2nd Anniversary Borda Island Limited Episodes - Full Cast
all 21 wizards’ borda island episodes have been translated and are in one place here! order is central > north > east > west > south!
Oz and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Oz?
Oz: ...
Anniversaries...
Akira: (It seems like he doesn't have much of an idea when it comes to things like that...)
Oz: I can't clearly recall any such things. I don't think it is necessary to remember them, but there are still days which I cannot forget.
I do not understand why others would want to celebrate such days.
It need only be clearly engraved within you.
Akira: I see... I enjoy celebrating anniversaries, though. It's nice being able to celebrate happy events over and over.
Oz: Is that how it is?
Akira: Do you have anything you want to celebrate over and over, Oz?
Oz: ...I am sure I will celebrate the day that the <Great Calamity> is destroyed and escaped fate many, many times over.
I believe that will be the first time I can have an anniversary.
Arthur and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have anniversaries you celebrate, Arthur?
Arthur: I wouldn't call them anniversaries, but...
When I was a child and still lived in the castle, it seemed like every day there was some sort of ceremony being held.
However, when I started living in Northern Country, it seemed as if Lord Oz didn't even notice when the date changed.
I remember being surprised that he didn't observe any yearly events or anniversaries. He also didn't celebrate his birthday.
Akira: Then did you not celebrate your birthday either, Arthur?
Arthur: Oh, no. One year, Lord Figaro brought me some sweets, and we celebrated it from then on.
But Lord Oz read the stars to know the precise date, and would tell it to me every year.
That this was the day I was born, I mean.
Cain and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Cain?
Cain: Yeah, a whole bunch. For starters, the day that you and I first met?
How bright the moon was that night, the look on your face, and the words you spoke all made me so happy that I remember it really clearly.
Akira: (He's way too good at things like this... I feel so happy...)
Thank you very much. Do you have any other special anniversaries?
Cain: The day I was granted the title of general, I guess. That day's definitely special to me. A month later, six months later, a year later... I remember keeping count.
I was still so young and yet they'd given me such an important role, so I must've been being stressed in my own way. So each and every time, I made sure to praise myself and get myself a treat about it.
Ever since I lost the title I stopped counting, but so much has happened since then...
I'm sure I'll get to come up with lots more anniversaries commemorating my growth from now on, too.
Riquet and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Riquet?
Riquet: Anniversaries... There were seasonal rituals we observed at the church, but I wouldn't say any of them qualified as an anniversary to me.
For me, I suppose I'd say something like my birthday?
Is there anything other than my birthday to celebrate?
Akira: It can be anything. Like the day of the first time something happened. It's a day for anything you want to remember and celebrate.
Riquet: I see... In that case, I shall make an anniversary of the day I first ate Nero's cooking.
It's difficult to explain it, but I truly feel my world changed that day.
What I saw, what Nero said to me, even the taste of the wheat... I've thought about that moment many, many times.
And each time, I feel just as blessed as I did in the moment. Could that perhaps be an anniversary?
Akira: I think that's a wonderful anniversary to have. If you told Nero about it, I bet he'd be really happy.
Riquet: Yay! Then I can celebrate the anniversary by having him make the same thing again.
Master Sage. Thank you for teaching me about such a wonderful word.
Snow and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Snow?
Snow: Our birthday, of course! We do truly love to match!
It is something I celebrate with White every year. Sometimes we are joined by a great number of people, and sometimes, it is just the two of us.
We have held celebrations on a boat on the river, in a manor of ice, and in a magnificent castle.
To get fired up for our celebrations, we pay attention to recent trends. Dear White simply adores modern day information.
Akira: (Is that right...)
Snow: This year, Mitile has told us about a song that came to popularity recently, which is performed while also playing a banjo.
Akira: I feel like a banjo-playing Snow would be unmatched in cheeriness!
Snow: Fufu. Of course, of course.
While the years have certainly piled up and I am now alone, the day of our birth does not change.
