But can you find two that will help Nessie?"

"I don't know. But…" Sighing, she glanced over her shoulder. "That unpleasant toad does not deserve my help, but I won't feel good about myself if there was something I could do for my sister, and I didn't."

"Well, that's definitely… a type of motivation, I guess," Glinda said with a weak laugh. "You start looking for the other spell, I'll stealify her shoes, okay?"

"Oh." Casting another look over at Nessarose, she whispered, "That might not work out as well as you would hope, but see what you can do. I'll get to work."

Vaguely confused by that last warning, Glinda shrugged and left Elphaba to withdraw the Grimmerie from inside her inky cloak. "Listen, Nessa?"

"Yes?"

"Uhh, hey." Her finger pointed down at the padded footrests of her wheelchair. "Do you mind if I borrow those for a moment?"

The girl's reaction was immediate. Glinda could practically see her withdrawing from the conversation a small amount, the way her hands fidgeted with the hem of her blouse, her eyes lowered, fluttered, glanced back up at Glinda. After a few seconds of this twitchiness, she asked a simple question.

"Why? If you're going to tease me…"

"We're going to try a spell. No promises!" she warned, before any hopes could be raised. "Just… a little something. If it doesn't work, at least we tried, right?"

Thoughtful, she looked down at the shoes. They were quite elegant: sueded blue slippers with small pearls trailing along embroidery that graced each side. Somehow, they had been secured well enough that not a single pearl had been lost — or else it was because they had never been walked in.

"Do you h-have to take them off?"

"Hmm. Maybe not, but it sure seems safer to me. Do you really want us to try throwing magic at them while you're still wearing them?"

"Well… alright, that is a good point. I don't trust Elphaba particularly, but I have this feeling you wouldn't lie about something this mundane." She began to bend forward, then was stopped by realising she was still holding her drink. "Oh… this is hard enough normally without being inebriated!"

Chuckling, Glinda knelt and said, "I'll get them, don't worry. Relax."

"No! D-don't…" After a long pause, she looked away, cheeks rosy with embarrassment. "Okay, but don't… don't look at my feet."

"What?"

"Please? That's all I'm asking."

The whole matter puzzled her. What was the huge crisis? Shrugging her agreement, Glinda did as she was asked; she looked long enough to get a good grip on the backs of the shoes, then slipped them off without ever glancing down. Hearing the quiet thud of Nessa's ankles into the padded rests, she whispered, "Sorry!"

"It's alright," she said with a nervous chuckle. "At least I can pretend I moved them on my own."

"If you say so. Um, be back in a minute!"

Once Glinda and Elphaba were crowded around the Grimmerie, scanning its pages with the shoes placed above it on the small table, she was able to help look for the proper spell. As they debated the pros and cons of certain choices, another question niggled in her mind. When she decided she couldn't ignore it any longer, she asked.

"So what's with Nessa's feet? She wouldn't let me look at them."

"Hm?" Elphaba was clearly distracted, her index finger running along a passage. "Oh, nothing's wrong with them. Other than the fact that they don't work, I mean." Seeing that didn't satisfy Glinda, she sighed and said, "It's… hard to explain."

"You don't have to if it's all that difficult, Elphie. I'm just a nosy-pants."

"Just… well, it's our Father's fault. Not that it was something 'bad' he did, exactly, but he was trying to make her feel better about her condition. She was having a hard time with it one day, about how everyone kept staring at her lame legs while she was out. So he told her that they were just jealous of her shoes. When I was older, I kind of realised that he had been making everything up as he went, but he told her that she looked so pretty in her chair, and her shoes were so lovely, that everyone was envious. From that day on, he kept finding newer and more intricate slippers and boots and any other kind of shoe for her."

"That's sweet of him," Glinda said softly, smiling to herself. She knew Elphaba probably didn't see it that way, but she couldn't deny the doting man had at least done that much to make his handicapped daughter feel less unsightly. "But I still don't understand."

Shrugging, Elphaba turned the page, still more focused on her work. "Nessa drew the conclusion herself. She noticed that people are told they look nice if they're wearing pretty clothes, and that it's shocking — taboo, if you will — if they're seen wearing too little. And since my father had made such a big deal about how lovely she looks in her top-of-the-line shoes, combined with already being ashamed that her legs don't function…"

"Ohhh," she breathed as the last piece fell into place within her mind, pounding her open hand with a fist. "So going barefoot is the same thing as going naked to her? How very odd, indeed!"

