#to go deeper into galinda and elphie's friendship

[notbroadwaybound]

did anyone else watching Wicked just get taken out of it by how not like a college student Jonathan Bailey looks as Fiyero 😅don't get me wrong, he was fantastic and I'm refreshing YouTube hourly for a video of his Dancing Through Life, but I kept seeing his forehead wrinkle and being like "this is a 36 year old man. this is a man with a mortgage and on his third therapist. this is Will Arnett 15 years ago and Chris Pine 5 years ago." The rest of the cast I could suspend my disbelief for but for whatever reason not him.

[livingasaghost]

i have no business writing a stupid post about the wicked movie because like! come on. we left cringey read mores in 2018 right? nope! wrong!!!!! my emotional support musical, MY blog!!

can safely say i had low expectations but like also there were 20 years of expectations buried within me so i was really hoping for something special ya know? and objectively i did have to turn off my musical theater brain because wHEW there were some choices and they were made and they should not have been....but! even if it isn't my favorite movie musical of all time (moulin rouge and mamma mia and les mis my beloved) i think this is quite literally the best we could have gotten for this musical.

and the thing that was sending me the entire time was like...the scope of this thing. like i have had the desire to watch a wicked movie for as long as i have cognitive thought honestly. since i was like eight or nine years old. i still remember being ten and dramatically sighing thinking ahhhh maybe one day i will get a wicked movie... and then time passed and i saw the show three separate times and i just kept thinking that maybe someday that dream would come true. so when i was watching it tonight it really was one of the rare moments where like i reached through the ether to younger me and was like WE MADE IT! WE ARE HERE! WE NEVER THOUGHT WE WOULD GET HERE BUT WE DID! AND IT IS GLORIOUS!

and it's like yeah so many of us have personal connections to wicked and it was very much a musical of my generation but i always forget that so much of who i am is built on this fucking show. it was the first musical i found on my own. it was the first show that i begged my parents to get me tickets for. it was instrumental in my upbringing and my inner life and i cannot separate parts of myself from the wicked musical because they've been connected for twice as long as they haven't. and at the heart of all of it is the person i shared it with.

it's funny because a lot of my friendships have bonded over wicked, and again, we all liked wicked growing up so it wasn't like i couldn't connect the female friendship show with everybody...but it did start somewhere. and that friendship has now been dead for almost twenty years. i don't think about her, i buried us a long time ago, and for the most part i don't think about what might have been because hey, it's over and i don't even think we'd like each other if we met each other now. but when i watched this movie, i was over-fucking-whelmed by her presence. and a younger version of me along with her.

she was galinda and i was elphaba and even though i didn't understand the deeper meaning and context of the show at the time, we still were just two bEst friends ya know? and so when the opening number started, my heart dropped out of my chest and i thought oh, there you are. i've missed you. where did you go? and when elphie and galinda had their special dance moment i was sitting there bawling, hoping even now that she'll see this same moment in theaters and that she has no choice but to think about me the same way i was thinking about her. that no matter what happened at the end or all the years and time between us, somewhere out there it's just the two of us at nine years old, singing these songs at the top of our lungs, making each other laugh without a care in the world.

and when elphaba asked glinda to come with her, i burst into tears thinking, oh, she left me behind didn't she. she didn't want to come with me after everything. and regardless of how glinda's character plays out in act two (gee, what could happen!!!) it still hit me that she had tears in her eyes as she helped her best friend fly.

as much as i thought about the person i lost, it also felt like such a privilege that i could reach out and touch the nine year old version of me. we don't have time machines but there is a red string of fate connecting who i am today with who i was back then, and i wanna tell her that we made it. when elphaba's falling and she sees her reflection...when she had her moment to sing the wizard and i...it's like no time had even passed at all. i was still singing in my childhood bedroom to my little CD alarm clock. and i was so terrified to be a person, so unsure of myself, so full of dreams. and i hoped that one day something would happen to me.

and tonight i sat there in a theater in a big city that i live in all on my own, next to a friend who cares about me more than so many of the friends of my youth ever did, feeling overwhelmed by the friendships i have now and the career i've built for myself and the person i know that i am now, less than six months out from turning thirty...and i got to hold hands with my younger self and tell her it's all gonna work out in the end. and that she should enjoy those sleepovers as much as possible. that just because glinda doesn't get on the broom with you, it doesn't mean you can't fly high on your own.

but god, i wish i could go back one more time. just to tell my person thank you.

