#Niccolo chopper

[the-patchwork-girl-of-oz]

ALL OF THESE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THE SAME GUY.

ALL OF THEM.

EVEN PEPPERMINT FIZZ.

[poppies-from-oz]

Wait wait that actually has basis in the canon

I have this headcanon that while the tin man is one of the sweetest kindest, most compassionate person(?) you could ever meet, as a human, Nick chopper was a bit of a grouch. He was temperamental, snippy, rude and fed up with everything. Ironically getting slowly replaced by robot parts made him more compassionate. But some bits of his old personality are still there (for example he still has a slight temper) for comedy

[poppies-from-oz]

The Road to Oz Interlude

I’m obsessed with this one image so I wrote a one shot to go with it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair.

Laughter and chatter and general merry-making filled the dining hall of the emerald palace. Hundreds upon hundreds of guests had gathered here this evening to celebrate Princess Ozma’s thirteenth birthday! Nobility from across the many fairy countries of this land were in attendance, as were all of Ozma’s closest friends. It was quite a queer gathering, with pretty fairy queens sitting next to pumpkin-headed gentlemen and talking cookies, but a happy one nonetheless! Everyone in attendance was having fun…well, almost everyone. Though most of the attendees were conversing with each other, one of them was completely silent. And that was the Scarecrow of Oz.

The Scarecrow was widely regarded as the wisest man in all of Oz and was one of Ozma’s favorite companions. The stuffed man had been given a seat befitting his high status, just a few chairs down from where Princess Ozma sat at the head. Queen Zixi of Ixi was on his left, the Wizard of Oz was on his right, and the royals of Noland were right across from him. The Gillikin’s Sovereign sat next to the Wizard as well and Princess Dorothy sat beside Queen Zixi. The Scarecrow was surrounded on all sides by interesting and wondrous people but he hardly spoke a word to them. They tried to engage with him many times, with The Wizard occasionally elbowing the straw man in his side to get his attention. The Scarecrow would then sheepishly apologize and hastily throw some words into the conversation…but inevitably his attention would wander off once more.

Across from him, near the end of the table sat Niccolo Chopper. The Tin Woodman of Oz, Emperor of the Winkies, and the Scarecrow’s closest companion. Though “companion” is selling it a bit short, as the two were more like a married couple than anything else. They shared a love like no other and were rarely apart…most of the time, anyways. Tonight Nick sat quite a ways away from his beloved, sandwiched between the Shaggy Man of Oz and the rainbow fairy Polychrome. He was taking it in stride though, enjoying a lively conversation with his fellow guests. The Scarecrow was too far away to hear what they were talking about but he could tell by Nick’s smile that he was enjoying himself.

‘He always has the most beautiful smile.’ The Scarecrow thought to himself with a sigh.

“You and the Tin Woodman will only speak to each other and ignore the other guests if you’re too close together.” Ozma had said while they were planning the seating arrangements. “We have many important figures coming from across the land and they will want a chance to speak with you, the wisest man in Oz. We must make a good impression on them.”

She had been right, of course, the Scarecrow knew that. Though he didn’t like being away from Nick for too long, the Scarecrow agreed to the arrangement and promised to put his best foot forward at the banquet. He and Nick weren’t attached at the hip after all, they could be apart for a single dinner! But that was before he rode out to Munchkin Country to get restuffed, a journey that took many lonely days and nights without his dear Niccolo. And before he agreed to help Dorothy in greeting the party guests, which kept him from catching up with Nick. And before he saw how Nick had himself polished so brilliantly that the lights above gave his plating a distinct emerald tint.

‘He’s even wearing his crown.’ The Scarecrow thought. ‘He never wears his crown.’

The Tin Woodman practically sparkled in the brilliant lights of the Emerald Hall. Even Polychrome, with all her shimmering beauty, could not match the Tin Woodman’s radiance that evening! The Scarecrow simply couldn’t keep his eyes off him. Nick Chopper didn’t seem to notice this, however, as he was conversing with a nearby fairy prince. The prince, who had ebony dark curls and eyes that sparkled like sapphires, seemed to be telling Nick a story of some kind. He whispered something over to the Tin Woodman, who threw his head back and laughed gaily. A spike of jealousy twisted around inside of the Scarecrow.

