Heatqueen and MyLittleElphie's Wicked Fanfiction Style-Off
Heatqueen's A/N: Hello everyone! This rather unusual fanfiction idea came about when I was talking to MyLittleElphie about different writing styles and we realised that we are pretty much polar opposites in that regard. She is more of a plot driven writer, whereas I am very character and thought/emotional driven. We wanted to see what would happen if we both wrote the same one-shot in two very different ways, so we decided to have a competition of sorts.
Both of us have taken the same basic concept and written it in our own style, without knowing what the other one was doing. We would like you, the readers, to tell us what you think and how they compare. Also, if we get enough interest, there is a chance that we might decide to continue, so if there is anything you would like us to use as the basis for a style-off, please send us your suggestions. Thanks! :)
For this very first one, we have used the basic storyline of Galinda being pregnant, with a Gelphie pairing. This is the result. Enjoy!
Heatqueen's fanfiction:
I have never witnessed birth, but I have been very close.
What I remember is standing outside of a locked door in a corridor, listening to frightened, agonised screams and crying, and heated words between Father, Nanny and the midwife. I was three years old.
It had rained all day and the corridor was cold and I had goosebumps all over my skin. It didn't matter. I was used to it. Most of my time was spent feeling cold when all I had to wear was the same few threadbare dresses I was allowed to possess; all of them as black and thin and sleeveless as each other.
I had been told as much to understand that a new baby was coming. Back then, I had no notion of the mechanics behind it, just that Mother had said it would be painful and not to be frightened when the time came, because it was normal; and so, I wasn't afraid. Don't ask how I remember that, for it's not even the important bit. What's important is what happened after.
The screaming stopped, and everything became deadly silent except for the faint cry of the child. I was curious, and wanted to see the new brother or sister who had arrived, but Father had told me not to interfere. I wasn't even supposed to be down here, but holed up in my bedroom, safely out of the way where no one could see me. I would get to see the new baby later, he'd said – but I didn't care for waiting; I wanted to see it now.
Then, from the other side of the door, came a desperate howl; a long cry of 'Melenaaaaaa!' from my father's throat, and he started to cry; and I stood in absolute silence, wondering why he was upset when he had been so excited about having a new baby. Over the last nine months, he had spent the whole time telling me that the next one wouldn't be a green aberration like me. Had this one turned out green as well? Is that why he was crying?
Time seemed to stretch on. I do not know how long I stood there for, listening to him sob, just that eventually the door opened, Nanny stepped out and ushered me away. I asked her what was going on, but she didn't say anything except that Father would explain later and that I was to remain in my room. She locked the door so that I couldn't get out.
Later, I found out that Mother had died, and that the new baby would never be able to walk. It was my fault, Father said – my fault for making Mother take the milk flowers. If I hadn't been green, she wouldn't have taken the milk flowers to stop the next one from coming out the same. At three years old, I accepted the blame because Father was a grown-up and he knew best.
I carried it with me for the rest of my life.
This is the first time that I will have seen the actuality of childbirth happening. Galinda is four days late and desperate to 'hurry up and deliver the stupid thing before my stretch marks get any worse.' Her words, not mine. I have seen very few stretch marks appear on that milky skin over the entire nine months she's been pregnant. She puts it down to a special lotion she's been rubbing on her belly religiously. I suppose it helps, but I think she got naturally lucky. Somehow ugliness tends to elude her. She continues to be radiant even when she is at her most unkempt – in other words, even now, as she lies in a hospital bed, sweating and in pain, with flushed cheeks and flyaway hair, she still retains the poise and grace of a true Arduenna descendant.
I'm glad that it's her in labour, not me. Not least because my biological functions for such things are a little messy, and not to mention, I would hate to pass on the green skin, but because she's the one who deserves the direct connection to another life form. I will never tell her this, knowing that it will only bring forth fruitless arguments on the subject of my self-worth. With my questionable biology, it was easy to convince her to be the one to take Fiyero's sperm. There would be a far higher chance of pregnancy. And true to that, Galinda did indeed become pregnant shortly after the very first attempt at insemination.
Nature must adore her as much as it hates me.
Once upon a time, I was convinced that I would never become a parent. From the get-go, the idea was absurd. It was as simple as being green, and therefore being single forever. That is literally it. I gave the subject no further thought, but buried it along with a whole bunch of other things that I perceived to be the result of my skin.
