#the way scarecrow is actually doing such cool tricks throughout the whole time

[jemthebookworm]

Image Description under cut:

[ID: A 16 image black and white scanned comic.

Image 1: Title screen in big curly all caps font that reads: “Dorothy and the ruby BMX”

Image 2: A house floating up in the wind.

Image 3: 3 panel spread, the panel 1 being the largest as the top half and panels 2 and 3 being bottom quarters.

Panel 1. To the left is part of the house in frame, on the ground, door open, to the right, spread out behind the house is a background of open fields with little round houses. Dorothy, who is a thin little girl in a triangle dress, little dot eyes, no mouth, and pigtails whose hands are held up to her face, says “oh Toto” “I don't think this is Kansas anymore” to her little dog next to her.

Panel 2. Zoomed in on the side of the house. A munchkin, who is a little vertical rectangle body with a circle head and triangle hat, points at a pair of legs poking out from under the house and says “you killed the wicked witch”. In front of the witch is the only color in the comic, a lovely red colored bike. “oh dear” responds Dorothy, hand to mouth in concern as she looks down at the witch.

Panel 3. Same scene, but a second munchkin stands next to the first and says “and now her ruby BMX is yours”. Dorothy responds “oh my” as she stands balanced on the pedals of the bike, looking down at it.

Image 3. 4 panels in quarters. Panel 1. Glinda, a big triangle person with circle head, closed bottom semi circle eyes, triangle princess hat with streamers coming off, and a stick with a star magic wand, takes up most of the frame saying “you should probably give it to me tho” “for safe Keeping”.

Panel 2. Dorothy responds “oh I would!” As she “hop” “hop” hops on her bike, bouncing wheelies, away from a munchkin reaching out, trying to catch her.

Panel 3. Dorothy continues “but l just can’t seem to” as she does a flip on the bike, upside down, one hand on the ground for support, the other holding onto the bike above her, two munchkins reaching up and failing to catch her.

Panel 4. In the foreground Glinda, hand to chin, says “hmm yes I was worried about this” while in the background Dorothy speedily wheelies away from a munchkin.

Image 4. 3 panels, top one the biggest. Panel 1 does not have panel lines to make the space bigger, open, and rules breaking. A Witch rides onto the page in a big dust cloud with a loud “vroooom”. She has a big pointy, wide brim, black hat, circle head, a black, pointy, long sleeved dress that mimics her hat with a wide pointy skirt, striped socks, and black heeled boots. She is riding on a big black motorcycle with a circle headlight.

Panel 2. The Witch, surrounded by dust clouds, eyes angry slanted lines, stands up straight in her motorcycle, pointing forward into the next panel “That Ruby BMX is rightfully mine!”

Panel 3. Glinda, shrugging “I’d like to see you try to take it”. In the background, little, standing, no motorcycle in sight, no eyes, only mouth, middle finger raised, the Witch replies “aw fuck you, Glinda”.

Image 5. 4 quarter panels. Panel 1. Dorothy bicycling, Toto trotting slightly ahead of her as she says, “Well this looks like the road Glinda told us about, Toto”.

Panel 2. “Oh my!” Dorothy exclaims as she pulls her bike up short, leg on the ground, wheel up, to stop quickly, Toto looking on as the Scarecrow falls face first, legs in the air, with a huge “stack”, triangle lines of impact fanning from his face, skateboard falling in the air after him. The scarecrow has a straw hat, bottom semi circle eyes, piece of wheat from his mouth, no mouth, long sleeved shirt, and plaid pants.

Panel 3. “Thank you” the scarecrow says as Dorothy helps him up. She’s standing next to her bike, one hand on the handle, the other helping scarecrow up. He is getting up, one hand using the skateboard to stand, the other in Dorothy’s hand. Toto looks at scarecrow.

Panel 4. “I’ve been trying to learn new tricks” scarecrow explains, arms raised in a shrug, “but I'm just too much of a dumbass”.

