#and the wheelers have a special place in hell tormenting the worst of the damned

[jamiegeode]

Friendly reminder/possibly informing that after the events of the well known Wizard of Oz story, the scarecrow is overthrown and ends up living with the tin woodman.

Later on a boy named Kip turns out to be the lost princess of Oz and basically magically transitions into her “right” body(biologically female) and says something along the lines of “I promise I’m still myself” to her friends somewhat panicked, and when she’s having trouble saying what she wants to her friend says “only you’re different” and it’s broadly agreed upon as a wise way to put it, because yes she’s the same person as Tip through and through, she’s just seen as a girl instead of a boy now.

In a later book we discover that the cowardly lion has moved out of the forest where he was the king and had previously felt a degree of obligation to be the king of, and moved out with the hungry tiger, another who is considered an outcast because he thinks it’s immoral to eat meat and therefore doesn’t consider himself a ‘good’ tiger similarly to how the cowardly lion says he’s a coward simply because he has fears, so they basically leave their typical societies where the feel misplaced to be misfits together, hanging out between the flamboyant Tinman and shabby Scarecrow’s palace and Ozma’s capitol of Oz. This is the same book in which Dorothy and Ozma meet, before Dorothy goes home to Kansas yet again.

Later on in the books, Dorothy’s family is in debt and Dorothy uses the magical mirror Ozma gave her so that they could talk anytime (and which Ozma spends an allotted time of every day sitting at and watching her counterpart of for Dorothy to facetime her even though Dorothy doesn’t have the time to call Ozma most days) to inform Ozma of this, and Ozma gets Glinda to magically transport Dorothy’s whole family into Oz.

After this, Dorothy and her family live comfortably and are essentially treated as part of the royal family. Dorothy and Ozma are often referred ‘good friends’ and other such terms that might be familiar to y’all. They go on a tour of the country together, visiting old friends and introducing the royal’s in laws- I mean Dorothy’s parents- to various towns and prominent people in Oz.

Anyways, that was a comprehensive list of the characters who I can remember off the top of my head who seem really queer and somewhat openly so-Ozma’s transition was a major plot point and other relationships are discussed somewhat throughout the books I’d read.

Ozma’s character was something I never talked about when I was younger, but whenever I saw my Wizard of Oz books, I’d think of her first and foremost. She’s uncertain about the spell to change her into a girl, especially since unlike the spell from her infancy that made her a boy, this one will be permanent. But she agrees to it in less than twenty minutes, and was totally fine with the idea of helping an all-girl army when, as the boy tip, he was swept up in their midst. She’s eventually quite comfortable with her femininity and her rulership. As someone who never felt comfortable being called a girl, I wondered a few times if someone cast that spell on me as a baby, but I knew that couldn’t be the case because ‘boy’ wasn’t the right word either. Now with a little help from Ozma and a ton of support from a few wonderful people who I’m insanely lucky to know, I’m comfortable with the knowns and unknowns of my identity.

And this is a book series from the 1900s-1910s, guys. I love the way old books are written, and to get that paired with what seems like decent queer rep that my parents will miss if they ever read it, I have to say I love these books. I’m rereading them and it’s giving me assurance that we’ve always been here from a children’s book plus a buttload of those nostalgic childhood feels from when I wasn’t even aware that there are people in the world who might try to knock me down.

Anyways I highly recommend these books to anyone looking for a good comfy fairytale to read, it really is a great story

On the other hand, I forgot about the wheelers. Oh gods oh no please erase them they are so freaking cursed why did he do that nah nu-uh nopity no no I don’t care if they’re harmless there is no greater boogeyman than these I’m scared of the monsters under my bed again.

But other than that it’s a great series, 10 outta 10, 100% do recommend. Just don’t look up a picture of the wheelers trust me here.

#Wizard of Oz #Oz #Ozma #Ozma of Oz #Dorothy #Dorothy Gale #Tin Woodman #Scarecrow #Jack Pumpkinhead #Sawhorse #Cowardly Lion #Hungry Tiger #Trans Ozma #Dorothy is gay and so is everyone else #queer fairytales #wish old mombi could still do the transitioning magic though #but no Glinda was a jerk about it #I hope that’s not seen as bad magic if they ever make a show of some sort #anyway yeah this story is great #and the wheelers have a special place in hell tormenting the worst of the damned #j-me