One of the most amazing moments of my life was when Galinda asked me to be her girlfriend. The action took place during our second year at Shiz, when we were far beyond our initial loathing of each other. By this point we were truly the best of friends. Joined at the hip, some may say, though I recall that during the first few weeks of our friendship, she did not wish for us to be seen as so 'united'. I told her, at the time, still convinced that I was unworthy of her friendship, that I understood her reluctance to be seen with me, ignoring the fact that deep down, somewhere in my unconscious mind, it hurt very badly. Much later on, when our friendship was more solid, I would look back and realise that I had been desperate for her to drop her insecurity and walk proudly next to me. Despite everything, I wanted to be worthy of friendship.
When Galinda first asked me out, I did not respond well. I was convinced she was delusional, or that it was an awful joke she was playing on me for the pure sake of laughing with her friends about it later. In that moment, I became blind to several very obvious things: Firstly, that Galinda had already broken up with those so-called 'friends'; second, that she had spent a fair bit of time standing up for me; and third, that, despite what I had been told my entire life, I was indeed capable of being loved.
In that one moment, I almost lost her.
I found myself on the edge of confusion and deep despair, desperate for her to be telling the truth, but unable to believe a word of it. At first, I did not intend to reveal a word of my conflicted emotions, but gently lie that I couldn't be with her in that way. My mouth and voice did not comply. As I continued to fail to respond, I saw confusion in her eyes and my resolve weakened. In those beautiful eyes I caught the faintest glimmer of honesty and truthfulness, and all of a sudden, my lack of belief came into question.
Thereafter, now certain that she wasn't lying after all, I questioned how she could love me, with me being the way I am: green, bitter and solitary with a sharp tongue and brash words. I thought that I was only thinking this in my head, but it turns out that I actually spoke my question, because the next thing I knew, she was answering it.
'I don't love only those things,' she said. 'I love your whole person, Elphie. And you're the one who taught me how to do so.'
I almost cried.
Almost. I don't cry much.
I did blush, as much as green people can blush. My cheeks turned darker at any rate. She stroked my cheek and gigged and proclaimed my blush to be one of those many things that she loved. In the days following, she made it her mission to get me to blush as often as possible, often by means of sexual insinuations, which at the time I was unused to (Suffice to say I am quite used to them now, thanks to her).
I was convinced it wouldn't last. It seems that I was quite determined to put up resistance after resistance where our relationship was concerned. Not because I didn't love her, but because of who I was. I got caught in many negative thought processes, during which I would decide that I could never be good enough for the mighty Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands, descendant of the Arduenna and Upland blood lines and a fine, respected lady of Frottica. She was a woman of class. I was a green monster. Something was bound to go wrong. It had to, because things never worked out the way I wanted.
It turns out that the one thing that did go wrong was brought about by a self-fulfilling prophecy. I became so wrapped up in negativity that in the end, I was the one pushing her away and not the other way around. During this dark time, it was her who got us back, her who rescued the relationship. Her faith and optimism won out over my deep darkness; and thus, we were reunited.
We have been reunited to this day, so now, here I sit in an uncomfortable hospital chair by Galinda's bedside as she endures the last few hours of a horrifically long labour. We are in the thirty-eighth hour and it hasn't been easy. There has been scarcely a few hours' sleep between the two of us; Galinda's contractions have seen to that. They have been coming more frequently and painfully, and now, here we finally sit, almost at the point of her being ready to push, her eyes squinting tightly with every onset of pain, her nails digging into the thin hospital mattress.
I wonder if this is what it was like when Mother gave birth to me. Would she have felt like this? Would her labour also have been close to forty hours? At the time, she wouldn't have known I was green. I wonder what she would have imagined instead. A beautiful pink thing coming out of her, ready to be doted on by two loving parents. She must have gotten the shock of her life when I came out. Well, who wouldn't?
I like to think that she loved me a little more than Father does. Father treats me frostily at best, but I have a few very vague memories of my mother from when I was a toddler. Little things like the sound of her voice when she used to sing around the house and the fact that her touch is one of the only ones I can remember prior to Galinda's. I wonder if my life would have been different if only she'd survived. Would I have grown up a happier person? I guess I will never know.
Still, at least I have found my own happiness with Galinda. I am certain that without her, I would be a much worse person than I am today. Perhaps I would have given into the bitterness and ended up not much more than a wicked old witch. Perhaps I would have succumbed to the pain that comes with a lifetime of loneliness, and thus wouldn't be here at all. I don't know, because that is not the case. It is a fact that I, Elphaba, Thropp Third Descending (though I rejected the title of Eminent Thropp; Nessarose is far better suited to it than I), am happy.