Image 6. 3 panel, top is the biggest. Oz is written in cursive. Panel 1. Waist up shot, scarecrow’s back to the camera as Dorothy, turned to him, one hand on her bike handle, points out at the open fields and the roads that lead to a city in the distance, explaining to scarecrow “I'm going to see Oz to get home” “maybe he could help you too?”

Panel 2. “hmm I don’t know if Oz could help” Scarecrow replies, hand to face in thought, idly holding his skateboard against the ground, “but then again I am a dumbass so what do I know”.

Panel 3. Jump cut to Dorothy standing on top of her bike seat and handlebars, Scarecrow crouched down on his skateboard, one hand up and the other on the board, and Toto running, speed lines around them.

Image 7. 3 panel, top is the biggest. Panel 1. Dorothy pumping up her upside down bike’s back tire with a bike pump. The front tire is being oiled by Scarecrow who is sitting on his skateboard and looking at Tin Man, “Thanks for letting us borrow your tools, Tin Man.” Toto sits and watches. Tin Man replies “oh my pleasure” as he looks down at the scooter he’s on going “bump bump bump bump”, on the cobble road, he asks “you really think I should ask Oz abt fixing the bumpy road?”

Panel 2. Scarecrow shrugs, “They’re his roads right?” Tin Man looks at him and replies “good point”. Tin Man is a vertical rectangle, with an oval head, funnel hat, and rectangle arms and legs connected with circle joints.

Panel 3. Jump cut to Dorothy bicycling looking at Tin Man who is looking back, smiling and scootering, Toto on her handlebars, as Scarecrow is in the middle of a cool kickflip and there are lines denoting their speed around them.

Image 8. 4 panels, the first labeled “Later”. Panel 1. Scarecrow, Tin Man, Dorothy, and Toto looking at the next panel. Tin Man looks concerned and asks “are you okay mate?”

Panel 2. The Lion, who has a circle head with a sun-like mane on his face, no louth, a helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, roller blades, and a tail, and who is teary eyes as he barely stays upright by clawing at a tree. He replies “…” “no”.

Panel 3. All 3 facing forward. Tin Man holds his scooter on his back with one hand, the other holding Lion’s hand as he says “easy does it”. Lion is carefully practicing skating, dot eyes and a frown on his face as his other hand is held by both of Dorothy’s who is walking alongside, looking at him.

Panel 4. Tin Man and Dorothy, arms outstretched to the right as they release Lion to “rooolll” to the right of the screen. He rolls carefully away from the viewer, body rigid, arms outstretched.

Image 9. 3 panel comic, the bottom is biggest. Panel 1. Lion fallen flat on his back, legs in the air, with a big “smack”, impact triangles, lines and circles radiating from him.

Panel 2. A more top down view of Lion flat on the ground, teary eyed. Dorothy leans over saying “maybe Oz can help you too”. Scarecrow, skateboard in his lap, crouches down next to Lion and Toto looks at Lion as well.

Panel 3. From back to front. Lion looking around, skates on his back, on the back of Tin Man’s scooter, holding onto Tin Man’s waist who is scootering and looking ahead. Scarecrow, arms out for balance as he skateboards with his front wheels in the air, looking ahead. Toto runs alongside. In the very front is Dorothy, smiling, her and her bike facing backwards, towards the others, back wheel in the air. Speed lines throughout the panel.

Image 10. 3 panel comic, the bottom is biggest. Panel 1. Witch, eyes hidden by her hat, and three monkeys in a circle, looking down at a bright cauldron as she says “ugh” “what a bunch of posers”.

Panel 2, labelled with a “Finally”. A view of a road and city walls that is very close.

