#if nobody else will make this crossover happen i'll do it myself
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Open RP
"Look, buddy, it's been a long day, so I'll cut to the chase. I won't give you the Omnitrix, I'm not gonna let you blow up the town, and whatever evil plan you've got going on, you should just give it up, preferably BEFORE I have to kick your butt."
"Such heroic nonsense."
#open rp#transformers animated#ben 10 omniverse#if nobody else will make this crossover happen i'll do it myself#ben tennyson#megatron#lord megatron
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20 questions for fic writers!
many many thanks to @garglyswoof for tagging m
How many works do you have on ao3? 63. i need to calm down.
What's your total ao3 word count? 747 502. i need to calm down.
What fandoms do you write for? the vampire diaries, shadow & bone, avatar: the last airbender, star wars, marvel. also, that one suez canal x ever given fic, and that one goncharov fic.
Top five fics by kudos: A Queen's Gamble (you know it's an old one if the title is capitalised lmao), make them bow., the fate makes for a lousy poet., where the heart moves the stones, nyctophilia.
Do you respond to comments? i try. i am not very good at it, but every now and then i sit down, crack my knuckles, and go about emptying my poor inbox.
What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? the end. is like ... the only fic i ever wrote that ended unhappily.
What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? see above, lol, literally everything else. i'm a wuss.
Do you get hate on fics? i mean ... not really? i would mostly classify the rude things i got as entitlement rather than hate. the impression i usually got was that those people liked my writing style, or the plot, or characterisation, or whatever--there was just one thing or several that they wanted to happen differently, and they felt the need to tell me that.
Do you write smut? looooooo, no, my ace ass would probably spontaneously combust.
Craziest crossover: i don't suppose i've ever written an actual crossover, but today i put dracula-the-historical-figure into the vampire diaries universe, so ....
Have you ever had a fic stolen? ... maybe? okay, strap yourselves: a few years ago someone asked if they could translate a fic of mine into spanish and post it on wattpad, and i said yes. (THIS is one of the reasons why i don't allow translations anywhere but ao3 anymore). they did, and they sent me the link. i linked the translation to my fic, the usual. then, a lot later, i actually went to check their post, and i realised that i wasn't credited though the person said they would. yaaaaay.
Have you ever had a fic translated? well, other than the fiasco up there, the incredible @winterandmistletoe, who made the edit that graces the beginning of make them bow., has two chapters of the russian translation of that fic up on ao3. there's also been an offer to translate The Manifesto of a Last Love into russian, but that one hasn't been posted yet.
Have you ever co-written a fic before? i have not! and honestly, i don't think i'd be very good at it. i'm a bit of a tyrant, so in an effort NOT to be perceived as such i'd probably be super lenient of whatever the other people came up with even if i didn't necessarily like it. i'm pretty particular in my tastes, and one of the things i love about writing fic is that i have nobody but myself to answer to.
All time favorite ship? ehhhhh, nooo, i can't choose between my children!
What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? considering that tvd has had me in its claws for two years now, it feels unlikely i'll ever go back to my wips in other fandoms. you never know of course, but it feels that way. i mean. those unfinished wips don't exactly haunt me, but sometimes i remember them and feel awful about it, lmao.
What are your writing strengths? i'm told i do dialogue and humour well!
What are your writing weaknesses? ughhhhh probably action? it's so hard. oh! and my tendency to describe how a character's eyes look in every other sentence.
Thoughts on dialogue in another language? SO fun fact that dracula fic that i posted today? the one where half the dialogue is in french? i had originally written it all IN FRENCH, and then decided to take mercy on my readers and just put the english translation into italics. yeah. anyway, rule of thumb, ig: if the pov character understands what's being said, then english in italics (or if it's just a sentence or two the spoken language with a footnote). if they can hear individual words, then the language that's being spoken, without translation. if they hear only gibberish--maybe they're super unfamiliar with the language, maybe it's being spoken very fast or with an accent--then just 'character x says something in z'.
First fandom you wrote in? marvel, for my own peace of mind. star wars is the first one i actually posted for.
Favorite fic you've written? again, you can't ask me to pick between my children.
tagging: @morningstargirl666 @kirythestitchwitch @helpless-in-sleep @marxandangels @purplesigebert @darkestgrays @averseunhinged
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20 questions for fic writers
Tagged by nobody! I saw this and felt like doing it to get back in the writing groove of things and maybe procrastinate just a teeny bit ♡
Tagging @babblish @dreamcrow @niemalsetwas @mangatxt @plantpretender and anyone else who would like to!!
Also no hard feelings if you don't feel like doing this
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
32 and counting!
2. What's your total AO3 word count?
605,281 and counting!
3. What fandoms do you write for?
I used to do a LOT of Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons) but a few things happened in the show / movie that made me feel... idk, I'm on a bit of a break for the time being.