‘What are they whispering about? Are they flirting? Nick is spoken for!’ The Scarecrow gripped at his sleeves as he mulled. ‘Who does that boy think he is, acting so coy? Does he think he’s something special just because he made Nick laugh? I make him laugh all the time! I should be the one next to him. I should be the one making him laugh. I should-’

A hand on his shoulder jolted the Scarecrow out of his thoughts. Everyone was standing now and toasting to Princess Ozma, who stood at the head of the table. The Scarecrow hastily rose to his feet and joined in the toast, raising his glass of lacasa above his head in Ozma’s honor. Santa Claus, the honored guest sitting at the far end of the table, launched into a speech congratulating the princess on turning a year older. As he spoke, the Scarecrow’s gaze once again wandered off to the Tin Woodman, only to find that Nick was looking at him too. If the Scarecrow had a heart it would’ve skipped a beat when their eyes met; he so loved Nick’s eyes. The Tin Woodman stifled a laugh, he couldn’t tell what the Scarecrow was thinking but he knew that lovestruck look on his face! Grinning deviously, he gave a sly wink to the Scarecrow, and that was about all the straw man could take. His knees went weak as did his elbows, and he ended up spilling his drink all over the Queen of Ixi! The dainty monarch gave a shriek as the cold liquid splashed all over her coiffed hair and trickled onto her nicest party dress. All eyes were on them now, the Scarecrow hastily apologizing while he and the Wizard grabbed some nearby napkins to try and wipe her down. The Tin Woodman stifled a laugh once more, not at Queen Zixi of course, at the Scarecrow. His sweetheart was just adorable! Thankfully the Queen was soon dried off and the toast to Ozma resumed once more. Santa Claus finished off his speech by requesting everyone to drink to the health of their beloved hostess, which they did readily!

The Scarecrow again looked over to the Tin Woodman, who had raised his glass to his lips but refrained from drinking, as he physically couldn’t. The Tin Woodman felt the Scarecrow’s gaze and looked over to see him wearing a rather grumpy expression. Rather than showing remorse, the Tin Woodman opted to blow a kiss, which once again disarmed the straw man. His frustrated glare melted into a twitterpated smile; he just couldn’t stay mad at Nick! The party guests retook their seats and conversation once again filled the great hall. The Scarecrow was far more talkative this time, as he was anxious to make up for his earlier blunder. Even so, the glimmering Tin Woodman would catch his eye several more times throughout the night, and would continue to do so until everyone had retreated to their rooms for the evening. The Scarecrow and Tin Woodman always had the same room in Ozma’s palace whenever they visited, one which they happily shared. Once the two of them had retired to their chambers, the Scarecrow had a chance to show his…appreciation of his beloved’s improved appearance.

But let’s give them a little privacy.

[woggle-bugger-me]

Fun fact: In The Marvelous Land of Oz, the Tin Woodman was given the name Nick Chopper. This comes from the 1902 musical, where he was called Niccolo Chopper.

[witchesoz]

What we know of Oz: The first extravaganza

Now, what few people know is that the book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” had such a big success that it was turned into a musical stage production, an extravaganza that opened in 1902. This play was actually one of the most successful American extravaganzas of the early 20th century, believe it or not! It was so famous that when the 1939 movie was made, the authors discussed and compared the book to this play – and as you will see they took some inspiration from it. Now, I will mostly go over all of the differences the play had with the original book (and there is a lot of them, the play being aimed at adults rather than children). Note that there are two “versions” of the play. At first, Baum wrote the original script but it was reviewed by another author, who wanted to make it much more grandiose, modern and catchy – this was the “first” version of the play, as it was released in 1902. Baum wasn’t against these changes, actually, he trusted the man that did them and it turned out to be a good idea given the success of the play. Later, a third writer came in and rewrote again the script, coming up with a “second” version in 1903. My sources about this play are a bit muddled, so I will mix a bit things together, but here is a list of differences:

# Dorothy is not the main character of this play, surprisingly. She is one of the main characters, but not the central focus of the story. She is a farmhand that worked in a farm with many other farmboys and farmgirls before being dragged away by the cyclone – but this farm doesn’t seem to be hers. There are no mentions of Aunt Em or Uncle Henry, Dorothy rather evokes her “Father” at some point. And Toto? Baum had put him in the original script, but he was scrapped by the new writers, who replaced Toto by a new pet: a cow named Imogene. (And just like Toto, she stays silent in Oz, the rule of talking animals in Oz hasn’t been invented yet). Interestingly, this play is also the one that first introduced Dorothy’s last name, “Gale”. # A new character is quite important in the play: Cynthia Cynch, a “lady lunatic”. She first appears soon after the tornado – in fact, this play shows us the effect of the tornado on the Munchkinland. We see the Munchkins dancing happily around a maypole, in a town (that is identified in the first version as “Central Munch” but in the second is just Munchkinland) when the tornado arrives, making the house fall from the sky, but also blowing away half of the Munchkin houses away. As a result they are quite discontent with it – appears Cynthia Cynch, an obviously crazy Munchkin woman. The Munchkins immediately form a mob against her, thinking that she is a witch and the cause of the storm – in the first version they wanted to burn her at the stake, in the second to drown her. She is only saved by the arrival of the Good Witch of the North, that protects Cynthia and explains the storm was a natural one. The Good Witch is also the one to point out that the Wicked Witch of the East is dead, crushed by the house, something the Munchkins hadn’t noticed. Cynthia Cynch reveals that she used to be a worker in the “biggest department store of all of Oz” and led a normal and regular life (working at the “alligator counter of the pet department”), but she became insane when her fiancée at the time, a wonderful musician named Niccolo Chopper, disappeared – he had been enchanted, spelled away by the Wicked Witch of the East, because she couldn’t stand their love and happiness. Niccolo was turned into something or someone else, but Cynthia ignores what, and thus she spends her time asking people if they are her Niccolo. She keeps playing a tune on a piccolo, which was Niccolo’s favorite tune and one he always answered to. She asks the Wizard, Pastoria and many others if they are her Niccolo transformed by the Witch, without any success. The Munchkins also mention the existence of asylums in Oz, where Cynthia should be, but she spends most of her time, when not wandering searching for Piccolo, in the “vegetable garden” of her “suburban semi-queen Anne house”, the last place where she saw Niccolo alive and well. Her madness is mostly played for laugh – for example, at one point she asks the characters for a toast to “snuggle on” because she thinks of herself as a poached egg. As it turns out, Niccolo is simply the Tin Wooman that Dorothy meets – named here Nick Chopper (short for Niccolo), and that rusted in the forest not because he chopped wood, but because he was playing a piccolo outside. His backstory is roughly identical to the book – he was a woodman, and the Wicked Witch enchanted his axe, cutting his body piece by piece, slowly replaced by tin parts untl he had no heart left. However it is explained that the Wicked Witch wanted to punish him directly because she had forbidden all “love-making” in her domain, and she had caught Niccolo and Cynthia holding hands. (By the end of the play, Niccolo and Cynthia find back each other and live happily). # The Wicked Witch of the West originally appeared in Baum’s script, but she was cut out and referred to a small reference in the first version of the play, and then entirely written out of the second version, to the point that the Wicked Witch of the East is only referred to as “The Wicked Witch”. We know from the North Witch’s tale that the Wicked Witch was a tyrant that ruled with her spells and enchantments, and that she hated two things more than anything: love and happiness. She did not allow these feelings to exist in her land, and that is why she actually decided to turn Niccolo Chopper into a heartless Tin Man, just to prevent his wedding and destroy his love. # The Good Witch of the North receives an extended role in this play, as well as a name! Baum named her “Locasta”, even though the script of the second version of the play, while beginning to refer her as Locasta, midway writes her name “Locusta” out of a mistake. Locasta first appears to announce the death of the Wicked Witch to the Munchkins and save Cynthia from the Munchkins wrath – she also asks Cynthia