Panel 3. Top down view of all 5 standing in a line facing the viewer. Lion, no skates, shyly looking down and putting his pointer fingers together, “I want to use my skates without falling”. Tin Man, one arm holding his scooter, the other extended, palm up, open body language, “I want you to fix your bumpy roads!” Scarecrow, hand up, the other comfortably holding his skateboard, “I wish I was smart enough to learn new tricks.” Dorothy, legs crossed like a ballerina, arms out, “And I just want to go home.” Toto looks gruffly forward.

Image 11. 4 panel comic. Panel 1. Oz, taking up most of the panel. He is a face surrounded by sun spikes and rays. Underneath you can see the top of the group’s heads looking at him, cut off by the frame. Oz says “hm” “look I’m pretty busy but if you can help me…”

The next speech bubble from Oz makes up Panel 2. “The witch is always causing me trouble”. The Witch on her motorcycle, facing away from the viewer, revving dust clouds and laughing “ha ha ha ha” “fuck u Oz”.

Panel 3. Cut back to the witch at her cauldron, face hidden by her hat as she looks down, arms gripping the sides of the cauldron, exclaiming “what” in all caps as Oz continues through the cauldron “if you can steal her bike I’ll see what I can do”. The 3 monkeys are still there, with their wings.

Panel 4. Witch in the background standing on a terrace pointing forward imperiously “go fuck those losers up!” In the foreground 3 winged monkeys on roller blades racing forward with 2 more in silhouette in the middleground leaping, speed lines behind them.

Image 12. 3 panels, the top is the biggest. Panel 1. Speed lines throughout the panel as Scarecrow runs, trying to bash a troop of 4 monkeys carrying Dorothy away. Scarecrow cries out “Hey!” “Give back our friend!” Dorothy murmurs “oh dear” from, still holding onto the handle of her bike which is also being carried.

Panel 2. Lion, Tin Man, and Scarecrow looking off into the distance, backs to the viewer. Lion is crying, “sob”, head in hands. Tin Man says “They’re too far, we’ll never catch them”, one hand on Lion’s shoulder in comfort. Scarecrow stands angrily, holding his skateboard and putting his middle finger up.

Panel 3. Flip to now facing the 3. Scarecrow, holding his skateboard on his back, says “unless…”, Tin Man holds the back of his neck with one hand, and Lion stands with his skates around his neck as all 3 look down at Toto nosing the ground, “sniff sniff sniff”.

Image 13. 4 Panels. Panel 1 labeled “And so they found her castle”. A castle on a tall platau, a fall surrounding all four sides, backdropped with dark trees, a bridge spanning the drop between the castle and where the 4 sit small in the corner of the panel. Tin Man and Scarecrow peer carefully over the edge, Tin man pointing at the castle as Toto looks on. Lion is curled up anxiously.

Panel 2, titled “and snuck in”. In the foreground 4 monkeys without wings stand guard, holding spiky axe spears. Above them, in small silhouettes jumping over their heads, scarecrow, one hand and leg on his skateboard, Tin Man, counter balancing on his scooter as he does a trick, Lion, flailing forward, skates on.

Panel 3. The 3 in cool poses with radiating lines behind them and a big “bam” as they burst through the doors. Scarecrow, crouched on his board, front wheels up, Lion, standing on skates, eyes wide unfilled circles, arms out, “raaar”, and Tin Man, on his scooter, one wheel up, a hand in a fist.

Panel 4. Flip to view of the room, Lion’s hand fallen on the floor with a “smack”. Witch and Dorothy turn to them with twin “!”. Witch is lounged on a couch, legs stretched out, holding a cup. Dorothy is sat petitelt on a chair, holding a cup, bicycle behind her. Between them is a small table with a teapot and a dark window above it.

Image 14. 3 panels, the top is the biggest. Panel 1. Witch, sitting comfortably on the couch, arm gesturing, “So like, if you wear a helmet you want Keep borking your brain up all the time”. Scarecrow, sat forward in a wooden chair, leaning on his elbows, “I see I see”. Next to Witch sits Dorothy, hands clasped, legs crossed, looking out the window at the moon. Under the window stands a monkey in rollerblades who Lion is looking at as he stands carefully, knees bent, arms out for balance, in his roller skates. Behind him are the scooter and bike.