I also write a couple of Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game) fics to explore my silly DnD OCs
While my current writing obsessions being Discworld - Terry Pratchett and モブサイコ100 | Mob Psycho 100
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
Unbecoming 2 Electric Boogaloo (ToA)
Terpsichore - The Comedy of the Danse Macabre - ACT I (ToA)
Cold Green Tea and Colder Feet (mp100)
We'll Meet Again (ToA)
A Study of Avium and Apium (ToA)
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
I do!! I try to respond to all comments!! I can't always promise my response will be prompt, and sometimes I get in my own head and feel...worried? As if my response will somehow sway someone to not want to keep reading? But that's a me thing I'm working through
Long answer short: Yes! I do respond to comments!! I adore them and they make me so very very happy!! Honestly a comment can be such a game changer, and a relief to my heart and I just HAVE to express my gratitude for taking the time to tell me such nice words!! I'll always try to respond to them!
6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
Hmmm I have yet to finish the fic with the angstiest ending planned. I don't tend to write angst unless there is an ending that has some level of hope and happiness in it - for now.
But yeah, I suppose Unbecoming 2 Electric Boogaloo and The Last Changeling will eventually have some pretty angsty endings.
As well as several fics within the The Collected Tellings of Shigir and Other Changeling Folktales series which can be quite grim.
7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
Another tricky question!! The majority my fics tend to have a happy ending planned despite the highs and lows I hope I manage to put my readers through.
Bit of a cop out answer I know, but it is what it is lol
8. Do you get hate on fics?
I've only had that happen to me once lol. Once so far and for the silliest reason that left me just shaking my head for the most part
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?
I do! Not as often as my other stuff though. Hmm quite a bit of orgasm control I suppose.
10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?
IVE WRITTEN ONE CROSSOVER AND ITS MY FAVORITE AND I HOPE THE STARS ALIGN FOR ME TO FINISH IT!!!
A Funny Old World MY BELOVED!!! It is essentially the Discworld and Mp100 crossover fic no one asked for hahaha
Quite literally "Reigen Arataka 🤝 Moist von Lipwig" the fic
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not that...I'm aware of...
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
Again not that I'm aware of...and no one has yet to approach me to do so. Though sometimes I think of translating it myself into Italian.
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
I have! It was a great time with @megan0013 on the 23rd chapter of their fic Fallout where we combined the Fallout story with my made up Changeling Folktales.
14. What's your all-time favourite ship?
I'm too bisexual for this question, I have, like, a fat stack of ships I adore. But of the ones I've written (in no specific order of importance) I really love Adora Belle and Moist, Serizawa and Reigen, Barbara and Strickler, Mort and Ysabell, Polly and Mal, and the list just goes on haha
15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?
I don't think I appreciate the defeatist tone of this question haha. I'm sure I'll finish all of them...eventually. Some go in hibernation a little longer than others, that I won't lie. Hmm though, I'm going to be honest with myself the Terpsichore series seems to be the loftiest of goals at the moment. Who even knows when I'll finally finish it...but, like I said, I'd like to hold out hope that, someday it'll get done lol
16. What are your writing strengths?
I've been told I'm quite good at keeping characters in character, and my writing 'voice' is quite charming sometimes. I've also been told I'm quite good at writing cozy comfort fics. I hope, one day, I'll be able to add horror and suspense to the list of writing strengths.
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
Making things concise, I think. Sweet short and to the point. I'd love to get better at suspense and horror, just making readers sweat - you know?
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?
Oh man I have a lot of Thoughts about this actually XPP here's hoping they make sense!!
Depends on the characters, and what language they are speaking and what language the characters know beyond what they are speaking.
I viscerally do not appreciate it when, okay... here's an example: Character A and Character B are both speaking Italian, because the characters are Italian - so even though the fic and author is writing in English we ALL know that Character A and Character B are speaking Italian - so why add in an English dialogue bits of actual Italian?? We all know they are speaking Italian to begin with!! UNLESS, for instance, Character B for a moment spoke in a regional dialect which is different than the standard language.
I tend to call this the "Silenzio Bruno!" situation. Why are you having a character who is supposedly already speaking in a language suddenly say something of that language. It shouldn't be "Silenzio Bruno!" but "Quiet Bruno!" though in some cases I get it...and who knows maybe it'll perk up the interest of people and kids to learn other languages but oof does it rub me the wrong way sometimes
Wait hmmm perhaps thats too confusing
OKAY
EXAMPLE: In Glow Worms I have Serizawa as half Brazilian (there's in fact a huge Brazilian population within Japan! As well as a huge Japanese population within Brazil! Here are two fascinating video essays on the subject if interested [X] [X]).
When Serizawa is speaking with Reigen it is clear and obvious they would speak Japanese amongst themselves and around them, I wouldn't include actual Japanese unless it's a word that I can't really translate well, or is very clearly specific within the Japanese language (the difference between writing 'screen door' and 'shoji door' - both doors, but evoke different specific things). However, when Serizawa speaks with his mother there are often times Portuguese would crop up - an indicator that Serizawa is no longer speaking Japanese in that moment, or phrase or sentence.
The same can be said with Moist von Lipwig, and when he's speaking Morporkian vs Überwaldian. It is agreed that everyone tends to speak Morporkian to some degree as a defect-o Lingua Franca Quirma, and when they're not they're very clearly not!