"Yes, it's odd," Elphaba said sharply, looking up at last. "And I'll thank you not to tease her about it. I think she's silly, but to her, it's reality. So just… don't let slip that I told you any of this, alright? I'm sure she's already embarrassed enough at being 'exposed'."

That did make Glinda squirm in secondhand embarrassment. "When you put it that way, I suppose I would feel a little strange if some old classmate asked if I'd hand them my brassiere. But okay, I won't say a word."

It was another ten minutes before Nessa asked, "How's it coming?" When neither of them answered, she did not pester them further — merely sat in her chair, anxious to have her shoes back regardless of whether or not they were any improved from her sister's efforts. Glinda had to resist the temptation to glance down whenever she peered over at her; she knew it was the mere matter of being commanded "do not look at this" that made her want to look at all. Funny how the power of suggestion could sway one's attentions.

When Elphaba began to chant, low and long and focused, Glinda saw Nessa stirring out of the corner of her eye, saw her getting closer a little at a time. Clearly, it was a struggle for her to make it there, but her curiosity at their spellcasting fuelled her actions.

"Is it finished?" she asked in a quiet whisper when the vermillion lips had fallen silent. "Have you really… I mean, is there any chance…?"

"They look… different," Glinda breathed, raising a hand toward them. At first, she felt a thrill of dread to touch the shoes, but when she truly thought about how much she trusted her travelling companion, she picked one up as Elphaba did the other. "Are they… silver now? Or red? Maybe that's just the light from the fireplace."

"It is, I think," Elphaba agreed, just as captivated by them despite having performed the spell herself. After a moment, Glinda turned to look up at Nessa apologetically.

"Um… is it alright if I put them back on?"

"Y-yes," Nessa said breathlessly, cheeks still rosy but her eyes eager as they took in the shimmering shoes. "I want to know if this has worked at once!"

So Glinda obliged. This time, she couldn't help but look because she had to guide the shoes on properly… and there really wasn't anything to see. Nessa had dainty little feet, of course, but they were no more or less remarkable than any other pair she'd ever come across. Then the shoes were on, and both she and Elphaba were standing back to observe.

But before Nessa could attempt to stand, the door squeaked open and an unimpressive figure strode inside. Short in stature and with a drab face that was not entirely unpleasant… and was a bit familiar.

"Madame, I've prepared your- oh!" His eyes went wide to see the other two. "Goodness, it's- GUARDS!"

"Shush, Boq!" Nessa commanded him with a wave of her arm. Glinda flinched, even though the guards had not come the last time Nessa herself called. "Wait a moment. I… I want you to see something."

"Madame, these are criminals! The Wizard will want to be warned wight away!"

"You mean 'right aw-' Oh, I should know better by now," Elphaba admonished herself.

"We can't waste any time! Quick, I'll go and get them while they're… still… what on Oz?"

Boq found himself unable to finish the thought. His previously-disabled mistress was now standing, pushing unsteadily to her feet from the chair. It was already miraculous enough that she was standing unaided, shoes dazzling with white and red flashes — but there would be more. One foot at a time, she began to take steps, arms out to either side. After the first few, she began to tip, and Glinda and Elphaba both dashed forward and righted her again.

"Th-thank you," she breathed as she stood. "But… I think I…" Another few steps, without their aid. "I'm getting it. I'm walking. Ozma Above, I'm walking!"

                                                  To Be Continued…

[theatricalwriter]

I Am Good: Jason Scott X Reader [PART I]

Prompt: You’re a new girl in Angel Grove, and you aren’t exactly a typical, everyday person you’d meet on the street. You had green skin and did your best to hide it from the world. But after discovering an ironically green coin on the outskirts of town, you find it brings more terror to your life than before.

Requested: No

Word Count: 2,221

Warning: Long, strong language

Author’s Notes: If you haven’t noticed, this is based off of the book and musical “Wicked,” but the reader is not like Elphaba in the sense that she has powers. I also do not own any storylines revolving around Elphaba, but I own the original plotline of the reader in this story.

“What do you mean ‘the green coin is missing’?” Zordon asked Alpha 5, his voice laced with anger and worry.

The green coin Rita Repulsa had once owned and was once held by Zordon’s ship’s containment unit was now gone, as if it just completely vanished without a single trace.

