Would Dorothy and Ozma be Made Canon Today?

[Madner Kami]

So her and Ozma dating is a bit...ehh due to the age.

How so? Do you squick about movies like My Girl or generally teenage- and just-about teenage-romances? It's pretty much a natural thing happening all the time in reality and I can't remember anyone having issues with that, outside of some religious nutjobs.

[TGLS]

Well apparently Ozma's immortal so the age difference might be a bit screwy. Then again, simply by living in Oz, Dorothy's age gets screwed up too.

[Thebestoftherest]

Well apparently Ozma's immortal so the age difference might be a bit screwy. Then again, simply by living in Oz, Dorothy's age gets screwed up too.

Yeah the age difference is what I was talking about

[hammerofglass]

That's one of those "canon happens to other people" things. The whole thing where nobody ages or dies in Oz was added quite a way into the series. In Ozma's first origin story she was an infant when the Wizard conquered the Emerald City and aged normally so they'd be about the same age, but in later ones she was an immortal fairy and older than Oz itself.

[ProfessorDetective]

Yeah, Baum gave no cares about continuity, his direct successors went their own ways, and many authors have tried to untangle the knot they all left.

I'd go with the 'all of Oz becomes ageless and deathless when Ozma ascends to the throne' interpretation.

This would leave her and Dorothy at ten-to-twelve-ish, which changes nothing on the 'would they be together?' front. You can have a romantic relationship without it becoming sexual.

[clearspira]

It's been my experience of media that people really don't give a shit about an age difference as long as the guy in question is hot.
Buffy and Angel: teen girl being lusted after hot hundreds year old guy.
Edward and Bella: teen girl bring lusted after by hot hundreds year old guy.

I actually think society has more of a problem with older women going out with younger men. Cougers and cradle snatchers.

Unfortunate implications all round really.

[Mickey_Rat15]

It's been my experience of media that people really don't give a shit about an age difference as long as the guy in question is hot.
Buffy and Angel: teen girl being lusted after hot hundreds year old guy.
Edward and Bella: teen girl bring lusted after by hot hundreds year old guy.

I actually think society has more of a problem with older women going out with younger men. Cougers and cradle snatchers.

Unfortunate implications all round really.

There is part of the problem with making vampires into "good guys". The more important problem with a vampire is not that they could be hundreds of years older, it is that they are undead abominations.

[ProfessorDetective]

It's been my experience of media that people really don't give a shit about an age difference as long as the guy in question is hot.
Buffy and Angel: teen girl being lusted after hot hundreds year old guy.
Edward and Bella: teen girl bring lusted after by hot hundreds year old guy.

I actually think society has more of a problem with older women going out with younger men. Cougers and cradle snatchers.

Unfortunate implications all round really.

There is part of the problem with making vampires into "good guys". The more important problem with a vampire is not that they could be hundreds of years older, it is that they are undead abominations.

Or they pull some gross stereotypical anime bull and justify perving on a pre-teen by saying they're ACTUALLY a millennia old vampire...

But no, you'd also be a necrophiliac on top of the rest of it.

[ProfessorDetective]

Okay, so I've been workshopping a pitch for a cartoon based on Oz inspired by this thread (twenty-six episodes, the first sixteen to twenty alternate between Wonderful Wizard and Marvelous Land before converging, Dot and Ozma end up together) and I wanted to share the rough ending, because I love this idea.

Spoilers for both, century old, books.

So, they're in the Emerald City, ol OZPINHEAD's given his rewards to the group, with the whole 'you had it all along' twist, before ducking out in his balloon, leaving Dorothy and Tippetarius (aka Tip) high and dry. Then the Good Witch descends to reveal how deep that twist goes. Turns out that Tip, whose been tracking Princess Ozma all story so she can ascend the throne of Oz, IS Princess Ozma, enchanted into a boy in her infancy and placed in foster care to protect her and the royal line. This makes things awkward since Dot and Tip, by the time they'd taken out the Wicked Witch and General Jinjur, had become a couple. Ozma thinks she'll be rejected, braces for tears... and gets a big ol kiss and the assurance that Dot doesn't care who or what she is, as long as they are together, they went through too much to let it all go now. Then GW gets to Dorothy's request: going home. We get the explanation on the Silver Shoes being able to teleport her back and, now with some major reluctance, Dot clicks her heels and dematerializes in a cloud of pink mist, swearing to return after informing her family that she's alright and help rebuild the house.

Here's where the idea split into two: a sad ending and a funny ending. Sad ending has her wake up home, think it was all a dream, and mope for six months that the greatest days and the love of her life were fictional, before making it back to Oz by sea in a flying chicken coop like in the third book and trek across the land once more to reunite with Ozma, while Ozma goes to find her with the crew from Season One. I went with the funny one.

In which she REmaterializes in the room about a half minute later, only managing to move ten feet, right next to Ozma. Dot attempts the spell three more time, becoming increasingly annoyed, before Ozma gets the picture and smuggly trots across the room during attempt number four... And Dot now reappears at Ozma's side. Turns out Dot's reward WAS the same as the others, she's had it all along. 'Home is where the heart is' and guess who's been stealing said heart since they first met on their way to meet the Wizard? Dot wonders about how she'll get back to Kansas to tie up those loose ends... Before Ozma kisses her again and tells her that they'll figure that out together. Everybody cheers, we see Ozma's coronation, and the season ends with all being right in the Marvelous Land of Oz...

Any thoughts?

[ProfessorDetective]

I honestly didn't know they weren't already canon.

I haven't read the books for ~25 years admittedly, but I thought they got married? Dorothy gets a Princess title and they move in together, I know that.

And then there's this-

Ozma laughed at the wistful expression in the girl's eyes, and then she drew Dorothy to her and kissed her.
"Am I not your friend and playmate?" she asked.
Dorothy flushed.
"You know how dearly I love you, Ozma!" she cried. "But you're so busy ruling all this Land of Oz that we can't always be together."

Also, I think this is from the books themselves, correct me if I'm wrong.



But yeah, as far as I know the two were never Officially Married but I do wonder if Baum had intended them to be written as romantic or if the nature of their relationship wasn't intentional. I mean, kissing wasn't always the act of pure romantic passion like it is today, people could just kiss each other like some people just shake hands but... SERIOUSLY this doesn't read or LOOK like just two close friends but two lovers.

Maybe I'm just reading into something that isn't there but I think if a TV series adaptation is made that Dorothy and Ozma might just be made canon.

Said exchange comes from Tik-Tok of Oz, by the by. The end up befriending/effectively adopting a their-own-age orphan from Oklahoma named Betsy.