It's lovely when Snape anties will passionately defend fictional rights of such fictional groups of people as muggleborns or werewolves, and say that bigotry (it's a whole other story how do they understand what bigotry even is) towards them makes a character indefensible, and the fans of that character are therefore bigotry apologists; but then will turn around and use "snivellus" as if it doesn't instrumentalize sexist stereotypes, throw lookist comments around, or spread classist takes. How defensible are YOU, then, by your own standards?🤡 How much redemption do you need to make up for insensitive comments that can apply to real, existing people, or for undermining acute real-world issues in order to boost your ego, and perform poor quality fiction alaysis?
what do u think of the portrayal of harry and ginny in the cursed child (i feel like it's so out of character, especially for harry) also that he works at the ministry and that ginny gave up her quidditch career (same goes for harry)
alright ive had this in my inbox for so long because i wanted to do this ask justice so i really hope that anon is still around to read this. in saying that harry was ‘out of character’ in hpcc, i assume you’re talking about how he was a bad/flawed father, as MANY fans have argued the same. so i will address that first and then i will talk about ginny and hinny’s careers.
disclaimer: when i say “you” im not talking specifically about anon but about fandom.
harry potter vs fatherhood
harry’s whole life resolved around being the chosen one and the prophesied saviour of the wizarding world. it was either being The Hero or being the unwanted, abused and scorned freak living with the dursleys. when thats your home life, then you tend to cling on to anything that is an escape from that— and in harry’s experience that was hogwarts.
if you really think about it, hogwarts was very nasty to harry as well. he was always getting picked on or bullied or in some life threatening danger that he got blamed for half of the time— but because it was better than living with the dursleys, his mind idolised it as a safe haven.
harry also reflects this idolising behaviour onto parental figures, especially paternal figures. he doesnt actually know his parents, only has an ideal of them in his head that was constructed as a coping mechanism to the abuse and neglect he went through at home. he projects The Perfect Father onto every one of his paternal figures (i think the only exception to this is arthur but i mayyy be wrong)— sirius and dumbledore are the biggest ones that come to mind, even though sirius only knew him for two years, and dumbledore would manipulate and use harry for the betterment of the world, which is unlike a parent who would put their child’s needs first (harry did not recognise these issues at length at the time as he was used to the idea of self sacrifice and probs understood that it came with the territory of being The Hero). harry even projected his father onto himself in PoA and nearly died from it.
in saying this, its reasonable to argue that there’s a disconnect with harry and the idea of what a good father actually is. this is challenged in the books itself (with SWM, harry seeing that james was not the Perfect Man he built up in his head), but this is challenged the most in the cursed child.
throughout the play, harry acts as the personified ideal he grew up with. easygoing, confident, wise— when in reality he is the opposite of those attributes and albus can see right through it (ginny says this to harry in the play, i would find the line but alas, im on the train rn). hes not easygoing or confident— he’s fearful that he doesn’t know what hes doing or how to be a father, and hes scared not knowing makes him a bad father. hes acted out in fear multiple times— the biggest moment is when he bans albus from seeing scorpius to keep him ‘safe.’ he has constant nightmares about his trauma as a child when living with the dursleys and not having the stability or love he craved. his ‘wise’ advice is not applicable to his children because he is harry potter, The Hero, and they are just normal kids. this is why albus and harry get on each others nerves so badly— because they are constantly stomping on each others sore spots by accident. albus doesn’t appreciate the facade that harry tries to uphold, and harry doesn’t understand why— because he’s projecting that ideal onto all of his kids, and if it works for james and lily (presumably), why doesn’t it work for albus? harry would’ve done anything for a father figure like himself!! there must be something wrong with albus!! (🙄)
now The Blanket SceneTM is very controversial and pissed off a lot of longtime fans into denouncing the entire play as canon. ive talked about it at length and since theres more to discuss in this post, i will shorten it down as best i can for you:
as a way of bonding, harry tries to give his precious blanket to albus. he believes albus may be more like him and may be able to understand the sacredness of the present unlike his siblings.
unknowingly, harry is still projecting his ideals onto albus. the blanket is only so extremely precious to him because it represents his parents, who he still views in an idolised light. therefore the blanket is the ideal.
