#map of oz

[witchesoz]

So I borrowed from my local library a book for my studies "Dictionary of imaginary places" (Dictionnaire des lieux imaginaires in French), written by Alberto Manguel and Gianni Guadalupi. And turns out it has a full map of "Oz and the neighboring lands"! I'll try to snap details here and there as it seems this map was drawn specifically for the book and is not found anywhere else.

[yellowbrickramble]

Obviously, Dorothy didn't wear the exact same dress for her entire stay in Oz. She was there for roughly two months!

Nonestica is often the name given to the continent where Oz is located. A map first appeared in the 8th book, Tik-Tok of Oz. Many of the surrounding countries are from some of Baum's other non-Oz books. For instance, the forest of Burzee on the lower left is from The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus.

Now, this is a low resolution image, but if you're very clever, you may not have needed to read the compass rose to notice that east and west are reversed. Even people who have only ever seen the 1939 movie know the witch of the EAST enslaved the Munchkins and the witch of the WEST enslaved the Winkies.

Dick Martin and James Hoff later came up with an expanded version of the map that "corrected" the directions:

A lot of people like this one and I'm not an exception, but it wouldn't hurt to make the surrounding areas a little bigger.

Now, Robert A. Heinlein (yes, that Robert A. Heinlein) once proposed that the compass in the first map is flipped because Oz is on planet with a retrograde rotation. I love that explanation. It's canon to Yellow Brick Ramble.

So, I based the planet of Nonestica on all three of these interpretations with some tweaks of my own. I included a few other continents. One of them is called Tazara. I doubt all the lands on this planet are magical, as Oz is a special land. I did a little math and I'm guessing Oz is roughly 4 times the size of Kansas?

The planet of Earth, on the other hand, is one most of you are familiar with.

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

[gifs-of-puppets]

The Jim Henson Hour (1989)

[filmap]

Les cinq diables / The Five Devils Léa Mysius. 2022

Opening Titles Chem. de Chambuisson, 38114 Allemont, France See in map

See in imdb

[lookslikethatsallthetimewehave]

Wait i just realized that Motm is kinda like the Wizard of Oz:

The main characters, who are from earth, accidentally end up in a different dimension from a storm portal and are trying to get home.

They find themselves in a position where they have to defeat the main villain in order to get home.

The main characters realize at the end that they had what they were looking for all along.

Actually... you can say that about a lot of different pieces of media XD

[mmmmalo]

Doing a little reading on Wizard of Oz -- apparently Baum wanted his fairy tale to avoid the "stereotyped genie, dwarf, and fairy". Funny thing for him to say, since the Good Witch is a fairy godmother and the Munchkins are dwarves and the Wizard himself seems to be a genie? offering to grant wishes as he does. The conman who plays the Wizard was even wearing a turban earlier in the film version, as he performed his palm reading for Dorothy. I wonder if that big green head was a supposed to be the contours of the turban converted to skin...

[tessmontyart]

Sydney Oz Comic Con is this weekend! 💖💖 table no.42, the meaning of life 😁 Seeya there!

[bafflement]

Deaged Oz AU - Collecting [Very] Long Lost Property

Oz bit his lip slightly, as he pored over the maps Qrow had found of Mistral. The sooner they got the lamp to Atlas and the relative safety the floating kingdom could provide, the better it would be for everybody involved. The sooner they were out of Haven, the sooner damage control could be started... all those hunters that Leon's cowardice had killed, though. How were they ever going to replace them. Could they even replace them? Mistral needed protection, but with so many dead... he just hoped whoever Leon's replacement would be would be up to that task. He didn't envy them in the least... maybe they could draft in outside help? That would leave things spread worryingly thin, though. Ah well, it was out of his hands.

The worry must have shown on his face, though, because Qrow shifted position beside him, one hand coming to rest on his shoulder. They shared a conflicted look, Qrow was from Mistral, he knew as well as Oz did that the outlook might not be very bright for quite awhile. At least with the relic gone, Salem was less likely to target Mistral with an overabundance of Grimm? It was far from impossible, but none of them had any choice now. The lamp was too important, they couldn't stay to try to protect those left behind. So why did it feel so much like cowardice?

