Something Wicked This Way Comes - The Villain Era Begins!

[Artemis Prime]

For this week's villainy, we skip ahead a little bit to The Wizard and I. (And oh boy, I could listen to Idina Menzel belt out lyrics all day long.)

 

 

Synopsis:

Elphaba accidentally reveals her magic at school, and Mistress Morrible immediately recognizes her potential power. She tells Elphaba that she will privately be tutoring her in sorcery, and dangles the possibility of meeting the Wizard in front of her. Elphaba is very excited about the possibility of meeting the Wizard, and dreams of what a partnership with him might look like.

 

Applied Villainy

Feet of Clay

Elphaba will learn all too soon that the Wizard is a giant fraud. All of her big dreams about "The Wizard and I" will go up in smoke and I'm sure she'll cringe very hard when thinking back on the young, naive version of herself who sang this song. But the fact that the Wizard is not who he claims to be reflects badly on him, no one else. It is not Elphaba's fault that she believed his lies.

 

If you are drawing boundaries with people, it may be that you have let them into your life only to discover that they don't deserve that level of access to you. It's easy to beat yourself up and say it's your fault that you ever let them in. But it's not. If someone has misrepresented themselves to you, the shame is theirs, not yours.

 

More broadly, someone doesn't have to be conning us for us to become disillusioned with them. All of us are fallible human beings and sometimes we put people up on pedestals only to later realize that they don't deserve to be up there. And again, we often beat up our past selves for being foolish enough to idolize them. And in this case, yes, it's a bit foolish to elevate anyone to that degree because, see above re: fallible human beings. But that's a lesson we all have to learn the hard way, sometimes over and over again until it sticks, and beating yourself up over it is not a productive use of your energy.

 

In fact, to expand this out yet wider, to truly reach our full potential as Masters and Mistresses of Darkness, we first must forgive our past, foolish selves for their mistakes. Yes, if we had it to do over again, we'd no doubt do some things differently. But without making those mistakes, we wouldn't be our current glorious, villainous selves who now know better. There is still much work to be done in our quest for world domination, and the future looks bright. Don't let the past keep dragging you back there.

[Harriet]

On 9/9/2024 at 2:18 AM, Artemis Prime said:

Applied Villainy

For all the fun trappings of villainy surrounding this group effort, this is serious work we propose to be about, and so your assignments (Suggested Assignments, of course, you are always more than welcome to go off on some self-directed work if you feel it will be beneficial) for this first week are a bit somber in nature.

 

No One Mourns the Wicked 

I remember hearing this song for the first time in a high school drama club meeting, and my best friend and I thought it was hilarious. Out of context, lines like "Like a froggy ferny cabbage, the baby is unnaturally green" are pretty comical. But now that I have the full story, plus a couple decades worth of life tacked on, it's pretty horrifying the way they are celebrating Elphaba's death. But the fact is, when you decide to prioritize your own needs, the people who were benefitting from your self-neglect may consider you a villain. Sometimes I have set boundaries with people expecting them to react badly and been pleasantly surprised to discover that they support me taking care of myself. I sincerely hope you all have people like that in your life as well. But not everyone has that response. I certainly hope they don't go as far as singing about your untimely demise, but an important preparatory step in setting boundaries and prioritizing yourself is accepting that some people in your life may not be supportive.

 

Mourning is Allowed
Change can be hard. When choosing to prioritize your health and wellbeing, you might need to make difficult choices. You might have to terminate unhealthy relationships. You might have to cut back on hanging out with people or in places that encourage you to engage in unhealthy behaviors yourself. You are allowed to mourn these changes. When I left the church I had grown up in, I grieved. And I feel like a lot of the people in my life reacted one of two ways: 1)This was not a good place for me by the time I left, so why am I mourning it? or, 2) It was my choice to leave, so if I am grieved by that, why don't I just stay? It is incredibly hard to mourn when it feels like you have to hide it. When I met a woman who saw my grief, bore witness to it, and gave me space and support to feel it, it was an incredibly important step in my ability to process it. So I am here to tell you that just because change is for the better doesn't mean you aren't allowed to mourn it. And part 2, just because you are the one who initiated the change doesn't mean you aren't allowed to mourn it.