albus scorns this ideal so he scorns the gift. however, because hes a confused and possibly depressed fourteen year old, he doesn’t communicate the rejection of this in a healthy way and basically insults the blanket by calling it old and mouldy and comparing it to james and lily’s presents, which outwardly could make him seem like a brat.
by attacking the blanket, he attacks harry’s parents and the ideal. and harry is very sensitive about this
albus then accidentally triggers very central fears surrounding being an orphan and being a father when he says “i wish you werent my dad”
harrys first thought is that albus wants him dead. at this point, hes stopped listening to albus trying to explain himself as he’s already triggered, so he’s acting in complete defence when he responds “sometimes i wish you werent my son”
this was said with the intention to hurt albus, it was a mindless act with one goal. saying this is out of character for harry is ridiculous, because he’s done the exact same thing in the books multiple times to the people he loves.
another important note: these characters trigger each other accidentally. the intent to connect is there, but there are deep seated issues on harry’s side that was never confronted leading to these issues. and as albus is a young angsty teen who does get bullied and is a little self-centred (again, very normal for a 14yo), he can’t really communicate these issues to harry effectively (harry being dismissive of the bullying (that he believes is normal for hogwarts students) albus goes through doesn’t help the situation either), leaving harry stumbling in the dark and further emboldening that The Perfect Father he imagined as a child may not exist.
ok that wasnt very economical but anyways! those are the issues! what happens next is harry spiralling and confirming those fears, being forced to confront them and deal with them, and then the steps toward healing his relationship with albus.
im not defending how harry treated albus (dismissing his bullying, lashing out, the enmeshment abuse) but offering insight and trying to explain that he was certainly in-character. i think people simply had an emotional reaction to seeing their loved character being very realistically flawed, and decided they didnt like it without doing much analysis as to why harry was acting the way he was. trauma is very complex, and theres no expiry date for it if you simply refuse to confront it or heal.
a lot of harry’s journey with interrogating the Perfect Father concept was to confront and acknowledge his inner child. he has to recognise his childhood for the childhood it was without the flashy titles or impressed ideals. the confrontation with dumbledore is the pinnacle of it— harry idolised dumbledore as a central father figure, and he realised when confronting the portrait that his relationship with dumbledore was much more complex and nuanced than he originally thought. suddenly dumbledore ceases to be an ideal, and harry sees him for the man that he was: conflicted, more uncertain in his own choices than he let on, heartbroken and self-sabotaging.
when harry presents himself at the end of the play to albus, he presents himself as human— an escapist, unsure in his decisions, insecure, and scared of the dark, small spaces and pigeons. and albus appreciates the flawed, real version of harry. those expectations and ideals that albus struggled to uphold in the face of harry’s projecting simply disappear, and he finally feels like he can adequately be harry’s son just by being.
another less obvious moment that shows this, is how harry and delphi mirror each other. delphi is the more extreme version of this— she is completely deluded in her worship for a father she never knew, so desperate for the love and respect shes built up in her mind that she’s dedicated her life to it and feels empty without the ideal to go off of. its why harry defends her when albus asks him why they shouldn’t just kill her— because hes the only one who understands the pain of being an orphan, living in an abusive household, dreams of ‘what ifs’ and what it can do to a person.
whats important to take away is that harry and albus love each other immensely, which is why they are able to turn over a new leaf at the end. it speaks of incredible strength on albus’ half, and i really want to stress that albus LOVES harry, because i see so much content about him straight up butchering or slandering harry when that is sooo not them!! if albus saw the way some of yall were misinterpreting his relationship with his dad he’d be livid. whether or not you would do the same in forgiving harry is irrelevant— albus has always wanted to have a good relationship with harry and the same goes both ways. people hurt each other, sometimes egregiously so, but when one promises change and is serious about it, than chances are there will be change. this is especially so in the case of family.
ginny weasley vs age
what is paradoxical is how self-centred harry is, despite also being very willing to sacrifice himself for other people. albus possesses a self-centredness similar to him. harry is so caught up in his own world and comparing it to albus’ situation, and vice versa. ginny is normally the middle man who can see both harry and albus for what they are and the individual worlds they inhabit, and tries to communicate effectively between them. the play mostly revolves around harry and albus, so what i’ll have to say for her will not be as in-depth.