Shaking his head slightly, he went back to the map, plotting out the easiest route. There was the nagging feeling that he was forgetting something very important, though. Some of the marks on the map felt familiar in the same way most memories previous Oz's left him did, though he still didn't really remember anywhere near all of them. Without truly thinking about it, he mapped out a strangely winding path for them to follow. While it followed a lot of the natural contours, it wasn't the easiest it could have been. But it felt right.

"You sure, Pocketsized?" Qrow asked, sounding vaguely doubtful, though Oz was very aware that he was likely to follow it anyway. Qrow could be predictable like that and at least two of the arguably straighter routes would have lead them over some steep terrain that, frankly, he was uncertain he could easily traverse at the age he currently was. Much less his physical state, he had no memory of his limp having been quite this bad the first time around but it was more than possible he'd just forgotten. Or suppressed it, maybe, ether one was possible. How he wished they had access to an airship, it would make this so very much easier.

"I am. Several routes would be rather harder for me as things currently stand. While I am not actually the child I resemble, I can't help but worry that there are still a great many things my body is not fully capable of. Besides, I believe there may be something I should pick up along the way. I just do not currently remember what that is."

Qrow winced, but nodded anyway. It made a lot of sense, put that way. Oz wasn't actually a kid, of course, but that didn't stop him from having all of their physical limitations at the moment. More than, considering the health concerns that had seemed strangely far less serious in the adult than they did right now. He didn't mean to worry for him, but then they all did. He'd heard the kids enough, they all knew that Oz as he was needed their protection just as much if not more than they needed his expertise. Not that that was always easy to get him to accept, but then it was never really going to be. Oz was still far too independent for that.

It didn't take long for them to grab their belongings from the house they were staying in. All of them had packed relatively light, after all. The basic necessities had been restocked while they were in Mistral and they had plenty of food scattered around their various packs, but the rooms they had been staying in felt dismally empty once their stuff was all packed. The packs weren't even that large, yet in many ways they held their entire current lives. More than one of the kids looked rather depressed, noticing that. In the storm of packing, Oz carefully did not pack the hair dye. After all, they were always going to forget something, weren't they?

Tip blinked around at the tall trees surrounding them. None of them were familiar, but then if the half remembered impulse was right they might well not be. Whatever it was his subconscious was telling him to find was still a mystery, though he was dismally certain that he'd know the place when he found it. Did this particular part of the forest really need to go out of its way to make him feel even smaller though? Glancing across at Weiss, he saw that he wasn't the only one of their party who looked slightly intimidated by the sheer size of some of these. Not, of course, that Miss Schnee would ever admit to any such thing. He suppressed a grin at that, even though things had changed in the months they'd been in Mistral, he rather doubted anything would ever change enough for that.

"These trees are huge!" Ruby murmured, though she sounded more fascinated than intimidated. At that, Oz could no longer suppress the grin. Trust Miss Rose to lighten any mood, that was sorely needed right now. Why was he so morose? What was it that he was going to find, all the way out here? He didn't remember ever owning anything in this part of Mistral, but then with the state of the merge as it stood, would he? Had it even been Mistral at that point? The kingdoms hadn't exactly lasted forever, after all. There was plenty of time before that which this feeling could originate from.

Then again, the idea that anything could have survived from that far back was a very different matter. There were few things he'd ever really thought were important enough to protect in the ways that he would have needed to, back then. Unbidden, his mind flew to a specific fairy-tale, his eyes widening. Well, if it was that then... that might explain a few things. He could have sworn nothing had been left, but then... again, he just didn't know. He briefly cursed Cinder Fall, thankfully keeping enough control to use a language that the children would fail to recognise. The last thing he needed to do was teach them more swear words.

There was a delighted snort from behind him and he spun on his heel, staring at Yang, who was mouthing the word gleefully. Oh dear. At least it was Yang, since he was absolutely certain Qrow had already taught her and Ruby both enough words over the years, Maybe even some of them on purpose. Yang winked at him.

"Thanks for the new word, Professor! Tell me what it means?"

"Nice try, Miss Xiao Long." Oz replied, a laugh in his voice. Yang's face fell slightly, but her eyes gleamed. She was very aware from Oz's reaction that whatever it was was less than polite. Perfect, another one to add to her ever growing list. The syllables felt strange on her tongue, but she shrugged that off. So did some of Qrows... huh. Had Ozpin taught him those? She really would need to ask him, at some point...

