Why does your version of Scarecrow have somewhat of a woman's chest? I'm just curious and not judgmental 🌻
So, Scarecrow was made by magic in my au, and the magic that brought him to life was a little...wonky.
So it resulted in some abnormalities to grow over time in his body, such as gaining some bird-like instincts, and gain an odd type of hermaphrodite-ness(??? Idk if that would be an appropriate way to describe it) which resulted in him kinda getting breasts.
Before he got a ragdoll body, he assumed it was just a couple of weird straw lumps and would just flatten them down before just giving up since they kept coming back. After he got a ragdoll body, his chest was a little bit more noticeable but no one shames him for it.
He doesn't think much about it and doesn't really care a whole lot about it, viewing it as a normal scarecrow thing.
I was reading about Ozma's lore in your AU and then I started thinking… Does Ozma know that it was Oscar who gave her to Mombi when she was a baby (and probably assassinated her father by gunfire in a coup d'état), which led to her becoming a slave of the Wicked Witch of the North?
Yeah, she knows Oscar gave her to Mombi, but she doesn’t know what happened to her father.
If I could name a flaw my Ozma has, it’d probably be that she’s too forgiving for her own good. She sees the good in everyone, and is kinda like Steven Universe by, along with Dorothy, trying to find a way to redeem bad people, including the Nome King (who is her evil uncle btw, don’t worry, I shall eventually elaborate on that). That’s why she had forgiven Oscar so easily, as to her, the Wizard felt heavy regret for his actions. Hell, if the Wicked Witches of the West and East were still alive, she’d do nothing but invite them to a tea party and attempt to convince them to change their wicked ways. Anyways, yeah. Too forgiving.
- Hunk was brought up in the UK before moving to Kansas, so he's got a bit of a British accent. His family's also pretty wealthy too, but he chose to become a farmhand anyway. He's secretly down bad for Miss Gulch and the others judge him for it. He manages the cornfield.
- Hickory has pituitary dwarfism, and a metal leg prosthetic from accidentally cutting off his leg as a teen. Visitors to the farm sometimes mistake him for a kid right until he talks. He's at least tiny bit taller than Dorothy, and Dorothy can lift him up when she actually tries. He chases theives with his axe, which he lovingly calls "Nick". He's the farm's tinkerer and maintenance guy (with Hunk as a helper).
- Zeke is actually the youngest of the trio. He was a homeless teen on the streets when Em and Henry found and gave him a place to stay. In exchange, he cares for the crops and the animals. He's quite anxious and easy to startle, though. He's a big strong guy, too. Miss Gulch scares him, though he tries to not show that.
- Emily "Em" Gale is Dorothy’s father's sister, though she's often mistaken for Dorothy’s mother. She and Henry aren't actually officially married, but their relationship has gone so far that they very much consider themselves married. Sadly, she can't have children, but fortunately, Dorothy fills that void. She hates Miss Gulch's guts, and was utterly terrified during the cyclone.
- Uncle Henry is an average white guy in his 40s. He was disowned by his family for being with Em, who is a poc, but he doesn't care, his family can jump in a pit for all he cares. He's not the brightest, but he tries his best, especially with Em and Dorothy. He wishes to be able to afford a ring for Em one day. He doesn't really get why everyone's afraid of Miss Gulch. Sure, she owns half the county, but she's really not that scary to him.
- Miss Gulch owns half the county, and is sisters with the Mayor, Neveah-Rose Gulch. Frankly, no one likes her, as she has a reputation for taking people's pets and supposedly getting them euthanized. She rides her bike very menacingly, and it often surprises people to know that she's actually 24, when she acts like an old grumpy witch. Hunk always has a bit of his shirt open for her to see. Almira had a bit of a rough upbringing, and disappeared after the cyclone.
- As a bit of an extra, Dorothy is often puzzled when she compares her uncles to her friends in Oz. For Zeke and Lion, eh...she can kinda see it, since Lion has Zeke's voice. But for Hunk and Hickory, she CAN compare the voices, but the looks? Scarecrow and Tin Man look nothing like Hunk and Hickory, it really boggles her.
Also, as another side note, if Aunt Em and Uncle Henry ever met Dorothy’s friends, they'd be a bit okay with the Cowardly Lion, but as soon as Scarecrow and Tin Man walk in, they'll be doing this;
I'm curious now. Can you explain how Ozma's return caused people to stop aging and dying? I loved the concept.
