troubles melt like lemon drops

Yess, I thought so too! Which is why Elphaba definitely has a Parrot sidekick and I already drew him haha. I wanted to add it to the fic once it's ready to post, but since you mentioned it, here's the picture. Can you guess his name? :D

Glinda "The Good", rival pirate and counterpart to Captain Elphaba Thropp

It's like 30°C at night here still 💀 so instead of sleeping, I've been trying to draw my latest Tav. A tiefling druid who helps all animals and who's also a little smug at times. Every act 1 companion has a crush on her.

Captain Elphaba Thropp

From the Gelphie Pirates AU I may or may not write and finish in this lifetime.

Just some blahblah following

“...and Glinda, in her dream, was absent to herself, caught up in admiring her friend.”

First night sharing a bed on the way to the Emerald City:

vs

Last night sharing a bed on the way to the Emerald City:

She put her face against Glinda’s and kissed her. “Hold out, if you can,” she murmured, and kissed her again. “Hold out, my sweet.”

“So what is Beauty reading anyway?”

Wicked For Good

This is sort of a continuation of this post.

1. Glinda's note

Shortly after fighting off the Yellow Brick Road guards, Elphaba flies back to her lair and just sits there staring at Glinda’s note for a while, which really raises the question of how often she does this.

She could’ve picked up the flower Fiyero gave her and used that as some kind of emotional support item. She could’ve taken Dr. Dillamond’s glasses as a reminder of what she’s fighting for. But no. Instead, she chooses to sit there gazing at Glinda’s handwriting.

2. Thank Goodness

The lyrics in Thank Goodness already tell us a lot about Glinda’s actual feelings here. She’s realizing that what she has now may not be the dream she always imagined it would be, especially with lines like “and when that joy, that thrill doesn’t thrill like you think it will.”

I also think it’s noteworthy that the glitter around her seems to stop moving and freezes in time the moment she starts opening up about how she really feels. It could suggest that this is meant to be a private, introspective moment rather than something she’s fully performing out loud for the crowd. But it could also be a hint that pain, sorrow, or genuine emotional honesty is what unlocks her magic. Maybe she’s subconsciously affecting the glitter with magic already before the Grimmerie ever opens for her later.

3. Fiyero, even you...?

In the scene after Elphaba escapes the Gale Force, Fiyero included, she’s back in her lair looking sad and disappointed while once again going through trinkets from the past. She says, “Fiyero, even you” and then the movie cuts to a flashback.

You’d think this flashback would show us how much Elphaba cared about him or something. Instead, it gives us her and Glinda sharing an intimate little moment where they just look at each other and smile like two complete idiots in love while everyone else is busy staring off into the distance.

So call me a stupid dyke, but I really don’t know what about this flashback is supposed to convince me that Elphaba was into Fiyero that much. Especially since in this last shot she looks positively smug. That’s the face of someone who knows she’s winning tonight.

Also, Glinda still finds a way to be touchy with Elphaba even while she’s busy pushing Nessarose’s wheelchair. A little possessive, if you ask me.

4. Friendship montage

These are deleted scenes, but they’re far too gay good not to be included here.

The first thing this makes you wonder is whether Glinda will ever let go of Elphaba.

Even Fiyero here is probably thinking, “Holy shit, still?”

Glinda, your boyfriend is like over there, by the way. No, but seriously, this level of clinginess is such blatant crush behavior that the second thing it makes you wonder is whether everyone in the charmed circle knew there was something going on between Elphaba and Glinda and simply chose not to comment on it.

It also says a lot that both of them would rather go back to looking at each other than at shirtless Fiyero. But kudos to him for trying.

I mean, just look at their stupid happy faces. And you know how sports activities are the perfect excuse to get a little touchy with your crush? I know because my crush and I have absolutely done that lol. Anyway, this is exactly what this looks like to me.

And finally, after Elphaba gives Glinda her boots (which she packed because she knew her roomie would never survive the day in heels) we get this shot that once again places Gelphie in a little space of their own.

It also gives us Boq probably wishing he were Elphaba right now, Nessarose trying to drag his attention away from the lesbians, and Fiyero down there looking like, “Seriously? Again?”

