crowsandfrogs

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when u dont like ur art take a deep breath and remember u created it from nothing, like a god

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i think if jessie and james teamrocket transitioned theyd just switch their names and call it a day. or this already happened. this is my one true belief

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Wicked is very gay and it's fun to read it that way but it's also important not to let that overshadow the experiences of marginalization in a lot of these "gay moments". "What is this Feeling?" is fun to read as gay, but it is essentially about the consequences of white woman tears and how it rallies people into hatred that dances around the real reason for their discrimination by never saying "we don't like her because she's green", but instead they create reasons to hate her because a white woman feels uncomfortable around her. You can take away how "I'm Not That Girl" has a level of comphet in it, but don't let that take away from how it's about Elphaba's struggle with fully internalizing that she will always be excluded from being desirable due to her features.

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and the worst part is, its THAT girl

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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.

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get yourself a main character whos two primary emotions are "little cunt" and "catatonic with grief"

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What if the Truman show did a queerbait arc

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some stories are written precisely to elicit strong emotions from the reader INCLUDING negative ones. some stories and characters are meant to be upsetting, they are meant to challenge you and make you uncomfortable!! when a story makes you feel Big Feelings sometimes you are meant to sit in those feelings and ask yourself why! fiction is a great space to explore these emotions in a safe environment. you, as the reader, are meant to think critically about the art you are enjoying and that includes asking yourself questions like why has the author presented their art in this way and what are they trying to tell me. and then you get to have fun picking it apart and figuring it out and deciding what, exactly, the art means to you.

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hyperfixation please stay with me long enough to complete the project. hyperfixation do not fade. hyperfixation finish what you started for the love of god

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This is my favorite section of this baking book i recently bought

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I mean, yes, I could have put all that in a single post, but an increasingly unhinged self-reblog chain has better dramatic pacing.

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HOT GIRLS SET BOUNDARIES

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Merry 2000 Trained Rats, everybody

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The gingerbread house project!

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I want to get to know you

thank to @salamandersorcerer whom i adore and is fantastic

last song: being so honest it is Rock Star Skinny by The Real Zebos (it goes hard i love the vibes and the rhythm)

favorite color: oh dang that is hard uhhhhhh i think that right now it is green somehwere between olive and moss

last book: Last full book I read wassss...... It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood - an incredible inspiration for art and mental health whom i adore and who has genuinely inspired me to be more honest in my art and process my emotions and experiences through what I make rather than only using art as a refuge. Homie is so so cool and I just got her book The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott as a secret santa gift and I am SO excited to read it!!!!!!!

last movie: Hilda and the Mountain king

last TV show: Hilda (my partner @blualien5 and I watch each other's favorite shows together and so we watched hilda the past few days and of course the movie too because it is important to the plot of the show)

sweet/savory/spicy: any as long as they do not mix

relationship status: Absolutely SMITTEN with the love of my life, my wife, my penelope, whom i intend to spend the rest of my life with!

last thing i searched: "the impending blindness of" because I was unsure of if i had remembered the book title right

current obsession: probably visual narratives and art in general - my depression makes me have difficulty keeping to things that make me happy but i think maybe hilda and arcane.

looking forward to: my brother hanging being around for the weekend!

favorite drink: chocolate milk probably, though I don't think I can knock apple juice

song playing on a loop in your head 24/7: oh that is hard. right now i think it is "Be Gay, Do Drugs, Hail Satan" because i've been using it to keep me awake and not asleep allday

Shout out to: anyone who wants to do this tbh

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Please consider commissioning one nonbinary homie to help him pay some bills and possibly help him make more art! (It’s me, im the nonbinary homie)

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Hirohiko Araki's art references from fashion brands for Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Left to right:

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure February 2000 / Vogue US January 2000

JBA October 2000 / Dior Spring 2000

JBA May 1995 / Versace AW 1984

JBA December 1999 / Vogue Italia September 1999

JBA July 1993 / Versace 1992

JBA March 1998 / British Vogue September 1992

JBA March 1997 / Mugler SS 1993

JBA October 2008 / V Magazine Fall 2007

JBA March 2008 / Vogue Italia November 1988

JBA December 1996 / Versace Fall 1995