#lfay

[elphabaoftheopera]

Love, Fae & Yero: A Wicked Fanfiction

Summary: Elphaba had no friends. She didn't see The Ozian Pen Pal Program changing that any time soon. However, when she begins an unexpectedly profound correspondence with a match known only to her as Yero, she must make a choice. Is letting someone know the real you worth the risk...or is it safer to live your life anonymously? AU. Fiyeraba.

Read on Fanfiction and Ao3! 

Bonus: Check out the mood board for this story on Pinterest!

[melop-sia]

HELLO @elphabaoftheopera ! i hope youre doing well! ive arrived with more lfay thoughts and some analysis!!!!!!!! 🥳

READING THOUGHTS:

im so, so glad i rereading lfay, it is honestly such an awesome fic and the writing so amazing! personally, since this was kind of my first time reading through the entire thing without multiple day breaks, i was definitely able to pick up on less obvious details (which are compiled below!) that made everything so much better!!! i genuinely felt like i was experiencing the story again for the first time, which made me able to appreciate and become engaged with the more emotional scenes and chapters! some of my favourites of these include chapter 23 (i was evidently moved enough to leave a comment mid read 😅😅), chapter 28 and chapter 34.

for sister sunrise, the description of elphaba reflecting over her room for the last time really got me :') the paragraph was written super beautifully and after going through most of the story i reallyy felt the nostalgic and sentimental aspect.!!!! dorothy and the dark was already a pretty emotional last chapter, but in particular fiyeraba saying goodbye to glinda and elphaba reflecting on her relationship with fiyero to get through the dark were some i really appreciated and loved!

aside from that, i loved being able to notice how elphaba went from following the rules to playing by her own since it was written with a pretty clear distinction! despite it, you managed to still write her so in character and i applaud you for it! 😁

i was wondering, was it difficult for you to write each character through all of these emotions and emotional scenes? im super in awe of how well characterised they are, i can't lie my mind started mixing some of the musical and this fic together because of it how accurate it all is!!! 👏

EDIT: i was also wondering, which parallel in lfay is your favourite / was the most fun to write in?

PARALLELS:

i pride myself soo much in picking up on these! i planned to have screenshots of all of them, but unfortunatly because of the image limit ill just have to describe some 😔 nevertheless, i hope you like reading through this segment and id like to thank @mystic-oni for his much appreciated help in finding some of these!

i loved how this parallel really developed from the beginning of their relationship, with the bickering turning cute banter :) 💕

i HAD to include this one, it is so so sweet and the parallels were all incorporated so well and warmed my heart ❤️❤️

along with these, there was also nessa making the same "you look dreadful" comment to elphaba at shiz and at kiamo ko, each in very different tones that made the second time very heartfelt :')

EXTRAS:

as well as parallels, i noted some a few references related to the book 🥳 i also noticed a few things that sounded similar but i wasn't sure were exactly parallels 🧐 but still wanted to include anyway... so here they are 😁!!! some captioned, some not but i hope you enjoy all!

i was super surprised at myself for initally not finding the lyrics snuck into the poem, but it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless!! also picked up on the mention of sarima from the book during chapter 14!

ANOTHER EDIT: another reference i got after watching wicked again was elphaba's book "discord and discontent" was mentioned by dr dillamond (can't recall in what way though 🥲)!

i noticed elphie celebrating in a similar way at going to shiz and getting into the sorcery seminar, she makes me so :))) SHE IS SO HOPEFUL AND DESERVES EVERYTHING!!!! i absolutely adore how you wrote her so excited and youthful during the act 1 chapters 🥺💕💕

fiyero having the same reaction to elphaba's temper from two different "lives" 💞 i can't help but love this little detail! i also picked up on how fiyero jokes about seeing the present in chapter 20 in comparison to him being sincere about it in the epilogue! super super subtle but one of my favourites !! there was also when elphaba sarcastically suggested enjoying the ocean in ev to considering in the last chapter, i laughed when i first read it and i still do when i think about it :)))

EXTRAS

nearing the last few chapters, i maaayyyy have impulsively made a LFaY chapter naming quiz 😇 it is linked below, i hope you have fun with it!

