paigebstorey

[paigebstorey]

[paigebstorey]

Elsa’s Snowflake Band-Aid

[paigebstorey]

“Are you the witch who turned eleven princes into swans?”

The old woman stared at the figure on the front step of her cottage and considered her options. It was the kind of question usually backed up by a mob with meaningful torches, and it was the kind of question she tried to avoid.

Coming from a single dusty, tired housewife, it should’ve held no terrors.

“You a cop?”

The housewife twisted the hem of her apron. “No,” she muttered. “I’m a swan.”

A raven croaked somewhere in the woods. Wind whispered in the autumn leaves.

Then: “I think I can guess,” the old woman said slowly. “Husband stole your swan skin and forced you to marry him?”

A nod.

“And you can’t turn back into a swan until you find your skin again.”

A nod.

“But I reckon he’s hidden it, or burned it, or keeps it locked up so you can’t touch it.”

A tiny, miserable nod.

“And then you hear that old Granny Rothbart who lives out in the woods is really a batty old witch whose father taught her how to turn princes into swans,” the old woman sighed. “And you think, ‘Hey, stuff the old skin, I can just turn into a swan again this way.’

“But even if that was true – which I haven’t said if it is or if it isn’t – I’d say that I can only do it to make people miserable. I’m an awful person. I can’t do it out of the goodness of my heart. I have no goodness. I can’t use magic to make you feel better. I only wish I could.”

Another pause. “If I was a witch,” she added.

The housewife chewed the inside of her cheek. Then she drew herself up and, for the first time, looked the old woman in the eyes.

“Can you do it to make my husband miserable?”

The old woman considered her options. Then she pulled the wand out from the umbrella stand by the door. It was long, and silver, and a tiny glass swan with open wings stood perched on the tip.

“I can work with that,” said the witch.

[paigebstorey]

Do you remember Gabriella? 🩷

[paigebstorey]

I think this is a very sweet comic! We all deserve to take care of ourselves.

I will admit, I at first thought that the magical flower was a magical sheep… That flower is really cute, especially while holding the umbrella!

An overworked wishing flower

[paigebstorey]

[paigebstorey]

kill the imposter syndrome in your head because not only is there someone out there doing it worse than you, they’re also using chat gpt to do it

[paigebstorey]

[paigebstorey]

I figured out a simple guide to the alignment chart last night

Lawful: Rules matter more to me than individuals. Chaotic: Individuals matter more to me than rules.

Good: Other people’s well-being is more important than my own. Evil: My own well-being is more important than other people’s.

Neutrals: My opinion of what is more important is determined on a case-by-case basis.

So a Lawful Good character’s guiding moral philosophy might be “I follow the rules because the rules keep people safe, even if they are sometimes inconvenient or harmful to me or other individuals.” A Chaotic Evil character’s guiding moral philosophy would be like “Screw the rules and screw you.”

[paigebstorey]

HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE QUEEN OF BROADWAY™!!!! 🥹🥰🩷🤍

I hope she has an amazing (birth)day on this beautiful Friday, first of all, and knows how loved she is by many. She really has changed many lives both on and off-stage (and the big screen) with her iconic roles like Maureen, Elphaba, Queen Elsa, and now Jesse. I have been changed for good by this sweet and talented, down-to-earth woman, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for her!

🍰 May 30, 2025 🍰

[paigebstorey]

MerMay 🫧🌪️

Day 29: Wicked

“A Kiss of Pink Bubbles”

Elphaba gazed at the water with a sudden sense of longing. The urge to dive in and never look back. She didn’t care that she couldn’t swim. She didn’t care that the water was deep. She didn’t care that she was allergic to saltwater and that her green skin would burn if she ever got wet. All that she cared about was feeling the nurturing embrace of the mermaid that she had seen disappearing beneath the foam.

The mermaid had the silver tail of a wahoo, with a crown made of milky pearls that clustered like bubbles and tinted her gold curls a very faint pink. While at first startled by the verdigris of the spectacled human sitting just at the edge of her aquatic domain, she had offered her, with a playful smile, the gift of her kiss if she agreed to come join her in the water before vanishing with a splash like the pop of a bubble.

