Elphaba's Diary

[imperfectly_green]

I saw this idea back very many threads ago, but it stopped after a couple of posts. I wanted to adopt the idea, and since my other fic is really odd and, unless someone requests, I'm probably not going to update it, I thought of writing something normal. So here we go again.
~Dee

Oh, yes--feedback please!

~~~~~

I just remembered the page in the front of this diary.

Isn't it odd to remember something completely irrelevant after all of your adventures are over? But the memory got me to pull the diary out of its dusty corner and read its pages once again. It's hard to believe how naive I was back then, when I started writing in this old diary. So young, it seems, though in reality I'm not that much older. But I'm so different now that it's hard to believe the girl in the diary is me. And, even though I called it a journal in those years, I realize now what it truly is. I recorded emotions in this little book, not just events, so it really is a diary.

I recall that I left the page in the front blank so I could look back and record my reaction to anything that happened during the span of the entries. I don't think I ever expected so dramatic a change. But now, not so many years later, the Elphaba at the beginning seems like a stranger. That Elphaba became, in turn, an enemy to be shunned and hated, a best friend, a misunderstood witch, a witch's sister, a lover, a real witch, and finally, a woman who is haunted by demons of the past but at long last content with who she is.

But the diary speaks for itself. If anyone should find this diary, after Fiyero and I are long gone, I entreat you to burn it, to protect the reputations of the living and the dead. These old demons deserve to rest in peace at last. And perhaps (who knows?) the lives of my contemporaries and me will make an entertaining story one day.

Elphaba Thropp

[DancingElphie]

Adore it! Wish it were longer, though. Really, get yourself hooked up with a not so strange idea () and get writing! You have a terrific style, and it's just gorgeous to read!
DE

[imperfectly_green]

1st Entry

I’m titling this the first entry because, frankly, dates are not that important. They are just measurements made by people to keep track of time. Besides, if anyone ever decides to read my journal, which I doubt they will, they’ll probably read it for the so far pathetic life of a disfigured teenager. Meaning they’ll read it for the story. Dates won’t matter to you, the imaginary reader. So I won’t bother putting them down.

As I write this first entry, the train takes me farther and farther away from my Munchkinland home and closer to what I’d like to think of as a new beginning. Alright, so maybe I’m getting a bit metaphorical. But my home in Munchkinland is the only one I’ve ever known, and living there hasn’t been…easy.

Let me start from the beginning. My name is Elphaba Ilana Thropp, the daughter of the governor of Munchkinland. Some cruel trick of fate saw to it that I was born green, not a normal, healthy shade. My parents viewed me as an abomination, a blemish to the family name. Not that I can recall much of those early years, of course. I only know the facts: Mother became pregnant again, Father tried to prevent the baby from being green by making Mother chew milkflowers, the baby, little Nessarose, came prematurely and was born a cripple, and Mother just…never woke up.

Everyone says that Nessa is “tragically beautiful.” Well, she is certainly pretty, with soft brown hair and big, brown eyes. I on the other hand, am just the opposite. Everything about me other than my black hair (which is usually pulled back in a braid) is green. I’m awkward and say too much and can be short-tempered, while baby Nessa inherited much of the family tact. And if she weren’t confined to a wheelchair, she’d probably…well, we’ll never know, will we?

I guess, in a way, Nessa’s disability is my fault. Father obviously thinks so, as he has made it clear that my essential purpose in life in to take care of Nessa. I can’t resent Nessa for this. It isn’t her fault that she’s confined to a wheelchair. But wherever she goes, I go. When Nessa was sent off to school, I went with her. And let me tell you, reader, the kids at that school were brutal! The Cripple naturally got more sympathy than The Green Girl, who got nasty looks and horrible nicknames. To make matters worse, whenever I happened to lose my temper, strange--er, incidents occured. Once the bully’s pants caught on fire, which was amusing but got me punished for a freakish accident that I didn’t even have anything to do with (I hope). Another time, I was probably 12 years old, these girls were teasing me and they mysteriously disappeared and reappeared on the rooftop.

But enough about that. Like I said, wherever Nessa goes, I go. So now, as she’s headed off to college, I’m with her for no other reason than to take care of her. I’ll study there, of course, but if not for Nessa I would probably never even go to college. My father would have probably kept me locked away in isolation for my entire life. If he locked me in a library…I’m a bit of a bookworm, so that might not have been so bad, but I guess I owe a lot to Nessa in that way.

It’s actually always been my dream to go to college, get a real life, meet people who don’t care about the color of my skin, and not have to be shunned anymore. Not that it’s bad being different; I can’t imagine what it would be like to have a “normal” skin color. But maybe at Shiz University there will be people who like me for me and aren’t blinded by my exterior. Yes, I’m going to Shiz U. I know that it isn’t one of the top 5 colleges in Oz, but it is still a good school overall. I’ve heard much about their sorcery program.

Part two of my dream (see above) is to meet the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. From everything I hear about him he sounds magnificent. Maybe he, of all people, would be able to make me normal. It’s a feeble hope, but it’s a hope nonetheless. Nevertheless, I’m excited beyond belief to actually be doing something, going somewhere, and maybe, finally, being accepted.

I have to go. The train is slowing down, and I can see the tops of buildings in the distance. We’re almost at Shiz (!), and Nessa needs my help with luggage and such.

Yours truly,
Elphaba

[ElphieandFiyero]

I love it!! ;D
Keep going keep going!

[imperfectly_green]

Thanks. ;D Now more from Elphaba's Diary:

