Preview of a comic I'm working on >:)
I think one of the things that makes me so mentally ill about Wicked is the full leaning in to names and titles as a whole-ass motif and I am a total sucker for that shit. I really love the way they do it with Boq and Nessa and Glinda specifically. The difference between "Nessa", which is a nickname, a term of endearment and intimacy, and the cold, stark "Madame Governor" is absolutely delicious.
"I told you to call me Nessa, remember?"
In a story all about how people are dehumanized through propaganda and scapegoating, Nessarose is demanding closeness from someone that she is actively oppressing. Boq only referring to her as "Madame Governor" works so well as a little flare of rebellion. She doesn't get to strip away his rights AND be his friend. And then after her breakdown the title of "Wicked Witch of the East" is introduced BY HER. This is how she views herself, all her bitterness and self-loathing distilled into a title that removes her humanity. After "No Good Deed" Elphaba clings to her title as Wicked Witch in a desperate attempt to reclaim a sense of autonomy, but Nessa gives herself the title in an act of defeated self-hatred.
"I spent my entire life trying to be a good person, and am only rejected for it. If they want a Wicked Witch, then I'll give them a Wicked Witch"
"I was always going to be a Wicked Witch, I have just proved that I am incapable of being anyone better."
I'm so normal about the Thropp sisters you guys