I…actually don’t really know myself, I’m still trying to think up a good way of how that worked lol 😅. But as of right now, I’m sticking with the idea that Ozma is literally radioactive, in a magical non-lethal way. Pretty morbid comparison here, but think of Oz being like Chernobyl; Chernobyl’s deadly, and simply living in that place would kill you. Oz will do the literal opposite.
Ozma’s presence is so magical that it literally IS magical, and making you immortal is exactly what it does. The magic radiation she emits is so powerful that it covers the entire land of Oz.
The Governess of Munchkinland/The Wicked Witch of the East
Despite her wickedness, the Munchkins had to admit she was tragically beautiful.
Yes. That's right. The Witch of the East was considered far more pretty than her cabbage-green sister from the West, with her perfect tan skin, lovely but cruel brown eyes, and her gorgeous ruby slippers, an heirloom passed down through generations of her family.
The Governess was named Nessarose. A beautiful name for such an evil woman. Everyone in Oz has mostly forgotten that the Wicked Witches of the West and East had actual names.
Dear, dead Nessarose was a pretty young Munchkin woman who ruled over Munchkinland as the Eminent Thropp, after the sudden death of her father, Frexspar the Godly.
(Please note that death and aging was still a thing in Oz before Ozma’s return to power)
Her sister, who shall remain unnamed right now, would have been next in line for eminency as she was older, but the Witch of the East was favoured more than her, and due to her very sour reputation, she was forbidden from inheriting the role, so it was passed down to the younger daughter.
Nessarose had employed a number of human staff to replace most of her Animal staff, as they no longer held the legal rights to work. She had her kitchen staff, garden staff, and personal staff, mostly consisting of Munchkins, with a few being Quadlings.
At least three workers were, Animals, the only reason they were still there was simply due to sentimentality. She only had one personal servant, who was believed to have been in a relationship with her.
Though, he went missing at some point, and presumably had been killed by her for some wicked reason. Another death she likely caused (though it's not confirmed) was the unexpected suicide of her personal guards' captain, who chopped himself up with his own sword.
The Governess herself was a Munchkin too, believe it or not. It’s hard to tell, for the only features she had were the elf-like ears and a tufted Munchkin tail, though it was mostly hidden.
(Character sheet 2: Expressions)
Nessarose was, to be blunt, hated by the Munchkins. But of course, the Munchkins would've never displayed that hate outright. It would not end well for any of them. So, most of them had to bottle up that hate around her. She wasn't exactly a proper witch either until her sister gave her powers. Nessarose's power over Munchkinland got stronger after being self-declared a witch.
This is exactly why her death was celebrated so much. Can you blame them?
I mean, it’s not every day a house flies through and flattens your country's dictator!
Speaking of houses, no one's bothered removing that house. So she's still under there, and no one wants to really bother giving her a proper burial. No one cares. All they need to know is she's undeniably and reliably dead!
Basically, what if Elphaba and Fiyero made Liir much later? Answer: Grass baby, lol.
Liircrow wasn't handmade, btw. It was a natural birth. His hair is, as you clearly see, made up of flowers and leaves, and when he's adult, it's just grass hair with some flowers growing in it. Yes, he’s stuffed with grass.
He would have a little goat plushie called Dilly, too. Also, his feet were the only parts sewn on him, being recycled from old worn rabbit dolls.
What do you think the farmhands would be in wicked (Hunk, Hickory, Zeke)?
Not too sure. Stage show-wise, with the exception of Zeke, I imagine Hunk and Hickory would be played by the og 2003 actors, Norbert and Christopher, who play Fiyero and Boq. Movie-wise, that’s more easy; Jonathan Bailey as Hunk, Ethan Slater as Hickory, and Coleman Domingo as Zeke. I do have my own versions of the farmhands’ (including Aunt Em and Uncle Henry) designs in the process of being thought up, though. So hopefully I will get out a post on those three at some point.
If you've already been over this I do apologize. But since your AU is a mix of Wicked and Oz, was Scarecrow ever King during the story?
If so, how did he become King?
