defy

[ofcommotions]

populcr·:

      PLAN SEEMS TO WORK , FIGURE MOVING TO SIT UP AT LAST ! the bright smile only seems to widen. in all honesty , giggles have to be suppressed at ELPHIE’S demonstration of counterfeit delight. okay , so perhaps the mention of the young man wasn’t the best idea. he wasn’t so bad. but more importantly , EVERYONE was going to be at this party & they were not about to disappoint all her fans – friends. plus , how could the two of them possibly miss a chance to get DRUNK. cue an even more obnoxious GLINDA. oh no , they would NOT miss this opportunity.

      once off the bed , the blonde straightens. there’s a light bounce to her stance , EXHILARATION evident. hands quickly reach out , taking careful hold of the woman’s hair , to lay it over shoulders. a sweet screech slips between glowing lips. she always looks so – BEAUTIFUL. & with a big , bright smile she looks it all the more. ah ! focus GLINDA !

      one final brush of fingers over her locks , a quick pat to keep them in place. a breath is taken , pout subsequently following as words process. NOT PINK. well , that’s mainly the color she has. aside from the occasional white & yellow , but really nothing looks quite as good as a gorgeous pink dress – plus , the only DRESSES she has are pink.

      ❛ he is – but ! you know what’s NOT an idiot ? & definitely not pink – a rosé dress ! it’s PERFECT ! lemme get it ! ❜ there’s little time for the other to reply before she’s scurrying out of the room. a hop , skip to her bed & there lies the dress. beautiful – just like HER.

      clothing is collected into one hand , the other grabbing at her make - up , perfume , & anything else she’ll need to help her BEST FRIEND out. the process is quick , fear that if she leaves the roommate alone she might change her mind. things are tossed on the bed , excluding the dress that sits in her hands. peeking around it , she expects a SMILE to greet her.

      ❛ see ?! isn’t it the most BEAUTIFUL dress you’ve ever seen ? & i’m giving it to you. because i’m so nice. so , you can’t NOT wear a gift , ELPHIE. & i got perfume & the BEST lipstick ! ❜ there’s that squeal. ❛ i’m gonna make you look SO CUTE ! ❜

There seems to be a long list of things that Eli allowed Glinda to do that no one else could. Calling her anything other than Eli was one, sleeping in her bed was two, touching her hair was at least three. It appeared longer every passing day. It was more than a little alarming. Alarming as her heartbeat as Glinda arranges the long braids in what Eli has to assume is a less disheveled look. Perhaps it was the way Glinda touched her that made Elphaba surrender -- always delicate and well meaning. 

In a blink of an eye the blonde has disappeared -- lord only knew how she could move that quickly when she was up to something. A small smile plays on her lips before she repeats the chosen word to the empty room. “Rosé. Rosé? Glinda, that means pink!” Dread fills her chest as she catches sight of herself in the one mirror she’s hung in her bedroom. A small, bedraggled figure in her giant black t-shirt and sweat pants stares back with tired eyes. 

There’s something amusing about Glinda’s lithe frame carrying the huge load of supplies into her room, and a chuckle forces itself from Elphaba’s lips. But the dress -- the dress is most definitely pink and very, well, Glinda. It practically had her name emblazoned in rhinestones across the front. The idea of her boyish figure in something Glinda probably looked flawless in was nearly comical.

And it’s not that Eli hates dresses! She’s more partial to them than pants, as she hates feeling confined by clothing. But the thing was they were never meant to be pretty. Nothing about Elphaba was intended to be pretty. Just functional.

“You really don’t have to do that, Glinda...”

She doesn’t have to look up to see the pout that her friend is likely wearing, she can feel it. Her cheeks flush, turning about as rosé as the beautiful garment. But big warm eyes are peering at her with a smile that could rival the sun. How on earth is she supposed to say no to her? “I’ll try it on, but it’ll look silly...-- turn around.” She smiles sheepishly as she touches the fabric as if she’ll ruin it any second. 

[ofcommotions]

rapscallicns·:

“Everything’s fine. Why wouldn’t it be fine?” She found herself answering reflexively.

Strangers asked her the question all the time but - it had reminded her of her mother. Half the time, her mother never stayed long enough to hear the answer. This girl, however, was still - standing in the doorway.

