thebookwyrmling

[thebookwyrmling]

I say shit like "If my memory serves me" knowing damn well it serves the dark lord

[thebookwyrmling]

sometimes i feel like im climing up this incline again alone but thankully sisypus and the itsy bitsy spider and here with me

[thebookwyrmling]

"You're losing blood" no I know exactly where it is. The floor. Don't ever underestimate me.

[thebookwyrmling]

DND is wild cause since your DM has favorite media, sometimes you find yourself in a yumeship for a show you've never watched but man if you wouldn't die for them

[thebookwyrmling]

well look who it is. my old friend. the conses of my quences.

[thebookwyrmling]

Flowers are often used as a metaphor for the female characters in the Apothecary Diaries. And for the first time, we, the viewer, are given the direct comparison to which flower is meant to represent Maomao: wood sorrel (also known as “cat’s foot”).

It’s a flower that can treat poisons. A flower that is used to enhance the beauty of the courtesans by painting their nails. A flower with a name associated with cats. A flower that, in hanakotoba, represents maternal tenderness. It’s also one of the flowers that Lakan specifically associates with Fengxian, and by extension, Maomao herself.

In the first opening—aptly titled, “Be A Flower”—the wood sorrel is the only flower that gets special attention. The other flowers are shown together with other varieties, but only the wood sorrel is shown by itself, and more than once.

We see it again in the second opening, with an infant being held by a parent, while flitting between images of Lakan and Fengxian’s backstory.

It’s such a simple flower, too. Small, unassuming, but full of diverse uses and qualities, be they medicinal or ordinary. A very fitting flower for Maomao, and what she brings to the story.

[thebookwyrmling]

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.

[thebookwyrmling]

Sometimes when I say it's getting colder,

I mean the temperature doesn't change throughout the day

no matter the addition nor absence of the

sun.

Stability where there once was none

is not only itself a change, but a sign

of more to come.

[thebookwyrmling]

Something to remember.

Books - http://debbietung.com/books

[thebookwyrmling]

don’t worry everyone the doctor who wiki has everything under control

[thebookwyrmling]

[thebookwyrmling]

I do not know enough things. When my friends or coworkers talk, I am the one who does not know about what. I have not seen that show, I do not know that news, I have missed this reference. Unless it circles my interests which are small spreading but rather deep, I usually am unaware. I am unaware of the social changes that go around me, I am behind I am always behind. I don't know where these bits of info are discovered or how they are naturally disseminated through a populace so that by the time commentary occurs in front of me, I am already so behind as the story seems already too old to ask for details. I do not consume enough media I am irrelevant, I have always been.

Yet recently this is different, through new forms of faster media and through discovering new channels, I feel somewhat ahead for once. I have new and interesting topics, not about fascinating science discoveries or niche shows my friend have heard too much of, but instead of interesting social endeavors. Strange interactions of people with followings, or important political change. My feeds blend with my old content and my new, and as always it feeds the new unless I follow my specific curated areas. At first this is good, as I feel connected and engaged in some ways, though in other my friends would not be around me this whole time were it necessary. And yet I notice as I watch a video of summary on a recent topic, my stress, my discomfort, my disdain for those we speak, my fear of the world that allows these things and I am horrified and I am angry and I am bordering hopeless. Yet on we scroll again and again. Instead I find a channel from 2007, not always intending to remain relevant, reporting the process of their charity work and I feel far more comforted and at ease. This is not news that will allow me to feel important or relevant in conversation. I am behind, i do not know what trends ebb and flow, and I am still behind on the importance of politics, and yet before then I was further at ease. But when I am behind, I do not know what dangers lurk either. And I stand unsure if which path to follow, never quite moving enough, after all I have always been behind.

[thebookwyrmling]

pls rb if you think cuddling doesn't have to be s3xual

im tryna prove a point to my bf's mother help me out

[thebookwyrmling]

did i tell u guys i got into an argument on twitter bc i said foxes are dogs and someone tried to bring up their actual fuckin. classification or whatever and i just said “foxes are dogs cause they are fluffye” and they kept arguing with me. the entire time i was like “you will not survive the immigration to tumblr you are lucky we are not there right now”

[thebookwyrmling]

Esp cause "verbal shutdown" is in fact a phrase and has always felt it far better to explain the feeling of a sudden loss of words anyway, like "going nonspeaking" doesn't feel the same and also is stealing words from other peoples experiences so like, let's not?

So um….how many times will we have to keep hearing from LSN fully speaking autistics that they’re “nonspeaking”? Or “Going nonspeaking?” Like fr fr…I’m still seeing it on instagram too. Not just Tumblr..

*sighss*

[thebookwyrmling]

Also this autism acceptance and awareness month please stop using the term going Nonverbal or going nonspeaking when you are having a temporary loss of speech. Use a term like verbal shutdown or speech loss episode instead. As a Nonverbal autistic I am tired of speaking people using the term Nonverbal or nonspeaking to describe their verbal shutdowns