katherinemckay

[katherinemckay]

I know it's common in fics for Elphaba to be good at cooking, but what if Boq was the only one in the charmed circle who could kind of cook? I've had this comic idea stuck in my head for a while :3

[katherinemckay]

its so funny how post-canon glinda 100% constantly asks herself "what would elphie do?" cuz like... gurl no. elphaba would blow up the building. elphaba would start the fire. elphaba would commit a crime and barely escape with her life, like maybe let's not emulate elphaba especially when we barely maybe only sorta have magic

[katherinemckay]

i'm really curious and excited about how the movie equivalent of wonderful seems to include glinda there as persuasion for elphaba to join the wizard, which changes all the dynamics going on. i keep thinking through the bits we've seen in the trailer in context of the full story, and in my mind there are a few ways this could play out:

there's one extreme where glinda still fully trusts the wizard at this point and genuinely is trying to get elphaba to come to their side and join their team. i think this has the most potential for angst, because elphaba would really see glinda as aligned with the enemy and against her cause. it could be really interesting to see glinda deep in the wizard's regime to the point where she now believes the propaganda she's been spreading.

then there's the other extreme where during the private swing(?) moments we saw, glinda suggests a plan to join the wizard under false pretenses and work from within to actively remove him from power. this seems the least likely to me since it's still early in glinda's act 2 arc for direct action, but ariana grande said a few times on the part 1 screenings circuit that glinda's perspective in defying gravity was that they'd be more powerful working from within and changing the system from the inside out. so, it could potentially be something glinda's been thinking about over the years.

i'm leaning that it'll be somewhere in-between. it's after thank goodness, so glinda already has some hesitations about her role but is still trying to convince herself staying there is for the best. the new synopsis on the movie's website says glinda is "haunted by her separation from elphaba" and that she then "attempts to broker a conciliation between elphaba and the wizard." so i'm thinking glinda misses elphaba so much that she's willing to help push the wizard's propaganda on her if it means getting her back. going back to the swing scene, i think she tries to convince elphaba to compromise and let herself be a reformed figure with the wizard in order to gain some power to eventually work from within and implement policies that support elphaba's cause. i also think the "think of what we could do together" callback will be somewhere along these lines -- glinda proposing that if they can work alongside the wizard for now, they can combine magical power and social power to eventually change the system. however elphaba will obviously not abandon her morals to stay complacent even for a brief period of time, so this would push her further from glinda. glinda would essentially be asking elphaba to change who she fundamentally is in favor of the possibility of later progress (and in favor of them getting to permanently stay together, which is a deliciously angsty dynamic that would probably lead to both of them feeling betrayed/abandoned in the fallout in different ways).

i'm excited to see how the tension between them in part two may be mainly rooted in their fundamental differences and their different approaches to gaining and maintaining power, hopefully moreso than the love triangle drama. having glinda in wonderful will set that up so nicely

[katherinemckay]

Wicked (2024) // Wicked: For Good (2025)

[katherinemckay]

for good trailer really has me thinking about how excited i am to see act 2 glinda fully explored in a deeper and more up-close way like think of the material. being kinda forced into a regime role because you didn't have what it takes to be a fugitive and then settling into the comfort and praise of that role but still coming to the realization it's not what you Really want. and you regret what you've lost but you have to keep up the facade because your status is your only asset. and you're losing faith in a system you once believed in while still having hope that you can do good from the inside, but you're wondering how much good you're actually doing. and things keep spiraling further out of control and you know you're complicit in everything and hurting the one person you truly love. but you still feel like you have to play your part because there are people who look to you for comfort, and your entire life you've believed image and reputation are everything and you just can't give that up yet. and when you finally Are ready to really throw it all away for what's right, you realize you can't because you can only actually help by staying in a position of power. so now you'll live the rest of your life trying to actually make that change, but you can't tell the truth about anything you've learned, and you're doomed to be alone because you could never truly leave it all behind. you'll always regret that first choice, and yet you never could have chosen differently because it's who you are. save me ariana grande as adult glinda save me

[katherinemckay]

Gelphie — Wicked: For Good (2025)

[katherinemckay]

Elphaba being an idealist while Glinda is a realist always gets to me. Like you would expect the girl who’s been ostracized all her life for being green to be cynical and think that the world can’t change. But no, Elphie is all starry eyed and hopeful that she can change the world. That she can fix its wrongs and create a better future, not just for her but for every citizen of Oz.