~ @autisticbeanofoz
Oh yes, he was indeed king. It happened the same way as the end of the Wizard of Oz did. The Wizard was in a rush to get away from Oz. He essentially looked around, looked at the Scarecrow and thought “you know what? Fuck it” and declared Scarecrow the new ruler of Oz. He was in a hurry, so didn’t have a full moment to think about how a sentient straw doll would do as King and left.
Scarecrow was King for a couple months before the events of Return to Oz. Then he went on to live with the Tin Man.
What are some aspects of some of the Oz characters you would like to explore, or see explored, more?
~ @autisticbeanofoz
Well, I do wish to do a bit more exploring on Dorothy specifically her reflecting on having gone from a simple farm girl to a princess of a whole land, and the guilt that haunts her over killing two women. Sure, everyone assured her that killing them was a good thing because they were both wicked, but she still feels guilty about it.
I also want to try expanding more on Jack and his life as a (well, mentally) young teenage boy living on his own, and his relationship with Ozma. Speaking of Ozma, I'm also thinking of doing something for her too.
I'm still trying to think about what I wanna do with the others. I am thinking of doing a thing with the Cowardly Lion and a Zira-like oc, who's an estranged twin of his, which involves the Animal conflict.
May I ask, out of all Oz media, books, comics, movies, shows, games, anything, popular or obscure, which are your favorites?
And is there anything Oz related you've been wanting to try?
~ @autisticbeanofoz
Hello! Thanks for the ask! Basically, my favourite Oz media is Return to Oz, a couple of the Oz books being Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz and the Emerald City of Oz. A couple guilty pleasures of mine are Legends of Oz, and Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz (2017). I also obviously love Wicked lol.
As for anything I’m wanting to try, I’m wanting to try incorporating one of the villains from the DaTWoO cartoon and rework her a little. My Dorothy design’s also heavily inspired by the Dorothy in that cartoon 😭 Anyway, I am thinking of doing some kinds of little nested aus within my AU. Basically little what-ifs.
My Scarecrow and Tin Man aren’t exactly in a romantic relationship, more so a queerplatonic couple. But a good lot of citizens in Oz tend to mistake them for being gay for each other when they’re actually not. Then again, you kinda can’t blame them for thinking that when these two are constantly pulling moves like this:
In my au, Scarecrow likes to sometimes sit on Tin Man’s lap when they’re chatting. They’re both equally confused and slightly annoyed by people assuming they’re a romantic couple, and always insist they’re not, but do some pretty gay things and are utterly oblivious to how gay it is. They both think it’s completely normal best friend behaviour. What’s wrong with giving your best friend a platonic little smooch?
Is it just me that think that in the future, all the horrible things the Oscar did will be discovered by Ozma when she's older? Like, if one thing's become clear with this whole lying story, it's that the truth always comes out one way or another. Ozma probably already knows that Oscar was a con man who tricked everyone into believing he was a real wizard, because I doubt Dorothy didn't tell her about it. Now, if she finds out about how he persecuted the Animals in Oz, took away their rights, and used them as scapegoats for all the bad things happening in Oz… And that's without even mentioning making Elphaba an enemy of the state just because she was trying to tell everyone the truth about who he really was.
While Oscar is a bit of a better person now, there’s still things he’d much prefer the others not knowing, mostly for his own sake and a bit for theirs. Glinda obviously knows but she’s keeping hush about it for her own reasons, and because Oscar is keeping up good behaviour and not stepping out of line.
Oscar only dreads to know what would happen if these friendly folk found out that:
1# He did a LOT more worse things than being a conman
2# He harshly oppressed what could considered at least a third of Oz’s population.
3# That big bad Wicked Witch of the West that Dorothy killed? Oh yeah, god forbid these guys find out that he falsely made a woman the enemy of the state.
I am fairly new to your blog and content, but I just wanted to say that your designs and lore for the characters of Oz is so lovely!!
I wanted to ask though, since you incorporated aspects from Wicked into your version, does your Scarecrow have Fiyero´s consciousness or memories in him, or is he like a completely separate person?
Thank you! That’s so nice to hear 😊
Wicked IS indeed a part of my AU (and I assume it’s probably VERY obvious. I’ve been dropping painfully obvious hints 😭), though I’m trying to keep it a bit in the background, so it’s not gonna be focused on too much for now. As for Scarecrow…yep, that was Fiyero. Elphaba ended up accidentally giving him amnesia during the spell. He only has a couple of memories, but they’re extremely vague.
