teamsavingmyles

[teamsavingmyles]

The Shape of Ideas

[teamsavingmyles]

Let's try this again

[teamsavingmyles]

the forgers get a cat (it has telekinesis)

it probably like, snuck into radioactive waste or something that project apple left behind and came out with telekinesis

not enough to do serious damage but just enough for tomfoolery and shenanigans

yor found the kitty. it immediately loved her. yor is its favorite

bond is terrified of this cat 1/8th his size

bond is sad when anya shows this cat love, but also can't do anything because aforementioned fear

it likes to mess with loid because why not? make his life harder. go kitty

doesnt have a name yet 🤔🤔

[teamsavingmyles]

Akane finally trusting Aoi

This single scene shows so much growth for this ship I’m gonna scream

At the start of the arc, Akane was keeping extremely important information from Aoi for the same reason he usually hides things from her- to protect her

It’s no secret that Aoi plays a damsel in distress role throughout the series, be it for Nene, Akane, or Teru. That often makes her a catalyst for the action, the princess the three heroes must save. More specifically, it often leaves her out of the action. I don’t have a problem with damsel in distress Aoi, at least up to the severance arc. It makes sense for her character at that point in time, but that role has clearly been holding her back. She even tells Akane in chapter 69 that she hates being lied to, and why did he lie to her? To protect her

Pre-Ch.69 Akane lied to Aoi about the Clock Keepers to protect her, and in the alteration arc we see him doing the same thing with the timeline. In fact Teru is the one who brought into the action during this current arc, Akane was initially very against it

However, this chapter finally puts Aoi and Akane on equal footing as two heroes. She gets a chance to reverse the roles and save him, using Teru’s sword (I love that this version of Aoi seems to have some exorcist training). Akane’s initial instinct is to save her, to sweep her off her feet so she doesn’t have to fight anymore. He tells her to run and to get to safety. But one look at her face is all it takes for him to realize there’s no way in hell Aoi’s going anywhere

This little change is so important to me, because Akane finally starts prioritizing Aoi’s feelings and decisions over his own instinct to protect her. I’m not saying it’s wrong of him to want to keep her safe, but that protectiveness is often misguided. It leads to him keeping things from Aoi, which feeds into her fear that she’s being rejected (she seems to think that Akane lying to her = he hates her and plans to leave her). It also prevents them from fully being equals, as they fall into very gendered roles- the hero and the princess. Here, Akane stops viewing Aoi as a princess, or as the girl in his life, and finally sees her as an individual capable of making her own decisions. He sees her for who she truly is, and isn’t that what Aoi’s always wanted? So instead of making her run, he tells her to go check on Teru. He stops being so damn overprotective and allows Aoi to fight alongside him (tho, judging by the look on her face I don’t think he had much of a say in what she was going to do lol). This advances Aoi’s narrative role from “girl who needs to be saved” to one of our main heroes. It’s development I didn’t even know I needed from her, and I couldn’t be happier to see it. It also strengthens her relationship with Akane so much because fighting alongside this version of Aoi will likely give him more faith in our original Aoi. I’m very excited to see where their relationship goes from here, I hope we see more of the Sunflower Troupe fighting as a trio

[teamsavingmyles]

[teamsavingmyles]

yuri babysitting

[teamsavingmyles]

"No One Mourns the Wicked" is about Glinda, not Elphaba

Okay, but hear me out. Wicked songs are so good at saying one thing and meaning something entirely different once you have more context. For instance, "I'm Not That Girl" is Elphaba singing about Glinda initially, then in Act 2 flips to Glinda singing about Elphaba. Because it turns out, Elphaba IS that girl and Glinda is not. When we meet the Wizard, he sings about how he always wanted to be a father. When you get to Act 2, you get the sad little reprise in the background music as he realizes that WHOOPS, he was one and he destroyed his only kid. "Defying Gravity" starts with "I hope you're happy" in the sarcastic sense and ends with them both using the same phrase to genuinely wish one another well.

"Thank Goodness" is set up as a cheerful engagement song where Glinda genuinely means "thank goodness for how great my life is" and ends in a place where she's insisting that she IS happy even as she realizes her engagement is a sham, her best friend is gone, and she's left with the Wizard and Madame M, who she doesn't even like.

You get the picture.

Basically, the whole musical is about subverting what you expect, starting with the base premise of "what if the Wicked Witch was the hero of the story" and digging in from there.