Panel 2. Tin Man, standing, concerned eyebrows, “you really think I should run for Office?” Witch, looking with line eyes and pointing at Tin Man, “you couldn't be worse, and you could increase infrastructure budgets yourself”. Dorothy looking at them, cup in hand.

Panel 3 labeled “and eventually”. Dorothy and Toto floating over everyone on her bike, “ok I better go home”. Lion, Tin Man, Scarecrow, back to the viewer waving up and bye to Dorothy. Witch also looking up, hand on hip, “good, then all you need to do is pop a wheelie and—“

Image 15. 2 wide panels, top and bottom. Panel 1. Dorothy, doing a wheelie on her red bike with Toto “there’s no place like—“. Action arrows to Dorothy, on her back, impact triangles, in black shorts and white croptop, legs tangled around her now black bike on the ground.

Panel 2. A skatepark. A person thin and long like the Tin Man, wearing a baseball cap, long sleeved shirt, holding his scooter next to him as he helps Dorothy up with the other. Dorothy pulled up from the ground, crouched over her bike, Toto behind her, looking up at her. A person like the Lion with a bushy beard, helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, and roller skates, who is sitting, eating a sandwich. In the background, a person like the Scarecrow, with big hair, t-shirt, pants with knee patches, and a jacket tied around his waist, skateboard on a half pipe ramp. To the right is a person in a motorcycle helmet and black jacket, holding a phone, looking away, leaning on a black motorcycle with a circle headlight. /end ID]

I don't know where it came from, but several years ago this idea popped into my head unbidden, and for some reason it tickles me. I don't know if it's funny, but I like it and I made it into a zine, I hope you enjoy it.

It lays out really nicely as 3-up spreads on A4 paper, so you can print, staple and fold it, then cut it into 3 zines. It made it really easy to print up 20 of them to trade at this art social thing I went to

micron, rotring and sharpie on printer paper, coloured and screentoned digitally, 2024

[littlemisssquiggles]

Here's an idea: if Ruby+ Oscar are brought to the Dark Domain, their arc could parallel Dorothy's time as the Wicked Witch of the West's captive. Dorothy couldn't be harmed by anyone from Oz, so WWOW made her into her servant while trying to figure out a way to get the Silver Slippers off her. Salem wants Ruby alive, possibly to learn about the Silver Eyes, and while she hates Ozpin, she wouldn't pass up the chance to torture him now that he's in her clutches. (To be continued)

“So borrowing from your headcannons, Oscar would be held captive but in luxury, watched over by MEH (Since Hazel hates Ozpin and would watch him like a hawk and Em and Merc don’t have emotional ties to him). Meanwhile in an attempt to learn more about the Silver Eyes, Salem inflicts dozens of grimm on Ruby, driving her near the brink of death too many times to count before being healed and forced back into the fray. Oh, and she makes sure Oscar and Ozpin can watch all of this via Seer Grimm…”

Squiggles Answers:

Hey Miki-chan! I actually quite dig thatidea.

I wasn’t aware of the part of the Wizard of Oz story where Dorothy wasmade a servant of the Wicked Witch. I knew about her being kidnapped by theFlying Monkeys along with the Cowardly Lion while the Tin Man and the Scarecrowwere destroyed but I didn’t know about this plot detail until you mentioned it. Now thatI know, I think it’s perfect. It’s an excellent way to blend both of Dark Domain headcanons—Oscar becoming a prisoner of Salem and being forced to becompliant with her demands and Ruby and Oscar being kidnapped together—and do them both, killing two theories with one season which can pay homage to its fairytale counterparts.