NOW! In those moments when characters are speaking another language I prefer either it's something that can be figured out via context clues, or a translation is provided either in a footnote or by the character(s) themselves. This is something I feel more confident with if a character is speaking Italian, because then I don't have to worry about translator engines not translating something properly lol But I try to be as respectful and accurate as possible, and if I can't then I wouldn't attempt it and describe in the text that Character A and Character B are speaking another language amongst themselves.
OR (and this is something else I'm doing in Glow Worms) I'll describe a character speaking another language, and another character acts as translator - this is something I always adored in Discworld when characters interact with The Librarian as well as Death of Rats.
Which, again, I try to approach as respectfully as possible. Language is important!! It's a culture and a thought process! And should always be treated with respect
WHEW! I hope this all made sense!!
19. First fandom you wrote for?
Trollhunters!
20. Favourite fic you've ever written?
I don't know about Favorite, but there are several that I'm very proud of myself with...
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Stupid Kid [working title] series, Hand Rolled, The Runaway's Gamble, AU REVOIR, to name a few. Several Trollhunter fics (especially Terpsichore, sometimes I look back on that and go "Wow I really wrote All of THAT?!")
And most recently: Glow Worms or rather: In the Depths of the Safflower Hills a fic that honestly? I find myself going back and rereading what I've written and posted more than once! And has helped me grow as a writer I think
Welp! ___〆(・∀・) That's it for me folks! Thank you so VERY much for your interest, and I look forward to seeing your answers as well!
Best wishes!
Nico ♡
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fic writer interview!
thanks for the tag @grantairesbottle !!
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
20 ! how did that happen !
2. What’s your total AO3 word count?
56,068
3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?
5 on ao3 but really 4 bc I think Original Work + Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game) count as one (its backstory for one of my PCs)
the others are Les Miserables, Dimension 20 (specifically Fantasy High) and Life with Derek
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
What To Expect When You're Expecting A Soulmate - (Dimension 20 (Fantasy High)) - Fig/Ayda - the figayda soulmark au nobody asked for but i wrote anyway - classic first words your soulmate will say to you are written on your body somewhere, bc with their first interaction how could i NOT. 2k, oneshot!
Llamas and Siblings and Pies, Oh my! - (Life with Derek) - Casey/Derek - texting fic! the whole family's involved! i don't know how to describe this one except ridiculous and very fun! 4k, oneshot!
Bump In The Night - (Life with Derek) - Casey/Derek - a mix of soulmark aus from a 3am prompt that i wrote in 40mins and didn't read through before i posted. wild that its this high up tbh. 600 words, ficlet!
A Pretty Good Bad Idea - (Life with Derek) - Casey/Derek - summer vibes prompt that's actually just pwp - everyone loves smut OPPPPP. 2.5k, oneshot!
What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger - (Les Miserable) - Enjolras/Grantaire - again, everyone loves smut? this fic is so old omg but yeah i guess its a thing i wrong. canon-compliant pwp. 2k, oneshot!
5. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?
Yes! Always! I love to chat come talk to me!!
6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?
God, right. Do we mean angst like "everyone's about to die"? Because if so, What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger, again, or Just Open Your Eyes - but they're both Les Mis and like. Is death angst in canon-era Les Mis bc idt it is???
Non-death related, I'm going with Evacuate The Dancefloor. Mostly because it was going to end happily and then the last 40 words just came out of nowhere but like. It had to. Idk. Sad wanking innit.
7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?
Hmmm I haven't written any with like crossed over characters but I like putting people in different settings. Hogwarts AUs etc. And like. My Life with Derek Tag AU, cleverly just titled "Tag".
8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?
Writing for small fandoms is a blessing, no.
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?
Yeah but like I'm not comfortable writing it really? But sometimes I do it to challenge myself and those are always the fics with the best stats which is WILD.
10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not that I’m aware of!
11. Have you ever had a fic translated?
Again, not that I'm aware of!
12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
Nel said this too in hers lol but like. No posts fic, but RP. A lot of RP.
Also @nosybutterfly and I have the starting of a Life with Derek one but we've both been working on separate things recently - Em we should get back to it !!!
13. What’s your all-time favourite ship?
The ship that first got me into fanfiction was Harry/Ginny (Harry Potter). But I've probably read more Enjolras/Grantaire (Les Miserables) than anything else. Plus Combeferre/Courfeyrac (also Les Mis). Honourable mentions to: Beck/Johanssen (The Martian), Josh/Donna (The West Wing), Laurie/Amy (Little Women), and Casey/Derek (Life with Derek).
14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?
Nothing has been posted of it yet but I've got this one Ballet Dancer!Casey/Photographer!Derek Long Distance AU and. Eurgh. One day.
15. What are your writing strengths?
I think I manage to get a lot of info into not a lot of words. I also think I'm funny but who knows what everyone else thinks.
16. What are your writing weaknesses?
I start so many things I know I'll never finish yikes
18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?
Harry Potter - I don't even remember my old username but it was on Sink Into Your Eyes, back in the day.
Also Firefly - mostly on fireflyfans.net
19. What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?
A Thousand Years Go By (Love Don’t Die) - Life with Derek - Derek/Casey - the mcturi siblings are paranormal investigators checking out sam's new mansion-come-hotel. 8k, oneshot!
this fic hit me like a fever dream and i could think of nothing else until it was written. its also got just... so few hits compared to my other dasey fics and that makes me sad sometimes ngl.
