#this was sick and twisted

[dinoari]

Your left hand or your right?

[ideologyofone]

Do you think we’re soulmates in another universe?

[musashi]

i want more nuance to be entered into the discussion of the green girl sorority and how differently cynthia plays elphaba in comparison to those who came before her because while a lot of people are rightfully like "why was elphaba not black from the beginning" and celebrating that she is now being played by a black woman, i think we need to be careful in just writing off all the elphabas of the past as Random White Girls when the role was championed (and often followed/succeeded) by a jewish woman

the pop culture archetype of the Wicked Witch has deep roots in antisemitism stretching faaaar far back. there is a level of reclamation happening in casting idina menzel, a jewish woman, to play the Misunderstood and Maligned young girl who is branded as exactly that. and stage!Elphaba is also written and acted with jewish stereotypes in mind--she is loud, aggressive, no-nonsense, blunt. she is quick to advocate for herself and shut down the discrimination she faces. all of this is very intentional! her personality is abrasive from years of abuse, and that makes propagandizing her easy. this is literally the thesis statement of the musical--it's not about aptitude, it's the way you're viewed.

cynthia's performance of elphaba is fucking INSPIRED despite going in a completely different direction. she's much more reserved, analytical, one of her key character traits is how well she can read people (see her calling out Galinda as insecure/putting on airs in their first scene together, clocking that Fiyero is using his party guy persona as a shield for his own depression) elphaba's attempts to blend in and make herself smaller all fail simply because of her existence, if not that then because she feels empathy so strongly she often struggles to hold back from acting, protecting.

personality wise, though, cynthia's elphaba is very quiet and closed-off, not at all the bullet-to-the-face that she is in the stage show, and... she still gets propagandized and maligned. though this seems to contradict the other interpretation, it tells of the other end of the spectrum of propaganda, one that black women watching (and many, MANY other marginalized folks) are sure to identify with--it does not matter how "nice," how reserved, how small a black woman makes herself. a racist society will still scrutinize her every action for a way to parse ill intent from it, brand her as an angry black woman who is dangerous and wicked, and write off any humanity she has in the process.

these two very different interpretations tell of the lie of assimilation. the fact of the matter is, when you are marginalized, there is no way to sand down your edges enough to make the people oppressing you "accept" you. that is why wicked is a tragedy at its core. whether loud and aggressive or quiet and unimposing, there is nothing elphaba could have done to make the people of Oz see her as anything other than a scapegoat to blame all their problems on.

so while i definitely appreciate that people are excited for black girl era elphaba, i would encourage us all to still show appreciation for what came before--that was not white girl era elphaba. that was jewish girl era elphaba. two houses, both alike in dignity, two stories both worth being told.

[chloesimaginationthings]

Susie meets the friendly yellow rabbit in FNAF..

[egophiliac]

this is the moment that broke me

[majunju]

(2/?) sleeping habits

[krowtesque]

1/2

[suntails]

✨ Once upon a time ✨

[zetsubobu]

I don't know why I came across the novels overblots arts just now but oh my god

Yana is an art god, I need that skill please

Especially riddle like????

[r-aindr0p]

Another cooking event, yippee !!

I love Jamil just outright refusing to eat the food and then you have Kalim suffering in silence and eating because he's too nice

[acetrappolad]

heartslabyul casual fits

[drenched-in-sunlight]

let me solo them—

[septembermonologues]

just yesterday i was thinking about how matt mentioned that vex keeps a black feather in her hair instead of blue when bells hells first met her again and now i'm finding out that vax has three blue feathers on one of his wings...... they keep finding new ways to make the twins more devastating.

[bunnwich]

How would you react? (reblog and tell me for part 2 >:3)

[quarkfancam]

its my first day at ds9 high school hope they dont notice im straight

[lemonlumens]

crazy that they literally got married and still don’t have a trust title