This year, next year, the year after that. Until my magic runs out and I turn to stone, it is a day we shall celebrate together.
White and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, White?
White: Try as I might, I still cannot forget the date of my death...
Akira: I--Is that right.
But as twins, don't you love to match each other? Wouldn't your matching birthday be a better option here?
White: Hohoho. Therefore, even the day that we both die should be the same, yes?
The day Snow dies is still in the future. Because the two of us love to match.
Akira: (... I just felt a chill down my spine...)
White: Hohoho. You needn't think I'd do anything. He is a beloved part of me, after all.
Such miracles happen on their own in this mysterious world of ours.
If enemies who despise each other can die on the same day as one another, then a loving couple must die on the same as one another as well.
It is a curious thing. And quite difficult to tell if such is a blessing or a curse.
But still...
I believe Snow wishes to be free until the day things end.
Mithra and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Mithra?
Mithra: I don't.
Akira: That was fast...
Mithra: Sometimes I think about taking something as a reminder, but it always rots until I can't tell what it is anymore.
Akira: What are you talking about?
Mithra: Taking down a large bit of prey. Magical beasts turn to stone, and anything else rots.
Akira: So taking down your prey is something you want to celebrate.
Mithra: Well, if it's strong enough.
Akira: Do you ever feel like celebrating the day you took something down when you remember them?
Mithra: No. I don't remember them in the first place.
Once I defeat Oz, I'm sure I'll want to remember that sight time and time again, but until then, I don't really care.
To celebrate my victory, I'd want to display his head somewhere in my home, but he'll turn into stone...
Celebrations are difficult for Northern wizards.
Akira: They sure do seem to be...
Owen and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Owen?
Owen: Nope.
I love those kinds of days, though. Anniversaries are days when humans and younger wizards eat cake.
Akira: That's true. Sweets and pastries show up at a lot of celebrations.
Owen: What kind of day do you celebrate? When it's your turn, I'll be sure to come and make a huge mess of the cake that was meant just for you.
With all your fun ruined, I'l sure you and everyone you wanted to celebrate with will be completely miserable.
Akira: Ah, but... That means that you'll come running to any important celebration I hold, right?
Owen: Running... I'm not going to run to anything.
Akira: I'm still happy.
Owen: Hah? Are you stupid? I'm not going to any stupid celebration.
I'm going so I can turn your happy days into horrible ones. How tragic.
Akira: I think that if you're going to act like that, if it got presented right to everyone else, they could find it fun, too...
(Like it's part of a performance where you're playing a demon or something...)
Owen: What are you talking about? I don't get you...
Akira: I'll be sure to prepare an extra-large cake for you.
Bradley and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Bradley?
Bradley: It's not like I can remember each and every little day, y'know. Just how long do you think I've been around?
Akira: Ah... I suppose that's true.
Bradley: Pretty sure I used to keep track of things when I was younger, though. I had a ton of siblings, and there were a whole lot of "firsts" for me, too.
But you really only find stuff like that fun for the first fifty years or so.
Before long, the only thing you can remember is the faces of your dead pals.
Akira: I see...
Bradley: Hey, I'm not trying to be depressing. It's the same as tellin' stories about my scars.
One of my old work buddies was this real sensitive guy. He did actually bother to keep track of each and every thing that happened.
So whenever the date of someone's death came around, we'd sit and shoot the shit about them 'n eat their favorite foods.
Memories are the same as my flesh and blood. That's what I mean. I've got celebrations carved right into my skin.
I'll need to tell you some of those stories sometime.
Faust and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Faust?
Faust: I don't. Those are things you only remember because you have someone to actually celebrate with.
I don't have any kind of day I want to celebrate.
Akira: Is that so...
Faust: It is.
Akira: (I wonder if I asked something I shouldn't have...)
Faust: ...
...I don't keep track of dates, nor do I have any days I want to commemorate, but I do have indelible memories.
