#what in the name of oz

[wrongfourtytwo]

No explanation zero none

[flustersnaggle]

THE WORLD, FULL OF INFINITE POSSIBILITIES

aurelia aquareine (she/her), sage of alchemy — cheerful // creative // perfectionist

general: face skinblend // facekit 1 // facekit 2 // face highlights (highlight N1) // face undertones // hairline // brows // eye preset // lashes // eye base // eye sparkle // eyeshadow (eyeshadows N9 glitter only) // eyeliner // blush—... hey, where did it go? // mouth corners // teeth // body preset // skinblend (skin N13 overlay) // skin tints // nails // wrist tattoo everyday: hair (my wedding stories) // hat (helia hat V3) // earrings // choker // dress // boots formal: hair (my wedding stories) // earrings // necklace // lipstick // dress (high school years) // arm bracelet (realm of magic) // shoes (base game) athletic: hair (fashima fro) & headwrap overlay // earrings (base game) // top (throwback fit) // shorts (daisy shorts V1) // socks (artemis socks) // shoes (incheon arrivals) sleep: bonnet (V2) // robes (vintage glamour) // shoes (spa day) party: hair (lisa low fro) // earrings (ashley earrings) // necklace (poolside splash) // lipstick // dress (naomi dress) // bracelets // shoes swimwear: hair (pam puff V1) // top (island living) // bottom (base game) // bracelet (base game) // feet hot weather: hair (penny puff V3) // earrings (base game) // top (eco lifestyle) // shorts (realm of magic) // bracelet (base game) // shoes (incheon arrivals) cold weather: hair (lisa low fro) // hat (seasons) // earrings // coat // gloves (get to work) // shoes (get together) extras: poses 1 & potion // poses 2 // poses 3 // realm of magic icons rip

thank you! — @atomiclight, @pyxiidis, @okruee, @ddarkstonee, @serawis, @sayasims, @meghewlett, @obscurus-sims, @miikocc, @pralinesims, @xiamdeathx, @goppolsme, @squea, @magic-bot, @crilender, @ms-marysims, @clumsyalienn, @raccoonium, @philosimy, @mysteriousdane, @crypticsim, @sheabuttyr, @aharris00britney, @ayoshi, @mapleseed, @qwertysims, @arethabee, @sentate, @lady-moriel, @makesims, @dearie-sim, @hula-zombie

[that-ari-blogger]

Iconic (Defying Gravity)

If you look up "iconic Broadway songs", you get lists upon lists of musical numbers, but there are a few constants. Beside One Day More from Les Misérables, Don't Cry For Me Argentina from Evita, and Seasons Of Love from Rent, you will usually find Defying Gravity, from Wicked.

If you think about it, this is actually rather weird, right? The aforementioned songs are about preparing for death, dying, and looking back on life, respectively. Defying Gravity is about a witch deciding to fly. A story that is objectively fantastical (it depicts magic and flying monkeys in a place that definitely does not exist) stands next to stories of real-world history and events, and nobody bats an eyelid because... well... because it's just that good.

This is like a corgi winning a race fair and square against a ton of cheetahs.

I think it's worth examining just what Defying Gravity does to stand beside giants, and what story it is telling.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD: (Wicked)

Defying Gravity is a battle cry.

When you examine a piece of media, the first thing you need to understand is what it is that that piece of media is trying to achieve. For example, if you examine a commercial for toothpaste through the same lens as a commercial film, that commercial will fall short. Similarly, if you examine a song that is trying to get stuck in your head through a classical, technical lens, things get funky.

You can, of course, apply those different lenses if you want. That's the fun thing about art, there are few rules. But even then, you need to understand the purpose of the text.

Defying Gravity is a battle cry.

It is a song that calls to arms its listeners. It says to Oz that things will get better, if Elphaba has to tear down the world to make it so. And it tells the audience to get excited, because someone has just started shaking things up.

The song is a turning point in the musical. It is the end of act one, and it sets the trajectory of the second half of the story. It defines how the characters will behave going forwards. But also...

Defying Gravity is a breakup song.

I don't think the two are disconnected at all. Wicked is about reality and dreams colliding, and it follows the seeking of freedom. The twist is that for freedom, you have to give up your safety, and Glinda isn't prepared to do that, but Elphaba is.