short answer: ginny matured with age. she is probably the most mature character alongside draco, although draco does let his emotions get in the way at times (funnily enough i think this is why ginny and draco get along so well in the cursed child and are able to recognise each other for who they are). she was very brash and courageous and wonderfully chaotic in the books, but she was also blunt and impatient, which is not something thats presented in the cursed child. instead, she is VERY patient and communicates extremely well, being able to navigate both harry and albus without prodding their weak spots like they do to each other.
she offers her own experiences to albus as her own experiences, not projecting them onto him as an unequivocal truth. this can be seen in how she opens up to him about how she was exploited by tom riddle, and she lets albus draw his own comparisons to himself and delphi without pushing his experiences into a box.
her relationship with harry is interesting, because she is the only one who sees him for him and the only one that harry’s not bothered by when she makes honest judgments on his actions. he’s only okay with her seeing him for the flawed man he is. she doesn’t make him feel defensive, nor does she make him feel demonised for not knowing how to parent albus, or for messing up with him (though she does call him out when he is in the wrong, something her younger self would be quick to do too). one of the most heart wrenching scenes is when ginny blows up at harry and really screams at him about albus being missing and him being self-centred about it, making it out to be about himself and his issues surrounding fatherhood. despite this, harry does not get defensive— which shows that he trusts even her negative judgments of him because she knows him so well (very very similar to the library scene with scorpius screaming at albus over his self-centeredness as well btw).
she still possesses key qualities from her younger self, she’s just ironed out the rougher ones as she’s grown— she’s still impossibly brave, fiercely loyal, extremely devoted to those she loves and also very logical. you can tell harry and albus are more emotional than she is, which is part of the reason why she is able to construct her points so effectively. she puts her logical thinking to good use in emotional situations. i think people are forgetting that people aren’t typically going to be the same as who they were as teenagers.
why has ginny been able to grow so much in comparison to harry? because she’s recognised what she went through as a teenager and made peace with it. you can see it in the way she freely offers her own experiences about it. she’s been able to build on top of what she went through in a healthy way, and was able to experience real, healthy change. and she is so much wiser and kinder for it.
hinny vs their careers
first i’ll talk about harry because i think i have more stuff to go off of with him.
we’ve already established that hes The Hero first and foremost. after he fulfilled the prophecy and saved the world i dont think its such a stretch to argue that he may have needed another similar purpose to latch onto, and that being an auror granted him that. quidditch was fun for him, but it couldn’t give him the same purchase that being an auror could. heroes dont play quidditch, they save the world. the same could be said for neville and ron, who were also aurors at first. was it the healthiest road to go down for harry? i dont think so, but considering his characterisation in the cursed child, i think it works. ron ended up quitting to be a father, neville ended up quitting to focus on his real passion (herbology), and harry continued to cling onto The Hero image he’s used to presenting. yes, the ministry was impossibly corrupt and worked against him in his youth, but to harry that could’ve served as more of a reason to change the institution from the inside. this, i imagine, was most definitely the case with hermione, who was always an idealist.
that being said, i don’t think continuing being an auror is such a great idea post-hpcc. he at least needs a break in order to continue his job in a healthy manner and not misconstrue his identity with it.
in terms of ginny, i don’t believe she’d still be playing quidditch in her 40s. if you think about real athletes, very few of them continue playing professionally in their 40s (i think the average age is 34 but i may be wrong), especially after birthing three kids. we dont know much about her retirement, but there are many reasons one can assume ginny retired for, kids and/or age being the most reasonable deduction. its not so much a question of characterisation but more about the reality of having to give up your passion earlier than most if its sports.
despite retiring, its clear ginny is still very passionate about quidditch as shes still working within the field, just not playing the sport professionally anymore.
I still remember being in high school immediately after the Parkland shooting. My homeroom teacher looked thirty terrified teenagers in the eye and told us exactly what he would do if there was an active shooter. He said he would block the door with his body.