Name the LFaY Chapters! awesome fanfic by @elphabaoftheopera

FINAL REGARDS

overall, im so glad i took the time to read over this outstanding fic, i don't think i could ever get tired of your writing!! ❤️❤️ i look forward to seeing more of your work, and im very excited to hear that there may be new works coming!!!!! however long that takes, i can't wait to be here yet again in support! :)))

[elphabaoftheopera]

rereading lfay chapter one! was missing the fic so hard and couldn't help going back to it after getting more hyped about seeing wicked later this year :')

have any other little facts about lfay? maybe some specific unfound parallels to point out? did you intend to make elphaba left handed in the promo photo for the fic?

ps. congrats on the greg awards :))) 🎉🎉

Oh my gosh hi!!!! It's so good to hear from you! Thank you for letting me know that you're rereading, this message made my heart so happy. I'm so excited you get to see Wicked again this year! I just bought my tickets to see the tour again in a few months.

I'm actually so excited you asked about behind the scenes facts, I have a bunch of behind the scenes stuff that I haven't shared.And thank you about the awards, I was super flattered to be nominated/voted for in all of those categories!

Cover Art

As for the cover art, I've always had the head canon that Elphaba is left handed or ambidextrous. However, the real reason I made her left handed was because the cover art is actually a photo of my real hand painted green. I'm right handed, so it was easier to paint my left hand and take the picture with my right. I got black press on nails and everything. The "Love Fae and Yero" letter was paper I stained with tea and I hand wrote the title. I like to craft so I figured that was easier/more fun than photoshopping. It took many tries to find a good angle for the pic and I have a whole folder of the pics that didn't work as well.

Please let me know your thoughts if you continue to reread, and ask any questions you like. Thank you for giving me the permission to info dump about my story!!!!

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Love, Fae & Yero"

References to source materials

The original characters were homages to famous pen pal stories (in name only, not in personality).

Amalia- Named for Amalia Balash from Parfumerie (1937 Play) and She Loves Me (1963 Musical) Vicar Mathias Popkin- Named for “Mathias Popkin”, the fictional name given to Klara’s anonymous suitor in The Shop Around the Corner (1940 Film) He is also intended to be the same “Owl in Munchkin Rock, a vicar with a thriving flock, forbidden to preach” from “Something Bad”. Lieutenant Jozsef Fox- Named for Joe Fox from You’ve Got Mail (1998 Film) Jerusha Pendleton- Named for Jerusha Abbott and Jervis Pendleton Daddy Long Legs (2009 Musical) Miss Garland- Named for Judy Garland who starred in In The Good Old Summertime (1949 Film) and of course The Wizard of Oz (1939 Film)

There were also some lines inspired by these stories. Elphaba says "I wanted it to be you so badly" in Chapter 17: See How Bright which is a line from "You've Got Mail", Glinda and Elphaba visit a Parfumerie, the last line of Chapter 14 is a nod to "She Loves Me", and Glinda says she got the dress for Elphaba at "The Shop Around the Corner". All of the references to them meeting at "eight o'clock" is a nod to the song "Tonight at Eight" from She Loves Me. Elphaba also says "Will he like me when we meet" in Chapter 11, a line and song from She Loves Me. There's likely more I can't think of right now.

In (almost) all of the versions of the pen pal story the girl waits for the guy at a cafe with a rose in a book so he knows it's her, so that scene in Chapter 11 is a nod to that as well. Except in those versions the guy *does* find out it's her but doesn't tell her he's the pen pal right away. I did consider keeping this story more true to that model (meaning Fiyero would realize Elphaba is the pen pal but wouldn't reveal it) but I'd already gotten the idea to have Glinda reveal it at the Ozdust and I didn't want to change that.

The sorcery is inspired by The Wizard of Oz. 