her card of the “Sorceress Union”, a recurring joke (later, when she has to leave Dorothy on her own on the way to the Emerald City she explains that it is because as a member of the “Witches Union” she is busy and has important things to do). In the first version of the play, the silver shoes were still present, given to Dorothy to prevent her from harm, but the Witch’s biggest gift was a magical ring, described by some sources as a “Ruby Ring”, a ring that can invoke Locasta at any time, but more importantly can grant its wearer three wishes. Dorothy wastes two of her wishes on trivialities such as knowing the lyrics of a song, while the third is the only one really useful – and it is also the explanation of how the Scarecrow came to life! You see, once the Munchkins and Locasta left, Dorothy was all alone in the country with just a Scarecrow nearby. She wished to have someone to talk to, and immediately the Scarecrow came to life thanks to the powers of the ring. (Fred Stone, the actor of the Scarecrow, spent the first scenes of the play lifeless as a background prop, and he was so convincing at playing the inanimate doll that people were always surprised to see him come to life). In the second version the shoes were completely removed, only leaving the ring, whose wish ability was reduced to two wishes – again, one wasted to know the lyrics of a song, the other to animate the Scarecrow. It is also explained that the magic ring can’t take Dorothy back to Kansas because, as Locasta puts it, “my wishes have no power beyond the land in which they are granted. They can only aid you here.” But the Good Witch also appears in a second scene, to protect Dorothy. Remember how in the MGM movie Glinda created a snowfall to kill the poppies? Well this scene was directly lifted from the play.  The Poppy Field was represented on stage by 30 or 40 young ladies in poppy-flower costumes. (Apparently in a version of the play there is a “Poppy Queen” to lead them all, but I saw no mention of this character anywhere in my sources). The Poppies sing this pretty but creepy song: “Should a wandering mortal lucklessly appear in our field / Needlessly our sweet perfume inhaling / Each sense with joy regaling / Who can blame us if all our soporific powers are revealed. / While unto our sway he gives way / And must helplessly yield. / For Death, like a breath comes to all soon or late / And mortals are the sport of a mischievous fate. / So welcome the peace that we bring to mankind. / It is happiness to dream on, with care left behind. / We are poppies in fairest splendor, blooming fragrant always. / Through the mosses and the grasses looming / Fascinations rare assuming / We delight when alone, to pass the moments are play / Every petal graciously nods / Our many charms to display”. The Tin Man also mentions that when he was a human man he never crossed this field out of fear of the endless sleep – so it must be a threat known in Oz. When Dorothy falls asleep, her companions try to wake her up, and they also try to use the ring, to no success. Dorothy, hearing them in her sleep, says the name of “Locasta”, and it is enough to invoke the Good Witch. The Good Witch which is absolutely pissed off at seeing the Poppies try to kill Dorothy. And she delivers this badass text: “Who calls me? The child to whom I promised my friendship. She and her companions in the deadly grasp of these treacherous blossoms. Heartless and poisonous flowers, dare you defy the power of the Witch of the North? Defy me, who rules the North Wind and holds the Frost King as a willing subject? For this you shall die. For this shall I cloud the sunshine, which is your breath, and chill the warmth which gives you life. Hail, winds of the frozen North! Come to my aid! Embrace these false blossoms, and wither them with your cold caresses! King of the Frost, you do I invoke in this, my hour of vengeance. Hurl your glittering atoms upon these cruel flowers. Congeal their sap of life, and set upon them the icy seal of your freezing kiss, which kills as surely as does their own treacherous breath. Thus shall my enemies perish! Thus shall I restore to life these mortals who now sleep, and rescue the maiden I have sworn to protect!” I remind you – this is the GOOD Witch of the North. But yes, this is the origin of the MGM snowfall scene, even though the play is much more grandiose – actually, they have the Snow Queen herself appear on stage, on a sleigh pulled by a reindeer, with snow falling out of her hands. She is surrounded by “Snow children”, little boys and little girls in snow costumes that take the sleeping characters out of the field and carry them away up to the Emerald City. # I forgot to mention the obvious, but this play was a musical play, a musical extravaganza with many