He told us, “I have lived a good enough life to attempt to buy you some time to jump out of the third-story windows and give you a chance to live.”
At the time, Republicans claimed that school shootings and piles of dead children were a necessary price to pay to protect the Second Amendment. They insisted the right to bear arms was absolute and untouchable.
But now? They say the Second Amendment no longer applies when the guns are being wielded by law-abiding protesters.
Now, the Second Amendment apparently doesn’t apply because ICE agents can kill someone and use the fact that he was simply legally carrying a gun as justification for that murder.
This is what matters to them more than keeping children safe and alive. It was never about the Constitution. It is about who they believe is allowed to hold the power.
Soooo this was going to be a comic but as I was scripting it out I realized that it actually works better as prose. So while I'm still working on my 13-page Dorothy comic I've been on for like a month now, have this!
It's my take on the tin-ification scene from Elphaba's perspective. I wrote it with my design in mind, this was actually a pretty big part of the development process. I wanted to sit in Elphaba's head and try to reverse engineer what her spell might've done.
If you want to read it, it's under the cut there. Content warning for body horror, though it's from an outside perspective. I have given... Probably too much thought to what "shrinking your heart" would actually mean. It's quick, but it's not pretty. Not to mention the inherent horror of being transformed into something fundamentally inhuman with no comprehension of what's happening or why. Have fun!
(also if you wanna talk about the magical logistics of anything that happens here PLEAAAAAASE say something, I've been dying to talk about it and compare interpretations!)
"Go, now!"
Elphaba slammed the doors shut and turned her attention to the man dying on the desk.
Breathe.
Panic was not acceptable right now. Panic killed. She could panic later. Right now she needed to act. In response to that thought, the Grimmerie flew open in front of her, hovering gently in the air. Nessa's -oh, Nessa-
She shook her head, forcing the distraction away.
Nessa's botched spell was destroying his heart, and that was irreversible. Whatever the Grimmerie had done was too muddled, she couldn't sift through the spell quick enough to be precise. Boq cried out -Oz, his face, I've never imagined he could make an expression like that- and Elphaba felt her pulse quicken.
The pages of the Grimmerie flipped open like a deck of cards, shuffling, shuffling, shuffling...
Breathe.
The heart was inaccessible. She needed to change things around the heart. She reached out into the magic and felt the pressure in his chest, a vacuum from the absence of flesh that had been present moments before. The book finally opened to the page she needed. A sickening lurch echoed in Elphaba's ears as Boq's heart snapped free of its connective tissue. He screamed.
She felt her stomach turn. A thought floated past her; It's just blood now.
She dove into the spell, chanting the nonsense words with frantic intensity. She didn't dare look away from Boq -sweet, stupid Boq, who lied to my sister, and hoped when he shouldn't have, and studied in the library with me, and found the poppy field- but the words flowed into her anyway, dancing off her tongue with a taste like copper. Blood rushed in her ears.
Breathe. Her free hand lifted the dying man to his feet with a wave. A metal tray slammed into his chest, bending and contorting itself to his shape, sinking into the skin with a heavy creak. He collapsed back to his knees with a dull thud. His eyes were glassy, his breathing ragged. Elphaba felt her eyes water, but she refused to even blink.
I cannot fail here. I will not fail. I will not lose a friend like this.
Elphaba pulled whatever material she could find, the whirl of the spell taking anything and everything metallic into Boq's broken form. She felt the fireplace rip open, heard the tea set collapse itself, saw nails and hinges rip themselves out of place. Plates, candlesticks, handles, even the decorative filigree of the Governor's desk. Each piece whistled through the air and struck him with a crack.
Elphaba could only hope that he would go unconscious from the pain, because now she was sure he had screamed his throat raw. It was a desperate, crackling sound, wet with blood and thin with terror.
She kept chanting.
"Why?"
"For your bouquet! I'm picking one for everybody."
Elphaba took the poppy in her left hand, considering it. It was a full, deep red. Glancing back at Boq, she saw a pale yellow poppy threaded into a button hole in his sweater vest. He gave her an awkward, crooked smile, but just about everything with Boq was a little awkward and crooked. She narrowed her eyes.
