#she could literally write a book

[cto10121]

Maybe I just feel this way because I have mixed feelings about musical Gelphie as a ship, but it seems to me that the way the musical fandom ships Gelphie reflects the ways that the musical is "the Glinda show." Personally, I can believe that Glinda might really be in love with Elphaba and not Fiyero, but I just don't see the same being true for Elphaba; her love for Fiyero and the trauma of losing him are too essential to her arc. Yet the fans insist that Fiyero is just comphet for both ladies.

*looks around nervously for the Gelphies* You said it, not me.

Seriously, you took the words out of my mouth. I’ve re-read Wicked countless times during the years, even adapted it into a movie script, so I close read it pretty carefully. Romance-wise, Elphaba’s true love was definitely Fiyero. And no, it wasn’t comp het, either in Elphaba’s character or authorial (also, accusing Gregory Maguire of out-of-character comp het is just hilarious).

Let’s put aside the fact that Elphaba went into a trauma coma when she lost him, gave birth to his son during said coma, went to the Vinkus to ask forgiveness from his wife, lived there, worked tirelessly to find out what happened to Fiyero’s whole-ass family after they were captured by the Wizard’s guards, and ran his family estate for years. Let’s put all of that aside.

Fiyero was the only one in the whole damn book even to come close to matching Elphaba intellectually and philosophically. He even manages to challenge her on some points (and honestly, imo, he did gag her at some points). He even reached a level of empathy for the Animals on his own, witnessing an act of violence. And he risked his own life to protect Elphaba, even following her in her assassination attempt to Madame Morrible. And it was thanks to his influence that Elphaba ultimately refused to hurt others in order to kill Morrible (they literally had a whole conversation about collateral damage, with Elphaba prepared to accept it and Fiyero firmly against it). When he died, it was as if a key part of Elphaba had died as well. It was in that section that she truly became the Witch.

With Glinda, Elphaba would essentially be replicating her dynamic with Nessarose as glorified handmaiden, and this at best. Also, Glinda was never that great an influence on Elphaba in the books to begin with; the whole point of that section was Elphaba’s influence on Glinda. And Glinda did not go with her after their meeting with the Wizard, and Elphaba did not offer.

Even in the musical-verse, Fiyero actively chooses Elphaba and her cause. His support is ultimately why Elphaba chooses him. With Glinda, she would have to live in her world, work with the Wizard, and turn a blind eye over the injustices of Oz. And that is something Elphaba can’t or will not compromise, as she knows it would lead her into certain danger.

[holmesunenthusiast]

The fact that before the Sign of Four Watson had literally only published a Study in Scarlet, and every story after that (before the great hiatus) he frames as happening either before or after his marriage makes me think that Mary must've been the one to encourage him to properly start writing them.

[mollysunder]

The funniest thing about Ambessa in her book is that by the end she's so excited by the idea of what Rell and Mel could accomplish together as mages and leaders of the clan, and yet everything Ambessa does poisons the well between those two. Ambessa showing such clear favor to Rell over Mel, clearly upset Mel in a way that was obvious to everyone who knew her. Even people who weren't directly involved in the daily Medarda drama, like Rudo, could see what a slap in the face it was to Mel.

Meanwhile you've got Ambessa grooming Rell for a leadership and exposing her to the brutality of the battlefield (that even her parents who put her in the gladiator pits didn't want), all the while she's incredibly ambiguous about Rell's place in the Medarda Clan. Sure Ambessa said she told Rell she'd adopt her, but she never explicitly said how Rell was supposed to help "lead this family to glory". And that's because Ambessa didn't actually know who she wanted as heir, she'd cycled between Rell as the leader, Rell as Mel's #2 (like her and Rictus), and Rell and Mel as co-leaders.

The big punchline for it all is that while Ambessa's inner monologue goes on and on about how powerful those two would be together, Mel and Rell's respective POV chapters are clearly indicating the conflict those two are headed for. For example, when Ambessa was taunted by Gintara that no one would (or could, a dig at her kids) avenge Ambessa's death, Rell privately tells her she would. That statement nearly made Ambessa cry, but we all know that Mel KILLED AMBESSA!!!

This family is cursed.

[nerdrooikat]

drabbles about the deer imagery in The Secret History (specifically in relation 2 Camilla) because her becoming a deer/believing that she did stuck in my mind (although this post will mostly take Camilla and the other's recollection of events to be as they recount it – if i examine it in it's effect as an incorrect account, that would be in a separate post)

Obviously there's, on a meta level, an irony to it – Camilla and Charles are named to make fun of the Princess Diana scandal that was happening at the time, and so ironically Camilla transforms into an animal sacred to Diana.

There's also a parallel that I think could be interesting to make between Camilla and Taygete, who for anyone unfamiliar, was turned into a deer by Artemis to protect her from Zeus' sexual advances. Although I think that what happened in the Bacchae was concensual sexually, I think it could possible be indicative in Camilla's narrative role as the "wanted"/"desired" one within the greek class – by Charles, Henry, Richard (although he wasnt there) and even Francis, although he wants to be her more so than actually wanting her.