songs, and this is partly what gave the idea to MGM of making their Wizard of Oz movie a musical. One scene of the movie even refers a specific song of the play – the two men in a boat in the tornado? This is a reference to the song “Hurrah for Baffin’s Bay” which proved to be one of the most famous songs of the play. # The desert is mentioned, and described here as “burning”, the first hint of a more deadly nature to this place. # As a small side note, the two actors who played the Scarecrow and the Tin Man (Fred Jones and David C. Montgomery) were the stars of the show. This play skyrocketed their career, and they were the favorite of the cast, THE iconic comic duo. In fact, that is why later Baum gave much more importance to them in later books, due to the performance of the duo marking him so much. What about the Lion, you ask? The Lion was like Imogen a mute animal, whose actor had a realistic Lion costume and played in pantomime and, strangely enough, he isn’t cowardly at all and isn’t one of Dorothy’s companions. He actually plays his part in the other major part of the plot, one that wasn’t in the original book but marked the future Oz series… the Pastoria subplot! [Note that in Baum’s original script the Cowardly Lion was talking, and closer to his book counterpart, the final character is born from the rewrites of the script] # Pastoria, the former King of Oz, was actually created for this play. He was, to be more precise, Pastoria II, ruler of all of Oz, living in the Emerald City (already in this play the City wasn’t built for the Wizard). He ruled when, “many years ago”, the Wizard arrived from the clouds. The Wizard proposed Pastoria to get inside his balloon, to see what it was like to fly – but the Wizard cut the cords and the balloon drifted out of Oz, resulting in the Wizard taking over Pastoria’s throne. (Note that the Wizard was crowned apparently due to his “mystical arts” that will be explored later. The name of the place he comes from, “Earth”, is strange and alien to the Ozians, indicating that Oz isn’t located on our planet ; and finally, the myth of the leaving of Pastoria and the arrival of the Wizard is apparently now the stuff of “children’s books” in Oz, just another fairy tale). As it turns out, Pastoria II ended up being stuck in Kansas! He created for himself a new life here, as a motorman. In his own word he was a “lady killer”, in both senses of the term – he apparently had numerous lovers and conquests while in Kansas, but he also regularly killed people with his trams (a motorman being, if you don’t know, the person who operates a tram/streetcar). When the tornado hit the Kansas, he was carried by it in Oz – in the tornado he also met a lovely young girl, named Tryxie Tryfle, a waitress. They spent a long time in the tornado talking to each other, to the point that they decided to become fiancees, boyfriend and girlfriend. Now back in Oz, Pastoria wishes to take back his throne and return to his royal life – but Tryxie will soon reveal herself a burden, because she keeps doubting and criticizing Pastoria’s plans (she nicknames him Pasty), she also keeps asking for rich or expensive food like huge steaks and the like, and in the end, when Pastoria becomes a king again, she will break up with him due to refusing to be a queen and lead a royal life, preferring a simple waitress job in Kansas (I saw in other mentions that it is rather Pastoria, tired of her, that dumps her). Pastoria appears as a man in a motorman’s coat and hat, but carrying a scepter, a shawl strap and keeping his crown in a gilded hat box (he apparently kept the crown in this box for all of the time of his exile). There are many jokes in the play about Pastoria’s appearance. At one point he tells at the Lion to look for the “fat little boy” and the Lion thinks Pastoria is talking of himself, indicating that the king must be quite short and fat. Later, we have a better description of Pastoria II: a small creature, with slate pencil legs, an eye like a halibut, and a face like a cold flaxseed poultice. So in conclusion, Pastoria II is a small but fat man with skinny legs, dropping fish-like eyes and a face looking like linseed poultice. Charming. Pastoria first appear selling tickets to Ozians for his crowning – this is his way of financing his future invasion of the Emerald City. He is followed by the General Riskitt, who turns out to be quite a coward, and by Timothy, a one-man army (literally. As in he is the only soldier that agreed to follow Pastoria and is treated as a whole army by the former king). He is also accompanied by Sir Dashemoff Daily, the Poet Laureate of Oz – he is the one that goes around announcing Pastoria’s return, and he also composes Pastoria’s new hymn (apparently he already composed one for the Wizard a