“Exactly that!” Alpha 5 shouted, moving frantically across the floor, unable to contain his panic. “It’s just not there! I checked and searched a hundred times and it’s not there! You don’t think…?”

“No,” Zordon said quickly, avoiding the possibility. “The Power Rangers defeated her, she’s long gone. But who would want to steal the coin? How did they even get on the ship?”

Alpha 5 thought for a moment, “But what if they didn’t? Get on the ship I mean.”

Alpha 5 didn’t have to explain himself for Zordon to understand what he had meant. He had sworn it was impossible for that to be a plausible circumstance, but it appeared that it might not have been. It seemed that the Power Rangers would have another member of the team. Questions were, how would he tell the team and who would it be?

To say the least, you were different. You tended to keep to yourself in school, and for all the right reasons. Behind all those pounds of makeup and long sleeved shirts was a secret your family had tried so hard to hide. You, the simple Y/N from a strange town somewhere far, far away from Angel Grove, had skin so green that it could compare to that of an emerald. And because of this sickeningly green skin, you were forced by your father to hide your true self. Not that you were complaining all that much. It was better to at least look normal to others and perfectly blend into the high school crowd than walk around school looking like you were just freshly picked from a garden.

It was a quiet day in Angel Grove, something you found to be common after the demolition of a little more than half the town before you moved there. And while you weren’t there for the destruction, people were still talking about it to this day. People still don’t know what that thing was that destroyed almost everything, but they know that whoever saved them that day were heroes.

After school, you decided you needed to clear your head, get out of the house and be alone despite the fact your father was never even home, even when you lived in your previous town and the one before that and so forth. You were on your own most of the time. While your father was out on business trips, which was really just his way of staying away from his only daughter, he sent money to you so you could buy food and bottles and bottles of concealer and foundation and make remover, but you figured it was so you didn’t have to get a job at the risk of someone seeing your skin. It worked out, though. You were living a stable life with a nice house to live in, good grades, and that was pretty much it. You didn’t have any friends, but that was something you were used to in life and sure, there was that one asshole who loved to pick on you, but once again, you were always going through that kind of stuff no matter where you attended school.

You headed out of the house and took a short walk around the neighborhood. But, feeling spontaneous and wanting to get to know more of the stupid place. Maybe she’d be able to find a place outside of her house where she could just get away.

Upon further investigation, you came close to a forest-like area which led up to a trail near the mountains. You stared up at the mountain for a couple seconds, you started to walk up the path. You gazed around at the scenery you passed, but for some reason, you couldn’t bring yourself to take it all in and appreciate it. You had this weird feeling growing inside of your chest, making it feel as though you weren’t supposed to be here, but you somehow were. You put on some calming music to clear your head, which seemed to be working as you ventured onward.

“Oh shit…” You swore when you realized that you were kind of lost.

You gazed at your surroundings, trying to find even the smallest piece of evidence that shows the way you came, but all you could see was a giant chasm just beyond a few trees and bushes, which were all you could see from behind you; trees and bushes. You were close to just giving up and calling for help in hopes someone would hear you, but something out of the corner of your eye caught your attention.

It was a little hard to see at first with the setting sun affecting the light of the land, but you could see a small, but a very bright speck of colored light coming from something beside the chasm. You were about to let it go, but you were just too curious to just walk away. You slowly walked towards the object, leaning down to pick it up when you reached it. Your painted fingers grasped onto a golden coin-like object. In the center was a shining green stone, which was what caused the glinting in the sunlight. At seeing the color of the stone, you let out an exasperated and annoyed sigh.

You grunted, “How ironic.”

You heard indistinct voices nearing your position and felt panic flow through you. You didn’t want to be seen by anybody, so you quickly pocketed the coin and hurried towards a nearby shrub that was just big enough for you to hide behind and not be seen. You kept quiet, not wanting to make a single sound or movement.

“Did you guys see that?” You heard a feminine voice ask.

You felt your heartbeat starting to pick up a bit, and you feared that the person might come over to investigate.

“No. What do you think you saw?” A male voice questioned in response.

“I don’t know,” The female replied. “I thought it was a person… but no one comes up here besides us.”

“Probably just an animal or something.” Another girl said.

“Right…”

You quietly waited for them to leave, but only heard a splashing sound from a distance after that point. You peeked out from behind the bush and saw that there was no one around. You let out a sigh of relief and dusted off your outfit.