And today that happiness will be completed by the child that comes into our life and completes the beautiful picture of our love. The final puzzle piece, if one was to use a cliché. The pain and sweat and tears of labour will be diminished by the joy that should have been present when Nessa and I were born. This time there will be cries of happiness and celebrations.
The minute Galinda and I decided to have children, I came to a decision. No child of mine, no matter how they turn out, no matter the colour of their skin or whether they're disabled or otherwise imperfect, will ever feel like they're not good enough. They will never spend their lives questioning every bit of happiness that comes their way. They will never feel like they're destined to be alone.
I thought I was, and I was wrong; and realising I was mistaken was painful. But the beautiful life I have that came about as a result was worth it.
MyLittleElphie's Fanfiction:
Glinda desperately clutched the side of the tub as yet another strong contraction gripped her stomach. With her jaw clenched and her eyes squeezed shut, she tried her best to ride out the wave of pain coursing through her body, which was already tired and worn from the long hours of labour.
Suffering in her own way as she was confronted with a profound sense of powerlessness, Elphaba had no other option but to watch the blonde in her agony. She sat beside the birthing pool, gently kissing and stroking her wife's hands. The lights were dimmed, soothing music played somewhere in the background and the sweet fragrance of vanilla scented candles filled their bedroom. Elphaba had carried out Glinda's instructions meticulously; however, she was not quite certain whether the supposedly relaxing atmosphere was even remotely as effective as the instructor of their birth preparation class had promised it would be.
"Elphie!" Glinda wailed, close to tears. "Make it stop, please!"
"Don't forget to breathe, my sweet," was all Elphaba knew to reply, having already gone through all of her more invigorating motivational speeches earlier that day.
All things considered, she was tremendously proud of how Glinda had handled the entire ordeal so far – and without any anaesthetics at that. She was not much of a screamer, they had found out. In contrast to what they had always seen in movies or on TV, the blonde endured the pain rather quietly, only occasionally giving in to the urge to cry out. Angee, their midwife, who was silently sitting in a corner, granting them as much privacy as possible, had praised the soon-to-be-mum, saying that it was better to channel all available energy into the actual birthing process.
As the contraction finally subsided, the girl in the water let out an exhausted groan and rested her forehead on her and Elphaba's joined hands. The green girl cringed slightly as the dampness of Glinda's hair irritated her sensitive skin, but she did not budge.
"Would you like to drink some juice?" she asked softly.
Glinda had no time to answer, for already another contraction hit her full force. She gasped in surprise and the midwife rushed towards the tub. Whimpering, the blonde rocked her hips to ease the pain.
"It… burns."
Angee dipped her hand into the water.
"I can feel the head," she smiled. Then her grin widened as she looked at Elphaba. "Do you want to have a feel?"
The green girl's face fell. Even if she had not been allergic to water, the idea would have hardly seemed any more appealing to her.
"Now listen, darling," the older woman said calmly once Glinda had had a chance to catch her breath, "you're almost there, but when the next contraction sets in, I need you to push as hard as you can. If you wait too long, you'll only get more tired."
Squeezing her wife's hand, Elphaba gave her a fleeting kiss.
"Did you hear that, Glin? It's almost over."
Glinda nodded, bracing herself for the final round.
Another spasm tore through her body and she gave it all she had. Her hands let go of the tub and found her wife's instead. Long, well-manicured nails dug deep into Elphaba's flesh, but the dark-haired girl did not care. If anything, she was glad to be able to share at least a measure of her love's pain. Once again, Glinda's eyes were squeezed shut and this time, so were Elphaba's; both girls' foreheads rested against the other's.
When the blonde crumpled, Elphaba caught her in her arms, by now completely oblivious to the blisters the water caused on her skin. She could feel Glinda's heavy breaths brush past her ear and weak arms slightly tighten around her in search for support.
"The head's out," Angee announced happily and Elphaba could not help but try and catch a glimpse. It was an odd sight, that's for sure.
Then the blonde in her arms suddenly twitched.
"Oh my… Sweet Oz, it's moving!" she exclaimed, somewhat shocked.
Tense and a little uncertain, the expecting mothers remained in their respective positions. After a few moments without any sign of further contractions, Elphaba grew worried.
"What's wrong? Why is it stuck there?"
