So many thoughts

Last night, I went and saw a "community theatre" production of Wicked in Canberra.

Why the air quotes? Because whilst it technically was a community theatre production (ie. definitely not the real thing) our three main leads have all had roles in professional musical theatre productions.

I just need to say I was ridiculously anxious about seeing the show. It's been 17 months since I last saw it, and I miss it so much. Plus, I was going with 3 people who hadn't seen it before- at all- and I wanted them to love it, and I just didn't know what to expect.

So, I took notes. I legit took a notepad and pen and scribbled everything I could remember. Mostly notes on the staging and things like that, which was the real difference.

And now I'm sharing them with you! I organised them by scene, but they may not be necessarily in chronological order within the scene.

1) No One Mourns the Wicked

• Galinda sits on her bubble. 
• When Melena turns her face so Frex kisses her cheek instead, he look worried/confused. 
• I cried in the beginning. 

2) Dear Old Shiz

• Frex very affectionate towards Nessa, but not as cold with Elphaba as I’ve seen. Not warm, though. 
• He was like ‘fake smiling’ as he came and pulled Elphaba aside. So, that was interesting. More of like trying to present like the image of a happy family. 

3) The Wizard and I

• It was fine. 
• Our Morrible sang more than most I’ve seen and was really good. 

4) What is This Feeling?

• On Galinda’s line “these things are sent to try us”, she did a little run instead of going high, and in the silence after, Elphaba audibly groaned in disgust- like “ugh.” It was hilarious.

5) Something Bad

• Our Dr Dillamond was Scottish and it was great, and somehow I liked him more than ever? 

6) Dancing Through Life

• Fiyero can sing.
• God Bless whoever made the decision to keep him in jodhpurs. 
• Avaric wasn’t pulling the usual rickshaw, it was kind of like this motorised thing, but not a car… I don’t know what it was. But it was funny because after Avaric and Fiyero do their handshake, he didn’t leave immediately, he was like fiddling with the car. When Galinda ran on stage to hide from Boq, she went behind and Avaric and crouched down- and then of course Avaric left, so Galinda was still crouching down when Boq found her. 
• When Galinda saw Fiyero and was like “his reputation is so scandalacious!” she then undid her top button on her top to give herself more cleavage. And then Boq was still standing there next to her so she threw her bag off stage and was like “oops”. So, Boq ran off to get it and Galinda went to go talk to Fiyero. 
• He wasn’t looking at her, so she was standing behind/kinda next to him and like hiked up her skirt to show more leg and then did her toss toss and a fake cough to get his attention before doing her “are you looking for something” line, during which she angled herself so he could basically see down her shirt I’m guessing. 
• In the beginning of DTL, when Fiyero was talking to Boq and had his arm around his shoulders, Boq was like leaning forward to stare past him at Galinda, and Fiyero was like “hello?” and straightened him up. 
• When Fiyero did his “they want to make you less shallow” line, Galinda was looking in her compact and not paying attention. He paused and she was like “what?” before he continued. 
• Boq was pretty adorable and had a good voice. I liked him.
• When Boq came to ask Galinda to the dance, she and Fiyero were standing up on the statue base, so he jumped up between them to ask her. 
• At the OzDust when Elphaba was dancing (which was different, but I won’t begin to describe- because I can’t) and then Galinda “cut in”, Elphaba started doing the dance with the soft music, then Galinda joined in and then everyone else. 

7) Popular

• As funny as any I’ve ever seen. 
• At one point, Galinda drew a nail file out from her dress and started filing Elphaba’s nails. 
• Galinda also put sunglasses on her at one point and then took them off (at no point during the show did Elphaba wear glasses, even pre-Popular). When she took the sunglasses off, Galinda used them as a microphone to sing into. 
• At one point, Galinda ‘booped’ Elphaba’s nose. 