This is a piece by @abd-illustrates (Youtube, Deviantart). Although I believe it's technically about No Good Deed, I feel it's relevant here and a spectacular feat of artistic merit that I had to put it in.

Wicked has been accused of queer bating by fans, and while I see that angle, I don't quite agree. I think that the romantic relationship between Glinda and Elphaba does happen, but the fact that it doesn't work is key to the story. They are doomed lovers, and this song is that breaking point.

What is more valuable to our protagonists? Autonomy or stability? Both characters pick different options, and that incompatibility tears them apart.

"Elphaba, why couldn't you have stayed calm for once? Instead of flying off the handle!

I hope you're happy

I hope you're happy now

I hope you're happy how

you've hurt your cause forever

I hope you think you're clever"

Glinda's perspective here is clear, she believes in the system she is a part of. She sees its flaws, but because they work for her, she sees them as strengths. And this is understandable, the system has only benefited her, so she is blind to its faults.

But understandable is not the same as agreeable, and I am inclined to follow Elphaba's logic here. The system is unjust, and directly in opposition to her goal of fairness and equality. She wants to make the world a better place, and now that the system's lies are revealed to her, she needs to take things in a different direction.

"I hope you're proud how you would grovel in submission

To feed your own ambition"

So, the sides are established, and this song serves as a battle of ideas. Both characters want their friend to join them, and its notable how they go about doing that.

Glinda falls on aspiration and references a previous song to get her point across.

"You can still be with the wizard

What you've worked and waited for

You can have all you ever wanted"

I feel the need to point out that Glinda wasn't present when Elphaba sang The Wizard and I, and yet she matches the tune and meaning almost perfectly. Elphaba hasn't merely told Glinda her dream, she has shared her dream with her, and confided in her that incredibly vulnerable side of herself.

Elphaba acted so differently in The Wizard and I than in the rest of the story, she was less guarded, and more childish with that naive hope that she holds onto throughout the entirety of the show. That hope just becomes less naive and more relentless.

Elphaba has shared that naivety and hope and whimsicality with Glinda, and it's that relationship that Glinda is calling on now. Remember us, remember our dream.

However, for all Glinda's canniness and understanding of the world, she doesn't understand people, and she doesn't understand Elphaba.

Elphaba wanted to meet the wizard for a reason. She had a motive behind her dream that superseded the specifics of how it would play out.

"But I don't want it

No, I can't want it anymore"

Notice the vernacular that Elphaba uses. She can't want to be with the wizard. In her mind, doing the right thing isn't a choice. To Elphaba, good is a force that has pushed her to where she is right now, and forced her to sing this song.

Essentially, Elphaba is a paragon hero and is actively unmaking the grey morality of the setting. Often in media, "realism" is shorthand for everyone being either selfish or misunderstood. It's a pessimistic worldview of life that I don't entirely agree with.

That does happen in real life, don't get me wrong. The vast majority of the world is made up of people who are capable of actions that are good, bad, or neither.

But there are people out there who are truly cruel and evil, trust me, I've met some of them. But I've also met their opposite, people who are kind and compassionate and do what they think is right because to them, there isn't another option.

Elphaba is that second type of person, and the musical has got its audience to take this for granted at this point. But it's worth remembering that this character is the Wicked Witch of the West, the cartoon bad guy of an iconic work of literature. The musical hasn't made her more morally nuanced; it has made the world more nuanced, and that has reframed this character entirely.

The song even reminds the audience of this fact through the ensemble, just to make the juxtaposition more obvious.

"Look at her! She's wicked, get her.

No one mourns the wicked! So we've got to bring her

Down"

This is actually foreshadowing for a later song.

Back to this part, the backing of the song has spent the majority of its run time playing elaborate movements, but for Galinda and Elphaba's talk about dreams, it simplifies. Galinda gets a bare trickle of that floaty harmony, but Elphaba gets next to nothing for her line. Mostly.

This, combined with the slowing down effect brought on by the fermata (the symbol that looks like an eye), gives the conversation an intimate tone. The two have just each other to hear, and nothing to get in the way. It also frames Elphaba's line as reassurance. There is a storm coming and she is telling her girlfriend that things are going to work out ok in the end.