Honestly, I'd never paid much attention to the first song. It's a good opener, sets things up well, but it has some big competition with later songs. However, in the movie the staging and camera choices made me really notice it for the first time. Because you know what? Someone DID pay attention to that song, and you can really really tell.

For those who need a refresher, the lyrics to the chorus Glinda sings are: And Goodness knows The Wicked's lives are lonely Goodness knows The Wicked die alone It just shows when you're Wicked You're left only On your own I was always so busy noticing Glinda's grief over thinking Elphaba was genuinely dead that I failed to notice Glinda's grief over her OWN fate. The movie did such a good job with this because every time we get to the pink lines about being alone, Glinda IS alone. She is standing apart from the crowd who adores her. Standing above them. Standing at the center of a bunch of people yet still, isolated.

Because in the end, we know that Elphaba DIDN'T die alone. We know she wasn't on her own. We know her life WASN'T lonely ultimately. She had her flying monkey and animal friends. She had Fiyero.

And who does Glinda have?

Everyone, but realistically, no one. She is an ideal, not a person to most of Oz, just as much as Elphaba has become the token scapegoat. Where Elphaba is the "Wicked Witch," Glinda is "Glinda the Good Witch" - she is literally supposed to be the embodiment of goodness.

And what does Glinda have at the end of this whole thing (as of this song at least)? A disastrous end to her engagement, the death of her best friend, a sorceress who has hated her, demeaned her, and dismissed her from the start, and a con man who is also just a symbol more than a person.

I think it really hit me when Glinda throws the fire on the giant effigy of Elphaba. Ariana's acting was SO good there, because I'd expected us to see that private moment of horror or regret. What I didn't expect was the sort of determined and almost angry glare at the effigy.

But it makes sense. At this point, Glinda has realized that she lost everything and everyone she actually cared about.

As she so aptly puts it in "Thank Goodness"...

Though it is, I admit The tiniest bit Unlike I anticipated. But I couldn't be happier, Simply couldn't be happier, Well, not "simply" 'Cause getting your dreams It's strange, but it seems A little, well, complicated.

There's a kind of a sort of cost. There's a couple of things get lost. There are bridges you cross You didn't know you crossed Until you've crossed!

And if that joy, that thrill Doesn't thrill like you think it will Still-- With this perfect finale, The cheers and the ballyhoo! Who wouldn't be happier? So I couldn't be happier, Because happy is what happens When all your dreams come true.

Well, isn't it?

Happy is what happens when you're dreams come true.

It's not Elphaba's fault that Glinda has ended up this way. Glinda chose it every step of the way. Yet, if Glinda had never met Elphaba, (if she'd never known her, you could say), she might have stayed shallow and vain. She might never have been challenged to look deeper and realize how empty it all felt.

So as Glinda sings "No One Mourns the Wicked," she realizes that even if the Munchkins are singing about the "Wicked Witch," she's not.

She's singing about herself.

The one who traded her morals, friendship, and love for a taste of the admiration and power over those who don't really know her. The one who was so worried about being likable that she herself doesn't like who she's become.

Even after she makes things better for Oz and herself by sending the wizard away and getting rid of Madame M, it just leaves Glinda by herself as the leader and source of goodness in Oz. It leaves her on a pedestal she can never step off of.

It leaves her lonely.

Entirely alone.

[teamsavingmyles]

sorry but having strains of "For Good" sprinkled throughout the soundtrack, particularly during Elphie and Glinda's most important moments - essentially having it be their Theme - was a stroke of genius and definitely didn't rip my heart out every time I heard that little motif

[teamsavingmyles]

"Goodness knows."

this goes out to that sack of bricks that hits you when you re-listen to Galinda's part in No-one morns the Wicked for the first time post-watch.

[teamsavingmyles]

"Glinda! Is it true you were her friend?" "Friend? Yes."

[teamsavingmyles]

slay the princess just took home best new characters AND the grand prize from #INDIELiveExpo

thank you all so much! what a lovely time

[teamsavingmyles]

[teamsavingmyles]

Day 6: Role Reversal AU - If it weren't for that reader, I'd probably have died back then

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Maybe there is a universe out there where we could’ve lived peacefully together.

Everything Everywhere All At Once x ORV

[teamsavingmyles]

han sooyoung hate watching kim dokja's gaming channel with two viewers until he deletes the account after joining Minosoft

[teamsavingmyles]

!!! Wow! So you have a favourite story, too?

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