"But why would you pick one for me?"
His brows furrowed, like he was genuinely confused by the question.
"You know you count as a part of the 'everybody', right?"
"Many would disagree with you."
That just made the crease in his forehead deeper.
"I'm not asking them," he responded "I'm asking you."
The bluntness surprised her a little more than she'd like to admit.
"Why would it matter what I thought?" She asked.
"Because we're friends."
Chest. Legs. Arms. Jaw. The silver reflected the setting sun glowing through Nessa's window. It might've been beautiful if it were anything else. An acrid burning smell flooded Elphaba's nose. Her eyes stung.
She blinked. He said it so simply, like it was obvious. As though he couldn't believe that she hadn't thought of it first. She must've stared at him a little too long, because he glanced to the side and let out a nervous chuckle.
"We are friends, aren't we?"
He asked, the question tinged with... Hopefulness? Elphaba couldn't be sure. She considered him again, skeptical green eyes meeting warm brown ones.
She felt a soft smile creep through her typically stoic demeanor. She was starting to get used to the feeling. She put the poppy behind her ear, pulled one more for Dr. Dillamond, and stood up. She offered the crook of her arm to Boq, and they walked back to the clearing together, each with a small bouquet in hand.
Boq's eyes rolled to the back of his head, and all the pained tension in his body unfurled in a wave, sending him back to the floor in a heap. She kept chanting. The metal had fused into his clothes, into his skin. Everything was starting to blur together as she transmuted the fabric, but there just wasn't enough.
Boq floated up into the air, gently spinning.
She grit her teeth, flexed her hands, and pulled. The metal stretched and thinned, melting across his form. She felt the flesh it covered wither and die, and she swallowed bile.
Just a little more.
It crept up his forehead and eclipsed his ginger curls. The silver wave reached over and around his back, fully encasing his torso. It curled around his hand from the wrist like a shining glove, matching the opposite arm. It was a great metal cocoon in the vague shape of a person. All at once the metal around his joints crunched inwards, peeling away from the outer layer, and she held it tight, building the armature for his limbs as his bones rapidly shriveled away. The pieces of the metal shell remained intact, shaping themselves into silhouettes of his features. He was fully hollow save the frame.
Like a bug. She thought hysterically. I've turned my friend into some awful beetle- She shook the thought away. She was still chanting. Blood still rushed in her ears. Whose blood? It must have been hers. Boq didn't have blood anymore. It was all on her hands, staining her green skin. Red. Deep red. Had they really ever been any other color? Beads of sweat fell from her forehead. Her lips were dry. Something hit the floor.
When had the chanting stopped?
Elphaba felt the spell energy drain from her body. It ran from her fingertips and pooled in her mouth with a foul aftertaste, like a coin sitting on her tongue. She leaned forward in a lightheaded haze, raising her hand once more. The metal man lifted up off the floor and was laid gently on the sofa by the ruined fireplace. Despite all her caution, Elphaba winced when he landed on the cushions with a clatter.
She let her arms fall, resting her hands on her lap. She reached up to touch her cheek, and her fingers came away wet.
When had that happened?
When had she sat down? Was she ever going to get up? It didn't feel like it. It felt like she was being crushed in an iron cage.
Fitting, isn't it?
She really should get control of her thoughts sometime soon. She heard the Grimmerie fold itself up and nestle itself into her bag, like a dog returning to a beloved companion. Her eyes never moved.
He was... Unrecognizable. A clumsy imitation of a man. But he was alive. By some definition, somewhere. She didn't know. Nothing made sense.
Selfishly, she hoped he wouldn't hate her. Another memory swam behind her eyes.
Musical/songs that remind me of HP pairs/character relationships (btw, I’m saying this without caring for the context of the musical):
Hinny:
Seventeen (but only the first part): traumatized teenagers fighting in a war that isn’t theirs. I specifically think of that scene in DH where Harry talks alone w/Ginny and they kiss and stuff (this song alone makes me ship Hinny more than the 7books combined)
Drarry/ Draco&Harry
What is this feeling?: It’s literally the epitome of Drarry. The way they always keep circling back to each other, looking at their direction. It can either feel like the entirety of their relationship on the seven books (and all the singers are friends of both or people from their houses cause Slytherin/Gryffindor animosity) or 8thyear-roommates-Drarry fic with the whole school hating Draco cause of the DE thing w/a Harry who’s become rapidly obsessed with Draco Malfoy. (Also I’m throwing in Defying Gravity cause why the f not?)