Remember in my Oscar’s Grimm BuddyPinehead headcanon, I mentioned Oscar being forced into behave himself while incaptivity since Salem was also holding innocent Atlesians, abducted during theFall of Atlas hostage and would torture them unless Oscar acted obediently? Ican definitely see Salem using Oscar’s bond to Ruby as blackmail him in a similar fashion.

Like pictureSalem promising to torture Ruby or worse kill her unless Oscar behaved himself and did what he was told like a ‘good little boy’. 

It can even be a thing where she manipulatesboth Rosebuds—forcing them each to comply to her wishes as a means of keepingtheir partner safe. So Salem tells Oscar to stay put, locked away within his confines of his lonely tower as ameans of protecting Ruby. Whereas with Ruby, Salem provides the Silver Eyed Warrior no other option but to play her servant and take part in her little experiments with the Grimm battles otherwise Oscar would fall victim to punishment on her behalf. Soon both ends, Ruby and Oscar have no choice but to do what’s necessary to protect eachother from any cruel fate Salem could deal to them while under her imprisonment. I can see Salem playing that type of vicious mind games with both youngbuds.

The only thing I’m not sure about isthe inclusion of Team MEH being around. I always figured that those three wouldor…at least, should’ve been off on their own little adventure— assigned to retrieving the Relic of Destruction in Vacuo during the events of the Atlas Trilogy.

I mean I don’t mind if they stickaround. It could give them a purpose in this potential Dark Domain standalone season.

Do you know what would be interesting?If while watching over Oscar, in their own way, Mercury, Emerald and Hazel go through a moment with Oscar that results in them turning a new leaf andopting to help him and Ruby escape.

Perhaps Hazel will find a means to forgive Ozpin through Oscar and will come to wish to protect the young boy since he reminded him of his sister. Technically, there was a witch in Hansel and Gretel and my memory of the fairytale serves correctly, Hansel and Gretel met a witch who locked them away and attempted to fatten them up in order to eat them. However Hansel and Gretel managed to trick the witch in letting her believe that they were all skin and bones. Then at the end of that story, Hansel and Gretel managed to escape the witch by trapping her inside her own oven—I think that’s how that story ends.

Perhaps Hazel is assigned to be Oscar’s caretaker. But during his time with the young farm boy, Hazel comes to slowly care for Oscar as he sees his beloved sister mirrored in him in spite of his vendetta against Ozpin. And when Hazel learns that Salem plans on killing Oscar, he winds up tricking Salem and helping Oscar escape? Or perhaps he helps Ruby? I dunno. I could see Hazel helping either one of the Rosebuds.

As for Mercury, he’s a tough case. Like you said, he and Em have no ties to Oscar and thus no real reason to care about him. However I do have one idea with Oscar that could appear to Mercury. Remember my theory for Oscar’s semblance being magic? As I’ve said previously, magic seems to be a power of infinite possibilities in RWBY. 

That being said—in V6 C9, Mercury said that his father stole his semblance and never gave it back. Losing his semblance seemed to be pinnacle turning point in Mercury’s past. So…what if...and this is a big if…Oscar could restore Mercury’s semblance using magic?

I’m actually curious how exactly did Mercury’s father ‘steal’ his semblance. Quite frankly I’d like to believe that it’s impossible for one to steal another’s semblance since it’s an extension of their aura—their very soul. 

So my guess is that Mercury’s father never stole Mercury’s semblance but in actuality, used his semblance to repress it. My theory is that Mercury still has his power but since his father made him to believe he had lost it, he created a sort of mental, spiritual block that’s been keeping Merc from tapping in his power for a long time. At least that’s what I think. It’d be interesting to see Mercury’s reaction to learning that his father had lied about stealing his power and used the fib as another means to abuse and keep Mercury down. Papa Black was a living hurdle that Mercury always felt he needed to jump over. Even now, he probably still is. 