8) Lion Cub Scene/I’m Not That Girl

• I think it was just the Scottish accent, but when Dr Dillamond got taken away and did his whole “they may take away my job, but I will continue speaking out” line, I half expected him to start quoting Braveheart. (ie. “they will never take our freedom!”) It really may have just been the accent. 
• When it started raining and Elphaba ducked under the bridge, Fiyero came out alone with a lantern, and looked like he was looking for her? And then Galinda came out with an umbrella, kissed him and pulled him away.
• After the “you’re bleeding” line, Elphaba touched Fiyero’s hand, not his face, to make him jump up and run off. 
• And he didn’t do the ‘I needed to go the other way’ bit, which not a big deal but I missed it. 

9) Train Station/ One Short Day

• Ensemble costumes were great. Very authentic. 
• Elphaba and Glinda dance a bit in at one stage. 
• No flat tops in Wizomania. 
• When Glinda did her "it's Glinda now. Stupid idea" line, she kind of like hit herself in the forehead. 

10) A Sentimental Man

• Our Wizard can sing. 
• And is really likeable, which makes things complicated for me. It’s so much easier to hate him. Sigh.
• Wizard’s Head was very authentic. 

11) Defying Gravity

• Elphaba flew, I cried. Nothing new. 

12) Thank Goodness

• Our Fiyero was really good at the “This is an engagement party?!” reaction line. I laughed.
• Glinda’s costume was a silver jumpsuit?! It was nice, but I was surprised. 

13) Wicked Witch of the East

• Nessa was better than in Act 1. I wasn't sure how I felt about her in Act 1, but Act 2 she was much stronger as WWotE.

14) Wonderful

• In the scene after, when the Wizard released the Monkeys, at least one was in the stalls and down through the audience onto the stage. Scared the crap out of me. 
• When Morrible came in with her “your betrothed has brought her into custody?” line to Glinda, she burst into tears and sank down to the floor sobbing until her “use her sister” line. 

15) As Long As You’re Mine

• OMO SO MANY THOUGHTS ON THE STAGING OF THIS SCENE.
• So, at first, they just stood in the middle of the stage and I was like “where is this going?” and then after the first couple of lines, Fiyero took Elphaba’s broom and put that and the lantern over by the “wall” that was on the side of the stage. She approached him (it looked a little like a lioness stalking or something) as she sang the rest of her verse. In her chorus, there was some neck kissing (Fiyero on Elphaba’s neck) and some touching and whatever. 
• Once Elphaba finished her chorus, she kinda went like to move away or something and Fiyero grabbed her, spun her and pressed her up against the wall to kiss her.
• He did his verse and in the second chorus they ended back up in centre stage, and Fiyero knelt down and sort of led her gently down with him. 
• And then Elphaba physically undressed him. She took off his suspenders and his shirt (he was wearing a singlet underneath. 
• So, they’re in the third chorus by now, and Fiyero is like leaning backwards to lie down and pulling her towards him and then she crawled on top of him and they were making out, and then she sat up to do her “For the first time I feel Wicked” line, and then leaned back down over him to kiss him again.

16) Cornfield Scene/No Good Deed

• Fiyero doesn’t have a rope swing, he just runs on. 
• Elphaba’s “Fiyero” at the beginning wasn’t that great, but I think that was an audio issue, because the rest of her belts were all great. 

17) March of the Witch Hunters

• Nothing really to note here. 

18) For Good

• Nothing to note. It was a good scene. 

19) Finale

• There was a trap door for Elphaba to pop out of. I’m happy.
• Scarecrow costume also super authentic. 

20) Some General Thoughts/Observations:

• Sometimes they’d do little runs as opposed to belting- sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. 
• It kinda felt like seeing the real show, but with all the understudies on, you know? Good, but just… something was missing a little bit. 
• Some lady in front of me told me at intermission that it was better than the “real production.” It wasn’t, but whatever. 
• There was definitely some audio issues- mics not clicking on until a bit into the line, etc. Hopefully that will get fixed. 
• I was so happy that they had the map of Oz as the curtain, because I hadn’t expected that and I actually gasped and got teary. 
• Probably the biggest difference was the staging. Obviously. The costumes ranged from “fine” to “could have been the real thing almost” so I was happy with that. 
• They did that thing community productions often do of slowing things down just slightly, for cues and such. It wasn’t distracting, but it was noticeable. For me, at least. 
• I’m going again. So, take that as you will! 