Someone's birthday, the day that they died, the day that we won, the day that I lost. It's not like I kept a record of the specific dates, but... [1]
The memories remain.
So you really don't need to be making a face like that here at the water's edge.
See, a wave is coming. Go have fun in it.
Akira: (He's looking after me, too... Even if he's talking to me like I'm a cat...)
[1] Translator's Note: Because of the way Japanese as a language is structured, this line is actually way, way, way more vague than I translated it; the language lacks plurals, nor is having a specific subject required. This means that there could be many people's birthdays he's remembering, or just one person's, and the same goes for the date(s) of death as well. He could be talking about personal victories or losses, or victories and losses regarding the entire army. For the purpose of this translation, I decided to go with the meaning of Alec's birthday and the day he died, the day that the revolutionary army decisively won, and the day that Alec accused him of treason, but I want to be 100% clear that this is entirely the invention of the translator for the purposes of crafting a line that carries at least some of the meaning while still sounding good in English, which is not nearly as context-based as Japanese is.
Shino and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Shino?
Shino: Anniversaries, huh. I didn't even know my own birthday until Faust read the stars to find it out for me.
Probably Heath's birthday. They let me celebrate Heath's birthday too whenever it rolled around.
Like, "What should we do this year?" or "This is what I want to do this year!" or "I hope they let me join."
That's how I remember it. How's that? Good and anniversary-like, isn't it?
Akira: It sure is... That's definitely how I think of anniversaries being like.
Shino: They give you a day off for nationally important anniversaries, right? Those "holiday" things. I think that Heath's birthday should be a holiday, too.
Hey, Sage, you're really important, right? You should make a holiday for us. And on our day off, we can have fun together.
Akira: Ah... Do you think my authority can go that far?
Shino: You never know until you try. Under orders of the Sage, make Eastern Country make a new national holiday. Like, how about...
Blanchett Day, or Sage's Wizards Day, or Lemon Pie Day, or Sherwood Forest Day.
And while you're at it, you should make a holiday for curseworkers and chefs, too...
And they should all be one after another.
Akira: (That's just Golden Week...)
Translator's Note: Golden Week is a week in early spring that has, as Shino suggests, a bunch of Japanese holidays in a row. Schools and a lot of jobs have that week off, so it features pretty regularly in slice-of-life genre stuff.
Heathcliff and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Heathcliff?
Heathcliff: Anniversaries... If we exclude birthdays, perhaps my parents' wedding anniversary.
Akira: A wedding anniversary! What do you do to celebrate?
Heathcliff: A banquet and a cake is prepared, and my father always gives a gift to my mother.
And each year over dinner, they tell stories about how they fell in love and how they were married.
It's...a bit embarrassing, but I still always love those moments all the same.
My father, carefully but lovingly reminiscing as he tells his stories, and my mother, looking as if she feels so blessed to be able to listen to him... I love seeing them like that.
But... Once they get to the point where I was born, I always start getting nervous.
I'm well aware that a wizard being born to my parents is nothing but misfortune for them.
My heart always pounds so hard each year until my father says "Our greatest blessing, Heathcliff."
Akira: Heath... There's no way your parents think of you as a bad thing...
Just like they say, you're their greatest blessing. If you were my kid, I'd want to boast about you, too.
Heath: Me as the Sage's son? Ahaha, I can't even imagine that. ...But still, thank you.
A wedding anniversary... One day, I'll be married to someone, too.
The idea of another promise on top of the one I already have is scary. But for humans, it's a happy thing, isn't it?
Nero and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Nero?
Nero: Anniversaries... Well, it's not like I go outta my way to remember 'em.
More like I can't since I can't really forget them, they come to mind without me really meaning them to.
Like, "Oh, today's the day that guy died," for instance. And then without really thinkin' about it I'll try my hand at makin' their favorite food.
Akira: You're so kind, Nero...
Nero: Nothin' kind about it. It's just me putting a lid on the gloom before it gets outta hand.