However, the big chords come back in on the "anymore" and lead into the key change that covers the rest of the song. This is a metaphor for the change that is happening in Elphaba's mind. As she makes her decision on how to proceed, and recognises that things are now different, the slow build up to this song's finale is finally got underway.

The rest of this song is just a build up to a final crash of sound. It rises in a few beats with the choruses, as Elphaba tests her wings, so to speak. And the song gains momentum slowly as more instruments are added.

If you thought I wasn't going to at least reference Glee's multiple performances of this song and how in that series, Defying Gravity is explicitly synonymous with queerness and pride, welcome to the blog. I make analysis posts, maybe stick around if you like this kind of thing.

"Too late for second guessing,

too late to go back to sleep"

There are two separate ideas being intertwined here. First up is the reiteration of Elphaba's inability to stop. Once again, she is doing the right thing because someone has to do it, and soon it will be too late. But the duality of this phase links that idea with the revelation about Oz. She can't go back to sleep, she can't go back to ignorance. Now that she knows what she knows, she has to act.

"Too long I've been afraid of

Losing love I guess I've lost.

Well, if that's love, it comes at much too high a cost."

This isn't particularly complex storytelling, but it's effective none the less. Elphaba is saying her realisations out loud to keep the audience up to speed. In this instance, she has been chasing acceptance, and now understands that she was never going to get it from Oz, and that what she would have to do to obtain a facade of understanding is not worth it.

The fact that my analysis of that phrase is just saying it again but slightly differently is a pretty good example of how effective the storytelling in the line is.

"I'd sooner buy defying gravity

Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity

And you can't pull me down"

The first chorus of this song is remarkably understated. It doesn't have the confidence of latter verses, and I will discuss why I think that is in a moment. The orchestra pulls back to a few instruments, and the drum plays a light rhythm on one of its... ok I my musical knowledge is a bit limited here. The bit of the drum that goes "tss tss tss", you know the one.

This gives it a light feeling that adds to the unsteady feeling of the chorus as Elphaba tests the waters and learns to fly. But she needs guidance, and support, and who does she turn to for that?

"Glinda, come with me."

This is the first time Elphaba has been thinking on the spot. Usually, she thinks everything through before she says it, but now she is running entirely on a single train of thought. I cannot stress enough how this thought process is literally: "love, kiss goodbye, Glinda". Historians will say they were close friends.

A leitmotif is a recurring musical phrase that represents a certain theme. For example, earlier in the musical, Galinda's "you deserve each other" musical phrase was repeated to show false relationships and false promises, and was also used in The Wizard and I to foreshadow the false promise of the Wizard and his gifts.

The Unlimited Leitmotif is used exclusively to symbolise Elphaba and Glinda's relationship. You can read that as platonic if you want, but there are some context clues that I would argue suggest otherwise. For example, it's called the "Unlimited" leitmotif for a reason.

As I have kept harping on about, the most valuable thing a person can achieve in this musical is freedom. This is a song about defying the laws of physics themselves. And the thing that Elphaba is offering Glinda here, the thing that is so defining for their relationship that it is literally the shorthand for it, is complete and total freedom.

Together, the two are unlimited.

The second chorus is sung together. Glinda gives Elphaba the strength of spirit to continue and is quite literally the reason she can fly in the first place.

But Glinda doesn't want that. She wants to feel in control of herself more than autonomy, and that's why the relationship falls apart. The two are doomed lovers, and it's not because one of them lies or cheats or any of that soap opera nonsense, but because they want different things out of life.

"Well, are you coming?"

"I hope you're happy

Now that you're choosing this"

"You, too

I hope it brings you bliss"

All in all, I think this breakup goes remarkably well. The two realise that their lives are taking each of them in a direction that the other cannot follow, and so they offer their goodbyes peacefully and get ready for the finale of this act.

Glinda even gives Elphaba a cloak to protect her from the elements as a final goodbye gift. Which, if you are keeping track, means that both the hat and the cloak, the Wicked Witch's most iconic visual elements besides her skin, were gifts from a very close friend.

I don't need to explain why the final chorus of this song is so good, do I? The music is phenomenal, the vocal performance is unrivaled, and it outright says half of the points I have been trying to make in this post.