Family Ties prompts

I'm uploading the family trees I created to use as the history of the Vinkun royal family. I uploaded them through Google Drive, because just posting it as a picture wasn't really going to work- they're too big for that!

This way, people can have a look and (if you want) let me know which of Fiyero's ancestors you'd like to hear more about!

There's two there- the House of Tiggular (reigning from 1570 to the present) and the House of Dahl (reigning from 1216- 1570). The House of Dahl dates back to the fall of the House of Craven in 1178, but I didn't do that family tree, because I had to draw the line somewhere!

The link to the PDFs is below, and you can contact me through FF.net, Twitter, Tumblr or comment below if you have a particular request or question!

I will be posting the images below, but I think the PDF may be better quality.

Family Tree PDFs

"Save My Soul" inspiration

So the Save My Soul oneshot was inspired by the Gilmore Girls scene below, from season 6, episode 7.

I could just see Elphaba in Rory's position, and originally I had it on my list of ideas to work into a bigger fic. But it doesn't really fit with any of the ones I currently have planned, and I needed an idea for a oneshot.

Really, I wanted to write a oneshot that wouldn't provoke reviews of "this was so cute/sweet" (because as much as I love reviews- any reviews- that does get my goat a little. No writer writes something to be just "cute").

This is the scene from Gilmore Girls where the idea and a few of the quotes came from.

Unfortunately, I can't take credit for the "guard your carnal treasure" line either, but it fit too perfectly to not use it.

That comes from the 2003 film Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, which is you haven't seen, you really should. It's one of my favourites.

This is the scene in particular-

COMPETITION

One entry per person!

Milestone

October 2015 is the 5 year anniversary of when I posted my first Wicked fanfiction online.

Now, although I was posting fanfiction for other fandoms before, and have done occasionally since, Wicked was really where I found my niche, I guess.

Plus, 5 years on I can say it's the most supportive fandom I've posted in. I feel this is where my writing has grown the most, where I've pushed and challenged myself, and where I've met awesome people.

So, I wanted to do something for the occasion. 5 years is an impressive milestone, I think!

I'm hoping to be able to start posting my next fic Long Time Coming on that day, but whilst it could be argued that it is for you, that's mostly for me. People actually reading and reviewing is just a perk.

So, I wanted to do something for the people who are actually reading my work- whether they've been there since Ever Ever After, or found me through the 50+ subsequent stories since then, or who will just stumble across Long Time Coming when it goes up.

I have this notebook that I use when I'm going on trips and I'll have time to write, but I don't particularly want to lug my laptop with me.

In this notebook are first, handwritten, original drafts of different sections of The Ghost of Kiamo Ko, The Right Thing To Do, and The Most Convenient Definitions and a few other notes for stuff not worth mentioning.

What I'm proposing (potentially) is some sort of competition where either 1 winner would get the notebook; or 3 winners would get part of the notebook (1 for each fic).

What do you guys think? Is this lame? Is anyone interested? Does anyone want my scribbles and sometimes hardly legible notes?

UPDATE:
It doesn't look as though I'll be able to start posting Long Time Coming just yet unfortunately.

At this stage, I'm thinking the prize would be the notebook as a whole, but I'd like to do a 2nd and 3rd prize; and I'm after suggestions what you guys would like. To be an OC/create an OC in a fic? Someone suggested a Skype call?

The competition is not official yet, but I'm thinking some kind of question, you send in answers of say 100 words or less; and I have an impartial judge (ie. a friend of mine who knows I write FF but doesn't read it) pick the winner/s.

Family

My younger sister got engaged tonight!

Now, this is a good thing. A really good thing. (Hence the exclamation point). And I am genuinely super happy for her. She's my sister, naturally, and her fiancé (!!) is a great guy.

We're all really happy he's [officially] going to be part of our family, and hey, I finally kinda get the big brother I always wanted!

But I do admit to feeling a little upset.