Tagging anyone who wants to do it! Say I tagged you and I'll back you up!!
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Hello 👋🏻👋🏻
How are you doing? I have been fine. Just life, you know?
Oh well, that's for sure. The finale of ML will bring more material created by fans like crazy, that's for sure. I guess, we'll have to keep waiting and see, hopefully the cliffhanger isn't that big or it would create more chaos than normal XD XD (although, anything that happen would be just plain chaos as always with ML).
Oh, I'll have that in mind. But I don't think I'm going back to use excel in a very long time. Thanks for the offer though.
You're welcome :D :D
Later or sooner that eventually, well eventually would arrived ;) ;) (sorry, I'm not sure what part you are replying here, but it was about to happen XD XD)
Oh well, yeah that's an understatement. But I believe that's because nobody thinks in the same way, you know? What it could be obvios for you, for someone else it could be alien. It just while it does made sense to work with those common terms in the crossover then it does works. And then you find those who has similar ideas and that's why you find those who had thought about that as well. I don't think that we need to justified a crossover when we know it could happen, you know? While whatever you work on, has the meaning, like it happens in the same place or has the a base to say, then it would work, just maybe work around in the story, you know? So it doesn't end force it, or out of place, like doing it for the sake of it, you know? (I hope I was clear here...)
Mmmm... same here, I mostly don't know when someone is also bilingual or multilingual until they say so. They mostly just write in one language. I think because is a pain to translate all, if they do translate something, it's probably their most popular works or their most better work, the one that they feel specially proud of it, you know?
(I'm probably one of the very little -if not the only one- that had decide translate everything that had done).
Oh! I'm feeling more confortable talking with you like this. That's why I mention to reveal myself, you know? I may do it on the next question :) :)
And I mean not the tag of long post but add the line of read more, that it's obviously added because of me, and my long question, that doesn't allow you for say to write the long answer without making a long post already, you know? (obviously, you could just not add the line of read more and have the whole thing without the cut, but that's your decision, and if I were you, I'd do the same :) :)).
See you soon :) :)
-Le Fantôme anon
(re: this ask)
Hello! Glad you're doing well!
*grins* Very true. I should see if there's a date for the second episode of the finale to air, though. Might try to watch the first one this weekend if there is.
Yeah, that's fair. I didn't need excel for a long time, either.
Yes! It does make sense that different people make different connections. Part of the fun of fanfic again, I think.
That's true! Half the time, I don't find out someone speaks more than one language until I'm talking to someone/interacting with them in some way.
I still think the fact that you're doing that--all the translating--is phenomenal.
Truthfully, I would usually use a read more with the length of my responses anyway with something that started out with 'what are thoughts on' or some variation thereon, since those answers are typically longer than this one will be. You aren't the only one who's ever sent me a long ask, though. Sometimes people have a lot to say, and sometimes they include pictures, and sometimes both things are true. *grins* People sent me pictures of flowers once. It was delightful.
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[AO3 LINK] [EF LINK]
The small lump in the corner that was Dorothy only seemed briefly startled when Glinda came to get her the following morning. However, she was far more surprised when instead, she went to the Tin Man's cell.
"So we're going to do a thing," the blonde witch began uneasily. "You… have to have figured out by now that we can't just let you run around willy nilly. You attacked Nessa more than once, and the threats you made were pretty graphictitious! So while I-"
"HMMHHPHH!" he growled through the makeshift gag.
"Enough of that, now," she warned in a sing-song, as if scolding a small child. "Anyway, you're going to be moved upstairs into one of the other rooms, and I'm going to try to tinker with you for a while. Maybe it'll do some good, maybe not. But all the same, I think we should give it the old Shiz try, don't you?"
Clearing her throat, Dorothy approached the bars and whispered meekly, "You aren't going to hurt him, are you? I kn- I know he hasn't been kind to you, but he's been most kind to me!"
"Don't you worry your pretty little head," she replied in a soft, consoling tone. "I can't promise what I do won't hurt, but I'm not going to do anything purely to hurt him. My hope is that I can help him some way or other. And if I can't… well, I guess we could just pop him right back into this cell afterward. No harm done."
Then Glinda unlocked the cell and went inside, securing manacles around his wrists and arms and legs — ones not bolted to the wall. Once he was secure enough that he could not escape or attack, she released him from the wall and stood back, raising her wand.
"Alright, let's try this one again… bubblitio!" Nothing. She took a deep, calming breath and attempted, "Bulbulious bubblissimo! Bumbulous bumbletonia! Spheroidimax voluminia!"
"Uhmmm," the Scarecrow that was Fiyero said as Glinda waved her wand frantically. "None of those sound like very magical words."
Her lips pouted at him and her brow furrowed. "And just whom amongst us is a witch? You? I don't believe so!"
"You're not much of one, either," the Lion grumbled lazily from atop his paws.
"Hey! That isn't very kind!"
"I'm not much of a Lion myself; no offense was intended."
Shrugging that off, she narrowed her eyes and tried the first word again, focusing hard. "BUBBLITIO!"