~~~~~

2nd Entry

Both good news and bad. Good news first. When we arrived at Shiz, the Headmistress, Madame Morrible, insisted that she take care of Nessa personally. I didn’t exactly trust the woman—I was sure the only reason she was paying special attention to Nessa was because Father is the governor of Munchkinland—so I became upset. No, that’s a bit of an understatement. I blew up—and Nessa’s wheelchair wrenched itself out of Morrible’s hands and wheeled itself back to me, to Nessa’s embarrassment and my horror. I’m not sure who was more shocked, me or the rest of the student body, but Morrible was absolutely thrilled. She told me that I had a talent. Can you believe it? A talent. After all of these years I’ve discovered that this freakish trait I have could be the key to getting a career in sorcery. Madame Morrible (who seemed much more likeable after this piece of news, but I guess that’s my fickle human side for you) said that because of this “gift” I might have a chance at meeting the Wizard! Even become his right-hand woman! Maybe, if this dream comes true, if I meet him, he’ll be able to de-greenify me. Of course, the letter M.M. sent to the Emerald City will take awhile to be answered, for the Wizard is a “very busy man,” but once it is…who knows?!

However, there is still the bad news:

1) I’m not rooming with Nessa. Though I know she wants to be independent of me, I’m not sure if it’s the best arrangement. I mean, like I said, my main “purpose” for going here was to take care of Nessa…but I guess after the whole “sorcery talent” thing Father couldn’t pull me out of Shiz. And even so, I’m not that much of a disgrace to the family name. So never mind.

2) My new roommate is Galinda Upland. Of the Upper Uplands, she reminds everyone. I can’t stand her. She is petite, beautiful, blonde, rich, has friends who fawn over her, and is possibly the most imperious little snob I’ve ever met. She thinks that the world revolves around her, and her little posse, Shen Shen and Pfanne (also pretty and rich), seem to believe it. She regards rooming with me as some kind of sacrifice that will raise her to martyr status. It seems like she has the entire school fooled with the innocent blonde act. Am I the only one who can see right through her?