(i do have to say......i live in fear for part ii...........there will be mass casualties, no one is going to survive that fucking film...whew.....)

[forkanna]

Characters, settings, and selected lyrics © L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman. This story, original characters and plot elements ©2016-2017 me. All rights reserved.

NOTE: Rated T for Teen. Will contain occasional nigh-NSFW moments, including sensuality and mild gore, but nothing out of place in a PG or PG-13 movie. TRIGGER WARNING: there will be some racism and an attempted sexual assault in later chapters. See below for more notes!

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Unlimited Together, we're unlimited Together, we'll be the greatest team there's ever been, Glinda - Dreams, the way we planned 'em If we work in tandem There's no fight we cannot win

Just you and I defying gravity With you and I defying gravity They'll never bring us down...

                                                            CHAPTER ONE

"Glinda, come with me. Think of what we could do! Together…"

Time dragged to a standstill as poor, bewildered Glinda-née-Galinda Upland stood somewhere she definitely shouldn't be, riddled with indecision. Never had Elphaba Thropp looked at her with such intensity, such desperation in her eyes. No one in all the land of Oz had! Not Fiyero, nor any other classmate, nor Elphaba herself before today. Even during those classes at the university in which she had spoken so passionately about the mistreatment of sentient Animals, she had not seemed so… fervential? Was that a word?

And here she was, hoping to enlist her help in this cause. Was she out of her tiny verdant mind?!

"Elphaba… I…" Her throat worked to swallow as she glanced between the barricaded attic door and the brilliantly green hand clutching the broom handle. Wind seemed to come from nowhere, swirling around them and blowing the long strands of raven-black hair around her strong jawline. Now she had to turn her eyes away from those of her roommate, which she could no longer meet; too much intensity that made her stomach feel strange. Then again, Elphaba's intensity had always done that to pretty much everyone she met.

"Well?" the newly-awakened wizardess demanded of her. "Are you coming?"

What a crazy notion! How brazen, how reckless! She couldn't simply uproot and follow on Elphaba's heels. How could she? Her entire life was at Shiz University; her classes, hopes for a brilliant future in sorcery. Following that, a modern, Ozmopolitan life, and the prospect of becoming more than just another tittering debutante, beholden to her family name. Friends, admirers…

Fiyero…

"Elphie, you're trembling." Was she coming? Casting around for some kind of distraction, she found a large black cloak discarded upon the floor. At least it matched her hat. "Here, put this around you…"

As Glinda fastened it around her friend's bony shoulders, heart aching from the prospect of losing one of her dearest companions in such a ridiculous way as this, she decided: no, she could not go with her. Of course, she had great respect for the sentient Animals of Oz — the deposed Dr. Dillamond especially. They were every bit as important as the human persons that she attended Shiz with. Why shouldn't they be? They could walk, and talk, and exchange ideas the same as anyone else.

At least, they could. A recent shift in tense from present to past. Catching and caging them was a deplorable idea, and she had been equally sickened by that class in which they were forced to look at the Lion in its prison, presented as a spectacle instead of a person. The Wizard and Madame Morrible should be ashamed!

But Elphaba truly was taking things too far. Some things simply defied her understanding. All of this fuss, over sticking a few pairs of wings on a few monkeys?! Her unsociable roommate could be mistaken, after all; perhaps the Wizard had simply flipped to the wrong page in the Grimmerie before handing it to her. It needn't be his fault, not necessarily. Didn't the great leader of their entire Land of Oz get any benefit of a doubt? And what was so awful about monkeys having wings? Wouldn't that only improve their lives? She herself wouldn't mind having a set, being able to soar above the clouds…

"GLINDA!"

