woggle-bugger-me

[woggle-bugger-me]

It's just occurred me that most of the people who follow this blog don't follow my main, so I should probably make some kind of "about me" post.

[woggle-bugger-me]

𝐿𝑒𝓉'𝓈 𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝑒'𝓋𝑒 𝓃𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒~ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

[woggle-bugger-me]

One thing I do find irritating about Queer Oz is how it's written in such a jargon-y way that it can be difficult to understand what Tison Pugh's actually trying to say. So whenever I have an issue with something he's said I feel weird about criticising it because I don't want to have a "piss on the poor" moment and completely miss the point.

People often complain about Pugh's work being overwritten (one review I found said that it was like he deliberately tries to confuse his readers), and before I started Queer Oz I didn't believe them (I read a lot of non-fiction, so I'm used to a bit of jargon), but honestly? They're right. I don't mind some jargon, but Pugh definitely takes it too far.

[woggle-bugger-me]

Pugh says something pretty interesting about Dorothy and Ozma's relationship in Queer Oz, specifically about the scene in The Road to Oz where they kiss. Here's a quote:

"Baum's words, which move from "sweet affection" to kissing "rapturously", need not be depicted erotically, but Neill's illustrations show the two girls with lowered eyelids as their lips near, with the image frozen at the tantalizing moment before their kiss."

He also points out other elements, like how the scene has other (male) characters, but the illustration only includes Dorothy and Ozma, and how they look like they're aged-up. But the thing that stood out to me was how (unless I'm completely missing the point, which is possible since it can sometimes be hard to tell exactly what Pugh's getting at) Pugh kinda implies that their relationship doesn't have romantic subtext in the text, but that Neill gave them subtext.

I'm not sure I fully agree with this. I mean, I know the subtext between them was accidental on Baum's part (or so we generally assume), but I feel like Pugh's assuming that Neill's subtext wasn't accidental? I mean, I can more easily believe that Neill included queer subtext deliberately than Baum did (this is the guy who drew an Ozma/Glinda kiss in the second book - bro liked his homoerotic imagery), but we don't know that, y'know? Also, just because the subtext wasn't on purpose doesn't mean it isn't there. I do think there's a romantic undertone in Dorothy and Ozma's relationship, not just in the illustrations, even though it was most likely unintentional.

If anyone has any thoughts on this take, I'd love to hear them!

[woggle-bugger-me]

Accidentally posted this on my other sideblog lol

As an example of the tense dynamics framed between an author's words and an artist's image, it is evident that Neill markedly changes the tenor of some of Baum's scenes, at times by escalating their violence.

Tison Pugh, "Queer Oz: L. Frank Baum's Trans Tales & Other Astounding Adventures in Sex & Gender"

[woggle-bugger-me]

You can’t tell me that Dorothy “Bill isn’t a girl’s name” Gale wouldn’t have some reservations

[woggle-bugger-me]

The queerer the better

Ruggedo in The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum

[woggle-bugger-me]

I once again come to you with Oz Squad thoughts because you are one of two people on here that I know has actually read it and I also like to hear your thoughts. (I wasn't sure if I should send it to this account or your main I hope this is okay).

Every time I think about that flashback panel in the second part of Oz Squad that showed that Scraps was a part of the Gale Force before her death (As well as a living plane was part of the group) I think of, well a lot of how interesting that is and a lot of other thoughts but also, what on earth was the giant fight and debate that lead the rest of the Oz Squad and Ellen Dorothy managing to get Scraps into a pitch black sweater.

I assume it had to do with some type of spy mission and they couldn't let Scraps be a neon light of patches, and Scraps is smart, but also I just imagine that must have been an ordeal, at the very least something she was not happy with.

I actually don't know about this! Granted, it's been a while since I've read through the comic, so I might have missed it. Not gonna lie, I have difficulty picturing Scraps in a black sweater lol

[woggle-bugger-me]

Sorry to send these back to back, I don't remember if I sent this before so if I have ignore this but, out of curiosity, do you have any Oz unpopular opinions?

Depends on how you define "unpopular". I have a few things I'm petty about, as I'm sure we all do, but I don't think I have any particularly out-there opinions.

That said, one unpopular opinion I have is that I'm a Oscar Diggs apologist. Not in a "he did nothing wrong" way, but more in a "he did everything wrong, but he's a funny magic man so he gets a pass" way. I find his character really fun, especially the tutorship/bromance he has with Glinda in later books (I really wish there was more fan content, especially fics, for them).

[woggle-bugger-me]

I once again come to you with Oz Squad thoughts because you are one of two people on here that I know has actually read it and I also like to hear your thoughts. (I wasn't sure if I should send it to this account or your main I hope this is okay).

Every time I think about that flashback panel in the second part of Oz Squad that showed that Scraps was a part of the Gale Force before her death (As well as a living plane was part of the group) I think of, well a lot of how interesting that is and a lot of other thoughts but also, what on earth was the giant fight and debate that lead the rest of the Oz Squad and Ellen Dorothy managing to get Scraps into a pitch black sweater.