3) Like I said, she has the entire school fooled and everyone follows her, which means I didn’t exactly receive a warm welcome from my fellow students. Quite the contrary. All of my attempts to be friendly were met with glares of contempt. Everyone just seems to want to get as far away from me as possible, and I’m afraid my awkward display of tactlessness didn’t exactly help (I said something along the lines of “What?! What are you looking at? Oh, do I have something in my teeth? Okay, let's get this over with. No, I'm not seasick, yes, I've always been green, no, I didn't chew grass as a child…”). I’ve already been the subject of a few crude puns and such. I guess college will be more of the same. But when I’m with the Wizard…they’ll see. They’ll all see.

Just something interesting to note—before Father left Nessa and me he presented Nessa with a pair of beautiful jeweled shoes. He didn’t give me anything, and even though I don’t really want those shoes—a bit too gaudy for my tastes—I wish he would have given me something. That sounds selfish, I know, but I wish Father would realize that he has two real daughters who need him, not just one. If he knew that, his parting words to me might not have been, “Elphaba, take care of your sister. And try not to talk so much!” But I can’t worry about it now.

Miss Galinda is insisting that I turn out the light so she can get her precious beauty sleep. I should keep it on just to spite her, but...no I guess not. More later,

Elphaba

[ElphieandFiyero]

I love it!!!
So good, I love the diary format! ;D
I love the flashback...

[DancingElphie]

Wonderful! I love it, and it's so Elphie!
BTW, ElphieandFiyero, I adore the tagline after your avatar: I ADORE GREAT BIG STUFF!
What am I taking about, I adore DRS!
De

[stars in the sky]

dancingelphie said:

Wonderful! I love it, and it's so Elphie!
BTW, ElphieandFiyero, I adore the tagline after your avatar: I ADORE GREAT BIG STUFF!
What am I taking about, I adore DRS!
De

Agreed!

[imperfectly_green]