This is another reason why I think it would be awesome if Oscar was raised by his father. This could be something he and Merc could potentially bond over. Both being sons raised by fathers. The only difference is that Oscar’s father would be the complete opposite of Mercury’s. Still it could be interesting for Oscar and Merc to interact on this particular topic which could then lead into talk about semblances. Who knows? 

As for Emerald. Perhaps she stumbles upon the Relicof Knowledge and gets to ask the final question from Jinn? And what Emerald learns from the being of the lamp results in her making a choiceto where she wants to go moving forward.

Do you know what would be pretty cool too? What If…Salem sort of coincidentally played a part in moulding all of her pawn’s stories?

Like for example, Hazel’s sister’sdeath? Somehow I have this small theory that Salem had a hand in that. Like tome, I pictured Hazel formerly being a close friend of Oz— someone who knew and trusted him dearly thatSalem wanted to turn to her side. So the wicked witch targeted someone that Hazel loved the most—his beloved little sister and spun it in a way that Oz would end up taking full responsibilityfor the ill fate that befall the poor child which would’ve made it easier for Hazel to come to her side. Orsomething to that end. 

I know that theory feels like a stretch. However, it somethingI wondered out of curiosity. Like a whatif? We’ve known from the get-go that Salem is a master manipulator and israther adept at swaying the hearts of man to do her bidding. Somehow I like theidea of Salem targeting each member of her inner circle and silentlymanipulating their stories, creating the scenarios that turned them into the people we know them now to be, praying on their vulnerability and need for revenge or some other kind of vendetta. Doubt this is the case butit’s worth thinking about.

Perhaps this is the truth Emeralduncovers from Jinn. Perhaps… Emerald becomes like Ruby in this case where she asks Jinn to showher the truth about what Salem is hiding from her Inner Circle.

And similar to how Jinn showed theheroes all the skeletons in Ozpin’s closet, perhaps at some point later in the series’ narrative, she might show the otherside of that coin that portrays what happened to Salem and all the things shedid after killing Ozma and their past family?

I think it would be cool to get aglimpse of what Salem did throughout all those years after she killed Ozma. That could be fascinating to seeunveiled. And similar to how the heroes were instantly conflicted against Ozupon learning the truth, maybe it’ll be a similar ordeal for our main team of villains—the surviving members ofSalem’s Circle.

After all, I’ve always been curious toknow how much has Salem disclosed to her minions. How much do they know about her and herpast? Does WTHEM even know about the God’s Judgement or similar to Ozpin’sgroup, have they too been blindly following their leader, too engrossed by thepromise of achieving their own selfish desires to see the full truepicture. I wonder. I guess we’ll only know in time. 

Back to the Rosebuds—like I said Ireally like this idea you presented Miki. It does present a chance to blendboth Dark Domain headcanons. Imagine Ruby and Oscar both becoming Salem’sprisoners; separated and forced to adhere to her rules as a means of keepingthe other alive. But through her wit, Ruby manages to successfully escapes hercaptivity. She then makes her way to the lonely tower where Oscar is beingheld. Ruby then battles her way through the tower before being reunited with Oscar. 

The two share a heartfelt reunion before escaping the tower as a whole. But in spite of being free, the two aren’t out of the ball park yet as they must now make thetrek across the Dark Lands in order to make it back to their friends. All thewhile this is happening, Salem has sent her pawns and Grimm to recapture ouryoung heroes.

I also like the idea of Salem secretlyplanting something inside both Ruby and Oscar as a means of tracking them. Likemaybe she attached some kind of leech-like Grimm that is connected to the SeerGrimm and that’s how she’s able to know where both children are at, at alltimes.

What could even be cooler is if thesestrange Grimm provide a means for Salem to mentally toy with Ruby and Oscar’sminds? Planting doubt in either of them as a way to pin them against eachother.

Part of Salem’s tactics hasinvolved some form of dividing those who stand against her. With the BrotherGods, she swayed First Remnant’s kingsand queens against their very creators and with Ozma as Ozpin, she turned his ownallies against him which in turn,caused a domino effect that ended with mistrust from the very people who had fate in Oz.