5. Visiting Glinda

The fact that Elphaba flies to see Glinda, even though it’s objectively risky to show up in the middle of the Emerald City and right after Nessarose had assumed she’d go see Fiyero, is… very interesting to me.

And then it’s Elphaba’s turn to serve the saddest, most painfully soft deer-eyed look imaginable.

They share so many looks in this scene already, and then Elphaba just comes out with “I just wanted to see you,” which is a very casual, completely non-romantic thing to say to someone.

6. Magic broomstick ride

I think we can all agree that one of the peak Gelphie moments is Glinda inviting Elphaba to join her on the love tunnel ride she and the Wizard built for… reasons.

It really does feel like they both knew Elphaba would show up sooner or later and decided they’d better have something convincing ready to make her stay. And so the obvious solution was a love tunnel with scissoring broomsticks.

So off they go on the extremely heterosexual swingy thingy, giving strong magic-carpet-ride energy all the way through.

Featuring the looks of love...

... pink and green sparkles...

... and Glinda leveling up her handholding game by pressing Elphie’s hand to her bare cleavage for good measure.

At this point one might think, surely it can’t get any gayer than this.

But then we see the Wizard’s creepy head room got transformed into a gay dance club with rainbow disco walls, and Elphaba and Glinda use the occasion to do the Rose-and-Jack-Titantic-dance. And frankly, I don’t think they’ve ever looked happier or more in love.

This is Elphaba’s face right after Fiyero says he’ll go with her, by the way.

I’m sorry, but even she looks confused by the sudden F*yeraba agenda here.

7. The catfight

I actually have somewhat conflicted feelings about the catfight.

On the one hand, I find it deeply silly that they’re fighting over a man when there are more pressing things to fight about, such as a dead sister or Glinda actively working for a fascist regime.

On the other hand, it doesn’t really feel like a serious fight so much as a chance to let off steam. Elphaba in particular seems to be having a fairly good time with it.

And then the whole thing gets so ridiculous that we end up with a Toplinda 1 : 0 Elphabottom moment, which is, admittedly, the main reason why this made it onto the list.

All while Nessa’s body is still buried under the house a few feet away, smh.

8. Glinda’s coming out song and the Ride to See Elphie

Girl in the Bubble is only one word away from being Girl in the Closet, and honestly, the song is already halfway there.

Glinda finally admits to herself that she’s been living a fake life, and on top of that we learn that she kept the boots Elphaba gave her back in their Shiz days and somehow also has both the gear and the skill set to become a mysterious hooded horse rider by night.

Also, the soundtrack cue here being called Ride to See Elphie isn’t exactly beating any allegations.

9. Changed for good

When Glinda tells Elphaba that she’s going to tell everyone the truth, that she’s not who the Wizard said she is, Elphaba immediately says, “No, you can’t. They’ll just turn against you.” And Glinda answers with, “I don’t care!”

I love this so much, because this is someone who used to thrive on admiration and approval, who built her whole life around being liked, and now she’s standing there saying she doesn’t care about any of that anymore because Elphaba matters more. ❤️

Then there's the moment Elphaba whispers “for both of us” and leans into what is very much kissing range with Glinda, which has to be one of the most insane shots in the entire movie.

The way Glinda’s eyes flick down to Elphaba’s lips, and Elphaba’s do the exact same thing right back… I’m sorry, but who didn’t spend at least one delusional second thinking they were actually about to kiss there? Nothing about that moment required them to behave like that, and yet they did. It gives the whole scene an intimacy that feels distinctly romantic.

There’s also that little hair-nuzzle thing Glinda does after they finish singing their love duet to each other.

And then they finally say “I love you,” which no other characters before or after them do. That gives the words extra weight and makes the moment feel even more meaningful.

The tragedy, of course, is that it comes a little too late, especially on Glinda’s side. If she’d come out of her closet bubble sooner, who knows how differently everything might’ve turned out?

10. No One Mourns the Wicked Reprise

The two of them singing together one last time while looking in each other’s direction, as if they can still feel each other through time and space, says a lot about how deep that connection runs (maybe even beyond death in Glinda’s mind). That’s very much the kind of trope usually reserved for romantic soulmates.