 

I didn't really expect this experiment to start with so much talk of grief and mourning, but I suppose most villains have a tragic backstory somewhere. You are under no obligation to share yours here, but you are welcome to if you wish. Whatever you are turning away from in your turn towards villainy, it's okay to be sad to see it go. 

 

Applied villainy is a wonderful class. I think I could start practicing by putting some boundaries in place for the remainder of my father's visit. To my great frustration, I am so sick that even socialising must be limited for me to "pace" successfully and not crash. Dad is with my brother for a week, but I need to set some rules so I don't crash from overactivity when he returns. I can do two outings per week, I think. On non-outing days, I can chat for about an hour at breakfast, and a few hours after dinner. That means dad needs to entertain himself pretty much all day on non-outing days. I shouldn't feel bad about this because we surely didn't spend all day together talking when I lived at home. I will, however, make some suggestions about what he can do. I'll include that in my bujo planning in the mornings. 

 

On 9/11/2024 at 3:01 PM, Artemis Prime said:

Yes, this is a fair point. We're all in different stages of villainy, and not everything we do here is really going to be that contentious or divisive. 

 

It is still wise, however, to start any new endeavor with an acknowledgement that there will be a cost, even if it isn't a "major" thing. Maybe you're giving up a half hour of gaming time for better sleep. Maybe you're giving up your sugar hit in the afternoon for something with less calories or caffeine. Maybe you're giving up an extra snooze to get a morning workout in.  And maybe some of that stuff is important to you, even if to other people it seems like a small thing. And yeah, probably no one is going to label you a villain for any of this stuff, but there's an excellent chance they're going to push back, telling you there's time for "one more mission" or insisting you have to go on your normal afternoon coffee run. If it's helpful for not giving into them, feel free to frame them as the munchkins singing "No One Mourns the Wicked" and channel your inner villain to refuse to agree with them.

 

Good points. I also need to be the villain to myself and give up alcohol and junk food. I think my family would have supported me to do this on our holiday, but I wasn't able to say no to the foods themselves. 

 

On 9/16/2024 at 5:59 AM, Artemis Prime said:

If you are drawing boundaries with people, it may be that you have let them into your life only to discover that they don't deserve that level of access to you. It's easy to beat yourself up and say it's your fault that you ever let them in. But it's not. If someone has misrepresented themselves to you, the shame is theirs, not yours.

 

More broadly, someone doesn't have to be conning us for us to become disillusioned with them. All of us are fallible human beings and sometimes we put people up on pedestals only to later realize that they don't deserve to be up there. And again, we often beat up our past selves for being foolish enough to idolize them. And in this case, yes, it's a bit foolish to elevate anyone to that degree because, see above re: fallible human beings. But that's a lesson we all have to learn the hard way, sometimes over and over again until it sticks, and beating yourself up over it is not a productive use of your energy.

 

In fact, to expand this out yet wider, to truly reach our full potential as Masters and Mistresses of Darkness, we first must forgive our past, foolish selves for their mistakes. Yes, if we had it to do over again, we'd no doubt do some things differently. But without making those mistakes, we wouldn't be our current glorious, villainous selves who now know better. There is still much work to be done in our quest for world domination, and the future looks bright. Don't let the past keep dragging you back there.

 

No one close to me is like that. But there have been people in the past. 

[Sea-to-sky]

On 9/16/2024 at 4:59 AM, Artemis Prime said:

It's easy to beat yourself up and say it's your fault that you ever let them in. But it's not. If someone has misrepresented themselves to you, the shame is theirs, not yours.