This could be cool. 

Although…if I had to place my bets on which Dark Domain story I could see the CRWBY doing—

A) Oscar getting kidnapped by Salem alone with RWBY forming a search party lead by Ruby to make the perilous trek into the Dark Domain to rescue him (and possibly some abducted Atlesian citizens from the Fall of Atlas).

or 

B) Ruby and Oscar both becoming Salem’s prisoners to be tortured by her individually only for the two to escape together and traverse the Grimm-infested Dark Lands alone to make it back to civilization and their friends.

…Either can work but…I’m gonna have to go with Oscar captured alone. It’s honestly my favourite between the two ideas now and it’s also the only option that doesn’t result in seperating the main four girls again which I heard from the FNDM is something the CRWBY Writers might not try again. 

If the Writers are open to separating Ruby from her team for a second time in a much more dire life and death situation and just have the story revolved around her relationship and development with Oscar as our two youngest huntsmen and smaller more honest souls. If Ruby and Oscar are made to be key driver for one standalone season then YES, I’d be open to seeing something like that done given the uniqueness of the scenario.

We’ve seen Ruby with her team. We’ve seen her seperated from her team but joined with another team of friends with the thought of her reuniting with her original team never being off the table. But never have we seen Ruby completely isolated from the people and the world she once knew. Far far away without knowing whether or not she’d survived to see her loved ones again—granted that they even survived.

This is why I love the theory of Ruby and Oscar being on their own in the Salem’s Domain. I like the idea of it happening during the Fall of Atlas with neither being clear as to whether or not their friends are alive. All they knew for sure is that Atlas fell and maybe their friends are ok. Thus they cling to that hope and we watch of story of two kids on their own in a very dark world clinging desperately to hope. Hope is the only thing that’s driven them with each other being the only person they can turn to. This is why I LOVE the Ruby and Oscar Prisoners of Salem headcanon.

It’s my second favourite of the two but I love it for that potential for compelling character driven story. And what could make it even better is that it’s a condensed story. It doesn’t have to be about the writers juggling focus between more than one characters.

The story is just about seeing how Oscar and Ruby would fare on their own against impossible odds with only hope and their friendship on their side. The story, for the first time, will be just about them and thus the audience gets a chance to see how either of these two kids think and interact with each other when everyone else is out of the way. 

That could be cool to observe. But…alas, like I said, the Writers might not do this because I feel like they’re most likely to come back to what’s comfortable for them—Juggling a story with multiple characters with Team RWBY leading the charge.

Such a shame. A simple standalone story with just Ruby and Oscar with the audience joining them in being left unknowing of the fates of all the other characters so that we can feel the tension and desperation with them as we follow their story—that could’ve been great. 

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

[babycharmander]

So today I went to see Wicked.

AKA “How Not to Make a Sympathetic Villain 101″

Okay so like, I’ll fully admit that I went into Wicked expecting to not like it. I am a big fan of the Oz books and am very, very, very picky when it comes to adaptations and retellings of them. I’m also not a fan of the “story from the villain’s perspective that paints the villain in a good light and the heroes in a bad light” genre. But ... I’d heard a few of the songs and liked those, and I love seeing cool theater effects, and I wanted to do one last big thing with my sister before she gets married and moves away, so we got tickets for Wicked.

That said, I sat through the first act and... was pleasantly surprised? It wasn’t entirely without problems--the chorus singers did not sing clearly and I couldn’t make out a lot of the lyrics in the chorus parts, the choreography was really boring in any scene NOT involving the chorus (please stop standing around please DO something--NO I DON’T MEAN SITTING PLEASE MOVE), and I could see the romance subplots brewing, but those things didn’t totally get in the way of my enjoyment.