Rousing herself from her introspection, she took a step forward. Perhaps she had taken too long to contemplate; they didn't have the luxury of time on their side. In the end, of course, it was mostly the thought of the lean, masculine Fiyero and his easy charm that prompted her to tell Elphaba what she must tell her. But she needn't be harsh about it; she could break the news to her gently, with the warmth of their friendship and a wish for her future. She deserved that much.

"Oh, Elphie…" A hand laid on the one holding the broom, causing Elphaba to blink at her in surprise. "I hope-"

There came more pounding at the door. Elphaba's emerald eyes flicked toward it, then back to her in a wild panic as a gruff voice on the other side barked, "Break it down! For His Ozness!"

Cursing under her breath, the black-clad girl straddled the broom, the Wizard's spellbook still tucked under her arm as she bade her, "Get on! There isn't time — we can discuss this later!"

"Wh-what?! We can't, surely they wouldn't truly-"

Her words were eclipsed by the sound of wood splintering. Apparently, they surely, truly would.

"Galinda, it's do or die! Get on this broom now!"

Do or die. They wouldn't use deadly force… would they?

The attic door suggested otherwise.

Before she knew what was happening, Glinda was on the back of a broom, arms looped around Elphaba's waist. They were already rising into the air before her mind caught up with her body, and she squeaked, "Wait!"

In vain. The guards were nearly within arm's reach of them when Elphaba rose above their heads, cackling madly at the feeling. Glinda was too terrified to share in her joy at the sensation of flight, but in the back of her mind, she knew it was one of the most exhilarating experiences she'd ever had in her lifetime. With an effort of will, they were shooting toward a large stained glass window on the Western wall.

"ELPHIE, LOOK OUT!"

But she needn't have bothered shouting; making things explode was something at which her green-hued classmate had always excelled, even before classes helped her hone the magic within her. Amid a shower of breaking glass, the two exited the Royal Palace.

Soon, the Emerald City was laid out below them, sparkling and majestic. Glinda caught her breath. Every street and every spire reflected the sunlight, dazzling her eyes as they hung in midair. Had any of her fellow Ozians ever seen this? Had they been so lucky?

"I don't know where to go now," Elphaba confessed, frantic voice intruding on Glinda's reverie. "Back to Shiz? Do we… should we get Nessa, or Fiyer-"

"NO!" When Elphaba twisted around to look at her, strong, severe features mildly surprised underneath the brim of the large black hat, Glinda shrank back from the stare as she added, "We… don't have the right to drag them into our sensationifical mistake! This is something we've done, we…" Her face went completely ashen. "We're criminals. You are, and I'm your accomplice, and…"

Setting her proud jaw, Elphaba turned back around and gazed down at the ground, at the guards amassing in the streets, though they had no hope of catching the two women suspended at such a height. Eventually, her eyes slid closed in shame. This was a deeper look of pain than she had ever seen in her roommate's forestful features, which looked yet greener due to the twinkling emeralds that lit up the cityscape below. But she did not speak on that matter.

Elphie looks so phosphorescent in the sunlight, she suddenly noticed. Though that thought seemed to come from nowhere.

"We'll go to my home, to my father. They won't think to look there right away, and then…"

"And then?"

"And then… I don't know."

Glinda swallowed hard as she tightened her hold on Elphaba, the vertigo finally catching up to her adrenaline-soaked brain. "Th-then maybe we'll drop in on my family? Or… well, we'll just have to think about that later, I suppose. But yes, let's go see your father, and hope that he doesn't… turn us away."

"I'll head West first," Elphaba said, even as the broom tilted in that direction. "To confuse them, and then North until we're past Shiz, and then back East to Munchkinland. Might save us having any unpleasant surprise visits, at least for a while."

"A better plan than I had, which was 'say you're sorry'. Don't think that would work now."

"Probably not, but… oh, let's just be rid of this place!"

And without another word, Elphaba shot off toward the lowering sun, gliding over the tall skyscrapers, the gorgeous palaces and museums. Ones Glinda was terrified she would never see again.