The magic I decided to incorporate into the story, primarily teleportation and crystal balls, were inspired by The Wicked Witch of the West’s magic in the movie. When The Wicked Witch of the West first enters she has a red cloud of smoke but when she exits there is fire. Then of course, there is her crystal ball she uses to spy on people.

The Epilogue: The Badlands

My decision to have Elphaba and Fiyero go to the Badlands was largely inspired by earlier drafts of the musical. 

In the San Francisco Tryout Elphaba has a conversation with Nessa during WWOTE about the Badlands. They call it “the bleakest most Ozforsaken place you can imagine” and how no one ever returns from there, and Elphaba says she could because she could fly. She said Animals fled to the Badlands and were so frightened they forgot how to speak.

I was also inspired by this passage in Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz by Carol de Giere about an ending in which Elphaba and Fiyero run into Doctor Dillamond in The Badlands and Elphaba helps him speak.

“It was to take place on a scruffy farm in an isolated area of Oz called the Badlands.” (p. 309)

“He [Stephen Schwartz] liked the down-to-earth feel of having her use natural healing abilities rather than magic. Dr. Dillamond then bleated with difficulty: “El-pha-baaaa.” 

“On some emotional and philosophical level, it was why I wanted to tell the story,” Schwartz later revealed about the last scene where Elphaba tries to heal the Animals who have fled to the Badlands. “It’s the fact that it’s completely anonymous and she’ll never get any credit or public affection for it, but she does it anyway.” (p. 310)

I felt the line about staying anonymous was particularly fitting, so I wanted to loosely incorporate his original vision into the epilogue.

Additionally, some other plot points/dialogue were taken from the San Francisco Try Out, particularly in Nessa and Elphaba's talk in Chapter 28: Sister Sunrise. Elphaba says "So it's you they're talking about, I thought it was another lie about me" and Nessa says "not everything's about you". Fiyero also originally had a line in the Lion Cub scene where he says "you cared about the cub so much it changed everything, what's it like to care about something that much?" which I used as well in Chapter 10: Fair Weather Friends.

It was really cool to see the different versions/drafts that didn't make the cut and use them for this mishmash of different canons.

The story was originally going to be *much* shorter.

I didn’t originally plan to set Elphaba off down The Wizard path. It was just going to be a Shiz-era story and I considered ending it after “An OzDust Do-Over”. I also considered ending it after “She’s Off To See The Wizard” on an ambiguous note, and then maybe continue in a sequel. Then ideas like the sonnet, cave, and trapdoor started coming to me and I realized I had to continue it through. As a writer, I usually tend to make a story darker/more dramatic than I originally set out to do lol.

Lost chapter

There is a “lost” chapter of LFAY that was originally between Chapter 19 “An Honest Go” and Chapter 20 “Out Loud” in which Elphaba helps Fiyero through his test anxiety. It was ultimately cut because it wasn’t serving the grander plot, but the current plan is to use a lot of the dialogue I wrote in a different story I have in mind. It still exists in my draft folder.

Parallels

As for parallels I'm sure there is many that I wrote and forgot about, I may have to reread myself. But one that I particularly like is a parallel between Chapter 17: See How Bright and Chapter 34: Dorothy and the Darkness. It repeats the line : "Fiyero had come…and he’d brought the light back with him."

Elphaba also says "Follow me, Yero?" to which Fiyero responds "Anywhere" three times. Once in the museum in Chapter 19: An Honest Go, once as they're heading into the seedy market in Chapter 27: Mockbeggar Market and once before they're about to leave Oz in Chapter 34: Dorothy and the Darkness.

I'm positive there are more I'm not thinking of, I really went off on the parallels. 😅 Let me know if you ever catch any more!

Bonus: I got bored once and created them on Sims...

Thank you again for reaching out, please do so again if you have other thoughts/questions!

[elphabaoftheopera]

on lfay, were the perpetrator(s) of the vandalised protest signatures and anti-animal poem ever revealed? maybe im looking in to it too much and it's simply a group of random immature people, but i dont think i would mind some closure on that old situation. perhaps it is stated and ive forgotten since it's been a while? if so i offer many apologies 😭

Hello!!! Thank you again for messaging! I’m sorry this reply is coming SO late, this week has been a busy mess.