Another jerk from Glinda told her that the baby was wiggling again.
"Wow, that feels so gross," the smaller girl murmured against her shoulder, albeit much calmer now.
The midwife gave them a reassuring smile.
"Your little one has to turn a bit first before it can come out. But don't worry, the head definitely was the worst part. Just another push and that should be it."
And indeed, one more determined push from Glinda and a little help from the midwife were all it took.
Angee carefully lifted the newborn out of the water and handed it to Glinda, then she grabbed a towel and draped it over the child.
"Oh my!" the blonde gushed, completely in awe. "Just look at that, Elphie. How tiny."
This was one of these very few moments in her life when Elphaba was absolutely lost for words. The picture of her beautiful wife with this small miracle nestled in her arms was marvellous, absolutely stunning. She could have sat there all day, admiring the wee thing as it opened and closed its delicate hands, turned its head and curled its little toes, but instead, she leaned closer to Glinda, planting a long, sweet kiss on her dry lips.
"You were amazing," she whispered and kissed her once more.
Hesitantly, she turned to look at the baby again. It was all wet, of course, but she felt this strong desire to touch the pruned, rosy skin. Her hands slightly shaky, she reached out until her fingertips brushed, ever so lightly, against one of the chubby cheeks. Whenever people had told her about this immediate, unconditional bond between a parent and their new baby, she had had difficulties to really imagine herself falling in love at first sight, even with her own child. But now she was a believer.
"Have you already chosen a name?" Angee asked then and the two women looked at each other.
"Is it a boy or a girl?" Glinda asked sheepishly and Elphaba chuckled.
"I didn't look either. I was too enthralled by everything else that I completely forgot to pay any attention to that."
"Let's have a peek then, shall we?" Glinda giggled.
"Ha!" Elphaba burst out, triumphantly. "It's a boy – no pink then!"
"Well, luckily we didn't put all of our eggs in the same basket," the blonde replied with a cheeky grin.
"Do you want to cut the cord?" The midwife interrupted their playful banter and with a quick snip, Elphaba had made her own, humble contribution to their child's delivery.
"Alright. Now I have to borrow this cutie for a moment or two, so I can give him a thorough check-up."
As he was removed from his mother's warm embrace, the boy let out his first squeaky wail and Elphaba nuzzled Glinda's hair, positively beaming.
"Do you think you can help me out of here?" the blonde asked as the cooling water began to make her shiver.
"Sure. Hold on a second."
Still a little unsteady, Glinda rose to her feet and Elphaba wrapped a fresh towel around her before offering her shoulder for her to lean on and climb out of the pool. With wobbly steps, both women made it to the bed were Glinda lay down on the towels they had prepared earlier and Elphaba right beside her.
"This was quite an experience," the green girl admitted quietly and the blonde laughed.
"What am I supposed to say then?"
They looked deep into each other's eyes, their hearts swelling with love.
"Are you still scared?" Glinda asked her wife, gently stroking her well-rounded belly.
"A little."
"You know, as the tougher one of the two of us, you really should have gone first instead of leaving it to me to test the waters. What a mean green thing you are!"
Elphaba smiled apologetically and gave her love a peck on her nose.
"I'm terribly sorry, my sweet. I certainly did not intend to make you my personal guinea pig."
"I might forgive you once you gave birth to our daughter," the blonde said and winked.
Pretending to be genuinely troubled, Elphaba rested her own hand on her baby bump.
"And what of it's another boy?"
"Well, in that case I'll have to think about it. Depends on how cute he is, I suppose."
They laced fingers and chuckled.
"In the meantime… How about you check on the one I just popped out?" Glinda suggested.
Elphaba nodded and clumsily got off the bed. She did not get far, however, before Angee returned with their son in her arms.
"Forty-seven centimetres and two thousand five hundred and twenty grams. He's a bit on the small side, but as a general rule the baby always fits the mother. With your petite frame you really should be glad that you didn't have to push out one of these eight or nine pound monsters, my dear."
"Goodness, no!" Glinda said taken aback as she received the tightly swaddled bundle from the midwife. "I mean, seriously – these poor women."
Elphaba uneasily shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
"Other than that, he is perfectly fine and healthy," Angee told the young mothers. "He has a little bit of jaundice, but that's nothing a proper dose of sunlight can't cure."
Glinda studied the child's features with a thoughtful, perhaps even faintly concerned expression on her face.
"Do you think he looks anything like me?"