long time ago). This new Pastorian hymn goes like this: “When we were children we cried for Pastoria / When we were young we sighed for Pastoria / When we grew up we died for Pastoria / Oria, oria, peerless Pastoria”. Now the trouble is that as soon as the Wizard learns of Pastoria returns, he makes a public announcements that Pastoria is wanted for treason and that if he is seen he should be arrested by the local police. Pastoria, trying to find a way to hide from the Wizard’s authority, finds the perfect opportunity when the Lion appears, to ask Pastoria to take a picture of him for his family album (Pastoria had a camera in hand at the time, it’s another joke). Pastoria decides to capture the Lion with his troops, and to have his group disguise themselves as a travelling circus to enter undetected in the Emerald City. They meet with Dorothy and co in the Poppy Field – Pastoria is disguised as “Signor Gonzabo, lion tamer”, Tryxie as a bareback rider named “Signiorina Bouncerino, premiere equestrienne”, and the Lion passes off as “Bruno”, a circus lion. # About Sir Dashemoff Daily, he actually has a bigger role in the play. You see, Dorothy has been aged up to eighteen years old here, and that is to allow her to have a romantic plot. Sir Dashemoff Daily sees her after her arrival in Oz, and falls madly in love with her. He composes a song for her, but actually makes a big mistake on her name: the tornado also brought in Oz a door belonging to Dorothy’s neighbor, an old maid named “Caroline Barry”. Since this name is on the door, Dashemoff is convinced that Dorothy is named Caroline, and thus writes his poem for Caroline. Hilarity ensues (well… personally I didn’t laugh, but anyway). # Another new character is introduced – Sir Wiley Gyle. In the first version he was a mad old inventor that scorned magic ever since his mother died, and was sent to the Emerald City dungeon for the murder of his wife. The second version is different: Sir Wiley Gyle is an enemy of the Wizard of Oz, because he knows that all of his “magic” are just tricks and he tries to expose him for the humbug that he is, but constantly fails. He keeps trying to cause revolutions, but also to assassinate the Wizard with all sorts of bombs and pistols – unfortunately, he has the habit of buying his weapons and bombs at cheap places and thus they never work and he is always the laughingstock of everyone. (The Wizard even pretends at some point that he “charmed” the bombs of Sir Gyle, reinforcing his wizard-persona, when he was just lucky). However Sir Gyle’s motivations for a revolution and the de-throning of the Wizard are quite different from the first version: instead of a simple scorn for magic, here he is actually the next in line for the throne after Pastoria II, and would have inherited the position of ruler of Oz if the Wizard hadn’t come in the picture. That is why he wants to get rid of him. But it is also why he refuses to help or participate in Pastoria II’s plan to return to the throne. In fact, he later creates another plan – after meeting Cynthia Cynch, he realizes he can use her madness for his purposes. He makes Cynthia believe that the Wizard of Oz is the form the Wicked Witch gave to Niccolo, and convinces her, if the Wizard fails to recognize her, to bound him, gag him and kidnap him before dragging him far away to one of the remote corners of Oz. However the plan goes awry, since Cynthia, when rejected by the Wizard, doesn’t kidnap him, but rather tries to kill him with a pistol, on the basis that “If I can’t have you, I’ll destroy you”. Of course, she fails. # The Wizard of Oz in this play is slightly different from the book. Surrounded by soldiers and “wise men”, he regularly appears to the inhabitants of the Emerald City – in fact, he regularly entertains them with his “magic tricks”, which is merely stage magic (making an egg disappear under a handkerchief, or the “magic basket” the typical trick of having someone inside a box, then pierce it with blades only to reveal that the person is actually fine), but he passes it off as his “wonderful and marvelous magic”. Everyone in Oz is gullible, except for Sir Gyle, and for Pastoria II who sees right through him given that he saw similar stage magic in Kansas. # While the second act ended up with the marvelous scene of the Snow Queen, the second acts ends up with commotion and riots in the Emerald City. You see, Dorothy and friends actually met the Wizard, and he granted the Scarecrow and Tin Man’s wishes, just like in the book. He calls it “his greatest miracle” and calls for a public celebration, with the protagonists as his guests of honor. But on the same night, he uses Pastoria as a “randomly selected” member of the audience to participate in his tricks. Pastoria makes the trick fail, which