Great question! Thanks for asking! (Slight spoilers for LFAY ahead)

I didn’t think up or specify who wrote on the clipboard or who read the poem in Chapter 15 similar to how we never really find out who wrote on the chalkboard in the Wicked musical. I felt like I’m times of rising injustice acts like that could happen from any random person and the feeling that it could be coming from anyone you interact with on the daily was scary.

Of course, I wouldn’t put it past Jozsef Fox to do something like that!

Let me know if you think of anything else 🥰

[melop-sia]

for @elphabaoftheopera

WOOT WOOOOOT!!! TO CELEBRATE THE FINAL CHAPTER BEING RELEASED, ME AND MYSTIC THOUGHT OF A BUNCH OF QUESTIONS TO ANSWER IN REGARDS TO LFAY!!!!!!!!!!! TO SHOW OUR GRATITUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What was your overall experience / journey reading the fic?

esper / melop-sia: when i started reading, i was instantly hooked. i genuinely don't think i have liked a fic this much as this one. i loved it so much that id actively check my gmail inbox every hour or so to see if a new chapter was posted 🥲 the most chapters i read in a row was 6, and that was when i first discovered the fic!!! after, i became a slow reader and soaked up every little description you wrote because i didn't wanna miss anything– thats probably why i noticed so many parallels 😁!! doing that also let me take it your writing and it's awesome! even awesome enough to get me back into reading stuff! hell, this fic was a reason why i bought gregory maguire's wicked novel 😅 it lit back a love for reading that i hadn't seen for a few years at least! and back to parallels, they were undoubtedly a key part of enjoyment in my journey with lfay! i always got so excited when i found one and wouldn't hesitate to kick around all energised 🥳🥳 im so glad that you went the extra mile by adding the parallels, it vastly improved my reading experience!

mystic / mystic-oni: Okay I've gotta admit I'm not usually the romantic type but they r so cute omgggggg 🥺

I think if i could change anything about the story or my experience reading it i would leave everything the same. It was just something fun, exciting and immersive i could go to after a rough day and although I am guilty of sometimes having one or two chapters stacked up after forgetting to read 😅, I was never finding myself not wanting to read it unless I was trying to savour it for a time when I would need it most. Plus gave me something extra to talk about with esper/melop-sia 😁😁😁

Especially if we were both reading a chapter at the same time. O ye and the characters are so well done and like the ones we all know so sometimes i just forget i'm reading something fan made because it's that good. I actually sometimes finding myself just melding the two together on accident (i mean thats probably expected considering i'm still somewhat new to the wicked fandom but still it wouldnt be possible if the characters weren't portrayed accurately)!

What about the AU stood out to you (in comparison to the adapted material)?

esper: i think what really stood out to me was how much more you fleshed out each character in comparison to the musical. i loved how you gave everyone another layer of personality along with the ones already set by the musical, yet keeping dialogue and interactions so on point 💓! one thing that is so important to me is a character's personality being accurate. i have so much less enjoyment with a fic when characters are written completely different to their "source", so it was a relief and delight to see the consistent characterisation ⭐️⭐️⭐️!!! a bit off topic but i also really liked how you included some references from the book!

mystic: Well, i've only seen one of the musicals on yt (so far, might read the book cuz esper has it and she said she could lend it to me after they had finished it 😁😁). I really felt though from my experience with wicked (not much but anyways 😅) it really fleshed out more of the characters, like how elphaba has nyctophobia cuz it just added another like, obstacle and really added to her character and existing challenges. Also like the letters were a crucial part of moving this fic away from the original material, im rlly proud of myself because while it was in the part of the story where letters were most important, i noticed a lot of familiarity with something but i couldn't figure out what. Then i remembered i had seen the movie "You've got mail" and it was one of the inspirations which i love and made me enjoy the story even more just because it felt familiar in a way.