Blake snorted, too, but at least she didn't seem to be mouthing the swear word to herself. Under the circumstances, Oz was very happy to take that as a victory. After all, his students were all teenagers, some things he feared were likely to be unavoidable. He frowned as his foot slipped, concentrating on his footing once more. It would be a very bad idea to fall right now, this far away from help. The others would, he was sure, but he didn't dare burden them any more than they already were by his presence. He hated being this vulnerable, but there wasn't really much he could do about that right now.

They turned a corner and Oz stilled, staring at a rocky outcrop that was instantly, primally familiar to him. The garden was long gone, of course, but the house was still there. The others, following his gaze, came to a halt too. There were various surprised noises, but Qrow turned to Oz, looking almost amused.

"I assume that was what ya were looking for, pocket sized?" Qrow gestured towards the building. It looked pristine and untouched, strangely out of place in its surroundings. Part of Oz marvelled that nobody had found it before, even as a brief flash of memory overtook him. No, no, he'd hidden this house, long ago. He could see it, those with him could see it. But nobody else could, he remembered now. Salem would have found it amusing to tear it down and it was too important, too special for that. It really was the house he thought it was... which meant he might have to explain a few things, not that anyone would believe the others if they talked. Besides, they all already knew the maidens existed, what was one more confirmation?

"It is indeed. May I present to you the Wizard's cottage?" Oz's voice was light, but the meaning behind the words wasn't lost on any of those around him. From the wide eyed stares, they appeared rather awed, but then you didn't often get proof of your fairy-tales, even in Remnant. This house was certainly proof of something. He inclined his head, gesturing towards it with a soft smile.

"Would any of you care to take a look around?"

"Yes!" was the chorus, even Qrow joining in, a strange awe in his eyes too. Oz was briefly touched by that, he was very aware that The Story Of The Seasons was far from Qrow's favorite as of late. But then, considering Raven... and Cinder... it wasn't really Oz's, either. Ah well, each to their own.

The cottage, whose door opened at Oz's touch looked exactly as it had the day he left. There wasn't a mote of dust on any of the surfaces, the ancient wooden counters and floorboards just as solid as he recalled them being. There wasn't a lot to see, really, but that didn't seem to stop how awed the others were. Leading them into the sitting room, he was surprised to see a fire spring up in the grate as he entered. Well, at least they'd all be warm tonight? He didn't remember setting that up either, but though his magic purred contentedly under his skin, it hadn't seemed to interact with anything else. A proximity alert, maybe? He longed to experiment as to whether it would trigger for any of the others, but they probably didn't really have the time. The chairs looked nice and soft though, so he nodded to them. The others all took seats, almost vibrating. Huh, this place really had affected them, hadn't it?

Of course, there was a part of Oz that was awed, too. After all, this was the house from the story. Though he was very aware it was a real one, he never thought he'd actually lay eyes on this place at any point outside of his own memories. Now, if only he could remember just why he was meant to come here? Showing his friends was amazing, of course, but he rather doubted that was the full point of their visit. Ozymandias chuckled in the back of his head, but didn't seem inclined to offer any help. Ah, so he was on his own to figure this out.

"Professor? Is this really the Wizard's house? From The Story Of The Seasons?" Nora sounded breathless, though the fact that she'd called him Professor again as opposed to the usual things she used to tease him underlined the seriousness of the question.

"Well, yes. Yes, it is. It appears to be exactly as I remember it, though I do urge you all to be careful, as despite appearances, this place is well over ten thousand years old."

"Ten thousand?" Oscar breathed, looking a strange mix of awed and horrified, one hand reaching towards where Oz stood as though he wanted to grasp him and never let go. "Oh, Tip, you left it this long? You never went back? This is your house!"

"Yeah, pocketsized." Qrow agreed, looking shaken. "I can tell how much this place matters to ya, but... how could it be that old? Houses decay, ya know that. Or is it magic again?"

"Well, yes... although, I rather fear I did not wish to lead Salem here. This house is special, she would have destroyed it out of sheer malice. After all, fairy-tales contain hope." Oz's smile was fragile now, gazing around the room with hazy, far away eyes. The kitchen, the hall, the sitting room, the bathroom... the bedroom. Had there really only been five rooms to this place? For all it was small, Oscar and Qrow were right. It really did feel like coming home.