This time, an almost invisible pink film began to wrap itself around Boq. His metallic eyes went as wide as could be to see the magic actually taking shape this time, and he looked at Glinda with a mixture of anger and betrayal. But she did not acknowledge his gaze, and merely sighed.
"You brought this on yourself." When he didn't react, she shook her head sadly and began to back out of the cell, wand raised to direct the bubble she had formed. "A pity, a real pity, Biq."
He only began to struggle and grunt once the bubble began to move him, muffled though his cries were. Casting a semi-apologetic look over her shoulder at the others, she continued to bounce him up the stairs.
"You and I need to have some serious discussion, little boy of tin. And why don't we try out some things from the Grimmerie, too? That sounds like so much fun!"
~ o ~
Elphaba only waited a few minutes after Glinda left to slip down into the dungeons. Both the Lion and Dorothy recoiled to see her, tall and imposing, green and black, framed by the stone doorway. Fiyero, of course, merely watched all parties with curiosity.
"H-Hello," Dorothy attempted in a nervous tone. "Is… is it alright if I ask-"
"Not yet," Elphaba said, dragging a simple wooden chair from the table by far wall over to the Lion's cell — a few inches out of reach of his claws should he suddenly decide to take an idle swipe at her. But she did not sit just yet. Instead, she opened Fiyero's cage, and simply stood back to let him exit.
"Much obliged," was all he said, cheerful as ever.
"What?!" Dorothy gasped in a hushed voice, watching him fetch two other chairs from the table. "Wh- but I… I thought you were going to let me out if I behaved, I didn't… you aren't even shackling him! I don't understand!"
"No, you don't," the witch said evenly, tossing the same old cuffs through for her to put onto herself. Her eyes were sad and wary, but she did as she was silently bade. As her captor unlocked the door, she went on, "But you will. If you listen, and try not to ask too many questions, I think you'll find you understand a great deal…"
~ o ~
Hours passed, and Glinda found herself flummoxed. She had paged through every single page of the Grimmerie, skimming the contents with her eyes, and she was no closer to finding anything that would make any difference as far as Boq was concerned. This was made all the more frustrating by the fact that she was not nearly so adept at Lurlinic as her chartreuse counterpart, and the meaning of certain phrases or passages eluded her. Still, she had been hoping that persistence would pay off where education failed.
"Fine," she finally sighed, drooping against the arm of the chair she had sank down into already, the book hanging limply from her hand. "I know a spell cannot be undone once it's cast, but there has to be a way to… to de-tinnify you! Something in here, not to undo the spell exactly, but that would still turn you into a normal Munchkin again!"
Of course, Tin Man had nothing to say. At no point had Glinda felt comfortable removing his restraints, so she hadn't. His large, sad eyes continued to follow her everywhere while she stood to replace the book on a table, as if pleading with her to see more than was visible.
"Enough, Biq. I don't care how long you give me the puppy dog eyes."
Still he stared. Bitter tears began to slide down his cheeks as he sat in the chair opposite her, unable to do anything else.
"You'll only rust if you keep that up." Throwing up her hands, she snapped, "What did you think would happen?! The moment Nessa lets you go, you start to run away? To what, find me?" She let out a blast of laughter. "Hate to break it to you, Munchkin Boy, but I've never even had the tiniest shred of interest in you! Just because you liked me doesn't mean I had to like you back!"
His face turned away. She wanted to feel less hatred, less annoyance at his attitude and more compassion toward his obvious grief, but it wasn't going to happen. Even though Nessa had done things to him that weren't fair, there were reasons for that. And she intended to set the record straight.
"I should have been this honest with you from the beginning," she confessed. "You… you really don't deserve it now, but you did then, and… and so did Nessa. That part is your fault; I know there had to have been a thousand times you could have told her you weren't interested, and all you did was go along for the ride. And then you complained too late, and… well…"
A muffled sob filled the room. To try and put some distance between herself and the source of her annoyance and grief, she crossed to the window, grasping the ledge and staring out over the jagged rocks of the Kells both near and distant, down at the village of Kiamo Ko.
"I know Nessa shouldn't have trapped you in Munchkinland or cast any spells on you that she didn't understand; nobody's saying any different. But does that really make it right for you to try to kill her? None of us is free from guilt for this, Tinny. I wasn't honest with you, and you weren't honest with Nessa. So easy to start out that way, huh? Best of intentions. And we really loused things up." Turning again, she fixed him with a curious gaze, wringing her wand in her nervous hands. "Isn't it funny how Nessa was the only one who was honest from the beginning? She may have failed in other areas, but by golly, she was always truthful about her feelings for you. Just… funny."
Then she strode closer and spat at him, "But all you know how to do is lie. You lied to Nessarose about your feelings for her, and you lied to Dorothy about Elphaba and I." When recognition sparked behind his eyes, she growled, "Yes, that's right! I know all about that! How could you tell her she and I are… that we would do things like that? To a girl barely old enough to start holding hands?! Shame on you! Makes me wonder if you ever did have a heart in the first place!"
Things were going nowhere fast. Grunting in sheer annoyance, she made a couple of quick swishes with her wand and wrapped his chair with more ropes.