Makes me wanna say "Here, eat this too." Even though I always end up eating it alone.
Akira: If you'd like, on those anniversaries...well, I'm not sure if "anniversary" is the right word, but on days like that, you can ask me to come and eat with you.
I'd like to eat with you, rather.
Nero: ...
Akira: Ah, sorry... I just thought you might feel lonely eating on your own... Th-that was how I pictured it...
Nero: Haha...
The wind's pretty strong today. The waves are tall and glitterin' like stars.
Akira: Ah... They are, aren't they.
Nero: ...Well. I guess next time, I'll hit you up about it.
Thanks, Sage.
Shylock and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Shylock?
Shylock: The day I opened my bar in the entertainment district, I suppose. I've celebrated every year, although I suppose there have also been years where I haven't been able to.
Akira: It sounds like the kind of party you'd have on a grand opening! What do you do for the anniversary?
Shylock: Many different things. There have been years where I've been the server, and years where I've been served.
Akira: With alcohol?
Shylock: Not necessarily. With gifts that have been delivered to Bar Bennet.
Perhaps they will sing a song for my bar, or perhaps pen a story about it. These songs are still sung and stories still told.
Akira: The sort of gifts that perfectly suit you and your eye for beauty! They must all be masterpieces.
Shylock: While I wouldn't exactly say that, how would I put it... It's a bit like they're my cute little children.
Regardless of if the songs and tales of my bar are crude and ineptly made, or if they're the height of self-conceit, I inevitably find myself growing fond of them despite myself.
Akira: Wow, I wouldn't have expected that. So you've got that sort of side to yourself too, Shylock.
Shylock: Fufu... They are adorable little things, as I said.
Even now, the stories that speak of Bar Bennet are as countless as the grains of sand on this beach.
From common ghost stories to tasteless erotica, the kind of things that make me want to sigh in despair, I still find it in me to want to accept them lovingly.
I shall continue to count the anniversaries of my bar, casting a sideways glance to those things that would not exist if not for my bar...
And spending a loving evening with them.
Murr and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Murr?
Murr: I do! The day that I got chosen to be a Sage's wizard!
Akira: The day you got chosen to be a Sage's wizard... That'd be the day that you got the marking on the palm of your hand. Do you remember what happened exactly?
Murr: Nope! But that's definitely my chosen anniversary!
Akira: I suppose it's very Murr-like to do something suprising like wanting to celebrate a day you can't even remember...
But having that particular day as your anniversary is also very Murr-like!
Murr: Thank you, thank you!
Akira: Did you get chosen before your soul broke into pieces, or was it after that?
Murr: No clue! But I've got this feeling that I was longing and longing and longing to be chosen.
I'm sure of it. After all, if I got chosen, it'd mean I got connected to the moon! To my beloved <Great Calamity>!
Now, there's a mark that proves I belong to the moon!
Look! See my palm?
Akira: The black lily crest...
Murr: Proof that my feelings and the moon are connected...
Don't you think it's super romantic?
Chloe and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Chloe?
Chloe: My anniversary is, um... Keep this a secret, okay? It's the day that I first met Rustica!
There's no other day that's made me happier! It's like I got a second birthday!
But it's embarrassing to say something like that to him, so I keep it a secret that it's so special to me.
Akira: Secret...?
Chloe: Like, I'll secretly make something super tasty, or I'll secretly give Rustica a new accessory.
Akira: I see!
Chloe: I already give Rustica a lot of my handmade accessories, so he doesn't really notice when I give him an extra little present, but...
My heart is still telling me to do it. It's telling me to say "Thank you for finding me." It's telling me to say "Thank you for taking me away from there."
Because being on this journey with Rustica has made me so, so, so happy!
Akira: Chloe... I'm sure you can tell all of that to Rustica. It'd make him happy to hear that, I know it.
Chloe: No, it's fine! It'd be way too embarrassing! Besides...