 

On 9/16/2024 at 4:59 AM, Artemis Prime said:

we first must forgive our past, foolish selves for their mistakes. Yes

I need to practice doing both of these more. i find myself going over things again and again. Even over a year later. I know its down to not really understand why things happened the way they did. But sometimes we do not get an answer to the questions that are left hanging when things in life end. I want it out of my head, at this point i feel like whenever im tired i pick at it and thats getting in the way of moving on. 
so, letting it lie when it pops up in my head and not going round in wellworn mental spirals seems like a good goal. Reminding myself that some things don't have answers. 

[Artemis Prime]

On 9/17/2024 at 10:33 AM, Harriet said:

I shouldn't feel bad about this because we surely didn't spend all day together talking when I lived at home. I will, however, make some suggestions about what he can do. I'll include that in my bujo planning in the mornings. 

I agree wholeheartedly that you should not feel bad about this, and having a plan to make suggestions for how he can occupy himself sounds like a very solid strategy.

 

On 9/17/2024 at 10:33 AM, Harriet said:

I also need to be the villain to myself and give up alcohol and junk food.

Oooh, here's a good point, sometimes we have to be the bad guy in our own lives and say no when we would like to say yes. Imposing boundaries on ourselves, for our own good. Food for thought...

[Artemis Prime]

19 hours ago, Sea-to-sky said:

But sometimes we do not get an answer to the questions that are left hanging when things in life end

This is true, and hard. 

[Artemis Prime]

A bit late with this week's villainy, but I shall make no apologies, because that's just how villainous I am!

 

This week's song is Something Bad, which is admittedly not one of my favorites, but a pivotal moment in Elphaba's villain arc and, if we are to make true progress, in our own.

 

Synopsis
Elphaba learns that animals are facing discrimination in Oz as there is a conspiracy to force them to stop speaking. She promises Dr. Dillamond, the only animal professor at Shiz, that she will report what is happening to the Wizard so that he can put a stop to it.

 

Applied Villainy

Face the Facts

People are often uncomfortable admitting that something bad is happening. They want to believe that "it couldn't happen here in Oz." Whether that's not wanting to admit that a relationship has run its course, you have outgrown your current job, or you need to develop healthier habits before more severe consequences develop, most people are more comfortable maintaining the status quo than trying to enact change. If we are someday to rule our own glorious villain empires, we first have to be realistic about our current situations and what needs to be addressed to let us be our true selves.

 

Trust Your Instincts

Hand in glove with people not wanting to acknowledge problems, they won't want you acknowledging them either. They might deliberately try to convince you that you are overreacting, or their staunch denial might just make you question your own convictions. Stand firm. You are not like other mere mortals. You are burdened with glorious destiny, you need only follow that which you know to be true.

[Chesire]

I hadn't heard about this course in time to sign up for the start, but I'm here and and prepared to work hard and follow along.  I only just entered the first stages of my  own villain era for real a few months ago, so the timing is impeccable, as I would expect from any villain worthy of teaching such a course. 

 

this will likely be primarily a process of self-examination more than an active practice for now, but that seems proper so as to have a good foundation to build upon so one upstart selfish  little 'do-gooder' can't just slip in and wreak havoc. 

[Artemis Prime]

2 hours ago, Chesire said:

this will likely be primarily a process of self-examination more than an active practice for now, but that seems proper so as to have a good foundation to build upon so one upstart selfish  little 'do-gooder' can't just slip in and wreak havoc. 

Welcome, welcome! It's been a fairly quiet group so far as much of the work has been introspective. Act I, as any good opening act does, is primarily laying the foundation. Act II gets really into the villainy of it.

[Harriet]

On 9/24/2024 at 9:33 PM, Artemis Prime said:

If we are someday to rule our own glorious villain empires, we first have to be realistic about our current situations and what needs to be addressed to let us be our true selves.

 

Very wise. Gotta start with the facts so we know what needs to be done. 

 

On 9/24/2024 at 9:33 PM, Artemis Prime said:

They might deliberately try to convince you that you are overreacting, or their staunch denial might just make you question your own convictions.

 

Villains! And not the admirable type! 

