I Could Make A Serious Wicked Review And Talk About The Vocals And The Choreography And The Costumes

RIP Odysseus of Ithaca you would’ve loved FaceTime

tw: self harm scars

idk, something that's been rattling around in my brain since an anon asked about it. i never could find a full scene to fit it into but oh well.

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Elphaba brushes a thumb over the scars, the catch of her nails against the rough, raised skin sending shivers down Galinda's spine. She holds her breath on instinct, anxiety tangling in her chest in a way that makes it hard to fill her lungs with air.

"You know," Elphaba starts, eyes still tracing the lines on Galinda's fair skin. "In some ancient Ozian cultures, scars were seen as a badge of honor. A signal to everyone else that the bearer was strong enough to survive something that could've killed them."

Elphaba glances up, her emerald eyes shining as the corners of her lips tilt into the gentlest of smiles. She keeps her gaze locked on Galinda's as she lowers her head to press her lips to the marks.

"I don't think you're disgusting, Galinda," Elphaba whispers, crawling back up the blonde's body to press another kiss to her lips. "I think you're a survivor."

Galinda in her corner of the dorm after spending the whole day with Elphaba ✨ (yes, Elphaba is also in the room)

Oh, my Shayma, I want You.

I want You in every way, in every breath. 

Be my lover when I feel unloved, 

My Guru when I am lost in darkness, 

My healer when I am frail and weary, 

My Mother when my heart is burdened, 

My Father when I stumble on my path. 

Be my protector, my eternal guide, 

My sacred love, encompassing all.

Let me love You,

With the essence of every atom within me.

For all I desire is You, 

In every form, in every name, 

For You are my all, 

My Shiva, my Shakti, my Vishnu, my everything.

why i am a Hindu

Bruce comes back from the dead and wants to make things better. Bruce comes back from the dead and Tim was the one who brought him back, so it's obviously Tim who'll know best how to help him reconnect with everyone.

It's Tim who should give him advice on how to bond with Dick. Dick has always been his idol, after all. Tim would know best how to bring him back, and he does. He gives good advice and the two of them begin to get closer.

So Bruce asks about Jason, too. Asks about how to bring his son back into the fold and Tim wished for a brief and brutal moment that it weren't so obvious who the favorite was.

Tim told Bruce to give Jason his space, to loosen his rules, and make it clear that no matter what the Red Hood did, no matter what the Batman believed in, Jason was always welcome. Bruce would always want him.

It worked. Bruce wasn't surprised. Tim was a special sort of bitter.

Bruce asked again for Damian and Tim had to push down his anger. "That boy tried to kill me," Tim wanted to say. "I hate him and I want you to hate him too so that I can remember a time when we had something in common," Tim didn't say, but he got close.

He instead told Bruce how Damian liked art and animals and loved hearing stories of the wonders of Batman.

He told Bruce just how much Damian loved being Robin. Told Bruce to tell Damian what a good Robin he was.

God bless or maybe damn him, but he did and it worked and Tim wanted to start screaming and clawing at something because that would have never worked if Tim tried it and it wouldn't have stopped Damian from cutting his line--something Bruce did not and would never know about.

Bruce asked about Babs. How should he make sure she knew that she was a part of the family? They they loved her and not just for the work she did?

He asked about Steph. How should he make sure she knew that she was more important than his rules and that, if something else should go wrong, she didn't need to run away?

He asked about Duke. He never got the chance to get to know him before leaving--not as well as he wanted to, at least. How should he let him know that he was just as much a son as everyone else? That, whether or not his parents woke up, he'd always be welcome?

He asked about Cass. How should he show her that he loves her even though he has nothing to teach her? How can he convey how much he cares about her, his first daughter?

Bruce gets brought back from time and he makes things better. He brings his family back together by following Tim's advice.

And Tim?

Tim brings his dad back from the dead and Bruce changes, becomes a better father.

Bruce changes, but not everything can.

That, Tim thinks, is why Bruce never calls Tim his son.

Sam Wilson + Meeting Captain America

I’ve previously stated that when people say “Why have James and Harry as POC?” it’s fair enough to respond, “Why not?” but there are also some reasons that specifically drive me towards representing them that way. So, without further ado, here’s why I tend to view James Potter as a person of colour. 

(Please note that this isn’t about authorial intent, since I’m more than aware that JKR doesn’t exactly write with the purpose of people reading her main characters as POC. It’s more about how the narrative connects as a reader, as well as some personal preferences.)