If he forgot about it, I'd feel so lonely!
Rustica and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Rustica?
Rustica: I'm sure I have many, but it seems I've forgotten them all.
It's quite a pity, but at the moment, I simply can't remember. I'm sure if I did remember, then I would think each and every day was one worth celebrating.
I'd be thinking things like "There's only a hundred days left until my anniversary," or "There's only ten more days until my anniversary."
Akira: It's like you're too excited to just wait, huh. Since you do have a wife, don't you have a wedding anniversary as well?
Rustica: Our wedding anniversary. The day my bride became my wife, and the day that I became my bride's husband.
I am sure it was truly the happiest day in my life!
Akira: Yes, I'm sure! Ah...
(But, speaking of... Didn't Chloe say that...Rustica's wife is probably...)
Rustica: Ah, once I find my bride, we should recreate that day together.
Each day, a new wedding ceremony, and each day, a new wedding anniversary. That sounds lovely.
I must find my bride and put her in my birdcage so we can do this. My dearly beloved bride.
Figaro and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Figaro?
Figaro: Anniversaries... Anniversaries, huh...
Hold on a moment. My life's been so long that it takes a while for me to go over the whole thing. It's flashing before my eyes.
Akira: Flashing before your eyes...? Um, in my world, that's not...a good way to express that sort of thing, so please don't call it that.
Figaro: Is that right? Well, if that's what you want.
When Oz and I were conquering the world, there was an anniversary we celebrated just one time.
It was like, we'd both done after coming from the North and so we were celebrating how much of the world we'd laid waste to so far. That kind of thing.
Akira: (If not for the whole world domination thing, this would be a more heartwarming episode...)
Figaro: When Faust was my disciple, we said we'd have a celebration once his training reached a certain point.
When I was cultivating the Southern Country, we said we'd have a celebration once we'd been able to get a few propery cultivated fields started.
...Now that I think about it, I really liked throwing parties whenever anyone accomplished something big.
Maybe I should've become a teacher instead of a doctor. Maybe I should start working with Rutile...
Akira: You definitely are good at teaching things, Figaro.
But I think that doctors can celebrate people's accomplishments just as well.
Figaro: True enough. In that case, when you become a Sage whose accomplishments get passed on in legend, I'll give you an extra special kind of party.
Akira: A...legendary sage...
Figaro: The kind of Sage none other has been before. Be it dominating the world or inciting a revolution, I enjoy cheering on those kinds of ambitious, extraordinary people.
Rutile and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Rutile?
Rutile: The days my students graduate, I think. I've only had the chance to experience it a few times so far, but it always makes my heart feel so full.
Akira: Ah... Your students.
Rutile: Yes. In the Southern Country, many children begin working as soon as they leave school, so it's the last time that they can be children.
There are many children Mitile's age who are already working as well.
There aren't many schools yet, so it's difficult for everyone to be able to attend.
Seeing my students work so hard to graduate despite how bumpy there path is, despite how far away they had to come to be here...
It makes me want to hold a special graduation ceremony so that everyone will have smiles on their faces when they graduate.
Akira: That's so you, Rutile... Once they graduate, what kind of work do your students usually do?
Rutile: Helping around their house, or leaving to other places that need workers, or even moving to Central or the West.
There really isn't much of anything in the South, so even though it's perfectly nice there, it's not really possible to make much money...
So a lot of the kids with big dreams move to other countries. They work hard and save up enough for their travel travel expenses and then leave.
I'm sure I have a lot of students that I'm never going to get to see again...
Lennox and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Lennox?
Lennox: ... The anniversary of the founding of Central Country... Mmmm... No...
I have a lot of things I've done I can never forget, but I can't remember the exact dates.
When I enlisted in the army... I can remember that the day I joined was very cold, but what date was that...
If I hadn't forgotten, that day would be something close to my anniversary, but I'm not sure I would celebrate it every year...
But I still think of it every night. No, every night isn't right. That was an exaggeration.