 

On 9/24/2024 at 9:33 PM, Artemis Prime said:

You are burdened with glorious destiny, you need only follow that which you know to be true.

OH the heavy glory ? These are happy tears

[Artemis Prime]

This week's villainy - A Sentimental Man

 

Synopsis

Elphaba finally gets a chance to meet with the Wizard, who turns out to be surprisingly mild-mannered, promising her that he will help her if she can prove herself because he is "a sentimental man."

 

Applied Villainy

Elphaba has not yet realized this, but the Wizard is a giant fraud. She, in her currently untrained state, already has more power than he ever will. And yet he sings that he would "like to raise [her] high?" Preposterous. There is, of course, something to be said for accepting support from others. Minions are valuable assets and a trusty lieutenant is worth their weight in gold.  But don't let anyone claim credit for your accomplishments. Elphaba is (spoilers for next week's lesson) about to discover her own ability to fly. And it is no thanks at all to a conman from Kansas. People may downplay what you are pursuing in the establishment of your villain empire. Your circumstances are easier, or someone else laid the foundation on which you build. Lies from those who are envious of our accomplishments. We all have our own challenging circumstances that we face and eventually we all must forge our own path. We are powerful and fierce and have no time for those who are too weak to seize their own fate, and instead seek to cheapen ours.

 

[Artemis Prime]

You knew this was where we were heading, right? Have to close out Act 1 with, well, the finale of Act 1. Anecdotally, I'd hazard a guess that this is the most popular song from the musical, though spoiler alert, it's not my top favorite. But it is absolutely incredible, so get Week 5 Monday off to a bangin' start by cranking this up:

 

 

Synopsis:

Elphaba discovers that not only does the Wizard not have any magic of his own, he's also the one behind the discrimination that animals in Oz are facing. There is an ugly scene in the Wizard's chamber, but when given the chance to apologize and work with the Wizard, she refuses, instead enchanting a broom to fly. Glinda considers going with her, but in the end doesn't want to give up her status and position, the two of them sing this marvelous duet, and then Elphaba disappears into the sky to close out Act 1.

 

Applied Villainy:

Spread Your Wings and Fly

Elphaba has spent most of her life hiding her power, but now she embraces it, even though it makes her an outcast in society due to the petty machinations of the press secretary. She knows what the right path is, and she chooses to follow it because she has finally realized that she is powerful, and the reason the Wizard doesn't like it is because she is more powerful than him, and thus a threat to his position. So this week, think back on the people who have tried to place limits on you and ask yourself, do they really not think you can do it, or are they afraid that you can? This challenge has mostly been a gradual process of realizing that the people around us may not be who or what we thought they were. But this week, consider that you may not be what you thought you were either, but rather so much more. You are capable of achieving greatness, if you are ready to trust your instincts, close your eyes, and leap.

 

If I'm Flying Solo, at least I'm Flying Free

Every time I listen to this, I'm silently screaming for Glinda to go with her. But she's not ready to take that leap. It's okay if other people in your life aren't at the same point that you are. Maybe they will urge you to go apologize to the Wizard out of pure motives, thinking they are looking out for your best interests. You don't have to fight with them, but you don't have to capitulate either. You can say "I hope you're happy with your choice, but it's not my choice." At some point, we have to stop letting people hold us back, even the people we love. It is much harder to set boundaries with people when we can't demonize them, but that's what makes us villains. We do what is right for us, even if those closest to us don't understand. Sometimes that means we fly solo, but above all, we fly free.

[Everstorm]

19 hours ago, Artemis Prime said:

At some point, we have to stop letting people hold us back, even the people we love

 

This resonates so hard with me right now.  One of my biggest obstacles to fitness is social pressure: to take a rest day and hang out (when I don't want/need one), "relax" in the evenings when I am super restless and want to be moving, or have fun/show my appreciation for someone else's cooking by overindulging. I am have been a consummate people-pleaser, so I find it very difficult to resist this kind of influence from my well-meaning loved ones.