Natalie sighed, and turned away from the sheet music fully, sitting backwards on her piano bench. “I’m a little bit stuck. But the tangle will un-work itself if I keep practicing. I just have to keep practicing.”

She wasn’t really convinced herself - music was breaking her apart at a faster pace than it was putting her back together - but the other girl didn’t have to know that. It was just a question - formality, politeness. Didn’t matter. No one really cared anyway - invisible girl that she was. 

The quick answer is tossed back quickly, expected and unsurprising. Eli’s clunky black boots stay rooted in place. Her expression doesn’t change though. Not one of disbelief or even sympathy, but understanding. Concern, just very awkwardly handled - the only way she seemed to handle things. She knew the words she was meant to say, but they felt too ridiculous to mutter to this girl who probably felt the same way about them as Elphaba did. Bullshit.

A slow nod is given in reply, she could relate. Come to think of it, she was lucky to have someone like Glinda to rouse her from her studies when she locked herself away with a stack of books. But was that the right move here? She didn’t know. She wasn’t good at these things. 

But it felt wrong to leave the girl to pound away at the piano all night until her fingers bled. 

She cleared her throat again before speaking. “Do you want to take a break? We could go get a burger or something -- well, I don’t eat meat -- but you can. Or whatever. Sometimes when I get stuck I just need to eat something.” 

[ofcommotions]

populcr·:

      DAY BEGINS LIKE ANY OTHER , sun - kissed locks brush over pale shoulders. fingers rubs tired orbs , bright light from outside not quite reaching through tinted windows. shades keeping the place dark. hand drops to land gently – though not on the BED. there’s a figure laying beside her , & now that she thinks about it – this isn’t is her room. this is not the first time , nor will it be the last. the young ACTRESS feels a certain comfort in this room , on this bed , near HER. friendship that’s all it is. so , when she has a bad night, the student has NO PROBLEM sneaking into the room & bed.

      despite this , the day is still young & the woman’s intentions are not to AWAKEN her roommate. as quietly as possible , which is a miracle in itself for the young one. lithe , nimble feet pull her toward the door. & once she’s on the other side of it , a deep BREATH & a bright smile pulls at rosé lips. with haste , she’s put to work. a shower , clothing , drying hair , make - up – in other words EVERYTHING necessary to start her day. of course each one is coupled with a solo , duet & a run of lines. the silence is officially broken , & process takes MUCH longer than necessary. as she needs to stop occasionally to take a look at herself , or purely getting caught up in a song.

      once done , the infamous GLINDA has on an amaranth colored dress & make - up to match. heels can wait until ELPHIE is ready to go ! hair is curled with a pink bow to complete. after several minutes of observing her reflection in the mirror , the next step is to be taken. waking up her BEST FRIEND !

      rushing back into the room , careful hands spread the curtains open to allow the light in. a hum slips between ROSY lips , thespian crawling on the bed to shake her awake.

      ❛ ELPHIE ! it’s time to wake up ♬ ❜ the classic tone playing on tongue. ❛ i have a GREAT plan for today ! we’re gonna go to a party ! that – wait for it – FIYERO’S throwing ! c’mon sleepy head ! i have the P E R F E C T dress for you ! & if it doesn’t fit you – since you’re kinda short – we can go SHOPPING ! ❜

      ofcommotions II s.c.

The first time Elphaba woke up to her roommate laying in bed next to her, she nearly had a heart attack. The two had barely gotten past the bitter bout of animosity that had been the beginning of their unlikely friendship, first of all. ( Eli was just starting to allow calling it that -- after all, they’ve never had a friend before. Not really. ) Not to mention the fact that the woman was not used to casual physical contact. Her cheeks had felt so warm she would have sworn they were on fire! But Glinda was so peaceful looking & at least quiet for once, so how could she find the heart to wake her? 

The next morning was spent avoiding eye contact and sulkily munching on avocado toast.

Now when Eli wakes for her usual four am water break, she doesn’t even blink a tired eye at Glinda’s sleeping form. Braids knotted up into a bun and tied with a scrunchie, they trudge into the kitchen for their glass of water. A strange comfort is willfully ignored as she lays back next to her friend. Nope, not gonna address that! 