I do think that the sheer skill on display here is important for the theming as well. Yes, the high note symbolises the flight and escape, yes it's synonymous with rising above petty grievances, and yes the rising is literally a reverse Deus Ex Machina. But it's also just the actress who plays Elphaba showing off and having a blast. There are no limits on her vocal performance, she doesn't have to rein in anything, and she can instead belt out a number as loud and powerfully as she wants because nobody is stopping her.

"As someone told me lately,

Everyone deserves a chance to fly"

This is a reference to something that the Wizard said to Elphaba, but when he said it, he was completely talking out of his arse. The Wizard, and a significant portion of Oz as a whole, parade around saying nebulously benevolent things, but they don't actually mean it. The Wizard has created a nation based around surveillance and oppression, there is no way that he believes in everyone getting a fair go.

The important thing to understand is that the Wizard's worldview is wrong. Everyone does deserve fairness. So his lie to appease Elphaba was in fact true. Elphaba's role in this is making that lie into a reality, by giving the people someone who will say things honestly and try to actually make the world a better place.

Finally, however, as the lights prepare to shut off and Elphaba rises into the distance. Glinda stands beneath her, looking up. She is now just another face in the crowd, but her sentiment stands in stark contrast to the rest of Oz.

Simultaneously, Glinda says goodbye, and wishes Elphaba good luck on the road ahead.

"I hope you're happy."

Final Thoughts

It needs to be understood that part of why Defying Gravity stands beside historical giants like Don't Cry For Me Argentina is the fact that it is fantastical.

Wicked is a musical about the relentlessness of hope. It is set in a world where anything is possible, and it brings that to life. Through the application of some truly impressive stagecraft, the actress who plays Elphaba genuinely flies for all to see.

This is a story that takes the impossible and makes it possible, and this is the song which cemented that theme in the minds of anyone who watched it. This song fully deserves its place as my second favourite in this musical.

That's right, my favourite is yet to come, and I'm enjoying watching y'all guess at what it is in the replies.

Next week, I will be looking at Thank Goodness and how it sets up the plot of the second act. So, stick around if that interests you.

Previous - Next

[normal-looking-male]

I saw this movie almost two years ago, but this exchange is still taking me the fuck out.

Oz fans, if you haven't seen After The Wizard... That's fine. It's really not that good, and has some questionable messaging? Maybe I'm just missing some context. Regardless, the best parts are the Tincrow road trip scenes, if you do decide to watch it for whatever reason. Lion fans will not be eating particularly well, though, unfortunately.

[owlespresso]

The Lord Commander being hopelessly enamored with his Azure Dragoon and the Warrior of Light.

Aymeric loves slowly. Patiently. He bears long years of Estinien coyly slipping in and out of his bed, refusing to define what's between them.

They busy themselves with their respective responsibilities, stealing kisses in shadows, indulging in late night rendezvouses in the offices of Estate Borel. Their history is long and storied, and that expansive, well-weathered bond is what gives him the patience to entertain the late night escapades.

He stays up into the shy, first hours of the morning, waits for Estinien to fall asleep so he can admire how the moonlight cascades across the high planes of his cheeks, caressing his cut jaw and shining silver on long strands of hair—knocked loose from his ponytail by Aymeric's long, prying fingers.

He indulges in the view for as long as he stays awake, burns the sight into the back of his retinas. For he knows all too well that Estinien, like fine silk or fresh snow, will slip through his fingers in a matter of hours and spirit off to some far flung province or state that is in need of his talents.

In Estinien's absence, the Warrior of Light slides quietly, and then not so quietly, into his life. Brief, formal meetings at Camp Dragonhead become recurring rendezvous in his personal quarters. He wiles away with you into the late night, sharing opinions and experiences over tea and hot cocoa and whatever else you may happen to desire at that very moment.

You speak of all the land you have seen, tell him of your comrades and conquests, of what you have gained and lost in equal number. He teaches you the intricacies of Ishgard's political system, introduces you to key players and ensures that your allies obtain the supplies they so desperately need to remain afloat. He takes shameful pride in showing you around the stern grey manors and palatial ballrooms of the High Houses.

Rarely does he ever have the privilege of knowing something you do not. Rarely can he ever guide you when you are so (too) frequently abroad and away from him.