The bedroom. There was something there that he'd left, meant to come back for and never had. He darted from the room, moving unerringly to what had once been the Wizard's sanctuary. One small bed surrounded by a great many shelves. All the books he'd stored here were gone, of course, he'd taken most of them with him... but had he taken everything? The vague feeling in his brain was a blaring siren now. There was something, somewhere in this room. He heard footsteps and looked up, meeting Qrow's eyes. Of course Qrow had followed him, he could really expect nothing less. As protective as Qrow was... but surely he realised there wasn't anything in this house that would ever harm him?

"Hey, Pocket sized, ya looking for something?"

"I believe so, yes. Two sets of eyes would be better than one, though I cannot be certain just what I... they... hid here. I just know that it's very important that I recover it. It's been lying here for too long." Oz smiled. "Up to a treasure hunt with me, Qrow?"

Qrow grinned back, eyes alight. "I'd be happy ta help, Oz. I still can't quite believe this house exists. I mean, I know the stories are real, but..."

"How are the children, by the way?" Oz asked curiously, both of them starting to search the small space. Qrow chuckled fondly.

"They're okay. Talking up a storm in the other room, surprised you can't hear them. Although..." Qrow cocked his head, frowning slightly as he realised that he couldn't hear them from here, either. Eh, they'd be okay for a few minutes, he could probably just chalk it up to yet more of the oddness of this house. Oz's house... at least he might have somewhere to go when this was all over that wasn't that damn clock tower?

Oz ducked under the bed, fingers running over the floorboards, searching for a gap. Like the door and the fire, it seemed to open at his touch, though it was very cramped under the bed. He wriggled back out, grinning widely.

"I Think I found it, but I'll need help moving the bed to get to the hidden compartment." Qrow made a face, for some reason moving or disturbing anything felt almost like desecration. But this was Oz's house, if anyone had the right to alter things, it was him.

As the bed shifted, the hole was revealed. It wasn't very large, but it was more than sufficient for the pair of carefully wrapped packages within it. Oz's eyes were wide and his hands shook as he carefully removed them from their long term resting place. What had he left behind? He knew there were things he'd misplaced over the millennia, after all. Qrow replaced the bed and Tip lay the bundles on it, shaking from sheer nerves now. One of them was book shaped, but as for the other? Could this have been its final hiding place? He remembered in flashes, Salem finding the decoy of what he was starting to be very sure this had to be. He remembered that death, too. He shuddered, choosing to unwrap the larger bundle first.

They both stared down at a slim book of fairy-tales, bound in a shimmering green leather that could not possibly be natural. He remembered this book, too. Remembered stealing it from Salem, running with it, hiding it. It had been the book he used to read to his daughters, millennia ago. He sobbed, sounding broken, as Qrow gathered him into a hug. Qrow didn't know, of course, but as always he knew what to do to comfort Oz in his grief.

If that was the book, though, then the other item had to be what he thought it was. Still, he needed to be sure. Squirming out of Qrow's arms, he unwrapped the other item, staring down at Ozma's emerald. The real one, not the various fakes he'd carried over the millennia. Ozymandias gasped in his head, sending a wave of comfort that Oz sincerely appreciated. It was strange, but he thought he'd miss Ozzy even more, this time, when he left again. Was it selfish, to hope the meld took awhile longer?

Qrow was staring again. That was fair, though, the emerald was rather larger than his hand. Qrow's hand, that was, not Oz's. It was perfectly flawless, too... and Oz had no idea how much it would fetch were anyone to steal it from him. If it could be stolen, which he wasn't entirely certain about, he seemed to remember it coming back. Either way, wandering through Mistral with something worth that much would certainly be an experience, He wasn't likely to leave either item behind, though.

He rewrapped them carefully, unpacking his pack in order to cushion both items as best as he could with his limited amount of spare clothing. He looked up at Qrow, who still looked a bit shellshocked and grinned shakily.

"You were a bandit, Qrow, surely you've seen precious gems before?"

"Yeah, no, Oz. Not like that. That's not like anything I've seen before, magic?"

"Well, yes and no. It's the gem from Ozma's staff, Qrow. I don't know why I'll need it, but I think that's why I was drawn here."

