#grad is soon

[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.

[botanyshitposts]

Eta on the YouTube video? No rush, just exchange

im gonna be honest man please do not count on me here lmao. my follow through rate for these projects is like 5%. real ones remember gourdquest and other related failed projects i came close to the sun on. if i succeed it will be huge for me on a genuine personal level and it will be the first time i've finished a creative project at all in years but if i do not. neither you nor me should be surprised

[floweroflaurelin]

After weeks of crunch tonight is my grad show!! I made this self portrait pfp to celebrate the milestone 😁✨☀️🌙 Soon I’ll finally have time to think about things other than grad (& catch up on like two weeks of videos) (& open comms!)

I know I usually keep my tumblr to just fanart but I think I’ll share my grad page here later today!! I’m really proud of the work I made so I might as well hahah

[crescendoofstars]

no TAD album in sight so I guess I'm defrosting. expect a cover or two soon dear hearts🌻

[tavina-writes]

I am SO close to the end of the semester. I've got /checks my notes/ 80 more assignments to grade and some meetings and several other things to do and then I can get back to.

Writing fic like god intended.

[cookiekitten91]

I have temporarily changed my avatar to celebrate finishing grad school 🫠

[mikoworks]

Are y'all ready for the ending of "Always There?!"

[lichenaday]

Update from the field:

I am currently doing part of my field work in Iceland, where I am collecting samples from migratory birds to analyze for the presence of fungi and lichen propagules. So far it is has been aggressively slow, and so to avoid wanting to rip my hair-out as I stare at the apparently never-ending stream of rain, here are some pictures of my trip so far:

Here is my little work station where I am filling test-tubes with ultra-pure water

Here's my cool (note: very very warm) Iceland sweater that is perfect for field work on wet, chilly days

Here's the sunset over the harbor on the clearest day we've had so far

Here's this cool weird stick I found in a spruce grove. I have no idea why it grew like this (wide and flat as opposed to narrow and round like normal) so if anyone has any insight I would love to learn!

Here's the beautiful little spider who lives near one of the nets I use to catch birds

And here are some of the neighborhood cats I've met. I miss my cats terribly and so making friends with the local cats is a necessity, even though I wish people kept their cats indoors instead of letting them roam free (did you know that free-roaming and feral cats have devastating impacts on local bird populations?)

I am saving all my bird and lichen pictures for later so never fear, those are coming soon. For now, back to drinking endless cups of tea and reading scientific papers while checking the weather every five minutes.

[chapel-roach]

it's the feast of st francis! i showed the cats an icon on him and dropped some holy water on their heads so now they're blessed

[mueritos]

quick lil post about coming back to art full-time while also being a full time MSW student….it can be possible 0.0

anyway ty to everyone who has supported me over the years i wouldnt be able to go back to art without you all

[istodayajewishholiday]

You're back! I was worried, are you doing alright?

Sorry just needed to find time to refill the queue!

[astriiformes]

My instructor for my German class copied me on a communication with my academic advisor about my attendance issues and I get it, I get that I've missed a lot of class and that instructors are frustrated by that, but I genuinely don't know what I'm supposed to do when the problem is that I've been physically unable to wake up most mornings for the last several weeks.

Like I've had similar issues before, but it's so much worse this semester (my class isn't until 10:10am, and I live a 30-40 minute train ride from campus, but that's still not that early). I specifically took this class--at this time too--because I thought it was late enough that it wouldn't be an issue, and now I'm probably going to have to end up in a meeting with her and my advisor where I bawl my eyes out about how I really am trying, and that I know it sounds like the worst excuse ever but I swear I'm not just being lazy or skipping class on purpose.

And it makes me terrified for the future, where I might have jobs where I can't set my own schedule, and especially because when your partner ended up suddenly and mysteriously sick with tired-all-the-time-to-the-point-of-being-mostly-bedbound disease, having your own fatigue issues is incredibly scary and traumatizing. We're already in such a precarious situation, we cannot afford my health going south, too.

I don't know. I'm scared and stressed about this specific scenario, but also about, like, life in general, and feeling pretty miserable.

[hurglewurm]

general warning to everyone that i'm making concept art of my gay rat ocs because. i do what i want

[sanjiafterhours]

Oh boy i got a packed schedule

[autumnalsys]

Quick doodle

[tennessoui]

surprisingly like. really really sad about facing an ending. you'd think the tumblr text posts would have prepared me for this. but alas,