I assume it had to do with some type of spy mission and they couldn't let Scraps be a neon light of patches, and Scraps is smart, but also I just imagine that must have been an ordeal, at the very least something she was not happy with.

I actually don't know about this! Granted, it's been a while since I've read through the comic, so I might have missed it. Not gonna lie, I have difficulty picturing Scraps in a black sweater lol

[woggle-bugger-me]

I love you insane, slightly obscure Wizard Of Oz lore. Everyone say thank you Frank Baum for inventing aromantic people and also the power of friendship and also insane body horror

[woggle-bugger-me]

Read all the Baum Oz books recently. I’ve drawn more but these are the highlights :)

Least -> most recent

[woggle-bugger-me]

Here's a link to Mari Ness' blog!

And yeah, I was always a bit bothered by everyone being an aristocrat (at least by the end of the series). Though I've noticed that a lot of the major characters start out as either poor (the Gales) or implied to be working class (the Tin Woodman, being a woodman), and then become rich and powerful, as opposed to being born into it. At least in Baum's books, anyway. Thompson's way of dealing with class is its own whole thing.

Could this be Baum trying to do some kind of "American Dream" theme? I'm not from the US so I might not have the cultural/historical context to get what he was going for here, but it's something I noticed.

(to be clear, I'm not saying I'd have preferred it if the characters were born into wealth, but 12-year-old me found them less relatable once they'd all became part of the 1% lol)

The colonialist attitudes expressed by the characters in The Lost Princess of Oz are off the charts. There is this tone throughout the novel that the poor princess has been stolen by a jealous, wicked foreigner, and the main party never hesitates to point out their right to rule of new people they encounter, while simultaneously implying that they have committed a crime. Odd for an Oz book but does makes sense historically. The series is just at a point where all of our protagonists have become basically uber wealthy sycophants with unlimited access to the government and the palace, and are also Americans in the first place. And considering Baum's real life views of Native Americans I suppose this makes sense as a viewpoint he would express in his literature.

[woggle-bugger-me]

“Tell me, Toto,” said the girl; “what would Ozma like best for a birthday present?” The little black dog wagged his tail. “Your love,” said he. “Ozma wants to be loved more than anything else.” “But I already love her, Toto!” “Then tell her you love her twice as much as you ever did before.” “That wouldn’t be true,” objected Dorothy, “for I’ve always loved her as much as I could, and, really, Toto, I want to give Ozma some present, ’cause everyone else will give her a present.”

Dorothy and Toto in The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum

[woggle-bugger-me]

Scraps titled her birthday song for Ozma "When Ozma Has a Birthday, Everybody’s Sure to Be Gay, for She Cannot Help the Fact That She Was Born." She would have killed on the emo music scene.

[woggle-bugger-me]

Kind of didn’t like ozma of oz but the relationship these two have in my head is really cute

[woggle-bugger-me]

Yeah, the Tin Man novella was... something. I admit I liked some of the creepy scenes in it, such as the treatment of the Winkies (gotta love a bit of body horror), but I still don't know why Danielle Paige had to make him a nonce. She already aged Dorothy up from a child to a teenager, so why not go all the way and make her an adult? It'd still be creepy then, but at least it wouldn't have the weird rapey undertones.

Also, when I say Chronicles of Oz I mean the audio drama by Aron Toman. It's free to listen to on YouTube if you wanna check it out

Out of curiosity, if you don't mind me asking, what is your top five favorite Dark Oz media?

I'm not great at ranking things, but here we go...

5. Dorothy Must Die - I'm putting this in fifth place because when I say I like DMD, I mostly mean the prequels, and when I say I like the prequels, I mostly mean the first two prequel volumes (the third one was mediocre imo). "No Place Like Oz", in particular, is very strong and has a great dark atmosphere. The main series has its strong elements, but I think it was dragged on for way too long (it could've easily been two books, not four). I still have a lot of nostalgia for it, though.

4. Shadows of the Emerald City - This is an anthology of short stories by different writers, so they vary a bit in quality. Still, some of them are very strong. "Mr. Yoop's Soup" by Micheal D. Turner is hilarious lol

3. The Chronicles of Oz - Basically a modern adaptation of the Oz books aimed at adults. Takes a lot of creative liberties with the source material (some of them are a bit weird, but a lot of them are good and actually add a lot to the story and characters). I'm waiting for season 4 with baited breath.

2. Return to Oz - What do I even say about Return to Oz? Beautiful movie, and one of the only adaptations to really feel like Baum's Oz imo.

"Was" by Geoff Ryman - This is just one of my favourite books, full stop. It's basically set in an alternative universe where Dorothy was a real kid who inspired Baum to write The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I'm usually a bit hesitant to recommend it to people due to the subject matter, but if you're not sensitive to themes of child abuse and HIV (there's other stuff too, but they don't feature as prominently) I definitely recommend checking it out.