Thank you all! ;D As long as I know someone's reading, I'll keep going. But I added in a few--incidents--of my own invention throughout the story, between Galinda and Elphie, Elphie and Nessa, etc, because we know that the events in Wicked can't just happen within the period of about a week like it seems like they do, at least, not the events at Shiz, or when Elphie is, um, abroad. So here's one such incident, just involving some name-calling, basically, but that illustrates the points in the song "What is This Feeling?"
~Dee

~~~~~

3rd Entry
Again, I’ll begin with the good news. I’ve been at Shiz for about two weeks (sorry I haven’t written, I’m still new at keeping a diary) and my classes are all going well. Though the students can’t seem to stand me for who-knows-what reason (though I do know, it’s because I’m green), I get along with my teachers pretty well. My linguification class is especially interesting; I love learning about the ancient languages. The only thing that disturbs me is that the only Animal on staff is my History teacher, Dr. Dillamond. He often talks about how, years ago, the number of Animals at Shiz was almost the same as the number of humans. It’s almost as awkward for him being the sole Animal as it is for me being…green.

Speaking of which, I had a little confrontation (one of many, by now) with Miss Perfect-and-Popular today. I was sitting at a table, alone, just eating lunch, when “Her Royal Highness” accompanied by what I refer to as “the posse” approached my humble self. Anyway, she took one look at what I was eating, a salad, and remarked, “Oh look. There’s a cannibal on campus.”

Shen Shen and Pfanne giggled. It was hard to keep the poison out of my voice as I replied, “Excuse me?”

“A cannibal,” Galinda repeated, as if I were slow. “Y’know, as in one who eats her own kind.”

I stood up, my hands so tightly clenched in fists that my knuckles turned white. It’s a good thing Madame Morrible taught me how to control my magic on the first day, because otherwise those blonde curls would have gone up in flames. “I eat these green vegetables,” I said, my voice rising as I spoke, “to keep the color in my skin, you should know. [Blatantly untrue, by the way] I can’t imagine it’s healthy to be so pale like you. What have you been eating, I wonder? Straw? With the cows, I would expect. Eats with cows, has manners like a cow’s, it all fits together.” Of course, as I said this I mentally apologized for insulting the cows. I did see some students at neighboring tables drop their forks on the table instead of taking another bite of their salad, as if eating lettuce would turn them green.

“I do not,” Galinda spat, “eat like a cow.”

“You’re right,” I agreed. “A cow is more graceful and doesn’t slobber as much.”

She just blinked at me for a couple of seconds, sweet blue eyes trying not to look offended, then said, “Whatever, Green Bean,” flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked away, posse in tow. She had only gone a few steps before this Munchkin boy ran up to her. I barely caught what he said, but it was along the lines of, “Miss Galinda? My name is Boq. Isn’t she…” it became incomprehensible from then on, but I know what he was saying was not complementary. Galinda sighed and rolled her eyes, not in response to what he said but to the boy himself. I smiled. Being plagued by a Munchkin boy was a worse punishment than any words I could throw in her face. It occurred to me that I might have done something with my magic after all, but that was a foolish thought. I didn’t think spells could make people fall in love, and even so, it was probably just a crush. The boy would get over himself soon.

I sat down, and just then noticed everyone staring at me. “Well, don’t mind me. Just get back to your,” I dragged out the last word, pronouncing it with relish, “salads.” I’d swear that just about half of them looked sick, and no one even touched a salad.

Honestly, I’d say that was the first time anyone ever talked back to “Miss Youthful Beauty.” Even though I tried to fix the room assignments, I’m still rooming with her. She finds a way to take all of my traits and twist them into things that she can use against me, as if I weren’t loathed enough already. Needless to say, I find ways to get back at her, small ways, but if this doesn’t stop soon I’m going to have to develop some kind of master plan to humiliate her. M.M. says I should only use my magic powers for “good,” but if I’m good and she’s wicked…We’ll see how that works out, shall we?

I think in my last entry I forgot to give the other reason Galinda hates me. She came to Shiz for the express reason of studying magic, but when Morrible announced that she would teach me and no others, Galinda got a little…jealous. Yes, the queen of perfection can be jealous. Oh, what horror! So in case you the imaginary reader did not understand why Galinda makes my life a misery, I’m telling you now.

That’s about it,
Elphaba

[stars in the sky]

Ooh, interesting spin of events, that Elphie could've pushed Boq into liking G(a)linda. I'm liking this fic

[karatekid]

Cool, sis! But PLEASE stop hogging up the computer to write these entries. I want to go on Verdi too!

[imperfectly_green]

karatekid said:

Cool, sis! But PLEASE stop hogging up the computer to write these entries. I want to go on Verdi too!

Erm...sorry, Sammie. You'll get your chance to go on. I promise. For now, though, what do you guys think?

[ElphieandFiyero]

dancingelphie said:

Wonderful! I love it, and it's so Elphie!
BTW, ElphieandFiyero, I adore the tagline after your avatar: I ADORE GREAT BIG STUFF!
What am I taking about, I adore DRS!
De

Yeah, great song! I hardly ever pay full price for a broadway show, including DRS, so it's really funny. So expensive! ;D

Great!! Great scene between Elphaba and Galinda! Great great great!

[imperfectly_green]

elphieandfiyero said:

dancingelphie said:

BTW, ElphieandFiyero, I adore the tagline after your avatar: I ADORE GREAT BIG STUFF!
What am I taking about, I adore DRS!
De

Yeah, great song! I hardly ever pay full price for a broadway show, including DRS, so it's really funny. So expensive! ;D

Yay! I just got the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels OBCR! Now it won't seem like you guys are speaking Chinese anymore! I have yet see that show. So many months back some group was taking 80 or so people up to NY for an outing, and I wanted to go with my Mom because I saw that there was this new show called Dirty Rotten Scoundrels starring Norbert, who I knew from Wicked. I asked if the two of us Broadway lovers could go, and she pointed out the cost per person. O, but for lack of funding I could have seen DRS!

As for entry four, expect it sometime soon. I'll have more time to write after I finish these darn projects and take those darn HSAs.

[karatekid]

Keep `em coming! I love the line, "You're right, I agreed. A cow is more graceful and doesn't slobber as much. He he!!!!!!!!!! ;D