And then, just in case the symbolism wasn’t obvious enough, we get Elphaba framed against a pinkish background and Glinda against a greenish one. Like, okay. We get it. They belong together. You can relax with the loaded imagery now.

11. The Final Shot

1. The flashback after No One Mourns the Wicked

It says a lot that when Glinda, our narrator, mind you, is asked whether they were really friends, her brain immediately goes to the Ozdust dance, the hand touch, and the poppy field scene lit like the final five minutes of a period romance.

And the way she looks at Elphaba there? That’s not the face of someone remembering a casual friendship. That’s admiration at the very least, and in my professional opinion, yearning.

The flashback feels less like “we were friends” and more like being trapped inside the mind of someone remembering the love of her life and trying very hard to call it something else.

2. What Is This Feeling?

The way this song is framed, and the lyrics that go with it, make it very clear that whatever they’re feeling here, it’s absolutely not loathing.

I’m sorry, but pulse rushing, head reeling, face flushing, and a strange exhilaration are not symptoms of hatred. Those are the side effects of having a crush.

Which is why the whole song is pretty funny. And pretty gay.

3. The Ozdust

The visuals, the music, the way they seem to forget everyone around them the second they really start dancing together... need I say more?

And then they just… leave together after the dance. To do what, exactly? Go smooch behind the club? Sadly, we’ll never know. What we do know is that they really didn’t seem to care about anyone else in that moment.

4. Popular and scenes around it

There are so many moments in and around Popular that feel like the air is quietly crackling between them. You can see it in the way they look at each other, the little smiles.

And some of the framing is doing a lot of work too. The shot where they’re lying on the bed just looking at each other for a moment is filmed with such deliberate intimacy that it’s hard not to read it as charged.

Or when Glinda takes off Elphie’s glasses and has a full-on “oh no, she’s hot” experience?

Because sure, the official purpose of the scene is “let’s see what can be done about the glasses,” but that’s not what her face is giving at all. Her face is giving sudden attraction followed by immediate internal crisis.

The fact that she even seems to need a moment to literally collect herself after putting the glasses back on is very telling.

And last but not least, the “Why, Miss Elphaba, look at you. You’re beautiful” part.

Which honestly requires very little commentary, because their faces say it all.

5. You could’ve picked me

Yes, this is a deleted scene, but it’s one of my favorite gay moments, so I’m including it anyway. I also do think there’s a very real chance it got cut for being a little too gay.

At first, Glinda seems jealous because Elphaba ran off with her boyfriend. But then the scene takes a sharp turn into “wait, is she actually upset because Elphaba didn’t run off with her?” Which, I’m sorry, says a lot.

Also, as a bonus, we get a little sexy smirk from Elphaba here when she takes off her coat:

Plus a very “need me, want me, love me” deer-eyed look from Glinda:

All in all, this was a super gay moment.

6. Train to the Emerald City

I mean, just look at the heart eyes they’re giving each other here.

And then there’s Glinda’s note: “I hope you’ll get what your heart desires.” Elphaba’s immediate response is to invite Glinda to come with her, which is, of course, extremely subtle and not revealing at all.

The deleted train scenes also have a few touchy-feely moments, which I’m including here because why the hell wouldn’t I.

The way they’re practically glued to each other, you’d assume there was only one bench thingy to sit on.

Well, no.

There’s more than enough space, but these two clearly have no interest in putting any actual distance between themselves for more than a minute. Gay.

7. EC and the Palace

Hands touch, eyes meet... repeatedly. For what feels like the entirety of One Short Day and beyond, these two are basically holding hands and looking at each other like this is all going very well for them.

And while the Wizard puts on his Sentimental Man bs and the lights dim low, Glinda scoots closer to Elphaba for reasons only her lesbian ass knows.

8. Together we’re unlimited

There’s just something about the two of them running from guards and fighting them off together that gives me adventure-movie vibes. You know, the kind where the protagonist and the love interest get thrown into danger together and come out of it even more in love than before.

And finally, there’s that brief moment where it genuinely looks like they might leave together, and the lyrics are literally giving us “together we’re unlimited” and “just you and I defying gravity.”

That puts the two of them in this very exclusive little world that feels reserved for them alone. For one moment, the vibe is: I don’t need anyone else as long as I have you.

And that’s incredibly romantic. And very, very gay.

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