Akira: It sounds like it was a very hectic time...
Lennox: That's true. I've also celebrated various things since first going to Southern Country as well.
Yes... For my birthday, I'd buy meat that was still on the bone to celebrate.
Akira: Was it like a special treat you got just for your birthday?
Lennox: Oh, no. Although he's dead now, it was a treat for my herding dog.
We had the same birthday. We'd spend a quiet night together, him savoring his meat, and me, savoring my alcohol.
I suppose that could be considered celebrating an anniversary.
Mitile and Anniversaries
Akira: Apparently Borda Island is a pretty well known tourist spot, and there's a lot of people who come here to celebrate things.
Do you have any anniversaries you celebrate, Mitile?
Mitile: I can think of a lot of things I've celebrated, but I guess my favorite would be the harvest festival?
Does a harvest festival count for an anniversary? Did I get that wrong?
Akira: If it counts to you, then I think that the harvest festival counts, too.
Mitile: Thank goodness! The harvest festival in the Town of Clouds is really fun. We even get visitors from other towns.
There's lots of tasty food for sale, a traveling band that plays, and people dancing along to the music.
When I was little, the Southern wizards all came to the festival and told me stories about my mother.
They'd say things like, "Your mother was the magnificent Great Witch Tiletta!" Everyone respected her so much!
When they praised her, it sort of felt like they were praising me too, and I remember I always felt so happy about it.
Akira: You and Rutile's mother was an amazingly strong witch, wasn't she?
Mitile: Yes!
I also like celebrating my birthday, but my birthday is also the same day that my mother died...
So that's why I like celebrating the harvest festival best!
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I posted 1,149 times in 2022
That's 1,005 more posts than 2021!
9 posts created (1%)
1,140 posts reblogged (99%)
Blogs I reblogged the most:
@xenaskywalker
@dingdongyouarewrong
@khaoticdyke
@lonely-night
@julieverne
I tagged 172 of my posts in 2022
#aloto - 10 posts
#goncharov - 10 posts
#unreality - 10 posts
#esti and her dads - 7 posts
#xena - 7 posts
#a league of their own - 6 posts
#jess mccready - 5 posts
#prev tags - 5 posts
#los hermanos - 5 posts
#caos - 4 posts
My Top Posts in 2022:
#5
Jess Mccready is the Brittany S. Pierce of the Rockford Peaches send tweet
16 notes - Posted October 8, 2022
#4
ladies and gentlemen, Them
60 notes - Posted October 11, 2022
#3
70s AU where Jess and Lupe take Esti to see Goncharov by mistake. She is surprisingly into the violence. Everyone enjoys Katya and Sofia’s subplot. While it lasts.
114 notes - Posted November 21, 2022
#2
Crazy ALOTO Wizard of Oz Thought
The 3 butch Peaches, Jess, Lupe, and Jo are the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion respectively.
Each of them appears at first to lack, and then turns out to possess, a personal quality in the same manner as each of these characters.
Let me explain.
Jess: The Scarecrow. A Brain.
Jess appears at first glance to be an uncouth and uneducated heathen from the Canadian hinterlands. She lacks refinement, shall we say. She also lacks the ability to pass, which is a strategy even the other butches seem to be able to employ. The fact that she is so outwardly masculine further compounds her rural vibe to give off a (prejudiced) impression that she probably won’t be that intelligent (I could write a whole thing about why people associate female masculinity with stupidity but that is for another time), and definitely won’t be emotionally intelligent.
This turns out to be wrong very quickly. Jess is smart. She is highly observant, ridiculously emotionally intuitive, great baseball iq, good musical ability, at least a decent understanding of math, plus whatever you would call the rural version of street smarts (woods wits). She’s not a book smart genius or anything, but honestly, she seems like a genius in her own way particularly when it comes to reading people. Like the Scarecrow, people assume she’s dumb. Like with the Scarecrow, they are wrong.