causes people to doubt of the Wizard’s powers. Sir Gyle actually manages to rally an army to him by proving that he can do exactly the same thing as the Wizard with tricks and cheats, which starts off his revolution… but said revolution is immediately stopped when Pastoria II reveals himself as the rightful ruler of Oz to the crowd. Chaos and confusion follows. # A quick word about the “Ball of All Nations” – this “ball” is actually the celebration the Wizard throws for his “miracle” of realizing the heroes’ wishes. It was a series of “ethnic” songs and depending on the day the play was done, the Ball could go up to twelve different songs. I know of a them of them: “Connemara Christening”, an Irish song sung by the Tin Man ; “Spanish Bolero” a Spanish song sung by the Scarecrow, “Wee Highland Mon”, a Scottish song sung by the Wizard. As much ideas for people who would want to link the Ozian culture to real ones. # Now the third act, in the first version of the play, was the travel of Dorothy and friend to Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, since the Wizard revealed himself unable to grant her wish. This act was mostly dances, songs and festivities at Glinda’s palace before the Good Witch revealed to Dorothy that the shoes could carry her home. This third act was completely scratched out for the second version, the character of Glinda taken out. The third act of the second version is wildly different. This acts begins on the “Borderland”, aka a land at the border of Oz’s domains and which is at the frontier of the domain of Glinda, the Good Witch of the South (she is regularly mentioned in this act, even though her name is incorrectly written as “Galinda”). [On a small note, again it makes the distinction between the land of Oz proper, the one ruled by the Wizard, and the other domains ruled by the Witches]. We discover that Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man were imprisoned by Pastoria II for being friends of the Wizard, but escaped and are now trying to go to Glinda’s domain to escape the King’s persecution. The Tin Man is disguised as a “burlesque chauffeur” and pretends to be a “smoke inspector in a painless dental parlor”, while the Scarecrow is dressed with various “light colored articles stolen from a clothes’ line” and pretends to be a “switchman in a ladies’ hair emporium”. Pastoria is also at the Borderland, dressed in royal purple robes but with “plasters on his face and one black eye”, remnants of the Emerald City riot. The Wizard and Sir Wiley were reduced to mere street cleaner, cleaning the dust with brooms – but when Sir Wiley mocks Pastoria, the king orders this “laughing hyena” to rather be put to work in the sewers. This is also when Tryxie breaks up with Pastoria, “You’re the sweetest motorman I know, but as a king you won’t do at all.” Pastoria captures and imprisons the Scarecrow and the Tin Man. Dorothy is saved from her prison by Sir Dashemoff (aka Sir Dash for short), that is still in love with her and tries to help her to escape to Glinda’s dominion through a drawbridge, but she refuses to go there alone and goes back to the prison to save her friends the Scarecrow and the Tin Man (and they escape using their unnatural abilities, for example the Scarecrow is put into pieces, passed through the bars of the prisons and then put back up on the other side). This is also when the Tin Man finds back Cynthia and the two kiss passionately. But Pastoria captures them once more, and tired of their constant escapes decides to have them executed on the spot. A headsman appears, with an axe, ready to chop the prisoners’ head, and Dorothy laments herself, asking for help – which invokes Locasta once more. Now, when Locasta appears summoned by Dorothy, she isn’t as pissed off as she was with the Poppies, but she stills prevents Pastoria from going on with the execution. She can’t help Dorothy escape out of Oz, but she invokes “those mysterious powers who rule this mystic clime”. She actually invokes Glinda/Galina, saying : “Mighty Galinda, ruler of Storm and Calm, grant me, thy humble servant, one more boon – spread infinite darkness over the land so that the victims of this tyrant may escape beneath its sheltering cloak; and send the spirits of the air to bear this child, my ward and charge, back to the far-off home from which they brought me.” It is quite interesting to see how in this play, not only is Glinda elevated to the role of an almost goddess-like being, she is also considered mistress of the storms and of darkness (in general, the Good Witches in this play are much darker and more ruthless than in the book). Pastoria, terrified of another cyclone, lets the prisoners go freely – but still, another tornado is invoked, which carries Dorothy back to her home. THE END ~