Something There: Mostly 8th year based (lots of 8th years, can you tell I read fanfics?), where Harry begins to see a… different side of him? (Not necessarily hidden, but previously unavailable to him). Also, cue Moaning Myrtle, nearly-Headless Nick, Peeves and all the ghosts at Hogwarts who are just waiting for them to get their shit together
I won’t say I’m in love: I’m specifically imagining all the Slytherins singing this to a Draco who’s having a mental breakdown in a corner
Lovely night: the enemies to lovers are enemy lovers-ing. Also, “in your poliéster suit” “it’s wool” is such a Drarry exchange
Would you fall in love with me again?: I’m specifically imagining all the alternative realities and stories and how they fall in love in every single one. Funnily enough, I have no clue who’s singing who. Sometimes I think it’s Harry singing as Odysseus, with him being the exhausted hero who comes back absolutely wrecked. Sometimes, I can also think of Draco, atoning for the scenes he’s committed (in a Desolación level of sins). In the end whoever, I think they’ll always be waiting for the other, so who knows
Molly x Arthur
It only takes a taste: pretty self explanatory. Food, pastries and love
Since we have Arthur mentioned I’m also putting Part of Your World as one of his songs (this may or may not be a joke)
Slipping through my fingers for my dear Mrs Weasley (I’ll give this song to Narcissa Malfoy as well, and like, any mom in the HP universe)
Speaking of Narcissa, shout-out to Desolación Narcissa Malfoy, that reminds of the song Used to be mine
(I have too many songs that remind me of Desolación, should I make a playlist?)
Scorpius&Harry
We’ll be fine: just thinking of a scenario where Harry has a fight with Albus (because of course he does), but then that somehow gets to Harry giving Scorpius a chance by helping him somehow (escape bullies, an actual threat, idk). Then they have a heart to heart conversation and Harry ends up really liking Scorpius so yippee for Scorbus!
(Scorpius&Harry dynamics give me Telemachus&Athena vibes in general)
Drastoria
We become we: in a universe where they were arranged to be engaged I genuinely think that this song would be their song. I cannot for the life of me not think of them whenever I listen to it
All I’ve Ever Known: I’ve always imagined Astoria to be a lonely girl so the lyrics I was alone so long I didn’t even know that I was lonely feel right. Also, just thinking of them dancing in a bridge barefoot or sum shit like that
Romione/Golden Trio
Something there: Emma playing Belle may influence this decision but I still think it makes sense for the characters. Background singers include the entirety of Gryffindor that’s just bored seeing the most obvious piece of slow burn slow burn
Wait for me (reprise): Literal summary of DH with Romione on the side. The fates are the Horcruxes like the locket, the workers are the DA, general Orpheus/Eurydice interactions scream Romione
(I need to get more Romione songs, I can’t believe I only have so little)
Sirius&Harry
I can’t help but wonder: I know we already have Those voices (fantastic song, I freaking love it), but just imagining Sirius saying “oh Harry, look how much you’ve grown” and “the things you’ve had to suffer, and the strength you hold within” brings me to tears
Speaking of Harry, I’m just gonna put it here and say that the forest sacrifice scene gives Our World was wide enough (specifically the Alexander Hamilton monologue)
Draco&Tonks/ Teddy&Delphinus
What else can I do: in an alternative universe where they do meet somehow I think this would be them. For T&D, im specifically thinking of a story where T helps D embrace her metamorphogus powers (in my brain she’s one)
Remadora
The dancing and the dreaming: Remus singing this to Tonks after leaving her in DH is my Roman Empire
Snirius
Dangerous Game: every single time that they insulted each other in book five I felt tension dripping from the pages. They coulda just kissed but people in their thirties Can be weird
Adding to my Hinny list, I would like to volunteer the song Only Us as like an after the war event. Like, Ginny who’s tired of thinking of the past, Harry who longs to be understood and actually seen by someone. Do y’all feel it?