In any other situation being jostled awake by two small hands and a cheerful voice would make the woman contemplate violence. Instead a groan exits chapped lips, Eli flopping over to avoid the light that scolds her squinted eyes. “Why are you doing this to me?” Words are muffled into a pillow. As soon as it becomes clear that ( as per usual ) Glinda isn’t planning on giving up and letting her sleep, she sits up with clear reluctance. 

“Fiyero. Hooray.” Elphaba grumbles the words flatly, voice still rough with sleep. Tugging the scrunchie out of her hair, the long tendrils fall back against her shoulders as she finally gazes at her friend. Dark orbs blink once, twice. Something flutters in her stomach, and she has to will her thoughts back to Fiyero to distract from how pretty Glinda looks. 

“He’s an idiot.” She rasps half-heartedly, finally dragging herself off the bed. “Let’s see the dress...-- it better not be pink.”

[ofcommotions]

rapscallicns·:

@ofcommotions wanted a starter!

It was a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

She failed a calc quiz first thing in the morning, then some moron spilled hot coffee down her shirt and made her late to music theory. Professor Sangster was late to his own pointless philosophy seminar and then dragged out the lecture for another hour, which she wasn’t even sure he was allowed to do.

And the icing on top of this mess, truly, was how absolutely abysmal the Apassionata was going. The practice room after classes ended was usually a source of endless solace but now it was just - hell. Natalie was acutely aware of every single time she stopped abruptly, caught on the wrong note or in the wrong rhythm, and she could feel the growing nausea in the pit of her stomach and behind her eyes that made her head ache.  

Then, of course, she felt the tell-tale shift in the atmosphere that indicated another person in the room in her last run through and fizzled off abruptly, right in the middle of a passage she’d supposedly had down pat. Great. Just. Great.

“Look.” Natalie turned around to the figure in the open doorway, “I don’t know what you want but I’m trying to practice so can you just get it over with?”

Elphaba wasn’t really a creative type, relatively speaking. Sure, she could invent things, but her mind is pretty strictly scientific. She had a little secret though, she liked to sing sometimes. It was probably the only slightly fond memory she had of attending her father’s church services all throughout her youth. As much as she strayed away from her family, she loved them very much, and occasionally felt a guilty sort of longing to see them again. On those days singing helped the strange homesickness that made her chest ache. 

Singing was private to her, something she told no one about. Singing in her apartment wasn’t an option, if her roommates heard she’d probably have to move rather than face any comments. Luckily she went to a school with an extensive arts program and expensive facilities like sound-proof practice rooms. 

As she entered the long hallway of rooms (that were generally fairly empty at this hour) she was greeted by the sounds of clunking piano keys, notes clashing messily together. As she passed by an open doorway she saw the source, a small figure hunkered over, shoulders tense in clear frustration. It reminded her a bit of herself, and that’s probably why she ended up standing dumbly in the doorway for longer than intended.

“Sorry, I was just...listening. You, um, are you okay?” Eli asked awkwardly after clearing her throat.

[ofcommotions]

soulxfaman·:

  Charlie picked up the pen and signed, glancing up at her. “Oh God please don´t call me sir, that makes me feel old.” He then only half joked before handing the clip board and pen back to her. “So…why do they kill the animals anyways? Couldn´t they just be like…a normal shelter instead?”

That got a smile out of her. “Fair enough. I’m Eli, by the way.” They took the clipboard back as it was handed off, looking down at the signature with a sense of pride. “Well, if they’re too full they’ll put animals down rather than finding some other shelter. Or if the animal has just been there longer than they deem fit. So, if the animal is older or a stigmatized breed like a pit bull or a rottweiler. A lot of cats get put down just because there are so many.”

[ofcommotions]

neverstcpdreaming·:

ₒ°♢ — WHEN vlad spotted the young activist on the street, he briefly considered turning the other way or brushing them off, like his younger self would’ve done all those years ago. but he was different now, less careless and more politically engaged, and he reminded himself that ninety percent of the time, these people had something very important to say. as they approached each other, vlad politely smiled back as she asked him if he wanted to sign a petition. “ uhm, yeah, sure, ” he said with a quick nod, clearing his throat as he waited for her to hand him a pen. “ if i may ask, how long have you been out here ? are you the only one going around for signatures at the moment ? ” vlad then asked, not being fully sure why he was asking all these questions. he was probably just interested in her motives.