Meanwhile Glinda, the girl who’s had everything, admiration, money, etc, knows how the world is. She knows that the world is led by those who are popular despite their talent or lack thereof. She knows how to play the game, knows the rules of the game, and knows that not playing by those rules will make you an outsider. She’s already resigned to the world as it is.

[katherinemckay]

ARIANA GRANDE brighter days ahead, 2025

[katherinemckay]

Ariana Grande-Butera & Edward Butera in brighter days ahead (2025) dir. Christian Breslauer and Ariana Grande

[katherinemckay]

thinking about fiyero saying "say what you will about her, she doesn't give a twit what anyone thinks" and glinda saying "of course she does" so, so quickly. and she doesn't even look at him, she keeps her eyes on elphaba because she *understands* what it's like to fake that kind of confidence. hell, she knows what it's like to fake much more than that. elphaba is the thing she fears becoming (an outcast, a freak, alone) and she can see her like nobody else

[katherinemckay]

Wicked + The Onion headlines part 3

[katherinemckay]

I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason.

[katherinemckay]

random glinda rant of the day bc im still stuck on the way ari looked in defying gravity and her subsequent thoughts on that moment:

I understand that, in the context of the musical, Glinda makes several very poor choices of her own free will in Act 2. However - I also firmly believe that Glinda not leaving with Elphie in Defying Gravity is not as simple as her just “not wanting to go against the system.” Is that a part of it? Certainly. Is that all or even most of it? imo No. 

As Ariana herself said: Glinda would’ve died if she left. There was no way both girls were flying out of there. Plus, Glinda’s whole world just got turned upside down, she just got chased by flying monkeys and almost fell to her death, her best friend was labeled an enemy of the State, guards are trying to kill them, the ruler of Oz is apparently a liar, like- these are crazy things to process in the moment! And then to expect her to get on a rickety broom and trust that it can carry her away???

Also- where would they go?! Elphie had no plan. Glinda had no plan. If they left, all Glinda knew was that they’d be on the run from people trying to kill them and she has no power. She can contribute absolutely nothing. People forget, she wasn’t Glinda the Good yet. She was just a random college student. Like I genuinely don’t think Glinda was over here thinking “oh no, i won’t be popular anymore” like the girl was probably thinking “shit what if we die?!”

(also: imagine your best friend, who the leader of your country has a personal vendetta against, pulled you to the edge of a building and was like “we’ve got one parachute, and i’m going to wear it, and i’ve never used a parachute before, but don’t worry- i think i can catch you”)

[katherinemckay]

WICKED 2024, dir. Jon M. Chu

[katherinemckay]

i don't like when people reduce glinda's decision to stay behind into one simple thing, when there are so many moving parts that contribute to why she didn't go with elphaba

on one hand, she's scared and she hasn't reached the part of her character developement where she's ready to stand up to authority like that. part of her recognizes that staying with the wizard will be personally beneficial, and she's willing to make moral compromises for her own gain

but she's not being entirely selfish, either. she's actually primarily concerned about elphie. glinda recognizes the dangers of rebelling against the wizard like that, and doesn't want elphaba to get hurt. glinda genuinely believes that if elphie stays behind, puts her head down, and plays the game, she'll be able to further her cause more than outright rebellion

part of this belief probably comes from the fact that staying with the wizard is the easier thing to do, but glinda's also still naive about how the system works. she's only ever benefitted from the status quo, so she believes that change can still occur within the system. even while they're literally being chased by the gale force, glinda is like "if you say you're sorry, we can fix this"