Additionally, outside of how it actually functions within the story, her transformation into a creature associated so closely with innocence, especially in relation to Diana/Artemis' virginity, might perhaps be tied to Richards view of her as this "pure" and "virginal" person – obviously we know this is far from the truth, and he himself learns this later, but I think it definitely ties into this flawed angelic idea of her he so covets.

I think this interpretation ties into the myth of Actaeon (in terms of "deer transformation myths") although its very interesting to me that they different at key points – Camilla, the "virginual" character, is the one transformed, rather than the sexual transgressor (Charles) or the one who introduces miasma (Henry). But, like Actaeon, she is pursued and hunted – which, another key point – Actaeon is pursued and killed by his own hunting dogs, and Charles returns from the ritual with a bite mark, perhaps tying him into the myth thurther?

[cake-emu]

do you like stories about female astronauts and/or queer romance stories and/or Taylor Jenkins Reid novels?

if so, heads up:

Reid's previously announced upcoming book, Atmosphere, sees protagonist Joan Goodwin train to become an astronaut in the late 1970s and early 80s against the backdrop of NASA's early space shuttle programme. The book was previewed in this interview for Vogue last October:

"Atmosphere [is] a high-stakes romance between two NASA astronauts in the 1980s. “I wanted to tell a grand, epic love story,” Jenkins Reid says."

the book's blurb vaguely hints that, in it, "Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined" among her class of fellow astronauts, and in the aforementioned Vogue interview, one throwaway sentence made it clear that Reid was staying coy about the identity of that love interest for the time being:

"one [shuttle] launch sees [Joan's] love interest (whom Jenkins Reid is mum about) sent up into space."

however, this week, in an interview for Time Magazine, Reid came out as bisexual and confirmed that the novel is a "very high-stakes, dramatic love story" between two women:

"Reid knew she wanted to explore how intimate a connection could be between one character in space and one on the ground, and that those characters would both be women. She also knew this choice would lead her into another debate about identity. ... The publication of Evelyn Hugo, ultimately a love story about two women, led to questions about why Reid, who is married to a man, writes queer characters. “I am very private,” she says. “So at first, I just sort of let people assume what they were going to assume.” But now, as she prepares for the topic to resurface around Atmosphere’s release, Reid wants to be very clear about something those close to her have always known: she is bisexual. “It has been hard at times to see people dismiss me as a straight woman, but I also didn’t tell them the whole story,” she says."

in the novel, Joan meets Vanessa Ford, "the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane."

presumably under embargo until the day the Time interview was published, the film trades (Deadline, Screen Daily, etc) then began reporting that a film adaptation is in the works with Captain Marvel filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck on board to write and direct. the press release they were all reporting from described the story as “a sweeping romance between two pioneering female astronauts,” with the likes of Apollo 13, The Right Stuff, and Gravity cited as sources of inspiration.

the book is published in June but of course it's gonna be some time before we see the film. Still... thought I'd put both on everyone's radar :)

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2025: DARLING by K. Ancrum.

I didn't mean to binge this in a sitting and a half on a Sunday afternoon, but that's heat advisories for you, I guess. Hello, Contemporary Peter Pan Retelling, and WHAT a gorgeous cover you have.

I read somewhere that this is a super faithful adaptation (like. Beat by Beat fidelity with the source material), which seemed like a neat trick given how utterly Contemporary this was versus the magic of the original. Admittedly, I haven't revisited that source material in many years, but I was pleasantly surprised by how many specifics came back to me as I read through Ancrum's adaptation--Peter's shadow became a jacket, the Mermaid's Lagoon became a drag bar (staffed, yeah, by mermaid-themed queens), flying was scaling Chicago trellises, pirates were cops, etc. Tink (beloved) was there, Nana was there, the Crocodile was there, Detective Hook (begrudgingly beloved) was there, and also there was an ace Russian boy and I love ace Russian boys (iykyk).

I thought Ancrum did a good job keeping the classic children's story tone intact despite the (brutal, brilliant, Holy Shit!!) twist. Although it didn't initially send me, the straightforward, clean prose anchored me to the source story, and by the end I was firmly sold on "good stylistic choice." Overall I had fun!! Planning to revisit it with the source text in the other hand sometime, just to see.

[dumb-bi-thomas]

Pause. I'm thinking of how in the books, Teresa's last words before she is crushed to death are "I only ever cared for you", hereby reaffirming her love for Thomas which the author has kept doing at every turn, but also the "only ever" sounds like justifying what she has done. Her last words are completely focused on Thomas and are not shaping her character in any way. If they're meant as justification then they are affirming her world view that hasn't changed in spite of Everything(TM). Which could be a character trait, but idk if I trust Dashner enough to grant him that (read: if Teresa is a character then she is A Bitch and isn't given anything else due to misogynistic writing)

In the movies, her last words are "I'm sorry, I tried", which to me are more evocative of her character and personality. It's not only focused on Thomas, but it's also her confessing that she regrets her actions after everything has happened. It's her confessing that she did what she thought was right, she really did, but she realises it didn't work out and she regrets that. So to me, it's encompassing her beliefs, her personality, and her love for Thomas but also for humanity. I just think that's interesting.