Not that she's getting married before me- they've been together for 3 years in December, so we all knew this was coming at some point, and unless a few miracles occurred, I knew it was going to happen this way. (Although I am dreading any relatives who will feel the need to point out that she's getting married before me, as though I'm unaware of this fact. And I know my relatives. Some will feel the need to point this out.)

But I'm a little upset about the way I found out. I just got home for the weekend, walked in to say hello to my mum and she was on the phone talking to them.

Mum herself found out because my sister put it on Facebook, she rang her and then my sister rang back.

But it would have been nice to get even just a text message.

And this is just the way my sister is, I know, and it's not personal. But she's my sister and she's getting married. Mum told me tonight not to be upset if I'm not involved in the wedding. Honestly, if I was asked to be in the wedding, I'd be surprised. My sister has a lot of really close friends.

The other thing that bugs me is my paternal grandparents' reaction. She's the first grandchild on this side of the family that will be married. And the only reaction the news got was "Oh, that's nice."

For reasons unknown, they don't like my sister's fiancé, who has been nothing but pleasant and polite to them since they met. And I'm sure after their less-than-enthusiastic response to the news, they're going to tell all their friends about it as though they're thrilled.

And that really bugs me on my sister's behalf.

 When mum confirmed the news (after I heard "send me a picture of the ring" I pretty much had it figured out, but confirmation is always good) I was actually a little surprised that I wasn't upset that she was getting married before me.

But honestly, I've had a long time to accept that fact, and when I move around for work so much, and the very thought of someone showing romantic interest in me literally sends me into an anxiety attack (I have friends who can attest to this. I'm not exaggerating. This is fact), like I said, it would take a few miracles for me to get married first.

Anyway, I don't want to go on about this. Just had to vent a little so I can focus on the positives- my sister is getting married to someone we genuinely all like and who loves her and treats her well. That's all I can ask for really.

Writing Processes

Recently I was asked on Twitter how I organise my fics and my ideas, and instead of trying to explain in 140 characters, I thought visual aids might help.

I'm posting this here, in case anyone else is interested.

IDEAS

The way I organise my plans and notes has evolved over the 5 years I've been posting fanfiction. For about a year now, I've been using the OneNote program- it's easy to file and group notes and separate everything. 

I have 3 main notebooks for fanfiction related stuff:

1. Fanfiction Plans.

This is where I plan and outline every fic I'm going to write. As you can see in the picture below, each fic has it's own section.

Each section has 4 pages- Summary, Character List, Plot Outline and Notes. You can also add subpages if you want (and sub-sub pages). The screenshot below is for the fic I'm currently working on.

2. Fanfic Ideas

This is just where I keep a list of every little idea I have, or title idea, or a quote I think of. Sometimes I can piece several ideas together to form a story, sometimes one will fit into a plan I already have. 

 3. Carlie's Guide to Oz

This is where I keep all my notes on Oz in general. Some are canon from the musical or book, some are from the Wizard of Oz, some are from things I've established in previous fics that I liked, and some are just headcanons.
Whilst I'm not a huge fan of the Wicked book, because the musical doesn't have the room to get to in-depth on world building, sometimes I will use elements from the book. Or at least as a basis, and then I might put my own spin on it.

FICS

As for the fics themselves, they're all written on Microsoft Word. I have a folder (titled "Neds" for 2 reasons- 1. if someone is looking at my computer (because this folder is on my desktop for easy access) I don't have to answer awkward questions; and 2. Private joke between a friend and I.

The "Stories in Progress" folder has another folder in it, just for Wicked fics so I can keep them separate. This is the list currently:


I try to work on only one fic at a time, and I'm usually inspired to work on one in particular when I go looking for my next project.

If I'm not feeling inspired to settle on one in particular, I might jump around and draft the beginning of a couple until one grabs me- and that's why the word count in the above picture is all over the place.

Once a fic grabs me and I get into a flow for that story, I'll stay with it until I'm finished (although at times I might stop and write a one-shot if I'm having writer's block or it's a special occasion or request of some kind).

I hope this helps!