Feeling curious and seeing it was okay to make a move, you pulled out the green coin. You turned it around a couple of times, noticing the odd patterns which looked like rigid, technological lines and squares embedded in the stone and the gold rock that seemed to have formed around it. You furrowed your eyebrows, never having seen something like that in all your years of living. You put the coin back in your pocket and started to try and find a way out of these damned woods.

You eventually did make it out of there without being caught or harmed. But you felt off when you got home the next day. You were so tired from your adventures that you simply crashed on the couch without getting anything to eat and you didn’t even get changed into comfortable nightclothes or remove all the makeup layers, something that was not like you in the slightest.

You heard your phone go off with your morning alarm and instinctively slammed down on the phone to turn it off. However, you noticed that not did the alarm stop ringing, but you heard glass crashing and wood splintering as if it had just been smashed to pieces. Your eyes widened when you saw that you had broken the glass of your phone and the corner of your nightstand was caved inward. You gasped once the realization hit that you had done this, but confusion overtook you once you realized that you hadn’t even gone to bed that night. You specifically remembered landing on the couch and falling asleep down there. In addition to that, you also didn’t remember placing the green stone you found that day on your now destroyed bedside table.

“What the Hell is going on here?” You breathed, unable to comprehend the situation.

You walked into the bathroom as you normally would, but of course, you were a little more on edge than usual. Upon arrival, you saw that the green coin was now on the counter when you knew you didn’t even pick it up that morning.

“I’m seriously freaked out right now…” You gulped, almost backing away from the coin.

Despite the fact you feared the coin, you knew you had to do something with it. You opened up the window to your bathroom and quickly grabbed the coin as if it were a grotesque animal that you grabbed by the tail. You chucked the coin out the window with all the strength you had and slammed it shut, feeling glad that you got rid of the thing.

A few seconds later and you heard a rattling sound behind you. Low and behold, there was the coin, sitting on your counter like it was a moment ago.

“Dammit!”

School was like any other day- annoying pricks who liked to torment you, low-class snobs and idiots who were just there because it was law- but this time, you had a damned coin that wouldn’t leave you the hell alone. It remained quiet for the most part, until a mishap occurred in lunch with you, a stupid bully, your lunch tray, your coin, and a really cute guy named Jason.

You had gotten your chicken salad from the lunch line, and you instantly made a beeline for your corner of the farthest lunch table, hoping that if you got there fast enough, you could avoid any interaction with anyone. Too bad that your half-witted assaulter was one step ahead of you.

Your lunch tray was smacked upward, your chicken salad getting slammed against your sweater and the dressing seeping through the material. You heard others gasp and a boorish laugh presents itself from beside you.

“Whoops!” He snickered. “My bad!”

You curled your fists in an attempt to keep yourself from fighting back. Even with your newfound strength, you could’ve used to fight back, you refrained from doing so, knowing it would force your father to return home and deal with the matter to make him hate you more than he already does. You pursed your lips as you felt tears welling up in your eyes once you noticed the dozens of pairs of eyes gazing at you in your dressing-covered glory.

“Are you going to cry?” He snarled. “Wow! That’s so path-”

“Hey.” Someone calmly said, but it was said harshly enough to show that this person wanted his attention and wanted it now.

Through your watery eyes, you could see a buff, handsome-looking boy standing before you. You recognized him from a class of yours, a few rumors, and a couple pictures. His name was Jason Scott. He was the star quarterback before he placed a cow in the opposing team’s locker room and became a regular guy in high school who just so happened to be disliked by most of the Angel Grove High student body.

“Scott.” Your bully snapped.

“You know, I would've thought you had learned your lesson with Billy, but you just keep going, don’t you?” Jason responded, shaking his head disapprovingly. “So how about this? How about you leave her alone, get out of here, and we’ll avoid what happened last time. Seem fair?”

The bully didn’t say anything in response. He merely stared at Jason, as if testing him, to which he did. Without saying a word, the bully pushed you to the floor, then ran off. You could tell Jason was about to run after him, but having heard your hurt cry and the scattering of your belongings after falling to the ground, he lent down to help you up.

“Are you alright?” Jason asked, giving you his hand.

You cautiously took it, him hoisting you up into a sitting position so you could gather up the things that had fallen out of your bag.

“I’m fine,” You sighed. You looked up at him with genuine eyes as you looked up from placing your stuff back into your bag. ”Thank you so much.”

“No problem. I’m Jason.” He introduced himself.