The tang of anxiety in her wife's voice worried Elphaba and she carefully sat down beside her on the bed.
"Newborns look like newborns, Glin. I don't think that we'll be able to really tell for a while. But at any rate, he's just as adorable as you are, even if he might turn out to look more like his biological father.
The little boy yawned and snuggled closer to his mother and Elphaba could not help but notice how exhausted both of them looked.
"How much longer until we're done here?" she asked the midwife.
"Well, the placenta should have detached itself by now," the older woman replied, her head slightly tilted to the side. "Glinda, darling, if you want, I can give you an injection to help things along. You clearly have suffered enough for one day."
Already half asleep, the blonde nodded weakly.
The midwife went about her business and when she was done, she gently squeezed Glinda's hand.
"Everything is absolutely fine, dearie. You did a wonderful job and I'm happy to give you two sweethearts some time alone now. But before I go, I just need to complete this form here. So what's his name gonna be?"
"You tell her," the drained blonde told her wife with a listless wave of her hand.
"It's Lux," Elphie informed her, casting a brief glance at the now sleeping child.
Angee seemed disappointed.
"Just 'Lux'?"
Her reaction was somewhat unsettling for the dark-haired girl.
"We thought it sounds rather nice," she said, flustered.
Realising her mistake, the midwife patted her shoulder in a conciliatory manner and laughed.
"But of course it does, dearie! I just expected something a bit more extravagant form Mrs Glinda Arduenna Upland-Thropp."
"Oh," Elphaba exhaled and chuckled. "Well, in that case, you should see her list of girls' names."
"Perhaps we'll need that list next time I see you – in about eight weeks, right?"
"I wouldn't bet on that," the girl on the bed unexpectedly chimed in. "It seems like Elphie is taking her sweet time with this entire pregnancy thing."
"Well, eventually, the little bugger in her belly will run out of space and then there is no turning back," Angee assured them with a toothy grin, while Elphaba herself looked much less enthusiastic.
Then the midwife waved her goodbye and showed herself out of the apartment.
Elphaba plucked Lux from Glinda's arms and put him in the basinet next to the bed before crawling under the comforter next to the blonde.
Folding Glinda in a tight embrace, she asked, "Are you happy?"
"About what? That it's over?" the shorter girl chortled. "Hell yes!"
"I'm sure you are, my sweet," Elphaba smiled and tenderly brushed her lips against her love's shoulder. "But I mean in general. Are you truly happy the way things are now?"
Glinda shuffled under the covers and turned around to face Elphaba. With a content sigh, she snuggled closer.
"I'm surprised you still have to ask, but since you did: yes, I'm very, absolutely and infinitely happy. I'm happy to have you as my ridiculously smart and gorgeous wife, I'm happy that I am able to share all my joy and all my sorrow with you and I'm happy that one of these joyful moments was the birth of our first child."
"I'm glad then," was all Elphaba said in return.
"And now that my part is over, I'm really excited for part two of our becoming-parents-experience," the blonde continued with a mischievous grin on her lips.
"Great, I can hardly bear the wait," Elphaba deadpanned, which elicited an exceedingly gleeful giggle from Glinda. "For now you need to rest, though."
"And that I will," the other girl agreed.
"Fresh dreams, my sweet."
"You, too, Elphie."
After only a few minutes of blissful togetherness, a soft baby whimper could be heard and Glinda stirred. But Elphaba was faster.
"Don't worry, my love. I'll take him," she said and wiggled her way out of the bed; however, not without giving Glinda one more quick kiss.
MyLittleElphie's A/N: Hi there, MyLittleElphie here! :)
Do you guys sometimes read fanfiction and wonder how it would have turned out if it was one of your own stories? I generally don't, but it's actually something worth thinking about! I knew that Heatqueen and I differ greatly when it comes to our writing styles, but I still thought that the common topic for the stories we wrote was actually quite precise. I expected them to be different - with deeper thoughts and reflections in her version and slightly more detailed descriptions of the physical things going on and perhaps a bit more focus on dialogue on my side - but I never would have guessed that they could be THIS different. Each of us tackled the issue from a completely different angle, so the results are really, really interesting.
I hope that we'll get a chance to do this again sometime, because I think that contrasting our two writing styles actually tells me a lot about my own and almost more importantly: This was really a lot of fun! I hope you guys enjoyed this as well and as Heatqueen said before: Let us know what you think and if you have any ideas what else we could write about, just shoot us a PM :D
Thanks for Reading!