Of course, Elphaba knew better than to trust the mermaid. She had only come to the water’s edge to do research for her biology class and to take pictures for her sister. And something about the mermaid’s playfulness had felt off to her, as if her pink energy were hiding red intentions.

Still, it was hard for Elphaba to resist the butterflies in her stomach that urged her to jump into the forbidden depths beneath her feet. Even more, she had been misjudged her entire life, and the promise of a nurturing kiss felt like an offer beyond her wildest dreamings.

In the end, Elphaba Thropp decided to trust her instincts, close her eyes, and leap.

Instagram Prompts: Princess Kadita, Snow on the Mountain, Wahoo

tumblr Prompts:

A Mermaid’s Kiss (@traumas-mermay-2025)

Nurture (@mydaysaresmall)

Diving (@theserenadeofshadows)

I must admit, I am surprised that I was able to put these prompts together on time! I was initially going to do this as artwork as a result of the Instagram prompts, but it ended up being easier than I anticipated to write a short story for them instead.

I was also quite surprised to realize how I could reference the Snow on the Mountain prompt by using details that reference the plant’s side effects:

Skin irritation: Elphaba has a severe allergy to water in the Gregory Maguire book

Gastrointestinal distress: Elphaba experiencing butterflies in her stomach before she dives

I also described the pearls in Glinda’s crown (yes, the mermaid is Glinda) as “milky” to reference the sap of the Snow on the Mountain plant that causes the side effects above. (Kind of makes me wonder if Elphaba’s choice in this story was a bad idea…)

Tomorrow, hopefully, I will create something for the Original Elphaba’s birthday using the prompts for that day (which I kind of struggled with at first, but I was at least able to figure out a decent concept, even if it isn’t currently associated with anything she has done in her career so far…). Wish me luck?

Prompt Lists I Used

[paigebstorey]

I envy writers.

As an artist I can give you a snapshot into a world.

But a writer.

A writer can take you there.

They can weave together words and create a portal to anywhere. You can visit those places instead of looking out a window and wishing to be a part of it.

I envy writers.

[paigebstorey]

MerMay: Catching up on a few days…

Day 8: Atlantis

Prompts:

Prehistoric Mermaid (@traumas-mermay-2025)

Piranha (@mydaysaresmall)

Family (@theserenadeofshadows)

I decided to try and leave out the Instagram prompts for most of my future MerMay projects and stick with the tumblr prompts, just to make things a little easier.

Here’s a rough sketch I made of a half-plesiosaur and half-maiasaura mermaid wielding a trident as she tries to protect her eggs from piranhas.

Day 9: Cubism

“Maia”

The fisherman’s daughter was the first to recognize the ancient creature trapped in the ice block. “Maia” was what she called it. She was the one who had the idea to try and thaw Maia free from her frozen confines. She was the one who decided to bring Maia back to warmer waters. To set her free. To bring her home. No one knows how she did it, or who else she had gotten involved, and no one has seen her or the creature since.

Elsewhere, sailors will claim to hear whistling among the waves and see a girl riding on the back of a creature forgotten by time, but remembered by the sea.

Prompts:

Fishing (@traumas-mermay-2025)

Confine (@mydaysaresmall)

Being Rescued (@theserenadeofshadows)

I hope you all like this drabble! I know it’s not the definition of “cubism” that the prompt had in mind, but it seemed easier to do it this way. Also, the tumblr prompts put together pretty much summed up a “Save the Cat(fish)” story outline reminiscent to Free Willy, I couldn’t resist! I also took a little inspiration from the previous day’s result.

Speaking of the previous day, I was initially going to share Days 8 & 9 on the same day, but lost the initial post’s draft. At least now I know to make sure I save everything as a draft in advance…

Day 11: Guard

“The Undine and the Guard”

Approaching the royal captain of the guard, the Undine of the Sun tried to keep her voice as calm and steady as the surrounding current.

“I rarely ask for favors,” said the undine, “but I need you to help me to release a prisoner from the king’s dungeon.”

The captain creased his brow at the request. “Releasing a prisoner of the king could lead to serious trouble.”

The undine nodded. “I don’t care about the trouble that befalls me, so long as I can save another from worse.”