Racially-Coded Language Directed At James 

[…] Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn’t have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn’t want Dudley mixing with a child like that. (PS1)

and, after Vernon claims James had been unemployed in POA: 

“As I expected!” said Aunt Marge, taking a huge swig of brandy and wiping her chin on her sleeve. “A no-account, good-for-nothing, lazy scrounger who —” (POA2)

There’s a very specific trend in the way that the Dursleys speak about James. “Good-for-nothing,” as soon as he’s introduced, a sentiment repeated by Marge. “Wastrel” in that same chapter of POA. And the way that Marge reacts to James being “unemployed” is very much akin to anti-immigrant rhetoric, i.e. considering them a drain of public resources. It’s classist too, certainly, but that’s not divorced from racial dynamics. The greatest employment disparities in Britain occur among ethnic minorities. And that’s in recent reports. I can guarantee it was worse approximately 30 years ago, during the setting of HP. On top of that, the idea that the Harry’s “otherness” can be identified on sight also reads like an allusion to race. 

Harry’s Appearance

He shot a nasty look sideways at Harry, whose untidy hair had always been a source of great annoyance to Uncle Vernon. (POA2)

and 

Professor Flitwick was walking past a boy with untidy black hair … very untidy black hair…  (OOTP28)

James and Harry share most of their features. The most prominent of these is by far James’s hair, which is consistently described as both “black” and “untidy.” Neither is a trait exclusive to people of colour, but there certainly is a tendency for people of colour to face greater scrutiny for the state of their hair. The Dursleys’ view that having “improper” hair somehow equates lacking societal worth is much along those lines. It’s not at all unreasonable to relate Harry’s struggle with his hair as partly the product of his heritage. 

Dynamic Balance Between James and Lily

This one is a point of personal preference. Since we know so little about either James or Lily, it’s hard to gauge what exactly their relationship was like. But I absolutely love the idea of James as a person of colour and a pure-blood while Lily is white and Muggle-born. Although there’s a claim that there’s no racism in the wizarding world (I’d question that, but that’s a different post), there certainly would be in 1970s Muggle UK. It’s an interesting dynamic to engage with — James, completely unaware of why people would look askew his relationship with Lily even in the Muggle world. Lily, turning indignant protector for James, while people dislike him for his heritage. It’s all the appeal of a role reversal AU but built into canon-compliance. 

Presumption of Delinquency 

For the space of a heartbeat both policemen imagined guns gleaming at them, but a second later they saw that the motorcyclists had drawn nothing more than —

“Drumsticks?” jeered Anderson. “Right pair of jokers, aren’t you? Right, we’re arresting you on a charge of —” (Prequel)

and

Harry preferred Little Whinging by night, when the curtained windows made patches of jewel-bright colors in the darkness and he ran no danger of hearing disapproving mutters about his “delinquent” appearance when he passed the householders. (OOTP1) 

This one’s a bit more depressing, but it’s something that I think holds true for many people of colour in places where they aren’t the majority. Whether in a local neighbourhood, with a police officer, or at an airport, it’s easy enough to think of an instance of racial profiling. Being treated as a threat by people who don’t really know you. In James and Sirius’s interaction with the police, up until that point they’re smarmy, sure, but have made no indication that they’re any kind of threat. They reach back in their pockets and immediately the assumption is that they have guns. Harry experiences similar profiling. In that same chapter, he talks about how some of the neighbourhood kids are afraid of him. Admittedly, he’s got the Dursleys’ badmouthing and the state of his clothing going against him, but James is well-dressed and cared-for and still treated as if he might become violent. 

Nuanced Representation Through James

This point is less about the text itself, and more about how interpreting James as a person of colour is beneficial to readers of colour. Although he sort of gets the least physical presence in the series, the things we do see inform us that he’s got quite the story. He’s described, along with Sirius, as “the cleverest [student] in school,” in POA, he becomes an animagus at the age of fifteen, and he saves the life of his worst enemy (who later sells him out to Voldemort). He dedicates his life to a war that his blood status exempts him from. And he’s got obvious flaws as well! He’s arrogant, sometimes rude, and loyal to the point of being blind to the possibility of betrayal. Of all of the Marauders’ era characters, James has some of the most interesting characterization. In a series where people of colour barely feature, the idea that someone like James (and subsequently Harry) could be men of colour is very exciting. 

And, for what it’s worth, I actually think it’s kind of cool that James is so well-off financially. It’s not only a reversal of expectations with the earlier point of racially-coded insults, but also offers a version of an ethnic minority who doesn’t necessarily have a class disadvantage. And, if you’re on the Desi James train, it actually plays into a specific narrative of migration and employment for Indians in the UK prior to 1981. Racial discrimination and class do not always follow each other, and I think that disconnect can be jarring for those who consider themselves relatively privileged. Again, it’s something I think is interesting to explore.

