The Great Femslash February Index Post

When I promised myself I'd start writing more, I probably should have committed to actual original fiction, but I didn't, so here we are. Femslash February 2024. 29 prompts. 29 fandoms. 29 different pairings (I'm very sorry to AO3 people who have subscribed to me for Critical Role stuff. CR is on the list).

I know femslash is traditionally defined as a focus on romantic/sexual relationships between women, but I want to try writing a lot of different stuff this month. So I've thrown in a couple of fics that are queer and have femslash elements, but might not be the traditional kind of femslash story.

The series description on AO3 doesn't have enough space to put all the information about prompt, pairing, and fandom, so I'm putting it here, along with links to each fic, under the cut. The prompt list I'm using is here.

(This post is currently being updated.)

Please let me change tumblr back to normal

(the internal scream of when they change the interface just slightly for no reason)

part of what makes gelphie such a compelling dynamic to me is that the two of them grow to be such equals, and they see and respect each other as such. in shiz, galinda has more social power than elphaba, and we see her leading elphie in "popular." then in "defying gravity," we see elphaba step into her power, both the literal magic and the figurative self-worth and principles, that glinda lacks. but by the time "for good" happens, they've settled on such even footing. glinda isn't the girl that led elphaba in a makeover, elphaba isn't the girl that soared above glinda proclaiming no one could touch her.

and this is why glinda has to stay (and elphaba has to go, but no one's complaining about that). a story where glinda gets on the broom would be a story where glinda is forever a supporting character, someone who depends on elphaba to fly. she wouldn't be elphaba's equal anymore. i don't know if she would literally fall off the broom and die but she definitely wouldn't get the chance/be forced to develop her own skills and power and worldview, because elphaba would be carrying her (again, both literally and figuratively).

and like i know the arguments over whether glinda should have gotten on the broom are mostly moral and also the fact that part one (rightfully) centers elphaba's self-acceptance arc, but sometimes i wonder if part of it comes from the refusal to see glinda as her own character worthy of her own arc. as if she's simply there to be elphaba's girlfriend holding her hand. like she is elphaba's girlfriend, and she will hold her hand. it's just that she's also elphaba's equal, her rival, her narrative foil. she's her challenger as much as her cheerleader, and both of them recognize that, and love that. i love that about them.

i actually really appreciate the generic-ness of split fiction's in-universe stories. like sure, they're complete genre cliches (and we can talk about the disdain for genre stories another time for sure), really milquetoast fantasy and sci-fi fare.

but then split fiction says, that's still better than anything rader's machine could ever come up with, and the most generic, cliche stories written by human beings are still worth saving from the maw of ai. because--well, they're written by human beings, with bits of those human lives seeping in.

mio's standard-fare cyberpunk future city with ninjas has a bunch of cars and motorbikes in it because her dad was a mechanic. it has beautiful screens and buildings and graffiti and also a game of hopscotch drawn in chalk on the ground because it comes from a childhood growing up in the city. her video-game-ass invade-the-secret-lab-after-everyone-else-gets-blown-up plot comes from her desire (and inability) to save her father.

zoe's extremely conflict-averse stories (one that's almost literally "saving stray cats in the alps") come from her desire to return to her childhood with her sister, to build gentler, happier endings for someone who didn't get one. the shapeshifting comes from a love of animals. the silly farting pigs come from a kid's imagination (and coping mechanism). and i mean, i don't care how cliche you think it is, dragons are just objectively cool always.

neither zoe nor mio are, perhaps, Good Writers or Talented Writers. but they are sincere writers, and that's worth everything.

making one (1) more wicked post and then i'm moving on, i swear.

but i think one of the cool things about elphaba and glinda is that elphaba will always choose herself and glinda will always choose other people. (i hear you protesting already.) what i mean by that is that elphaba, despite her initial self-loathing and need for approval and reckless protectiveness, has a strong internal sense of who she is. she will choose her morals, her integrity, her autonomy and agency and dignity every single time. glinda, despite her initial ignorance and self-centeredness, lacks that strong sense of self during most of the musical and will always choose to go along with what other people perceive or need her to be.

and that's the root of the tragedy--first in defying gravity, of course, you know this one. elphaba's choice of herself--something has changed within me, it's time to trust my instincts--is righteous and triumphant, for a Good cause, and glinda's choice of others (society) is understandable but Bad.

but then act two. my beloved act two. elphaba chooses herself again--her desire for fiyero, her need to be done with the fight in oz. she can't do it anymore and she acknowledges that. and glinda--glinda chooses someone else again. instead of doing what she wants--i'll tell them! i'll tell them the truth!--she chooses elphaba, and elphaba's (semi-dying) wish for her to use her status to finish the fight.

and unlike elphaba, glinda will!! never!! acknowledge that she can't do it and it's killing her inside. because she can't really choose herself.

Do you realize that this year, not only are we going to hear Cynthia and Ariana sing "For Good" in Wicked: For Good, but we also might hear them sing it LIVE on the press tour?