“You’re better off abandoning them,” the captain insisted. “Once someone is a prisoner to the King of the Sea, they’re a goner.”

“I’m not leaving without my child!”

The guard’s eyes widened. “Your child?! Waves of grace, how could this happen?”

The undine shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, I’m here to bring them home.”

The guard glanced behind him before he leaned forward and whispered to the undine, “There might be a way to save your child, but it will require divine intervention…”

“You don’t mean what I think, do you?”

“Do you have a better idea?”

Her hand graced the hemlock in hair. “I was going to use these as a last resort…”

“We’ll need more than just poisonous flowers if we want to ensure that both you and your child make it home alive,” the guard said. “I advise that we play along with the king’s game until we can find an opening.”

The Undine of the Sun nodded. “Very well. Where do we start?”

Instagram Prompts: Undine, Poison Hemlock, Mola Mola

tumblr Prompts:

Mermaid Games (@traumas-mermay-2025)

Music (@mydaysaresmall)

Emotions (@theserenadeofshadows)

For these prompts, I wanted to go for something inspired by the song “God Games” from EPIC the Musical!

Initially, it was going to be: Drawing an Undine with hemlock flowers in her hair and bearing a shield resembling a sunfish approaches a royal guard to vouch for a captive friend to be released…

“Rarely do I ask for favors. Now, I’m knocking on your door, with hopes to save a friendship with one who’s a prisoner far from home…”

Then, because it was Mother’s Day: I was almost going to focus specifically on the Aphrodite level, since they discuss the mother of Odysseus in that part of the song. (Luckily, I reconsidered this…)

The Final Result: An mother Undine with hemlock flowers in her hair and associated with the sun (to reference the Mola Mola prompt) approaches a captain of the guard to seek out his help in releasing her child, who is being held prisoner by their king.

Day 13: Cabaret

Prompts:

Shipwreck (@traumas-mermay-2025)

Moon (@mydaysaresmall)

Cats (@theserenadeofshadows)

For this, I drew an orange cat gazing at the remains of a shipwreck under the waning moonlight as a green and purple mermaid tail disappears under the waves. There is a trail of wet footprints between the cat and the tail. I am also including a few songs that would be fit for a cabaret (and some are just associated with the Moon).

Prompt Lists I Used

https://www.tumblr.com/monthly-writing-challenges/780928871843446784/mermay

As decided by this poll, for all of the ones that I have missed, I will be saving them for either June or some of my bigger writing projects.

To be continued soon! ;-)

MerMay Day 14, here I come!! 🤞🏻🤞🏻

[paigebstorey]

PLEASE do yourself a favour and check out this wikipedia-styled template for google drive, made by @ Rukidut on twitter

I decided to try to sort my ideas and whats canon regarding my ocs with this and ITS PERFECT. IT ALL FEELS SO CONRETE. and i sure as hell AM Going to continue to use this with every single OC I have until google drives is set ablaze- Just!!!!!!!!

Also; link directly to the doc, just copy the file and you have your own lil template!!!!

[paigebstorey]

I’m going to make a wild guess about the remaining roles in this alternate universe:

Julieta is Auntie/Mama Em

Agustín is Uncle/Papi Henry

Bruno is either the Wizard or the “Wicked Witch” of the West

Alma is also either the Wizard or the “Wicked Witch” of the West

I look forward to seeing how close I got!

A long while back I watched the Wizard of Oz once more. I haven't seen the movie since I was a little kid. In the movie the cast of Oz are implied to be based on who we see in the beginning of the film with Dorthey. In the end, she wakes up back at home and happy. They tell her she had a dream.

I created an AU. As the characters seen to naturally fall into place...Luisa is the tin man. Isabela is the good witch. Pepa is the "wicked witch" of the east but has kids as see. Married to Felix. Her children are Scarecrow Camilo. Cowardly Lion Antonio. Witch of the North Lola.

I saw comments appearantly the one who informs Dorthey how to get home is another witch?

So made that Dolores. She knows everything.

Alma, Bruno, Agustín and Julieta are in this au too. Don't worry. I'll reveal who they are!

[paigebstorey]

[paigebstorey]

I want you to remember:

The fascists hate you too and they just will pretend otherwise until after they've killed the rest of us, before they turn on you.