I'm curious about what boq siblings look like now, after seeing the posts you made, pls I want more
Oh buddy boy do I have something for you
Here they are! This is what they all look like at the last point Boq saw them. Maybe one day I'll actually finish this piece properly lmao but right now I'm Tired.
Specifically this is the photo they took for the eldest brother's wedding, one of the few photos they have (Photography is still an expensive pain in the ass at this point in Oz).
Here's all of them from left to right:
Banda Woodsman, 12 (Standing)
Boq Woodsman, 18
Yen Woodsman, 4 (Sitting)
Jinji Woodsman, 11 (Standing)
Rin Woodsman, 42
Cama Woodsman, 2
Jol Woodsman (née Chopper), 22
Quin Woodsman, 22
Fern Woodsman, 3
Bfee Woodsman, 44
Gala Woodsman, 8
Jek Woodsman, 15
I just ripped Bfee from the Maguire book. I also took the background, so Boq's family are largely farmers, woodsmen, and carpenters. Bfee is a farmer, and his family has been running this particular farm in Rush Margins for generations. This is where Boq grew up.
Munchkin names are so much harder to come up with than you'd think lmao. I ended up picking a bunch of syllables and shuffling them around until they stopped sounding terrible.
I have three cute little nods to the original Baum books;
Jol's maiden name, because LFB Tin Man is a guy from Munchkinland named Nick Chopper.
Jinji is a spinoff of Jinjur, one of the few named female Munchkins I was able to find. This is not indicative of Jinji's personality, don't worry lmao
He's not featured here because they haven't met yet, but during the time skip Jek gets a boyfriend called Hillen Amee, which is a direct reference to Nimmie Amee (Nick Chopper's (ex)fiancee). I thought it would be fun to hint that both the Chopper and Amee families do somehow exist in this version of Oz and have at least a tangential relationship with The Tin Man.
More character specific stuff under the cut
This is just a bunch of random shit I decided is true while sketching these guys out
Quin has the Eldest Sibling Curse (almost all of his siblings will grow up to be taller than him)
Banda is Little. She is So Small.
Jek is Big. Big Tall. He's 15 and he's already taller than his dad, and he's not done yet.
Quin is a tailor! He designed and made his and Jol's wedding attire.
That little cat thing that Fern is holding? Boq made that. He used whittling and carving as an outlet for anxiousness. And he was anxious a LOT. So his siblings get lots of cute little things to decorate their room with. Fern is obsessed with that little cat, she refuses to go anywhere without it.
Oz has lots of different commitment ceremonies and legal joinings and whatever, but what's relevant here is that the Emerald City specifically popularized the practice of exchanging jewelry as part of a marriage ceremony. Rings are common, but so are necklaces and earrings. Each spouse will wear an identical piece. Bfee and Rin have necklaces, Quin and Jol have earrings.
Ended up with a bunch of Munchkin wedding headcanons so here we go: Munchkin weddings are colorful as fuck. The ones getting married dress in as many colors as possible, sharing the palette, with the exception of one signature color. The wealthier you are, the more colors you can afford. In the case of these guys the joint palette was pink and blue, then Quin had red, and Jol had yellow. The families will dress to match, so all the Woodsmans wore red, and all the Choppers wore yellow. The newlyweds are always the most colorful. Showing up to a Munchkin wedding with more than like 2 colors is like showing up to a Christian wedding in white. Major dick move
I’m thinking about Wicked tonight, specifically why Elphaba ends up with Fiyero instead of Glinda in the musical despite Elphaba and Glinda having the more well-rounded relationship.
You could chalk it up to the writers wanting a heteronormative ending (and I’m certain that’s part of it) or the fact that Elphaba and Fiyero had a love affair in the book. But I think there’s a bit more nuance to it.
The whole point of Glinda’s character is that she upholds the status quo of Oz. No matter how much she loves Elphaba or sympathizes with the plight of the Animals, she will always align herself with the current system and those in power. And as long as that remains the case, a relationship between her and Elphaba is futile because Elphaba will not give up her cause.