He bides his time. He takes your jacket when you stumble in from the cold, stokes the fire whenever you start to shiver—calls upon the cooks when your stomach growls. He takes care of you with an indulgent diligence that does not go unnoticed by your fellow Scions, on the rare chance they accompany you to Ishgard.

That Thancred fellow is too sharp for his own good, but Aymeric has no problem with letting others see how well he takes care of you. How patient he is.

He reclines in his chair and listens to you recount your adventures through the far east. Another roaring success, an entire nation freed from Garlemald's prying grasp. You guide him through the hilly paths of Yanxia, beneath the crystalline waves of the Ruby Sea.

He sees the world through your eyes, and wonders when you became his.

Your travels, as exhilarating as they may be for him to hear about, have clearly exhausted you. He cannot help but wish that you at least had Estinien at your side to lighten the load, since he can't be there himself. The dragoon's feelings for you are as plain as day to Aymeric, who has known him for more than a decade across negotiating tables and inside old training rooms and out in the thick of battle, tossed between enemy fire and dragon's breath.

Estinien is being irresponsible by avoiding you, in his humble opinion. But he is no saint, either. When he sees you off, it's with a smile and a reassuring pat on the back, or a hand on your shoulder—gestures that would be scandalous to Ishgard's upper echelon should they see it. He watches you go, whether it's across the Steps of Faith or shimmering out of existence to reach another aetheryte.

He is not a saint, because every time he watches you leave, he wonders what he could do to make you stay.

[nebulousbren]

Fortune's Favorite

[elegyofthemoon]

MY BEAUTIFUL BOY WHO I WOULD DESTROY THE WORLD FOR

[this-geek]

OK, who wants some mildly sad Dorothy? This is the start of my 'treading the boards' series, which will be a collection of mostly unrelated fics all inpried by songs of musical theatre. The first is this:

If I Met Myself Again: T, Dorothy, super brief mention of Stan/Dorothy. A very small suggestion to abortion.

Excerpt: This was a chance to help this young woman and maybe heal the younger self she kept locked away in her mind somehow.

(The link to the song is in the fic (and is also the title), which I'm very proud of myself for managing to do because I don't understand html editing at all)

[the-patchwork-girl-of-oz]

I just saw the FNAF movie despite never having played the game and all I can think is

“Nick Chopper would relate to this”

[wtfgaylittlezooid]

I like the idea of Oz and Calc being a couple because Oz kinda got used to the mortality thing (canonically an eldritch god who ignores the immortal parts of him to have fun and make connections while waiting for everything to end) meanwhile Calc (computer learning to live and connect) is still learning and struggling

[thatoneluckybee]

finally reading morgana and oz and im gonna cry theyre so wholesome

[weisshapt]

FORMER BAKKERS

“Trin: I think grandma's heart would break if she saw how quickly her successors went through the family's supplies and tore up contracts and agreements with other clans. And the idea to join Snake Nation? We might as well have asked Raffen Shiv to line us up on the dirt and execute us. What's the difference? That was the true end of the family. That's why I, Ossian, Lil Elam, Afshin, Persia and others decided to leave. S.W.: Do you still keep in touch? Trin: No.”

ft. (in order) Vera “V” De Soto, Ossian “Oz” Mercer, Cairo (pronounced kay-ro) Bohannon, Samara Keene, Trin Bakker, “Lil Elam” Stillwater, Afshin Madani, Persia Theler, Harlo Stroud, and Bodhi Heflin

[katrinaiceheart]

Ok casual reminder that it’s a dick move to film employees. And If someone says “I can’t do anything about this because the law says I can’t” then you LET IT GO.

[gregmarriage]

i heavily relate to oswald cobblepot, bc i too walk like a penguin, and am rather sensitive about it, and wanna kill people who make fun of it

[facultyloungecosplay]

Presented without commentary.

[gay-otlc]

why does the name change process have to be so complicated though

in my state you have to post in the newspaper (which is difficult to get them to do in the first place) then get a court date, then go to court and tell them why you’re charging your name.

it’s JUST a noise that is made to get your attention!!! it’s not that complicated! if i want to change my noise why is it such a big deal!!

My friend who legally changed his name a few months ago said the court wants to make sure people aren't changing their name for purposes of tax evasion, but I agree, name changes should be easier.