"Obviously, I can't do much for you right now. But I'll… I'll try again tomorrow, I guess. Sorry." The last word might have sounded insincere, but Glinda meant it deep down. She didn't even wait for a response before grabbing up the Grimmerie and heading for the door; even if he did respond, it wouldn't be anything worth hearing.
Within minutes, she was descending back to the dungeons again, having stashed the book somewhere safe. Though she had high hopes everything would have gone well with their other prisoners, she could not risk the Lion pouncing on her and stealing their most powerful artefact.
The scene laid out before her was an interesting one, to be sure. Fiyero was sitting lazily in a chair near Elphaba's, and the Lion was lying in the cage with his great, shaggy head on his paws. The manacled Dorothy, however, was cross-legged in her seat, leaned forward with rapt attention. This was obviously the greatest number of direct answers she had ever received from anyone since being tossed into Oz, and she was drinking them in like a parched wanderer of the Shifting Sands.
"Well, I think you're very brave to try and rescue them," she was assuring Elphaba. "What I don't understand is, why does the Wizard want them to be silent in the first place? Surely he can be the President without doing that, he already is one and they haven't bothered him so far!"
"President?" Fiyero asked, the word sounding as unfamiliar coming from him as it did in Glinda's ears. But Elphaba answered her question instead of focusing on Fiyero's remark.
"He needed a scapegoat — no offense to Dr. Dillamond. As I said, we've had a few droughts, and the Wizard hasn't handled the economic recession very well. It was either start squandering his treasury to balance things out, or find something to distract the citizens of Oz, to keep them from blaming him and rioting. It's a calculated diversionary tactic."
Dorothy bobbed her shoes-that-wouldn't-come-off up and down and frowned down toward the stone floor. "My Uncle Henry says we're just coming out of another one of those 'recessions', too. I don't know much about it, except that we haven't had much to eat, or money for new clothes. That's why..." She bit her bottom lip.
"Go on," Glinda said gently a moment later, startling her and the Lion very slightly. "That's why…?"
"Oh… hullo, Miss Glinda. W-well, I know it's silly, what with everything you're troubled with. But I should like to have my gingham dress back, if we c-can manage it. Aunt Em had to henpeck Uncle Henry for weeks to buy that, because she said a girl ought to have a proper dress for Easter Sunday! A-and the thought of going home without it..."
Once she had shaken off wondering what "gingham" and "Easter Sunday" might mean, Glinda was a little shocked to see that Dorothy looked ashamed. It spoke volumes about her family; she was less afraid of her their reaction and more worried about disappointing them, inconveniencing those she loved.
"There, there," she shushed her as she walked over to pet along her shoulders. The girl sighed despondently, but did at least seem calmed. "If the rest of our plans work out, I promise we'll search the palace. And if we can't turn it up, we'll make you two new dresses! The best Oz has to offer!"
Though she rolled her eyes, Elphaba refrained from commenting on whether or not she considered this important enough to discuss. Instead, she told the young lady, "For now, I'd like an answer."
"Answer? Oh…" She gulped, glancing over at Fiyero and back. "I'm just a girl, I can't fight, or use magic, or do anything useful. What difference does it make if I join you?"
"I'm not saying you have to face the Wizard head-on," Elphaba assured her. "Just don't get in our way. Your moral support is better than opposition."
Glaring at Elphaba for the callous way she had phrased things, Glinda added, "And you'll be plenty useful! Besides, we don't only want you around because of that — we like you! Don't we, Elphie?" No response. Glinda kicked her. "Don't we?"
"I don't dislike her," she offered more truthfully. "Other than that nasty business of trying to kill me."
"You know we're pals, Dorothy," Fiyero put in, leaning forward with his hands on his knees. "I owe you for rescuing me from that cornfield, at the very least! But I can't ignore how badly the Wizard's treated my old classmates. Ooh, it chafes my straw! So I'm sorry to say it, but if you keep supporting him…"
At that, Dorothy quickly shook her head and said, "No, no, I'd never dream of saying it's alright! What all he's done, and then lied about it all to me! I don't understand how he came to be in charge of Oz in the first place, an old humbug like him!"
The two witches shared a weary look. Never had they expected to be history teachers when they enrolled at Shiz, but that seemed to be their fate for the afternoon.
"Let's go upstairs to get something to eat," Elphaba recommended gruffly, pushing to stand. "Nessa should have one of her infernal stews ready to force down."
"Can you bring me back some infernal stew?" Lion asked as they stood. "I'm so hungry; milk only goes so far for a full-grown Lion, and I don't much care for vegetables. Even an old bone would be something."
"Of course," Glinda told him. "We'll bring it with us when we return Dorothy."
As they ascended the steps, Elphaba began, "The Wizard came to us… oh, a couple of decades ago. We were all too young to remember what the time before he ruled was like, I'm afraid — but we know from our studies that our previous queen, Ozma the Billious, had left behind a newborn when she was poisoned; we don't know the gender, there was no formal announcement — already unusual in and of itself. But it's assumed it was a succeeding princess, because that child vanished when the Wizard flew into our world in a foreign contraption the likes of which we had never seen before."
"Poisoned?!" Dorothy gasped.
