Gimme Gimme Gimme! If I’m Not A Hag In My Old Age I Will Have Failed In Life!

And then each subsequent book continues to flip expectations of the genre like the cohort flips planets!

By the end of Gideon we’re already reeling, but then Harrow comes along and really shows off the brilliant inner workings of the setting and magic system all while gaslighting us on the very existence of the previous book. 😅💀

The thing that really gets me about the Locked Tomb series is that from a worldbuilding perspective it’s YA catnip. Like any other author would have started it out from someone low ranking in the cohort, maybe falling in love with a rebel or vice versa, introducing parts of the world slowly. There are even houses to sort yourselves into! It’s perfect! That would have been a good story in and of itself! However Tasmyn Muir started in the deepest depths of the equivalent of death cult Amish territory from the POV of someone trying to escape and join the terrible death army, and it works. It’s like if you started explaining the concept of Star Wars with a clone from one of the tanks in Palpatine’s lair. Obsessed with her as an author.

The thought of Gideon developing into Kiriona early is… horrifying. This is somehow even worse for both her and Harrow than canon lol.

Harrow growing up on the 9th alone.

Kiriona growing up with the saints.

I am SO glad this isn’t how it happens, but it would make for a heartbreaking read….

Hey I know you haven't really done anything TLT in a hot minute but how do you think John changes as a character raising Gideon in your Heiress AU? Thx!!! :]

You sent this ask like 80 years ago, I’m so sorry. But to answer your question, I think he would love his child… But I’m afraid he’ll always be John.

Coming out to my conservative family next year on my 1-year HRT anniversary. I’m poised to lose a lot on that day. Here’s to hoping my “Glinda” side of gets on the broom too…

While I’m still a bit bummed that they didn’t go with a more book-aligned POC Fiyero for the Wicked movie, I’ve been thinking (heheh) about how his being white highlights the really interesting foil relationship between him and Glinda (and, in many ways, the audience yourself).

At its core, Wicked is a cautionary tale about propaganda, (literal) scapegoating, and what it means to uphold the status quo. The audience is watching through Glinda’s eyes—it is through her, arguably the most beautifully tragic character of the show, that we learn how lonely life becomes when you forfeit your values in favor of systemic power and likability (“No One Mourns the Wicked” is, in many ways, about HER).

Now, this is where Fiyero’s whiteness can get interesting—if you consider him and Glinda to share roughly equal footing at the beginning in terms of privilege/how much they have to lose (applying our real-world lens of race and power here, where whiteness is the apex), his storyline essentially represents what could have happened if Glinda had made the brave (and arguably wise and loving, if you’re picking up what I’m putting down 👀) choice to go with Elphaba and fight the good fight (this is also why I feel like a queer reading of G&E’s relationship is almost implicit to the story, but I digress).

As the POC/marginalized allegory, Elphaba has much less of a real choice in her curtain-pulled-back turning point. But Fiyero and Glinda—both representing privilege—get to choose. So in Act II, we see the consequences of both the choice to stay (Glinda) and to go (Fiyero). In Fiyero’s case, his ultimate rejection of his own power, privilege, and even beauty leads to immense physical loss—including his own body—but that is then compared to the loss of love, community, and identity that we see Glinda left with by the end. And this brings us to the question that the audience is left grappling with: in an unjust system where loss is inevitable (a.k.a. our own world, as the Wizard himself represents), which of these things are YOU more willing to give up?

It’s important that Glinda is an empathetic character because, in reality, most people are going to be Glindas (obvi this is nuanced among us Elphabas of marginalized identities, but I’d still argue that there’s some level of Glinda in us all)—and it’s important to be rattled by the end of the show when you realize that she is the one who has the sad ending. But it’s also so important that Fiyero is empathetic (which I’m SO glad this movie leaned into)—because he’s ultimately who Glinda—and thus we, as the audience—should have been.

And especially given the state of US politics right now…this is just all more relevant than ever.