Qrow stared for a solid minute before he could get his voice to work well enough to ask the other question on his mind. "And the book? I saw how it affected you, Pocketsized..."

"I... I don't want to talk about it, Qrow. Maybe one day, but not right now. We need to go and check on the others." Hauling his pack back onto his shoulders, Oz left the room. Qrow could only shake his head, hoping that Oz really would tell him, one day.

[ntll]

literally me except i don’t know where europe is either 🧍

[magicaldogtoto]

Oz’s Emerald City fluctuates from book to book and author to author, so there’s no real concrete description about the place (is the green color just the result of people wearing green glasses? Is it actually green?).

I came across this drawing by Judy Pike from the 1970s, though, based on descriptions from the book. It’s the most concrete map of the place I could find so far.

Most people think of Oz as being perpetually stuck at the turn of the 20th Century, but I’ve noticed that even in the original books new technologies were present (Tik-Tok, the mecha that guards the Nome King’s kingdom, even stuff like phones and power lines in some of the illustrations). I kind of want to extrapolate on that in my writing.

[witchesoz]

Oz lore: The Great and Powerful (2)

II) The Land of Oz

Now, what is truly fascinating is that for the release of the movie, Disney published an official map of Oz as it appears in the movie – in fact it is the same map that appears several times in the movie.

However before that, let’s tackle the biggest issue with this movie: is Oz a dream or not?

The movie tries to mix together two conflict canon, the books where Oz is real, and the MGM movie where Oz is a dreamland. As a result… on one side Oz is visibly real, since the Wizard is not knocked on the head in any way, is rather carried there by a magical tornado, and later appears in Dorothy’s story. But on the other side, Dorothy’s story per the MGM movie was a dream, and the Wizard, just like Dorothy, sees in Oz beings and creatures reflecting his reality – the lions, the monkeys, the circus music in the plants, Glinda being a reflection of Wanda, the Little China Girl being the wheelchair girl… too many coincidences for it not to mean something. The result is extremely confusing. But that’s the main trouble with this movie: in terms of Ozian lore, it is infuriating by its desire to take from both canons without fully indulging in any.

Now, to get on to Oz itself…

They kept the idea of Oz being split into several distinct sections, which is nice. The Emerald City is at the center of Oz and has its own, green-colored region. The official map mentions a “Green Lake” nearby, which is not appearing in the movie but is actually a nod to the mysterious lake Baum added on his Oz maps without ever using it in a story. The most interesting twist is that in this version, there are actually four yellow brick roads, each linking the City to a different part of Oz.

In the north, you have the purple-colored Gillikin Country, which appears on the officla map, but is absolutely forgotten in the movie. It is never mentioned, does not appear and doesn’t play any role – the official map doesn’t even has landmarks for it. Since Glinda in this movie is the witch of the South, there is no witchy presence in the North – and even more, on the official map, the Northern Yellow Brick Road is the only one that is not tied or crosses over with the other Yellow roads (ALL the other Yellow Brick Roads are tied together in one big system).

In the South, you have the Quadling Country. It seems to be red-colored, in theory. You see, the thing is that on the official map the colors of the countries are very pale – and the one of the South is so pale it doesn’t seem like it has any color at all. It looks to be the same beige as the paper of the map, until you look really close and note some faded red/pink colors on the borders. The only real noticeable landmark is “Glinda’s Castle”, which is the small bubble-protected kingdom Glinda built in the South during her exile. Because yes, she visibly had enough time to build there a castle – unless it was always there and she merely took over. In the movie, this is where Glinda united her “forces” by gathering people who were oppressed/wronged by the Wicked Witch and knew the truth. Three groups are here: the Quadlings (the simple, rural folks living in the South. Look like humans with strange mustaches/hairdos/outfits – mostly farmers, though others also have jobs such as iron-smiths, sewers, bakers or scarecrow-makers) ; the Tinkerers (old, bearded and bald men with pointy ears, most walking with canes or in wheelchairs, and who are able to build anything – probably a mix of elves makers and the Winkies from the novel) and the Munchkins (who are just like in the MGM movie – interestingly not all the Munchkins joined Glinda’s side, one actually works as the Herald of the Emerald City, but ultimately turns out to be a double agent for Glinda – but it leads the question, if Evanora can spy in Glinda’s protected kingdom, how come she did not realize her own city herald was a spy?).