"Yes," Glinda supplied. "A pretty unregal way to die, isn't it? Her husband was supposed to look after the heir, but… well, he died, too. Boating accident. Worse yet, nobody knows how it was done, or who's responsible for either deaths or the baby disappearing. Still a mystery."
"But… but that's how my parents died," Dorothy was breathing. "On a boat. Imagine that."
Elphaba was shaking her head. "I wouldn't be surprised to learn it was all the Wizard and Morrible's doing. True, he had not arrived yet when the Ozma line ended, but who's to say he hadn't arranged for it beforehand? Or his 'secretary' could have been laying the groundwork."
"Conspiracy theories are fun, aren't they?" Fiyero observed with a light chuckle. "But it might be smarter to stick to what we know, and what we have to do."
"Right. Go on, then."
Somehow, his painted-on eyebrows arched high. "Me? You know what kind of student I was!" But he shrugged and went on, anyway. "Simple, really. Everyone thought the old Wizard was magical because he flew into our world from another, and that made it pretty easy for him to claim the empty throne. Right place, right time."
Head shaking much like Elphaba's, which amused Glinda to notice, Dorothy said, "If he really did kill either of them… oh, even the baby… that's one of the most awful things I've ever heard! And he's never been thrown in jail?"
"How can we? He's the jailor." Elphaba huffed in annoyance as they came to the kitchen and pushed inside. "And there's nothing we can do to prove what he's done, either way. At least Glinda and I are witnesses to the way he tricked us into transforming the Monkeys. If there are any witnesses to his alleged murders, I haven't found them, and I doubt they'll come forward now."
"Such light conversation," Nessa observed as she toiled over the stove. "I was just standing here, lamenting that you two have taken the more interesting jobs and left me to be scullery maid, but perhaps I haven't missed anything, after all."
"You haven't," Glinda sighed, breathing in deeply. "Mmm, that smells good… I'm starvatiously hungry!"
Dorothy glanced down at the plates and silverware laid out for the four of them who actually owned stomachs, then back up to Elphaba. "Can you at least move my handcuffs in front of me so I don't need help to eat?"
As no one much wanted to spoonfeed her again, they relented, and Dorothy did her best not to drip on her dress as they discussed all that had transpired. Nessa looked morose when Glinda reported her failing at improving Boq's outlook on life or his physical condition, but did not say a word; she seemed entirely defeated in that area. Privately, Glinda thought that was for the best - the faster she moved on, the better. Even if she was somewhat spoiled, she deserved better than a man who wanted to chop her head off.
"I'm not sure what I can do for you," Dorothy finally told them as Glinda and Elphaba were washing the dishes and Nessa was disposing of the scraps. "But if you'll just… help me with two things, I'll do whatever I can, anything at all!"
"The shoes and the dress?" Elphaba guessed.
"Oh… three things." When the green lips pursed, she rushed ahead, "I forgot about the dress already! The other thing was to help me get home, if you can. Of c-course, I'm only asking you to try your best, you know. If you can't, well… then I guess I'll live here forever with these heavy shoes weighing me down."
"That, we will promise," Glinda said for all of them. Elphaba shot her a look, but she ignored it. "We'll do what we can, and if we can't, then we'll figure out somewhere for you to stay in Oz. Deal?"
"Deal." She held out her manacles to be unlocked, and they blinked at her. Slowly, an inch at a time, she lowered them as she whispered, "Oh… am… I still… going back to the dungeons?"
Glancing at the other two briefly to gauge their responses, Glinda then walked over and freed her. Dorothy turned a smiling face up toward her that was so earnest she couldn't help but grin back. "Good. I'll just take you to get washed up again — even if you'll have to hang your feet out of the tub."
As they walked down the hallway, Dorothy slipped her hand into Glinda's, which surprised her very slightly. But she squeezed it in comfort; she could only assume the girl was still scared of the big, drafty castle, and the less alone she felt, the better.
"Miss Glinda… thank you so much. I know we've only just met, but I… feel like you're how I'd like my mother to have been, if I could remember her."
"M-mother?!" Glinda burst out in mild surprise.
"OH! Oh, is that not alright?" she breathed. "Of c-course, I didn't mean to say you're old enough to be my mother! Not a w-woman so young and lovely as you, not at all! But only… you're so kind, and thoughtful, and I'm sure it's because of you that I'm not a prisoner anymore. I can't believe I was ever afraid of you, or thought you were a deviant!"
Entirely mollified, the Witch of the North had to chuckle — mostly in chagrin at her own overreaction. "Fine, fine, I'm glad to have helped how I could. You are a sweet little thing, all in all, aren't you?" As they came again to the bath, she said, "Of course, I can't promise you anything… certainly not that we'll live to see the end of this fight with the Wizard, or that we'll find a way to send you back to Amerikansas, but…"
"You'll do your best," Dorothy finished for her, squeezing her hand again before she began to help heating the water. "That's all a girl can ask."