What was your favourite chapter? Why?

esper: wooof that is a hard questionn 😯😯 i have a few favourites, but ill try to limit it to one or two...... after a bit of thinking, i think i have to say 11 and 19: each for pretty different reasons admittedly 😅. for one, i loved 19 particularly because of how sweet the fiyeraba date was!!! it was the [infodumping gf] and [polite listening bf] dynamic that i lovee so much 🥺🥺🥺 it was so cuteee!!!! the angst was saddening to say the least, but i really enjoyed how you wrote their dialogue and how they finally came to an agreement.

and. onto 11. that chapter was just insane /pos. it was so good i reread it multiple times and thought about it for a while and, at the same time was utterly speechless. i can say one thing though: the yearning. THE YEARNING!!!!!!!! the yearning was so good dudee!!!!!! i usually don't even like yearning but it was just wild how caught up they were both getting and the suspense was palpable. it was so impactful and therefore one of my favourites. close runner up for most favourites is 9 i loved how it finally broke down the established initial barrier and tension between elphaba and fiyero in an engaging way!! another runner up is 21 for an awesome sequence of scenes that made me feeeellll 🥺 soon to be elaborated on!

mystic: Oke im gonna be honest, in order to answer this question i found myself skimming over a lot of chapters that i had remembered i liked and i cant decide on one because they were all so great or had an important event that i couldn't compare to other chapters. I was planning on going into specifics but since i'm so torn im gonna save it for the moments question 😭

Tysm for the indecisiveness cuz all ur chapters are soo good u should be proud. Also it gave me a reason to look back to try and find my favourite and although i didnt get a clear result it was really refreshing reading the older chapters again.

What was your favourite scene or moment? Why?

esper: I HAVE A FEW FOR THIS ONE TOO!!! the first one that comes to mind is fiyero getting to kick jozsef's ass 😁 i absolutely loved how he got back at him after so long and im just a sucker for people getting what they deserve 🥳!!! it was an awesome inclusion and i was so satisfyed with how that turned out. alsooo i loved fiyeraba's bickering pre-museum break in, it definitely wasnt the first or last time i audibly laughed at something in this fic! and elphaba playing go fish with dorothy was hilarious and not near anything i expected for the last chapter of the main story 😅😅😅 that as well as her warming up to dorothy was simply amazing to me!

onto a more wholesome moment, i loved the dance between fiyero and elphie in the empty ozdust, it was such an intimate and romantic moment between them and i couldn't help but love them more after 🥺 following that, the scene of glinda and elphaba making up with each other and becoming friends again! it was just amazing and all around so pleasant to read!!! another few follow ups, glinda confronting fiyero and forgiving him, as well as starting the party! it was a nice flow of funny to touching and then hopeful!

mystic: oke for me its gotta be those bits where elphie does something cool or funny, like in chapter five when Jozsef was tryna splash her with water and she just dumped it all back on him, like that was pretty badass. Also the petition bit in chapter 7 had me dyinggggggg 💀💀💀 (especially the intimidation and fear, i found it pretty funny and also smart how they used that to get people to support their cause). Also the closet bit in chapter nine was really memorable, and exciting to read and I think most people really liked that part. Just the awkwardness and tensionnnnnn aaaaaaah!!! 😁🥲👏👏👏

Okay, and im sure the Ozdust in chapter 13 had everyone on the edge of their seats (Depending on whether u were sitting 😅) when all the secrets were revealed and the truth was spilled everywhere. Ending with quick escape and a great cliffhanger that kept everyone wondering about the chapters to come. There are so, so, so many more but I end up forgetting where after I try to reread (maybe i should have written notes or something idk 😆). Once again thank you so much for making these truly ✨magical✨ moments for people to enjoy.