Diverse Magical Heritage

Again, this idea comes down to personal preference. Since James comes from a long line of mostly pure-bloods, that means that if he is interpreted as a person of colour, there’s an entire magical tradition that can come with that. All of the HP spells are Latin-based, but if you read James as Desi (as I do) then there’s the potential for Sanskrit-based spells! Indian wizard holidays! If Christian wizards celebrate Christmas, surely Hindu wizards celebrate Diwali? Or Muslim wizards celebrate Eid? Not to mention the cool idea of life-cycle rites coming into play. I’d love to see a wizard version of annaprashan, where instead of reaching for just books or toys, you could have Harry reaching for a wand for power, or the Mahabharata for courage. Not to mention that James’ family has a long history in potions, which actually seems closer to Ayurvedic medicine than chemistry. There are so many possibilities that come from seeing James as a person of colour. These are only a few examples. 

Okay attempt number 2 at posting why I personally think Galinda Upland is a high masking AuDHD person after I saw a post pegging Elphaba as Autisitic and Galinda as ADHD:

See under the cut

1. She’s very clearly high energy/hyperactive, always busy, never stops talking, the way she talks it seems like that’s how her brain works, just running and running constantly.

2. She speaks what’s on her mind without thinking about how what she says may affect those around her. “You’re green!” It very much gives me “If you’re from Africa why are you white?” From Mean Girls vibes. (And yes, I do think Karen Smith is autistic too lol)

3. She has 2 special interests: being Popular and sorcery. I mean, aside from just being a huge gay flamingo mating dance, Popular also feels like a giant infodumping session of Galinda onto Elphie. She’s sharing all the knowledge she has on one of her favorite topics. The works she puts in to following her hearts desire to be a sorceress, saying how it’s her hearts desire. She would do anything to be able to do magic and I personally think she has the knowledge behind it, even if she doesn’t have the magic ability in her in the way Madame Morrible is looking for. She recognizes that Elphaba was the one who did the magic in the courtyard at Shiz and she begs Elphaba to share how she did it, even though she claims to loathe her. She thinks Elphaba knows something about her special interest that she doesn’t so she MUST find out!

4. I know the suitcases and trunks all her stuff is in is partially because of the lack of closet space in the dorm room but while it seems like everything has its place, drawers are labeled, etc… it’s still very cluttered. She just has SO. MUCH. STUFF. A little bit of hoarding. She cannot bear to get rid of anything because what if she needs it one day?! (I.E. the hat her grandmother made her!)

5. Speaking of the hat. I don’t think she actually hates it. It may not be her style, but her grandma made it for her! When Pfannee pulled the hat out and he and ShenShen started hating on it and Galinda turned around, it took her a moment to read her friend’s tones. You can see for a second her expression looks neutral but contemplative when she’s looking at Pfannee before it changes and she starts to hate on the hat. She had to take a second to read and process her friend’s tone before she responded so she could have the correct reaction her friends were expecting from her.

6. The ‘toss toss’ and ‘leg’ things are both stims. You cannot change my mind.

7. Why is she so high masking? Because her momsie and popsicle conditioned her to hide any trait of hers that could seen as “undesirable” or “unladylike”. She’s Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands after all! She has a reputation to live up to!

8. After the Ozdust Ballroom night when she and Elphie become friends, she quickly becomes attached to her. Elphie becomes her “safe person” and she develops an attachment to her that I see frequently in neurodiverse people. She always wants to be around her and she is always holding her hand and touching her because she’s so comfortable with Elphaba. She finally has someone she can unmask around.

9. Speaking of Elphie…. Galinda shows some HEAVY Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria in the deleted scene “Elphaba’s Promise”. She is sad and hurt, not that Elphie and Fiyero were doing something without her, but that Elphie “chose” Fiyero to help her rescue the cub, not Galinda. “If you needed someone, you could’ve picked me!” Breaks my heart every time!

10. She seems to have a little bit of rigid thinking when it comes to Dr. Dillamond not being able to pronounce her name. She seems to think if she just keeps repeating the correct way to say it, he’ll eventually get it and not understanding that he’s physically not capable of pronouncing her name correctly because of his lack of upper front teeth, even when it’s explained to her.

11. This last one is very much a stretch (pun not originally intended this time lol) but I’m putting it in too, hypermobility issues are a very high comorbidity with autism and when she’s dancing around during Popular she does a high kick. Could it just be athleticism? Maybe. Could it be a hypermobility thing? Also maybe.

Galinda: Hey Elphie, remember how we had to go to the pharmacy to pick up our ADHD meds? Elphaba: Yes? Fiyero: Well, it turns out they're all out for the next five days. Elphaba: Fuck. Galinda: It's going to be a fun week! Elphaba: I'm going to stay with Nessa. Fiyero: Nuh-uh. Through sickness and health, remember?