[Artemis Prime]

5 hours ago, Everstorm said:

One of my biggest obstacles to fitness is social pressure:

This can be such a difficult hurdle to get over. For the first several years that I started working out, my mother continually discouraged me because "you don't need to lose weight." Thanks, mom, but I'm actually trying to GAIN muscle, so that's not a worry. She has made big strides (even to the point of asking if I'd like to push dinner plans back so that I have time for a workout) but still tends to stare at me like a zoo exhibit if I do my stretches in shared spaces.

[Artemis Prime]

I think going from Act 1 to Act 2 we're going to transition away from purely internal work (though that of course will remain ongoing) to some external assignments. Since this didn't really gel for me until almost the end of the week, you will have an extension through Zero Week for your newest task -

 

Practical Villainy - Refuse to Apologize

Glinda urges Elphaba to apologize, and more than realizing that she can no longer pursue the goals that had been driving her, our favorite Wicked Witch knows that she isn't sorry. In this conflict between the Wizard and the animals, she has chosen her side and she will not apologize for it. So we shouldn't either. Whether it's choosing to acknowledge and pursue our own wants and needs, refusing to compromise our standards or values, or speaking a truth that makes other uncomfortable, make a choice that is right for you, and even though the urge to say "sorry" will likely arise at some point, swallow it down. We do what must be done, and we make no apologies for it.

[Sea-to-sky]

I need this one so badly. I am the person who apologises when other people bump into me. 
yes it is that bad. 
 

i was out the other day and everyone seemed to be walking through me as opposed to us mutually giving each other space to walk. Sometimes i feel this is a slight metaphor as i feel like i have done this too much in life generally. Bend over backwards for people who wouldnt do the same in return. 

[Artemis Prime]

On 10/10/2024 at 9:14 AM, Sea-to-sky said:

I need this one so badly. I am the person who apologises when other people bump into me. 
yes it is that bad. 
 

i was out the other day and everyone seemed to be walking through me as opposed to us mutually giving each other space to walk. Sometimes i feel this is a slight metaphor as i feel like i have done this too much in life generally. Bend over backwards for people who wouldnt do the same in return. 

Yes, balance is the key. There is nothing wrong with apologizing if you have done or said something you should not have, or for going out of your way for people if the situation and your predilections warrant it. But we should never apologize for existing or taking up space, and the give-and-take in our relationships begins to feel unbalanced, that needs to be addressed.

[Artemis Prime]

Enjoy Zero Week, my lovely little villainettes! Don't forget to refuse to apologize this week, and in the meantime, no new lessons, just a little peek into what's going on with Glinda and Fiyero after Elphaba flies off at the end of Act 1.

 

 

[Sovalis]

On 10/10/2024 at 7:14 AM, Sea-to-sky said:

I need this one so badly. I am the person who apologises when other people bump into me. 
yes it is that bad. 
 

i was out the other day and everyone seemed to be walking through me as opposed to us mutually giving each other space to walk. Sometimes i feel this is a slight metaphor as i feel like i have done this too much in life generally. Bend over backwards for people who wouldnt do the same in return. 

This is a big one for me too - apologizing is really baked in to Canadian culture (it’s a stereotype for a reason!) and I am already a people pleaser and very empathetic. Sometimes I apologize for hurts that could happen even if they haven’t happened yet. This is completely ridiculous. I have been taking a page from Dave’s book though - he doesn’t apologize unless he has actively made a hash of something, and the only person he every says “I am sorry about x” to is me. I think he takes it to a bit of an extreme, but somewhere between our polarities is a middle ground that is useful. 

 

Thanks for this AP. You’re a star. 

[Sea-to-sky]

37 minutes ago, Sovalis said:

This is a big one for me too - apologizing is really baked in to Canadian culture (it’s a stereotype for a reason!) and I am already a people pleaser and very empathetic

Same. Need to come up with something else to say when people bump into me. And then ingraine it in my head. Seems like a resonable starting point