Now say “you were born in the wrong body” to a disabled or neurodivergent person. Congrats! Sounds hurtful and reductive doesn’t it?

it wasn’t until someone said to my face “oh so you were born in the wrong body?” that i realised how weird of a thing to say that was. like, no?? sure I’d make changes but it’s still MY body

When I finally managed to force my pre-transition self to attend a trans meeting at my local queer center, the discussion was lead by a older trans woman in her mid-to-late 60s who worked as a mechanic.

Listening to her helped me realize that I could have a future as a trans person past my 30s, which is something that I desperately needed to hear at the time.

For me the indicator of a safe queer space is actually a confident, knowledgeable trans woman who's well liked by the people there and trusted to give advice to people who are new to the space.

Because queer spaces occasionally get the occasional dissociating "cishet men" who can't figure out why they want to be in the queer space so much, feel a conflicted sense of belonging and connection that they also feel they shouldn't have, and end sitting in the corner only interacting when explicitly included.

Now, if you don't have the confident trans woman around, what'll happen is that the "cishet man" eventually stops showing up, because yeah it's nice to go, but it's also really hard for some reason, and maybe another modded Fallout New Vegas run is easier, actually. Maybe the MMO where everyone calls her the name of her girl avatar is easier. She just can't figure out why.

Nona the Ninth: The book in which half the cast dies and/or comes back wrong to the shock and horror of the rest 🤣😭

Paul - just Paul

Paul (HectSextusHextus) seems to have some sort of deal about insisting strongly that they are NOT Camilla or Palamades and do not necessarily maintain any of the emotions, opinions, or relationships of Cam or Pal. While I understand that, and it is totally fine if that's how it is for Paul going forward, I feel like they are a little insensitive with throwing it around while their friends (and their sweet little dying Nona baby) are in full crisis, and grieveing on top of that. Like they specifically say "Camilla and Palamades loved you" not "I love you" and "Cam remembered that", not I remember that. And they say this all so casually, and it just adds to the pain, because everyone is watching, hoping, thinking, let me see a moment of either one of them still being alive, please, please, please. And Paul is like NO I PAUL NOW. so so soooooo excited to see this character going forward and how they act, and how other people act around them. Because even as I read this back I realize it's completely unfair to be annoyed at Paul for not being Cam or Pal, but I feel it is one of the natural emotions to result from this scenario. and I want to see everyone react. but Nona is dead so- wow okay I'm sad now

And don’t even get me started on the book!

It’s crazy how it takes 20 years to make a Wicked movie and once they do, it comes out just after Trump’s reelection. The stripping of minority rights, rollback of progress, and intentional demonization of activists are such central themes in that story, and here we are, watching queer people/immigrants/women/people of color/etc being slowly stripped of their rights under conservative regimes. Personally, watching Dr. Dillamond’s firing seemed analogous to deportation of immigrants or firing/silencing of queer teachers. And then the fact that another core theme is the way the government constructs propaganda to make a mediocre con man look like a god!! And all this is shown to be horrifyingly and objectively wrong!! Absolutely insane timing.

Alternatively, the Warp from Warhammer 40K. Heavy metal space-hell infested with demons and madness. If your ship isn’t shielded properly you get invaded and and driven insane. Fun stuff! John would have loved it.

The River is essentially just the Warp combined with the aesthetic of Hades’ soul whirlpool at the end of Disney’s Hercules.

the argument between john and mercymorn over what metaphors to use to describe river travel to the baby lyctors is so funny to me as i’m rereading slightly behind my best friend reading the series for the first time.

bcuz when they told me they were still kind of confused by it, i first went ok did you ever read a wrinkle in time? it’s similar in concept to the way they travel in the book

no? ok wait it’s actually like minecraft. which i now think is the best metaphor. you go into the nether, have to deal with difficult terrain and a bunch more shit that can kill you, but you travel a short distance in the nether and end up much farther in the overworld

Now see, the big brained strategy that I’ve employed to combat this is to transition to the point where I’m forced to come out as a formality.

Primary Objective: BECOME FRIEND SHAPED

gender euphoria is looking rly hot to other queer people and offputting to everyone else