#grad apps are in

[miserye]

oh man

[o-wild-west-wind]

While I’m still a bit bummed that they didn’t go with a more book-aligned POC Fiyero for the Wicked movie, I’ve been thinking (heheh) about how his being white highlights the really interesting foil relationship between him and Glinda (and, in many ways, the audience yourself).

At its core, Wicked is a cautionary tale about propaganda, (literal) scapegoating, and what it means to uphold the status quo. The audience is watching through Glinda’s eyes—it is through her, arguably the most beautifully tragic character of the show, that we learn how lonely life becomes when you forfeit your values in favor of systemic power and likability (“No One Mourns the Wicked” is, in many ways, about HER).

Now, this is where Fiyero’s whiteness can get interesting—if you consider him and Glinda to share roughly equal footing at the beginning in terms of privilege/how much they have to lose (applying our real-world lens of race and power here, where whiteness is the apex), his storyline essentially represents what could have happened if Glinda had made the brave (and arguably wise and loving, if you’re picking up what I’m putting down 👀) choice to go with Elphaba and fight the good fight (this is also why I feel like a queer reading of G&E’s relationship is almost implicit to the story, but I digress).

As the POC/marginalized allegory, Elphaba has much less of a real choice in her curtain-pulled-back turning point. But Fiyero and Glinda—both representing privilege—get to choose. So in Act II, we see the consequences of both the choice to stay (Glinda) and to go (Fiyero). In Fiyero’s case, his ultimate rejection of his own power, privilege, and even beauty leads to immense physical loss—including his own body—but that is then compared to the loss of love, community, and identity that we see Glinda left with by the end. And this brings us to the question that the audience is left grappling with: in an unjust system where loss is inevitable (a.k.a. our own world, as the Wizard himself represents), which of these things are YOU more willing to give up?

It’s important that Glinda is an empathetic character because, in reality, most people are going to be Glindas (obvi this is nuanced among us Elphabas of marginalized identities, but I’d still argue that there’s some level of Glinda in us all)—and it’s important to be rattled by the end of the show when you realize that she is the one who has the sad ending. But it’s also so important that Fiyero is empathetic (which I’m SO glad this movie leaned into)—because he’s ultimately who Glinda—and thus we, as the audience—should have been.

And especially given the state of US politics right now…this is just all more relevant than ever.

[sellieaa]

distracting myself from a roman sculpture essay

[mafuyuakgae]

2/2 charm designs [ preorder ]

[otaku553]

Unfortunately there will definitely be a hiatus on spade pirate sabo comic tomorrow since I don’t even have lineart done yet but I’ll be back next week for sure :)

[marzipaint]

extremely late barricade day post. barricade month

[pinkeoni]

Introducing Conversations in Fandom: A Byler Fandom Journal

Title and cover design not final

In my last semester of undergrad, I worked on my school's literary journal. It was a lot of fun working in a group on the project and seeing all of the cool work that went into it, so I wanted to create something like that for the byler fandom.

What I aim to create with this project is a collection of well made fanart, fanfiction, analyses, theories, critiques and other fan creations that showcase unique ideas and promote healthy debate and conversation that pushes the boundaries of fandom work.

With a team of people, these works will be put together in an online journal, creating one piece of art that displays many different fandom voices together.

Below, I have used some of my own work to create an example of what this might look like (click images for better quality):

Does not reflect final layout or journal content

Submissions will open in early November

If this sounds like something you would be interested in, be on the lookout for a post regarding submission rules and guidelines.

If you would like to keep up with this project, I will be using the tag #byler journal for everything related to the journal. You can also follow the official account for this project @bylerjournal for updates and to ask questions.

EDIT: You can now submit to the journal HERE

[zodiacstrap]

degas was so correct abt ballerinas actually

[amoremagnificentbastard]

Unfortunately, your girl has to take a break from fun writing in order to do some not-so-fun writing instead.

Hopefully that muck will be done by Tuesday and we can go back to my irregularly scheduled yelling and horny posting.

[bloomingtrans]

in the google doc straight up "ignoring it". and by "it" haha well lets justr say. My essay

[minmin-vs-physics]

anyone applying to grad school feel like their list is wayyy too unrealistic? idk whenever i do grad app stuff, i take d10 damage from impostor syndrome. (and i have to rlly do grad app stuff now so guess what's happening)

[sonicadventures]

idk this entered my brain the other night and wouldn't leave until i got out of bed and drew it

[study-lizard]

iced caramel latte save me...

okay but actually vitamins & supplements have saved me and caffeine, of course

but i have been taking a stew of magnesium, vitamins b, d & k, adult multivitamin (with iron!), quercetin with bromelain, antidepressants, antihistamines, and of course, a lil caffiene - and it has helped clear up my sickness in like two days [orla was right when she said "we all become our mother in the end"]

anywho! since i now feel better, back on the grind! submitting master's apps, sending emails, figuring my shit out! lets go!!!!!

[tennessoui]

kit's january ko-fi fic: Anakitty AU

ugh i am so excited to be posting this on my kofi, i had such a blast writing this that i literally wrote 3k yesterday for it and 3k today in like. 3 hours. she's the definition of a silly little au becoming a fic!!

in this fic/au, anakin becomes a cat; meanwhile, obi-wan just happens to find a cat outside his doors that he decides to take in to care for, as he's a lonely old man now that his padawan has left the nest. good thing this cat is really affectionate and just melts when obi-wan gives it pets!

meanwhile anakin thinks it's a pretty sweet deal to be a cat forever if it means he has obi-wan's affection and attention and love and attention and pets and attention and, etc etc

here's a little snippet!:

“So you haven’t heard from Anakin in a few days,” Obi-Wan says carefully, brushing each slightly curly strand of the cat’s fur flat as he examines his grand padawan. “Are you worried about him?” Obi-Wan hasn’t heard from Anakin lately either, but the boy has been pulling slowly and carefully away from him for ages. For the most part, Obi-Wan has stopped reaching out, and their virtual communications have dried up. “Not anymore,” Ahsoka says, picking up her tea with an angry look at the cat. “How long has it been since he’s been like thi—I mean, since you last heard from him?” “Well, I couldn’t quite say!” Eleven days. “Though, if I’m being honest, the Council is close to drawing him up on charges for abandoning his troops without leave to take a holiday. I’m sure he will slip back into the Temple sooner or later.” “Wow!” Ahsoka’s voice is pitched much too loud and much too pointed to be natural. “Did you hear that, Anakin? You’re going to be tried for abandoning your troops if you don’t tell the Council you’re experiencing a bit of a setback soon!” The cat rolls onto its back with a loud purr, paws folded upward to allow Obi-Wan the maximum of tummy to scratch. Obi-Wan, knowing it's his due, scratches its tummy obligingly.

as a reminder for how these kofi fics work: i've uploaded the google document link into my gallery on ko-fi. to view the image and get the link that's in the image description, you have to be a monthly subscriber. it's $4 a month, and once you become a subscriber, you can read the 5 other ficlets i've uploaded! if you want to donate to get access, make sure the donation bar is set to "monthly" instead of "one time".

[mafuyuakgae]

it hurts so much to keep my expression composed; give me some medicine, doctor

[seiwas]

been really busy lately! sorry if i haven’t been that active 🥲 i hope everyone has a good week though!! wishing only lovely things for all of you 🥺 will probs be more active in the weekend 🫶