Lupe: The Tin Man. A Heart.
Lupe seems like a complete hard ass from the first moment we meet her and in a lot of ways she is. She’s harsh with Esti, weirdly abrasive in her first interactions with Jess, defensive with Carson, etc. She is competitive, she is here to play. (I am in no way saying this is unjustified, by the way; I think Lupe’s overall harshness is a defensive strategy that makes perfect sense in a world that is coming for her on so many fronts, especially when she’s dealing with racist BS from within her own team.) She tries very hard to seem like she doesn’t care about anything or anyone.
This also turns out to be blatantly untrue, though, often to particularly entertaining effect. It makes for a great laugh, actually- especially in the scene in the bar with her date from the other team (Wait, baby.!..I mean, I don’t know her) and the scene where she and Jess search for Esti (No I don’t care...we need her, I’m worried about the team). Despite her carefully callous exterior (and genuinely tough personality), it becomes clear that she cares. This is especially true where Esti is concerned. Yeah, she cannot show it, but it’s not caring too little that makes her lash out at Esti; if anything it’s the opposite. Like the Tin Man, Lupe seems harsh and cold. Like the Tin Man, she had a heart all along.
Incidentally, Jess and Lupe’s friendship/brotherhood showcases this well for both of them: Lupe’s heart first shows in her bond with Jess, and Jess’s weird little genius enables her to see through/facilitate fixing some of Lupe’s bullshit with Esti.
Jo: The Cowardly Lion. Courage (The Nerve).
Jo is such an under appreciated character, in my opinion. She had one of the best arcs on the show.
From the moment we first meet her, Jo is placed as the more cautious “voice of reason” to Greta’s antics. She is wary of Carson as baseball competition when they first encounter her. She is constantly concerned with Greta breaking the rules, and interrupts and reminds her of them. She is the most reluctant to go to the bar. But through all of this, which we are mostly seeing from a more Greta or Carson based POV, there’s something else happening on the inside. Jo starts urging Greta to go for it. She does go to the bar, and when the worst thing happens, instead of turning tail and running she is bolder than ever. She doesn’t want to hide anymore. She’s not the scared one-Greta is. And she is going to take her moment to shine, goddamn it. She faces the future with courage, and defiance, and even a kind of joy, in the face of everything.
When I first watched the show, I was so expecting it to go a different way, with Jo blaming Greta for talking her into going to the bar and thus getting her trapped in the raid. That would have been the predictable fight. But instead, it went for something so much richer and more interesting, and in that it revealed that Jo, like the Cowardly Lion, had the nerve all along-she was finally ready to use it.
This concludes my rambling unedited analysis.
Who is Dorothy in this situation? Carson, obviously, and I do think these 3 all play a role in her journey pretty similar to their Oz counterparts (Lupe and Jess guiding her at the bar, a more contentious back and forth with Jo-it’s not a perfect match but I see something there). Also I would like to shout out the butch trio dynamic which I wish we’d seen more of-”showering” Lupe with praise, Jess and Jo bonding over boxers, etc.-I think their interactions were awesome and they only reinforce this reading for me as well.
I do also think they each share some physical traits with their Oz counterparts (Lupe is physically rigid, Jo is big and strong, Jess...literally looks like a scarecrow IDK what to tell you) which is certainly a coincidence but entertaining none the less.
Finally, I doubt this reading was written into the text intentionally, but I think it’s a fun way to look at it and thought I would share. I couldn’t fit all of my thoughts in here, unfortunately, but I did my best. This is unedited so apologies for the rough spots. I love this show and its butches! Go Peaches!
206 notes - Posted October 6, 2022
My #1 post of 2022
She’s not like other girls. She’s a farm boy shortstop from Moosejaw who hasn’t showered for nine games. She’s been on several sinking boats. She has perfect gaydar. She doesn’t trust paper money. She owns a guitar. All the girls want her.
356 notes - Posted August 27, 2022
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