Elphaba and Glinda represent to different ends of a spectrum. Elphaba resists the oppressive forces in Oz, while Glinda upholds them. But Fiyero is somewhere in the middle. He starts out privileged and carefree like Glinda, but quickly turns to Elphaba’s side. He does become Captain of the Guard, but only to find Elphaba and help her evade arrest.
And therein lies the difference between Glinda and Fiyero as love interests to Elphaba. Glinda would never sacrifice her title as “the Good Witch” and all her power granted from the Wizard, even if it meant helping Elphaba. Fiyero, on the other hand, does give up his privilege, his title, and even his human form for Elphaba. Glinda clings to what the status quo gives her, while Fiyero ultimately rejects it.
Yes, the writing around Elphaba and Fiyero’s romance is a bit rushed and doesn’t have the same gradual development that Elphaba and Glinda have. And yes, I have no doubt heteronormativity played a role in giving Elphaba a male love interest in the end. But I see a lot of people write off Fiyero and his relationship with Elphaba and I just don’t agree.
Why does Elphaba end up with Fiyero instead of Glinda? Because Fiyero makes the sacrifices that Glinda wasn’t willing to.
Sorry to post Wicked discourse and I get it’s just memes, but some of y’all don’t really understand what an incel or a “nice guy” is😅
Like it’s not just a guy who has an unrequited crush and is upset about it. It’s specifically a guy who has an unrequited crush, and then acts entitled to their crush’s love and turns hateful and cruel when they don’t get it. Boq was pretty normal about Glinda not returning his feelings for the five years he was crushing on her, and didn’t ever hate or blame her for ignoring him/being with someone else.
His crash out wasn’t because he was rejected by a girl, it was because he was turned into a horrifying metal monster without a heart, which is like… valid. That’s not an incel, that’s just a dude reacting to body horror. Even though he’s unjustly blaming Elphaba and maybe now hates Glinda too, his main issue is in fact the whole tin man thing. Not the romantic rejection.
Yeah, I get why some people would find him annoying but I've heard so many wildly uncharitable anti-Boq takes where it feels like people are just grasping for a reason to see this socially awkward college kid as evil incarnate, even before he turned against Elphaba. Like, the worst things this guy ever did, prior to his Tin Man body horror crashout, were "annoy Glinda" and "not be fully honest with Nessa about the fact that he still has feelings for Glinda." Which are flaws, yes, but not worse than the character flaws the rest of the cast display. (Also characters are supposed to have flaws.)
I think so far, the most unhinged take I've heard about him was a YouTube video arguing that the travel bans Nessarose enacted on Munchkins and Animals in order to keep him her prisoner was his fault because it would never have happened if he hadn't "led her on."
Hot take but I do think the “it’s about the girls/ everything else will be a distraction” harms the wicked movies more than it helps. As a different medium the movie has opportunities to answer more questions, fix plot holes or develop the side characters.
Having more well rounded side characters would be helpful to Elphaba and Glinda’s stories! It would dlesh out the world and their relationships, rather than turning into a Tell> show situation. I don’t think slightly more Dorothy crew or giving more time to the full charmed circle and what they meant to each other would be all that much either?
When I criticize jk Rowling do not assume I always hated Harry Potter. I knitted hogwarts house scarves. I got my first binder to dress as Draco Malfoy for Halloween. I reread the books multiple times. I read probably every pottermore article there was at the time.
I’m not here to validate your smug feelings about not liking a children’s book series 20 years ago. I’m here to discourage others from spending money on it and to give myself and others words and space to work through some feelings. I’m a trans person that made Harry Potter one of my cornerstone interests. One of my favorite things. I’m not some cis person doing cope.
Harry Potter was a big thing. Like. Big in a way that’s difficult to fully understand. It still is. If you were caught up in it during your formative years it’s normal to need to process all of the horrid things now associated with it.
Having to burn down the house you grew up in is going to be hard even if it turns out that the house was always rotten from the inside out. Even if it turns out that the foundation was made of straw. But the destruction and deconstruction must happen if one hopes to move on and move forward. That’s why I talk about it at all.