Thoughts on the ending / last chapter?

esper: i know i already wrote my thoughts in a comment before, but now we have the epilogue so i can talk about that too!! for one, i don't think i would've had the ending any other way. 34 just had a great balance between presented aspects: it was heart-warming but bittersweet. not to mention such a satisfactory read after keeping up for the last month or two!

honestly im so happy about 35!!! honestly after the roller coaster of the "act 2 chapters" im glad we got a tonn of fluff. it was a wonderful peek into fiyeraba's new life and it was sooo cute 🥺🥺 genuinely loved it so much, another one of my favourite chapters❣️ im glad their story got to continue on into a fulfilling lifestyle for both of them 💗💗💗

mystic: Perfect. I didn't think too much about the last chapter before I read it because i didn't really want to go in with a predetermined idea of what I thought would happen because I just knew it might ruin the experience although I was very excited for it and did ponder for... maybe a minute or two 👀, and I came to the conclusion that I wasn't really sure where they would be next, but the fact they got to be together in the end without disturbance was good enough for me. I feel like the mood and especially the dialogue at the end of the chapter and just everything was more than I could have wanted, it was really good and never did I expect she would still be able to help the animals even after she moved and decided to try and just live a quiet, worry-free and normal life with Fiyero. Also just about the chapters before the epilogue, which i also really enjoyed, like how well Elphie got along with Dorothy, how she ultimately beat her final obstacle - her enemy since the beginning, the dark. Also Glinda in charge and Morrible in prison 😈✨🥳 yayyyyy 🎊

Final thoughts

esper: i thank you so much for this fic, it has really helped me through these few weeks and i commend you for making a fic worth all the praise given and more!!!!! im a little sad to see this journey over now, but im glad i was able to be part of it and get my friend into it too! ill likely be rereading as well as consuming some of your past content in waiting for your next project!! i really hope to experience that too 💖 sending much love and support

mystic: One of the only times that I can't help myself from writing "also" way too much because there are so many things I loved about this. Love, Fae & Yero was an adventure that I really felt apart of, and I hope I'm not too attached to let go of it now 😭😭😭

Me and esper spent a while writing this and they and I really want to thank you for your hard work, we tried to have this finished by a certain time and spent a while thinking of our questions as well as the most important things we should say. Hope we weren't too late 😅

AGAIN THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR WRITING!!!!!

FROM ESPER AND MYSTIC 💚❤💖

[elphabaoftheopera]

justt a question about lfay, was the fic always gonna be named what it is now or were there any other possible names?

Hey good question! I actually hate coming up with titles usually. For the majority of the time as I was writing it the document was just labeled “Pen Pal Story”. So when I came up with “Love Fae & Yero” I just stuck with it! I didn’t come up with anything else lol.

Something I did spend a lot of time with is chapter titles, I love coming up with chapter titles. Chapter 3 “Letters of Acceptance” used to be “Full Ride” and Chapter 17 “See How Bright” was “Borrowed Moonlight” for a long time but I changed them both at the last minute. The hardest chapter title to pick was Chapter 16 “Asked and Antlered” I just titled it “Antlers Chap????” In my working document and couldn’t think of anything for a long time. There is a chapter title for a later chapter that I may still change, I feel like I haven’t landed on the best title yet.

Thanks for asking! I love questions like these! 💚

[elphabaoftheopera]

just wondering, is there any parallels in lfay that haven't been found yet ?

Ooooh thanks for asking! I jam packed the story with parallels so it’s very possible. I know of one for sure that hasn’t been mentioned yet, and I think there may be more, but I’d have to go back and be sure.

I DO know there are a few parallels coming up in the last few chapters that I’m excited about so be on the look out. Only 5 chapters left! 😮

I really loved incorporating these moments. I’m glad you’re having fun spotting them!

[elphabaoftheopera]

I mean if you’re happy for us to bug you about songs that remind us of your work, I can’t listen to Every Letter the same way anymore…

Please bug me endlessly I beg! You all are so sweet. And I hadn’t heard that song since I saw Cyrano in theaters so relistening to it now was a pleasure. I won’t lie and say that song didn’t pop into my mind a few times during the writing process though!!!

I need to add some more songs to my playlist I see