The special effects were REALLY COOL. I kept staring at the dragon above the stage wondering if it was gonna move, and was really excited to see it swinging its head around and breathing smoke when the play started. The Wizard’s mechanical head was VERY cool too. And seeing Elphaba fly in Defying Gravity was AWESOME! The choreography, when it wasn’t boring, was VERY good. The costumes were cool--I especially liked the nonhumans like the goat (who was probably my favorite character). Most of the songs in the first act were also very good--there were a few less memorable ones but mostly they were fun.

So when the first act was over, I stepped out with my niece for a quick break and talked with her about how I was genuinely happy with the play so far--I had my doubts coming in and the play proved me wrong, and I was more than happy to be wrong about that.

And then the second act happened.

Uh... what can I say about the second act that’s... not negative.

Uh.

I laughed at “CONGRATULOTIONS”! That was funny!

Uh... and... yeah, that’s about it.

The second act was garbage.

The love triangles were bad. I mean, love triangles are bad anyway, but these were especially unbearable in this one. And all the KISSINg AGSHDFsl;djsjfd; like there was an entire scene where Elphaba and Fiyero were sitting on each other nose-to-nose and kissing whenever they weren’t singing (and man I don’t even remember what the song was it was that unmemorable) and I thought that scene was never going to be over aghasdlfj;as. All of the good songs were done--like, I guess For Good wasn’t bad but that entire scene was SO DULL THEY JUST STOOD AROUND PLEASE DO SOMETHING

Also I... really hate the way they handled the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman. It changed both of their characters and their backstories to make Tin Woodman a nasty character and the Scarecrow ... not make ... any sense ??? like, why isn’t he... king of Oz??? shouldn’t he be??? the Wizard is gone and nothing was fixed there???  Oz has no ruler? no but instead the Scarecrow... runs away with the witch?? But that ... ??? THEY DON’T HAVE ANY CHEMISTRY TOGETHER WHY AM I SUPPOSED TO CARE ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP WHY WAS I SUPPOSED TO CARE ANYTHING ABOUT ANY OF THIS ROMANCE

oh and the whole “save the animals” subplot kinda went nowhere so that’s also a thing.

but like the absolute worst part was Elphaba herself. Like I said at the start of this post, this is exactly how you DON’T make a villain sympathetic.

Everything was against her from the start. Not because of anything she did, but because of how she was born. She never did anything wrong. In fact, she’s right like 99% of the time throughout the play. She’s the one standing up for animal rights (a subplot that, again, went nowhere and was, come to think of it, basically only really there for her to look like a good guy), she’s the one who doesn’t put up with Glinda’s crap... and then when she does something “wrong” it’s never her fault. Oh oops she helped the wizard enslave the animals even more!! Oh oops she helped her sister turn more evil! Oh oops she ruined Boq’s life in trying to save him!

oh yeah I guess she terrorized Dorothy but that’s actually somehow fine because Dorothy was given her sister’s shoes

oh yeah and she enslaved an entire country and--oh, wait, that wasn’t actually covered because that’s actually something they can’t excuse!!

THIS IS NOT HOW YOU WRITE A SYMPATHETIC VILLAIN.

Elphaba did nothing wrong. Anything that SEEMED wrong was actually a mistake, or she was tricked, or, basically, not her fault. In other words, SHE IS A GARBAGE, UNSYMPATHETIC CHARACTER.

You wanna know how to make a villain character sympathetic? Great. I’ll tell you.

LET THEM BE WRONG.

LET THEM DO THE WRONG THING.

THEN HAVE THEM AT LEAST TRY TO LEARN BETTER, OR TRY TO FIX WHAT THEY DID WRONG.

That’s it. That’s all you have to do.

I don’t know why so many gosh-dang authors can’t do that (and why stories that don’t do that are so popular seriously what the crap) but--

so yeah I did enjoy some of the play so it wasn’t a total waste, but my gosh when it was bad, it was complete garbage.