At one point we also see a bunch of wild mountains located at the border between the South and… the Munchkin realm, let’s call that. The mountains there are shaped like giant animals (one is a stone lion, another a titanic elephant) and they have on them strange sights such as flowers made of crystals/gems.

And then… the East and the West. Oh boy. That’s the mess.

You see, they inverted the East and the West. Which isn’t wrong in itself, because this is a nod to the real Oz maps: the first Oz maps in the books had confused the directions, putting East on the left and West on the right, resulting in an ongoing debate over whether the directions are inverted in Oz or not. HOWEVER… the mistake the movie And this precise map made is that they did not invert the directions on the map, East is still on the right as in our world’s maps. Not, they inverted the directions when it comes to the people. The Winkies are put in the East and the Munchkins in the West. Which doesn’t make any sense since for example Evanora goes to rule over the Munchkins and become the Wicked Witch of the East… in the West, according to the official map (which is the same map used in the movie).

Anyway.

The Yellow Land of the Winkies (normally in the West, but on the map and the movie in the East) is actually where the Wizard begins his journey. His balloon falls in “The Winkie Peaks”, in the North-East, right next to Ugabu (another book nod). The Winkie Peaks is a set of twisted canyons and weird mountains – they are covered in snow in their highest and most northern parts, which then melt into waterfalls, rivers and lakes. This area is filled with strange sights: butterfly looking like flowers ; giants plants ; reeds making music ; and “water fairies”, small mischievous sprites who love to bite people. This is also where the Wizard meets Theodora – and this actually is never explained. Why is she so far away from Oz? And why is she in an area FILLED WITH WATER?

They then go into what the map calls the “Enchanted Forest”, which looks mostly like a regular forest. Except that it is filled with lions. This is also where they meet Finley, a small winged monkey with a bellhop outfit, who just escaped after his master’s house was destroyed by the Wicked Witch winged baboons. Here is something else that never got explained: what exactly is Finley? He looks a lot like the winged monkeys the Wicked Witch uses in the MGM movie. But in this continuity, the Wicked Witches use flying baboons. And while Finley has similarities to them (a winged ape with human clothes), he also doesn’t look like them AT ALL – he can speak where they cannot, he is gentle and kind where they are brutal and cruel, and he has feathered wings where they have bat wings.

Finally, in the movie they leave the Winkie Country by using the Yellow Brick Road, which leads them through a patch of blue flowers. And here is actually another interesting confusion: in the movie, it is implied that each gate of Oz has in front of it a patch of flowers tied to the land it faces. The eastern gate has blue flowers; the western gate has yellow flowers, and the southern gate has red flowers – the deadly poppies. Which would make sense… if they hadn’t switched the two countries. So, while the blue flowers face the East, according to the map they face the yellow Winkie Country. Same with the yellow flowers in front of the blue Munchkin Country. In fact, it seems that in the movie the East with the Peaks and the Enchanted Forest, was supposed to be the Munchkin Land of the MGM movie – after all the Enchanted Forest is the one of the MGM movie where they meet the Lion, the Tin Man and the talking apple trees. But the official map put them in the Winkie section.

And the deadly poppy fields are even more confusing – while they are supposed to face South, because they are red and are not near the Eastern Yellow Brick Road, the movie and the map explain that the field is actually East, and borders the Enchanted Forest. It is also confusing because in the MGM movie it is implied that the poppy field is a spell cast by the Wicked Witch, but here they are an already existing area everyone in Oz avoids because “one sniff” of the flowers and you fall into an eternal sleep.

As for the Winkies themselves, just like in the MGM movie they are represented as tall soldiers with hooked noses and chins – they are the personal guards of the Wicked Witches. However, contrary to the MGM movie, they do not have green skin, they rather have yellow skins (a nod to how their color is yellow).

