🖋 The Thorned Quill
From the Ink & Thorn Studio, somewhere in Grimmveil
The Emerald City of Oz - Retelling
Written by L. Frank Baum, 1910
↪ A Grimmveil Fairytale
Ah, the Emerald City. Everyone thinks it is sparkling, perfect, and full of happy endings. Ha. That’s why you’re here reading this and not living in Oz, dear reader. Baum may have called it a city, but let me tell you, it is a kingdom of rules dressed in green glass. Do everything right and you are rewarded with comfort. Fail in the tiniest thing and Oz politely reminds you how dispensable you are.
Dorothy returns, because of course she does. She cannot help herself. Even when Kansas calls, Oz whispers, teases, and occasionally threatens until she comes back. Alongside her are the usual suspects - Tin Woodman worrying about heart politics, Scarecrow performing his always-perfect leadership routine, and Cowardly Lion who still talks a big game about courage but walks like he’s been told off by life one too many times. Oh, and don’t forget the little humans from the Road to Oz. They’re still alive, somehow, because Dorothy has that rare kind of stubborn survival skill the rest of us can only admire.
The city itself is a lesson in control. Doors, windows, streets - they all behave as if the city has eyes. Ozma sits at the center, radiant, young, and unbothered by the chaos she quietly governs. Everyone in the Emerald City moves as she allows. If you think democracy is at play, sweetie, think again. It’s benevolent dictatorship wrapped in sequins and polite smiles.
Dorothy attempts to help, as always. And yet, Oz has a way of reminding you that being helpful in a kingdom like this is a full-time job with zero promotion. Strange emergencies pop up. Magic mishaps happen. The city absorbs danger like it’s nothing. Everything is temporary, except the lessons, which last far longer than anyone should have to endure.
Still, Dorothy does what she does best. She survives. She leads by being stubborn, kind, and slightly annoying, which somehow works every single time. The citizens admire her, though they probably would rather she wasn’t needed. And Oz? It hums, shifts, and waits for the next child brave enough - or foolish enough - to step onto its polished streets.
When the story closes, Dorothy leaves again. Of course she leaves. Oz can be dazzling. Oz can be kind. But it cannot replace reality, and Dorothy knows that better than anyone. She carries the city with her as memory, and Oz continues, perfect and unyielding, a kingdom that never sleeps, never ages, and never truly forgives anyone who breaks its rules - even slightly.
Side Notes from the Thorned Quill
- The Emerald City is control masquerading as paradise.
- Dorothy is a chaos-wrangler in a city of order. Respect her.
- Ozma is powerful, poised, and quietly terrifying if you look too long.
- Leaving is always an act of rebellion, not defeat.
- Oz remembers everything, including the smallest infractions.