A friendly face was rare, let alone one that was willing to listen. But someone who asked questions was entirely uncommon. “Thank you so much.” Eli smiled, passing the clipboard and pen. “I’ve been out here about three hours today. I’m the only one in this neighborhood today. I know there’s some people in midtown and soho.” They explained. “To be honest, i’m not usually out on the street like this -- i’m not really...a people person. I usually organize rallies and social media campaigns. But we’re getting really close to our signature goal and it’s really important to me to get this place closed for good.” 

[ofcommotions]

overtcres·:

“That bad , huh ?”Emma could understand why the pedestris were giving Eli a wide berth.Every one in the city had better places to be and con artists were a common occurrence.But she couldn’t help but have some empathy for Eli.Working in retail she could recognise the look of having to be polite to strangers when you’re dying inside.”Sure , it couldn’t hurt.What’s this for anyway ? Is it like an animal rights thing?”

“Dude, thank you so much.” Eli smiled, even for the fact of someone stopping to listen to her. “Kill shelters are animal shelters that put down animals once they become full, or even if an animal has just been there for a certain time without being adopted. This shelter has specifically been putting down pitbulls. There’s been a disgusting trend of people adopting pitbulls from craigslist and taking them here to be put down.” The details weren’t exactly pretty, but that’s why she stood on the street for hours at a time begging strangers to pay attention to her.

[ofcommotions]

soulxfaman·:

   Charlie, almost tripping over his own feet as he was topped by the woman, needed a moment to gather himself. Kill Shelter? It vaguely rang a bell in the back of his mind, but he couldn´t quite put it all together. Still, it didn´t sound nice. “Uh. Sure. Where do I sign?”

A genuine smile graced Eli’s face, relieved that she at least got one signature today. “Right here, just need your name and address for the sake of proving you’re a real person. We won’t send you anything, I promise.” She passes the clipboard and pen, pointing to the line for his signature. “Thank you so much, sir -- thousands of innocent animals are killed each year in these places.”

[ofcommotions]

loverinthestars·:

“petition?” Rydell mimicked, a tight smile coming over his features. “You know those things are USELESS unless there’s an election going on, right?” He didn’t even take the time to glance at the paper. “maybe you should try again in a year or so,” Rydell was already pushing past her.

Eli wasn’t a stranger to reply of apathy, but being ignored all afternoon had worn her thin. Not to mention the nerve of this guy! “Hey!” They shouted, following behind him in quick stomps of clunky black boots. “This organization shut down a shelter in Harlem last year. Just say you don’t care about dead puppies and go, you don’t have to be an asshole!” 

[jynandor]

[ofcommotions]

“‘Scuse me!” Eli struggled to catch the attention of yet another passerby. Huffing, she tapped a pen against the clipboard she clutched to her chest. She caught the eye of the next person, and with some effort forced a smile across her clearly agitated features. “Hey, i’m trying to shut down the kill shelter in Queens -- would you consider signing my petition?” 

[narupity]

elphaba: blithe smile, lithe limb, she who’s winsome, she wins him, gold hair with a gentle curl

elphaba:

[ofcommotions]

loverinthestars·:

—TEEMING WITH anger, Kenickie lashed out, kicking the tire of his car. “for FUCKSAKES can’t I go anywhere?” He growled. The damn thing had busted down on his way home from the store, and he had about three days worth of frozen dinners (the only thing he could make) melting in the backseat. Almost immediately, Kenickie was overwhelmed with REMORSE. “I’m sorry baby girl, s’not your fault,” he said, placing a loving hand on the car’s frame. It might have been a hunk of junk, but it was his hunk of junk. “We’ll find a way outta this,”

Men assigning female names and pronouns to objects always irritated Eli. If there was a sociological reason or not, they weren’t sure. Like many things it just jabbed at her always kinda present annoyance, but at the moment she kept it to herself. A thick brow arched as the willowy figure surveyed the pitiful scene, tugging out her other earbud. “Need some help?” Eli Thropp was pretty much the furthest a person could look from helpful, but they couldn’t just leave the poor dude there. “Looks like your day is going even shittier than mine.”