And then you have the Eastern – I mean, Western part of Oz, the blue-colored Munchkin country. Only three areas are visited here: the China Country, a nod to the book, a city made of giant china cups and teapots, inhabited by living china figures. The town got entirely destroyed by the flying baboons, because they celebrated the arrival of the Wizard which angered the Wicked Witch, leading to the genocide of the China people, with only the Little China girl surviving (in this canon, glue does not exist in Oz, and thus the China people, once broken, cannot be repaired – until the Wizard arrived, with glue). Later another area of the Munchkin Country is the “Dark Forest” also called the “Haunted Forest”. Where the Enchanted Forest was a green, vibrant, beautiful area, the Haunted Forest is a dark and gloomy place filled with black dead trees, enormous thorns, and also man-eating plants with glowing eyes. In fact, to travel safely there you either have to run very fast, or be a witch whose magic can force the plants and obstacles to push away (such as Glinda does with her wand). The Haunted Forest borders “The Cemetery”, where Glinda’s father was buried. And according to the map, it is basically the only cemetery of all Oz, where the Ozites are all buried.

As you might remember, the haunted forest was originally (MGM canon) in the West of Oz, near the Wicked Witch castle. And here it is in the Munchkin Country, except that the Munchkin is in the West… the same way the Enchanted Forest, in the East-Munchkin land of MGM becomes here part of the East-Winkie land. It is just… so confusing.

This little tour being made, here are a few additional thoughts about this take on Oz:

# The technological level of Oz is… extremely confusing. The Quadlings are shown to own sewing machines, for example, hinting at a somewhat modern Oz. Yet, the Ozites are also confused by things such as glue and music boxes, and ignore what canon powder is.

# The size of Oz is… also confusing, but overall damn is this country small! On one side it takes roughly a full day (one afternoon and one morning) for the Wizard and Theodora to go from the Winkie Peaks, at the Ozian border, to the Emerald City, at the heart of Oz. Yet, the Wizard tells the China Girl her city is “one or two hours” of walk from the Emerald City. Except that, according to the map, the distance China Town-Emerald City is half the length of the distance Theodora and the Wizard crossed to get to the Emerald City…

- - - --

So yeah, in one word: confusing. Here is the map if you ever want to check it, and how... confusing it is:

Oz: The Great and Powerful is definitively NOT a good way to explore Oz geography or society.

[cloud-sitting]

“We’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Frodo and Sam’s journey if it took place in the United States

[bitter-as-wormwood-13]

went back to s1 of um actually since we havent watched it and when they had the map minigame I went "Ok if they have Oz I'll know it" Aloud and the first map came up AND IT WAS OZ

[wilderhazard]

It's curious to read liberal Zionist arguments that a single, binational state would be equivalent to a pogrom, and what we need is a "two-state solution." A two-state solution adhering to the 1967 borders would require the expulsion of half a million Israeli settlers from the West Bank, which the same liberal Zionists would also decry as a pogrom if it were actually a concrete possibility. The appeal of the two-state solution is that it will not happen—it has virtually no political constituency in Israel itself outside of a couple marginal Arab parties. A supermajority in the Knesset and in Israeli civil society is in support of annexing all or part of the West Bank, with a substantial minority holding ambitions far beyond this.

I can see two reasons this argument persists. The more charitable reading is a kind of liberal pragmatist fantasy: a "two-state solution," hypothetically, would require no fundamental change to the Israeli state. It could continue to exist as it does with a few modest concessions. This ignores the fact that the Israeli state as it exists is thoroughly committed to expansion. The only debate within Israeli society is how much to expand—will we simply absorb "Area C" of the West Bank? All of the West Bank? The Golan Heights? Sinai? But the liberal Zionist perhaps earnestly wants to believe that Israel as it is can somehow be made content to stay within the Green Line. (This requires either a superhuman optimism, or simple ignorance.)

Alternatively, the liberal Zionist knows that the Amos Oz "fair divorce" fantasy is long dead, and is doing what colonial liberals have always done: providing humanitarian cover for the genocidal project of colonization. "No, we promise, a humane solution is possible within the existing institutions!" If the liberal Zionist in question is writing for a major bourgeois outlet, cynical propaganda is the safe assumption. Anyone who can read a map immediately sees the issue with the proposal of "a Palestinian state, alongside Israel:" where are you going to put it?

[roseunspindle]

Books I Want to Get to in 2023

[comicgeekscomicgeek]

It just gets worse the longer you look at it.

One of my favorite hobbies is thinking about the fucked up implications of this fantasy world map my parents got me for christmas

[Image ID: photo of a map. On the left side of the map is Middle Earth, with the Shire and Mordor labeled. To the direct right of Mordor is Whoville.]