“Y/N.” You graciously smiled, pushing a piece of your hair behind your makeup-ed ear.

Jason smiled back at you. He looked over and saw something shining from just a few inches away. He grabbed it, believing it belonged to you.

“Hey, is this…” His voice trailed off.

You glanced up, seeing that Jason was holding the coin you had found between his fingers. You saw his face twist into pure disorientation while yours flashed to that of horror. You were eased at the mind that most people stopped staring at you two, but you didn’t hesitate to quickly snatch your coin from Jason’s hand and keep it out of sight.

“Thank you.” You simply said in a hushed voice before grabbing your bag and bolting out of the lunchroom and away from the scene.

PART II

[gavillain]

What are your thoughts on queercoding in Disney villains?

Hoo boy. Okay, this is a topic that I’mprobably not the best person to ask about it because I’m notreally objective at all, being both a gay man and a big fan of Disneyvillains, so I’m not going to have some high quality discourse socialjustice approved thing here. Instead, this is going to be more aboutme personally and my perspective. And since I will say right herethat I unapologetically like Disney villains, especially ones likeUrsula who have a lot of queercoding in them, I fully acknowledgethat my stance might be one someone might find problematic and if itis, then I apologize and I absolutely shouldn’t be treated like I’m perfect or really an authority on this topic. Yet, being a queer person who has been a lifelong fan ofcharacters like this, I do think I have something to offer to thisdiscussion that maybe isn’t as talked about.

The short answer is this: I actuallylike villains who are queer or queercoded because villains on thewhole resonate with me a lot more and I like having some layer of myidentity incorporated into my favorite type of character. The longeranswer, however….

Full thing under the cut, because I’mabout to get deep into this y'all XD

So, okay, starting off, I do want tosay that I think one of the big things to consider first and foremostwith this whole debate is that people like fictional villains, andit’s kind of the point that people like fictional villains.Compared to someone like a real life “villain” likeDonald Trump or Charles Manson or whoever, fictional villains are away for us to explore our darksides in a setting where it’s notuncomfortably real. And yes, there is absolutely a divide betweenfictional villains and real life villains that I do think we need tofirmly acknowledge exists. Because fiction is a controlled settingmeant to reflect emotion, whereas real life is an uncontrolledsetting that generates emotions. They’re linked, but distinctive. Youcan’t ignore the divide between fiction and reality any more than youcan deny the link.

But before we go any further, let’stalk about Disney villains as a brand, because Disney villains aredecoupled from their source material and marketed as their own entitywith t-shirts, pins, snowglobes, dolls, figurines, and other forms ofmemorabilia. Yet not every villain is included in this brand. Despitetheir movies’ popularity, you rarely see the likes of Hans, JudgeFrollo, or Gaston crop up in merchandise. The six mainstays invillain merch are Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar, Cruella De Vil,Ursula, and Captain Hook with Hades, Scar, Chernabog, and the Queenof Hearts slipping in there as kind of the second tier. Aside fromChernabog, who’s mostly there for aesthetics reasons, the ones whoget marketed the most are the ones who probably have the mostprominent queercoding in them.

(Disney villain merch for reference:)

The ones who tend to be usually keptout of the spotlight are the villains who are rooted very heavily intoxicly masculine traits like the aforementioned three. It’s also nocoincidence that Gaston, Frollo, and Hans are all very widelyconsidered to be the most deplorable Disney villains and are mostoften praised for being terrifying and dark. These are meant to berepulsive and hateable.

With the main clearly identifiablybranded Disney villain, specifically the ones who are widely marketedand contain queercoding, that’s not really the case. Like if you goto something like Club Villain or the Hocus Pocus Spelltacular at theDisney parks or even really an online discussion board of Disneyvillain fans, the tone and environment are completely different.There’s not really a culture of deplorability or repulsiveness tothese guys, but, by contrast, one that’s fun and celebratory. It’svery “let loose, have fun, and just flaunt it.”

The decoupled Disney villain brand isall about letting go of inhibitions and just being unapologetic, overthe top with aesthetic, and vicariously being able to do all of thenaughty things that normally you just can’t. There’s an elementthat’s very freeing to Disney villain brand, and I thinkthat’s a big reason why the queercoding element happens: because thattype of freeing, confident, self-expression is very characteristic ofgay culture, and so a lot of elements from one will bleed intoanother. It’s also, of course, no coincident that an overwhelming percentage of Disney villain fans are LGBT+. And yes, gay culture borrows from Disney villains a lot too– look no further than at all of the drag queens inspired by Disneyvillains….