[stil-lindigo]

emily carroll has once again permanently changed my brain chemistry

[fallloverfic]

I love singNsong again reminding people in Side Story that Dokja wanted other people to read TWSA (he wrote reviews and comments! It was his first wish), and he only stopped bothering because people harassed him for it. He didn't gate-keep the story. When he's avoiding talking to Sangah about it at the beginning of ORV, it's because he knows what happens when he tells people about the story, not because he's gate-keeping it from her. He notes he's not proud of his hobby (likely because he's been bullied all through his life, including for reading the thing he loves): he finds it embarrassing to talk about, and better respects her studying Spanish in her free time (learning another language is a generally accepted thing in society). He assumes she won't care or will look at him funny (or worse) for when she learns about the novel he's into.

Basically anyone writing "let's gatekeep ORV" posts because of the anime announcement or because they dislike the manhwa or some other weirdness, y'all are the villains in the scenario.

The literal climax of the story is about sharing ORV with as many people as possible. What story were y'all reading?

[pinktinselmonstrosity]

LOOK WHAT I GOT

THE HOLY GRAIL

[commandercoriandersalamander]

two dudes... sitting in a hot tub stone wolf... souls mingled into one complete being but they're not gay

[earl-of-221b]

The new Legend of the Condor Heroes is great fun. But it is Not for newcomers, I’m not even sure it’s a drama, they are going HAM with the pacing — absolutely speed running two generations of backstory, adoption, brotherhood, blinding, vendettas, poisonings, misunderstandings, master killing, revenge vows, invasion and wife snatching…400 miles per hour of story beats in like the first 5-10 mins — not even Guo Jin’s life in Mongolia was covered! They get to the mainland in 15 mins! Rong’er immediately lays her head on Guo Jin’s shoulder the second she revealed herself as a woman on the boat! This is the most bizarre pacing???!?! This is setting up zero relationships between key characters and not building up personal identity to be conflicted with upbringing v heritage so unable to juxtapose the protag’s loyalties between the Mongolian grasslands and Song China at a later juncture? There is simply no way for a normal person to follow the story at the rate of 30 characters being introduced within the first 30 mins? I am getting whiplash—

[sissytobitch10seconds]

I'm rewatching Shadow and Bone and I just got to the scene where Alina and Baghra have their first real conversation about Aleksander. The fact that Alina feels like everything new and powerful in her life is tied to him is exactly what he wants, which was why he isolated her from the others by encouraging her to dress in black. I think it's a really wonderful representation of what an abuser does, because he made her feel like all the wonderful accomplishments that she made were actually a gift that he gave to her. Baghra's guilt about her son being pushed away so that she can properly encourage Alina for once instead of just yelling at her is also amazing. It's really important to me that the abused daughter of an eccentric scientist and the victim of a tyrannical dictator get to have that kinship together and I wish more people talked about that.

[angelseverything]

I finally finished it!

[acaciapines]

on today's episode of 'acaica's background thoughts for the dess raises kris au': okay but lets be serious do dess and chara actually stay together in the end--

[themyscirah]

Heard about TK wanting to write WW for 100 issues and do a Trinity spinoff?

Yeah.... that's the word on the street 😔

To be honest with everybody though, I don't think he's hitting 100 issues. I think Tom King THINKS he will be writing 100 issues of WW comics, but I'm very skeptical. Like it's true he got pretty close to 100 issues when he was writing Batman, but that was during Rebirth, when comics were being published twice a month. At a normal monthly pace, 100 main title issues works out to be a bit over EIGHT YEARS. Even with specials and annuals and possible events (or the Trinity spinoff) compressing that timeline, there's still no way in my mind that Tom hits 100 issues in any less than five years. He spent three on Batman. You know, Batman, his #1, the guy he has to bring up every issue? Do we really think he's going to spend over twice as long on Diana?

Like personally I'm just not convinced that Tom King cares enough about Wonder Woman to write her for that long. Like I think he likes her, and I think he thinks she's cool, but reading his book he seems to love to put the focus anywhere except on Diana. Like all the narration is done by the villain (meaning we don't get Diana's actual thoughts on any of this) and the backup are all TK's audition to write supersons (so we're losing page space that could be utilized to develop the current narrative in favor of possible future stories with no plot relevance)

Like idk. Tom King is talking the talk and I think he has the power at DC currently to walk the walk if he really wants to do it and his hype squad keeps sales high, but he hasn't convinced me so far with his work that he has it in him to see out so many issues of Wonder Woman, especially when Diana finally defeats the Sovereign, and if Trinity gets her own book, like what is he going to do with his remaining 80 issues? Actually telling WW stories?

It seems to me from what I've read of his WW and interviews abt it is that this "100 issues of Wonder Woman" thing is coming from his opinion that Diana deserves a 100-issue run, rather any great, passionate love for Diana that would actually motivate him to write her for that long.

So anyways, my stance is that if he's really putting in a long one (however long it may be) we just hope for the best, (Diana getting her narration boxes back and being central in her own story again, Trinity getting booted back to Themyscira to be forgotten raised offscreen, etc.) and try to make the most & wait it out