[the-patchwork-girl-of-oz]

I imagine Boq and Fiyero must have made up because they’re incredibly close in L Frank Baum’s Oz sequels (and are also incredibly queer coded). Technically the original version of the tin man is named Nick (short for Niccolo) Chopper rather than Boq, but I choose to believe the Baum sequels are mostly canon to the musical. One headcannon I have is that Boq is more of a nickname with Niccolo “Nick” chopper being his legal name, which I thought made sense due to his lack of a canon last name.

I also want to point out that Boq cried when Fiyero fell into the river, which I personally love because it means he secretly cares about him. :3

another thing about wicked that makes it a winner is the insane dynamic it gives the actual wizard of oz. it makes you wonder what boq and fiyero talk about when dorothy isn't paying attention. boq hates fiyero for stealing glinda and elphaba and nessa for making him the tin man and fiyero is lying through his teeth about wanting the wicked witch of the west dead not to Mention the lion is probably like wait. didn't this guy also help set me free. why don't I want him dead too. bonkers.

[the-patchwork-girl-of-oz]

They switched hair colors

[the-patchwork-girl-of-oz]

L Frank Baum really gave a character the first name Niccolo because he plays the piccolo and then made his last name Chopper because he was forced to chop his own limbs off.

[gastrophobia]

New chapter! New character!

Get hyped for Mr. Niccolo Chopper!

This chapter was called A Nickel-Plated Emperor in the book because in this chapter, the Tin Woodman revealed that after becoming ruler of Winkieland, he had "lately caused himself to be nickel-plated." So that he wouldn't rust anymore.

But the thing is that tin doesn't rust. Most stuff called "tin" in Baum's day were actually another metal coated with tin to deter rust. The Tin Woodman was most likely a tin-plated iron woodman who rusted because his tin coating wore thin from constant use. A nickel plating seems redundant to me, but not obviously redundant enough to work as a joke.

So, I, uh... so, I changed the chapter title.

Why he's standing in that position instead of in the middle of chopping down a tree, I'll explain in a later chapter.

If you like my comics, please support me on Patreon! (link in bio)

[the-patchwork-girl-of-oz]

It’s passed midnight but I made this art of my AU that I’ve been neglecting

[the-patchwork-girl-of-oz]

So in the og Oz books, the tin man’s name is Niccolo (Nick) Chopper but in Wicked the musical, his name is Boq.

And Boq is a farmer.

What if Boq’s real name is Niccolo Chopper but he’s nicknamed Boq because he has chickens and is maybe just like really close to them?

@just-some-guy-at-shiz

[the-patchwork-girl-of-oz]

I feel like even though he has such a dark backstory for a kids book, book universe Nick Chopper/tin man/tin woodman would be APPALLED by how angsty the fandom and most adaptations make him.

Like, if he met any of these people, he’d absolutely mother ALL of them. He would make them go to therapy and then get some himself because he’s the one who has his life together.

“Don’t ever talk to me or my many traumatized emo children ever again.”

[the-patchwork-girl-of-oz]

[the-patchwork-girl-of-oz]

Nick, in 2 foot platform heels looking down on Hickory: you will not be taller than me.

@just-some-guy-at-shiz

[poppies-from-oz]

Bringing up The Royal Book of Oz again because I need you all to be aware of how badly it butchered the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman-

The Scarecrow gets roasted by the Wogglebug in front of everyone and the Tin Woodman just straight-up does not care.

The man who once threatened the Wogglebug with death over his terrible puns doesn’t have a thing to say when the overgrown bug drives his favorite person to tears? Really? Then later on Dorothy is looking for the Scarecrow only to find that he disappeared at some point during the night. Once again, Niccolo Chopper doesn’t give a hoot.

Hey pal, maybe show a little concern over the sudden disappearance of your life partner?

The Tin Woodman spends the rest of the book back at Emerald City with Ozma, who is also quite unconcerned with how the Scarecrow has been missing for several days now. (She’s also pretty unconcerned with how Dorothy left for the Scarecrow’s house days ago and hasn’t come back yet. Bc y’know Ozma is never clingy or overprotective of loved ones!/s)

The only time the characters actually feel like themselves is in this passage near the end-

Someone should write a fic from the Tin Man’s POV where he realizes that he almost lost his husband forever all because he wasn’t thinking about his feelings.

Anyways I just wanted to share this cursed knowledge bc GOD I can’t be the only person who knows about this.

[instantpansies]

oh wow okay. uhhhh. impossible to narrow down. i will pick 5 blorbos randomly

tagging @thegroundhogdidit @clarablightt @normal-looking-male @articus-icecream @siyratiin @imabiscuitinthousandworlds @zebracakesarecopingmechanisms @vitamin-zeeth @the-blue-fairie and anyone else who wants to!!

challenge: make a poll of 5 of your all-time favorite characters, then tag 5 people to do the same.

tagged by: @susiephone :}

doing blondes (no usagi bc she would sweep)

i tag: @juneymoonybunny @mrs-ronnie-reid @rosy-dolly @duoxowl @suburbanlegnd