[ofcommotions]

musicxlmuses·:

To say that Christine was a loud person would be an understatement (she wasn’t spending this much money on college to not learn how to project). The singing in her room carried through her apartment building and even out windows. She stopped when she heard a knock at the door. “Hi, neighbor!”

Eli wasn’t the type to go out of their way for confrontation. Strike that. Eli wasn’t the type to go out of their way for confrontation about little things. Things like neighbors. However -- the girl next door was wearing her patience thin. A short, weak twitch of lips served as a pseudo smile as the door swung open. “Do you know what time it is? Don’t answer that. It’s nine. Nine pm.” Eli mumbled in a flat voice, eyes squinted.

[gael-garcia]

Zoë Kravitz and a puppy in Portlandia 2.05: Breaking Up

[ofcommotions]

( *✧ zoe kravitz, pansexual, intersex demigirl ) — have you seen ELPHABA “ELI” THROPP, the 23 year old STUDENT that’s ALTRUISTIC, but also WRATHFUL? in another life, she/they were known as ELPHABA from WICKED. [ VIOLET, 21, SHE/HER, EST ]

and last but not at all least my true child, my fave witch, eli. ( it feels weird calling her eli but I can’t let this lil idiot have a weird ass name in the 21st century lmao ) there’s.....gonna be a lot here, so thank you in advance if you read it all!!

trigger warnings for trans / non-cis phobia, slight parental abuse, death

so wicked is my favorite book ever basically so I can’t really help but make this like 95% book-elphaba but there’s def musical elphie in here too. specifically this is book-elphaba in the shiz chapters and a little bit of the oz chapters, before she’s basically too callous and intense to function. (side note: if you’re a fan of the musical and you like big weird dark fantasy books I highly recommend the book!!)

so, firstly to replace elphaba’s green-ness I decided that (as it’s implied heavily in the book that she’s not exactly cisgendered) she was born intersex. I kicked around making her trans but due to the Nessa situation (more on that later) elphaba needed a birth abnormality (for lack of a better term). tragic backstory time !

elphaba was born with female genitalia and male internal sex organs. her father (...not actual biological father) was disgusted and if not for her mother, would have given her up for adoption. years later, when her mother became pregnant once more, the man forced her mother to take experimental medications to hopefully prevent anything out of the ordinary. the medications made the baby come early, however, and their mother didn’t survive. nessarose’s legs were paralyzed. elphaba was blamed by both her father and herself.

there were times her father seemed to love her, just maybe. but there was an underlying effort being made to do so, one that was very difficult for him. as a minister he liked to prove his holiness in the fact that he accepted elphaba’s “abnormalities”. if he could love elphaba, if god could love elphaba, they could love anyone. nessarose has always been the clear favorite -- pretty and (mostly) perfect. every moment for the rest of elphaba’s childhood revolved around her. and yes, she envies her, but she’s never bitter...because she understands. she loves her sister.

growing up, she kept to herself. kept her head down, did as she was told. quietly formed strong opinions on things, her own belief system that was quite different from the teachings of her father. 

elphaba became “eli” when they moved to new york city for college. 

she/they pronouns....honestly mostly she, but I wouldn’t say eli fully identifies as female. they pronouns are more of a private thing for herself, if that makes sense? she’s not open about her gender unless she’s very close to someone.

she’s pansexual, with a heavy preference for women. but basically eli would just never date a straight white man tbh.

eli attends new york university. she’s a political science major with a double minor in environmental science and philosophy. 

honestly........the biggest fucking nerd you’ll ever meet. she’s just a nerd. she looks intimidating and is broody (and she is) but she’s also a soft ass nerd if you get close enough.........but good luck lmao

activist!!! probably protesting right now!!!! friend to all animals! 

basically never sleeps and is always hunched over a book or laptop

literally is always wearing black or maybe some dark color if it’s laundry day, likes long skirts and scarves and basically never shows skin if she can help it. big witch energy. 

will fight you

[ofcommotions]

tag dump !