                                                            ~ o ~

The Coven Of Oz

A Canon Divergence in Three Parts By Jessica X

                                                            ~ o ~

Only once they had made good their escape and circled the Emerald City and its environs by a wide berth did either of them speak. It was Elphaba, turning in her seat to make herself more easily heard. Her voice was hoarse from the earlier shouting, and perhaps with grief, but Glinda didn't want to assume anything.

"Before we left, you were going to say something."

"What?" Glinda whispered, then cleared her throat and repeated it louder, so as to be heard over the sounds of rushing wind. "What?"

"You… were going to tell me you didn't want to come."

Her heart seized. "Oh. Well… please, Elphaba, try to understand… it's not that I-"

"No, no. You had every right not to… follow me on this dangerous crusade. I'd think you a coward, but not a fool; I'm the fool." Her body became more and more tense, which was impossible for Glinda not to notice due to their close proximity. "The Wizard, Madame Morrible, and the entirety of the Ozian military… they're all intent on the suppression of Animal rights, and here I am, thinking any good and decent citizen of Oz should want to band together to stop it! They should, if they have a damn conscience, but they…"

Some time went by with the wind whipping at their faces before Glinda prompted in a soft voice, "They?"

"They have something to lose. I do not. I'm just a hideous green bean with a weird trick or two up my sleeve — unlike them, who all have family and reputations to protect."

"Hmm… that is true." Wincing at how that had come across, Glinda hastily added, "About them, not you, obviously! Because you do have a family, right? And… and a couple of friends, at least. And you're not hideous, just perhaps… deciduous!"

The hands tightened on the broom as she growled, "Why was I put in this position? All I've ever wanted was to… work with the Wizard, ask him to guide me, and maybe…" Her voice had grown more and more embarrassed, and she finally fell silent again. "Nevermind. I'm just a romantic idiot. And he's just a charlatan. Maybe we really were made for each other from the beginning. A couple of bumble-brains."

In all of those words, Glinda heard something unsaid, as she was so used to searching for when her roommate spoke. An apology. The antisocial thing had been so opposed to interaction in the first place, and only through steady insistence from her — and from Elphie's sister, Nessarose — did she begin to blossom from her tightly-clenched bud. Of course, she still preferred isolation and study, but at least they had begun to get her to attend various social activities, to travel all the way to Emerald City, even if only for one short day. There had to be some room left for understanding her idiosyncrasies.

"Aww, Elphie…" How could she word this? "It isn't that I didn't want to come with you, alright? I admire your stance, your zeal! You've got a moxieness when it comes to Animals, and I think you have a chance to do some real good in this world! Or did have, anyway… I just… your cause is not my cause, you know? So it wasn't about you, it was… a difference in interests! Does that make sense?"

After a moment to mull that over, she more felt than heard Elphaba sigh. "It does. I'm… you're right, and I should have waited to listen to you instead of pushing you to join me."

"Too late now," she muttered.

"It is."

"Oh, no, I- that isn't how I meant- I don't blame-"

"You should; you have every right. I let my fury at how the Wizard tricked me make me forget that you were there, and that you were with me. That my actions would reflect badly on you, as well. That was selfish." Another sigh, louder, more stunned. "Wow… I've completely ruined your life."

"What?! Come on, Elphie, don't be so dramatical. Nothing's 'ruined', we just have to… okay, I don't know exactly what we 'have to', but there's a thing we have to do to make this right, and we'll figure out what it is! Together!"

"But you shouldn't…" Shaking her head back and forth, she admitted, "Guess it doesn't matter anymore. Let's just figure out where we're going and what we're doing right now, and the rest of it later."

Nodding, Glinda pressed her face into Elphaba's back. Her warmth was becoming more and more necessary, with the chill wind pulling her own body heat away. That was odd; given how cold and standoffish the woman had been during their year at the university, she would never have guessed she had any heat at all. Like the reptiles she resembled with that green skin and those sharp features. A pleasant surprise, especially in such a time of need.

And that's how things will be for a while, she admitted to herself as their speed increased, skimming them over treetops. Until we get this all straightened out, we're going to need to stick together, whether we like it or not. Just hope we don't end up hating each other before it's all said and done. Not two best friends like us. Wouldn't that be an awfully tragic tragedy?

                                                              To Be Continued…