And Disney of course creates (or atleast they did until they got on their “plot twist villain”trend) villains who play into the tropes that can feed into theirbrand. However, obviously, not everyone who sees their movies isinvolved in the branding, and so the more celebratory side gets kindof ignored in favor of seeing heteronormative protagonists taking downqueercoded villains. And for that matter, why villains in particular?Why not do the brand with heroes? And these are all valid concernsbecause we do have to consider them within the context of their ownnarrative, not being decoupled from it for branding sakes.

But, again, even within the context oftheir narratives, these villains are intended to be fun rather thanespecially deplorable. Like, sure, they do bad things like cursingprincesses and overthrowing benevolent kings and queens, but theydon’t do the really terrible and uncomfortable evil things likeFrollo does. Their evil is by and large through more of an abstract,less threatening level to where they are more paletteable, and itmakes it feel okay for you to sing along to their songs, dress up asthem for Halloween, and on some level even root for them.

And I think we do kind of have to giveDisney some credit in that though their villains have somestereotypically queer traits, they’re never necessarily demonized forthis. Their queer traits are the ones that make them fun andengaging, while their evil traits tend to be more on the level ofmore everyday vices like greed or jealousy. Ursula’s not evil becauseshe looks like a drag queen or anything to do with her beingdifferent or other in the context of the move, but rather because ofher wanting to wrest power away from King Triton and how she allowsthat pursuit of power to hurt others. No, obviously, it’s notperfectly okay, but it’s really not bad unless you’re solely looking atit in generalities.

As for why villains in particular, Ithink it really goes back to something I mentioned before: fictionalvillains are away to explore our darker sides without actually doingevil things. It’s a way to vicariously release the rude or angryenergies inside of you, and there’s also somthing kind of alluringabout thinking about what would happen if you got pushed off the deepend. It’s an enticing taboo, and because these characters are so fun,it sort of makes it okay not to bottle up and internalizing all ofthat negativity. There’s something cathartic to be able to expressyourself through fictional bad guys.

It’s also not like villains are theonly queercoded Disney characters either. Look at Timon and Pumbaa,Elsa, Pleakly, Jim Hawkins, the Genie, etc. It’s present on bothsides of the morality spectrum. The traditional queercoding traitsare ones used by and large in animation to make characters fun andlikable. So I push back on the notion that Disney is intentionallyonly queercoding bad guys because they think gayness is evil oranything like that.

Going to a more personal level, I lovevillains in general. They’re my favorite characters in fiction, and Idon’t mean “villains” like Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent orElphaba who aren’t really bad but just are percieved that way. No, Ilike the really diabolical antagonist characters best of all becausethey enrich the narrative so much and just always capture myimagination. And, again, I like that exploration into my own darkside that they offer.

And, yeah, all of my top ten favoritevillains are either canonly queer, queercoded, or I headcanon them asqueer. Because, again, they’re my favorite characters. I’m a gay man,and I like seeing myself represented and reflected in the characterswho most hold my attention and spark my imagination. A big part ofthe reason Russell Edgington and Daken became big favorite villainsfor me are because they’re queer. And usually gay villains are goingto make me love them if they show up.

Obviously, though, there areexceptions. King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph, for example, I foundto be kind of offensive in how, even in the context of Disneycharacters, he’s so extremely foppish and fae, Ralph outright callsKC a “nelly wafer,” and the point of his narrativerole as a villain is that he’s put on a false queercoded identity to run awayfrom who he is. So there’s a lot of elements there that I think areproblematic and uncomfortable. And of course, going outside ofDisney, there are more traditionally problematic queer villains likeDr. Frank-N-Furter in Rocky Horror Picture Show who isportrayed as a depraved sexual deviant who goes against the laws ofnature in his actions. And obviously, that’s not okay to me.

So, my personal line in the sand iswhen that querness gets directly tied into the “evil” or“depraved” elements or when that villain ceases to besomeone who is fun and entertaining. Obviously people are going todisagree with me on this, and that’s fine, and they’re probably morein the right than I am. However, I’m personally of the opinion thatwe need more queer characters of ALL varietis. More queer mainheroes, more queer supporting players, and, yes, even more queervillains. Because queer people aren’t just one thing: we’re allthings and all walks of life, and we deserve to be represented in avariety of ways.