~ o ~
"...and that was the last spell I tried," Glinda was telling Elphaba as they fell to the task that they had both been putting off for far too long: unpacking. It had taken some careful plotting to retrieve their few effects from the cave behind Wicca Falls, and since then too much had been transpiring to worry about opening the pair of disparate trunks and making a good run at their contents. Presently, half of what they owned was strewn across the bed, the rest either hung up properly in one of the wardrobes or stacked on the vanity. Privately, Glinda lamented not being able to use said vanity for its intended purposes, but there was no place for that type of "vanity" in their current lives.
"I can't say I'm surprised, Glinda. You know that spells can't be undone, and it's slippery work even changing them somewhat the way we already have with Boq. Tampering further… if we do succeed, he'll either wind up dead, or completely unrecognisable."
A sigh welled up powerfully from the pit of her stomach, but ended up sounding pathetic and soft when it came forth. "You're probably right, but I'd still appreciate it if you could take a look for yourself. I mean, you're clearly the better witch between us, right?"
"Only through study," she hedged. Then she stood a little straighter, shooting over her shoulder, "At what point did we start embracing the word 'witch' instead of hating it? When did that happen?"
"Search me, Elphie; I just work here."
Tutting briefly, Elphaba laid out a few of her older school effects from within her travelling cloak. A sniffle threatened to break free from Glinda when she recognised the Shiz guidebook, small bound leather tome that it was, lying next to the green bottle and a few spare coins that weren't even accepted outside the Emerald City as valid currency. Much though she protested, her Elphie truly was a sentimental creature.
Something stirred in the back of her mind. It took her a long second or two for it to bob its meandering way along to the front, and until that point, she hadn't even been sure what the stirring was in relation to.
"Nessarose isn't much of a witch at all," her roommate was saying as she put away a few of her dresses, more neatly into one of their closets than previously. Plenty of room to work with in there, now that they had cleared away some of the decrepit old junk. "However, I think she might have an aptitude for magic if she works on it as hard as she's worked at making her awful stew into tolerable stew. Just needs a swift kick in the-"
"That bottle."
"Hm?" Glancing down, she picked the bottle back up, then stared over its mouth at Glinda. "What about this bottle?"
"Didn't you tell me once before that it was… important to you, for some reason?" Even now, Glinda was still barely aware of why this mattered, but the threads were beginning to weave themselves together now.
"I did. It was my mother's. Father would often tell me that it was a prized possession, and she never wanted to be apart from it. When he would ask, she would simply state that it reminded her of her firstborn, but…" One shoulder rose and fell. "I got the feeling that wasn't the full story. Or at least, old Frex didn't believe it was."
"Hm."
"Why do you ask?"
"Oh, nothing." Keeping her tone carefully distant, aloof, she went on, "Just that… it looks conveniently similarly to the bottle the Wizard was drinking from when we dropped in on him."
Elphaba started, glancing between her and the bottle. "Really? Well, it's just a green bottle… no label to say what's in it. Could have been just a similar shape."
"No, not similar. The same. I'm telling you, whatever's in his, or used to be in yours, it's the exact same type of bottle, shape and colour."
This silence was a bit longer and quieter than the previous one. Glinda wouldn't have guessed that silences could be quieter or louder; they were either silent or they weren't. Until now.
"No. Well, I mean… maybe she visited the Emerald City. Could have been anything."
"Could have."
"Then why are you bringing this up? We have a lot to do."
"Elphie…"
Exasperated, she threw up both hands. "What am I supposed to do? How do you want me to react to this news? So my mother and the Wizard both have identical vessels for holding liquor. Big twigging deal. Dorothy and Nessa both have shiny shoes; maybe they're related."
"They are. The shoes, not Dorothy and Nessa," she snapped when Elphaba raised her eyebrows at her. "Both are because of our spells! So they are connected! And it might be the same with the Wiz-"
"I don't believe you really believe this, this… what was it Fiyero said? 'Conspiracy theories'. That's what you're spinning. Wilder and more fanciful by the minute, if you think I'm going to follow your logic to where it's leading."
Glinda's hands went to her waist, impatient at the attitude she was receiving. "I'm not outright saying anything! Just bringing up possibilities! What you do with them is up to you!" When she got no answer right away, she approached Elphaba, grasping her forearms to stop her from continuing to dig in her closet. "Elphaba, please? Just… doesn't it sound like something we ought to try figuring out?"
"Maybe. Another time."
"But we don't have-"
"I need to finish this. Either with your help, or without. But for now, I can't…" A slight flicker of pain showed in her eyes before she mastered it, suppressed it and returned her features to their quickly-becoming-normal steely resolve. "We need to worry about how we're going to depose the Wizard and bring peace to the Animals. That's first. Secondarily, we have to keep an eye on Dorothy, and look through the Grimmerie for the sake of a stupid, ungrateful wretch of a tin can."
Feeling stupid for having brought the whole thing up, Glinda strode for the door. "Fine, Elphie. I can tell when I'm not wanted around. I'll see you at supper."
As she slipped out of the room, she just scarcely caught Elphaba's sigh. She probably felt bad for being unpleasant just then, but couldn't quite find the humility to chase after her. Maybe that was for the best; this way, they could both have a few minutes with their own thoughts to ponder the situation and to let their tempers settle.
But she certainly wasn't going to let the matter drop. Not if it meant what she thought it might.
To Be Continued…
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