and i think her role as glinda the good is complicated, too. like, on one hand, glinda knows the truth about the wizard, so she kind of has to play this role for her own safety. but it's clear she also enjoys the attention and praise she gets by being "glinda the good," which is why she doesn't go find elphaba like fiyero suggests

but i also think glinda believes that she's doing good as "glinda the good." like, she's making people happy and bringing them much needed joy in uncertain times. she's trying to promote kindness and charity. obviously, this ignores the fact that she's complicit in the wizard's rule, but her character development in act ii is her deciding to be truly good and stand up to that system

glinda genuinely wants to be a good person and do good, and her character arc is her learning how to do that

idk this is probably just rambling but i get bothered when ppl reduce glinda's decision to her being selfish or not loving elphie enough. she's way more complicated than that and i think that's what makes her so interesting

[katherinemckay]

one musical to movie change i haven't really seen anyone talk about is the subtle difference in how glinda's potential future with the wizard is laid out to her before defying gravity (and how that changes how you can read her motivations).

in the musical the wizard explictly says "you have so many opportunities ahead of you - you both do" and then that's that, so glinda has reason to believe she has a legitimate future with the wizard regardless of whether elphaba's there. this can play into the interpretation that she stays behind for her own ambitions - she clearly has opportunities waiting for her.

however, this actually isn't how it comes across in the movie, at least to me. the wizard's original inclusion of glinda in his plans is changed from explicitly mentioning opportunity to just "you having a home here [...] and if it'll make you happy, possibly, your friend." in the movie version, the wizard directly states only that glinda would be joining them in the palace - and it's merely a suggestion as an addition to elphaba (she's even just referred to as her friend, not being spoken directly to) to make elphaba want to stay, rather than him describing glinda as someone who could have her own individual opportunities.

then, when elphaba runs away, morrible tells glinda "you want to do yourself some good, bring her back." here, morrible now suggests that glinda could do something for herself and her individual future. what i find interesting is that glinda instead jumps on the hot air balloon with elphaba and even fights off the guards with her. while glinda does try to talk elphaba down for awhile ("let's just have a word with them," "you've got to let him explain," etc.), she ultimately abandons this approach by the time elphaba has chosen to defy gravity.

in the movie, glinda goes against morrible's direct orders of bringing elphaba back when she accepts elphaba's choice to leave and helps her get ready. this means that by supporting elphaba in her decision, glinda actually abandons the chance she believes she has to finally get in with morrible (and by extension the wizard). in movie-verse, glinda really has no reason to believe staying behind without elphaba could advance her own ambitions, because both the wizard and morrible have laid out a potential future for her that is reliant on having elphaba at her side and keeping elphaba compliant to them (and using glinda to do that). i don't think that movie!glinda ultimately stays behind for selfish/power-seeking reasons, because the wizard and morrible haven't actually suggested to her that she has a path alongside them as an individual. (they also just truly show no interest in glinda as an individual person in a much more obvious way than in the musical, but that could be its own post.)

ariana grande has spoken a couple times on how one of the emotions glinda feels in the added hug scene with morrible is relief, and i think this all is why. glinda chose to stay behind while helping elphaba escape, knowing it was disobeying what was asked of her. given glinda is also being detained by the guards in that moment, i think that relief comes from her genuinely not having known if she would be safe or would become essentially a prisoner after staying behind, and feeling relief when morrible does free/accept her and suggests there's still a path for her.

there's definitely moral grayness to discuss with how glinda accepts her position within the regime and settles into it, but i think (in movie-verse) the actual choice to stay behind isn't one of those moments — it wasn't established to glinda that staying behind without elphaba could actually lead her to power and opportunity with the wizard, and she directly goes against the one path to power that was suggested to her by helping elphaba leave.

[katherinemckay]

glinda telling elphie about "the mustache man"

+ the mustache man