Before tinman and scarecrow were tinman and Scarecrow, they were human.
Well, Scarecrow was a munchkin living in the east born in a well off family. His name was Fiyero.
Tinman was Winkie that moved from the west to the east to make a life for himself as a lumberjack. His name was Nick Chopper.
How the two met was actually through the witch of the East, Evamene.
Now Evamene and the witch of the West (Eviline) weren't always evil. In fact, they once were loved and respected in Oz. At the time when Scarecrow and tinman met, Evamene ruled over the east and wasn't feared or sought as evil. She loved her people. And they loved her. She was also really good friends with Fiyero.
When Nick Chopper moved into the east and the residents there found out that he is a woodsman, Evamene requested his presence in her castle to negotiate with him to help the munchkins learn his craft due to there being so few woodsmen and lumberjacks in their area. And during that meeting that's when Fiyero met Nick.
They did form a friendship with each other. And because Fiyero was close to Evamene, naturally Evamene grew close to Nick. The three of them were best friends. And most of the east knew that's how close they were.
Now with Evamene, she may not have been evil back then, but that didn't mean she was entirely good either. She tended to be extreme in her punishments and firmly believed in the tradition of "an Eye for an Eye" even if it was cruel and a bit inhumane. she was morally grey at best when it came to stuff like that.
With Fiyero and Nick, their friendship and close bond ended up blooming into something more. They fell in love with each other. But out of fear of the potential ridicule and harassment they might get from the villagers of the East due to both of them being men, they kept it a secret. They didn't even tell Evamene. But Evamene did eventually find out. But she never told them that she knew. It wasn't because she didn't approve, She loved them regardless of who they loved, she wanted them to come to her first and she wanted to act surprised. She was overall happy for both of them.
But Evamene wasn't the only one in the East who found out. There was an old munchkin lady who was just bitter. She believed that their love was disgusting and revolting because it was queer. Even though it was none of her business.
She ended up going to Evamene, she claimed to wanted to bring justice to two men who assaulted her and robbed her as she was walking home. She told Evamene it happened on the first Friday of that month. The village always had a community feast that day so no one was around to see it happen to her. She also claimed to have not known who the two men were because they were wearing masks.
Evamene being a firm believer in punishment to the cruel and wicked, no matter how extreme it was, immediately helped her.
She took two butterflies, a yellow one and a silver one, and enchanted them. Put them in a jar and give them to the old lady. She told the old lady to shake the jar and think of the two men who assaulted and robbed her, and release the butterflies, they'll find them and when they land on them and only them, they'll have a fate worse than death.
And that's what the old lady did. When the yellow butterfly landed in Fiyero, he was with his family in their corn fields the butterfly landed on him and sunk into his skin. He began to brutally and painfully transform into a lifless Scarecrow right in front of his family.
Nick on the other hand, was alone outside his cabin in the woods outside the village. He met a similar fate except he turned into a lifeless tin statue. He was found frozen still by Fiyero's brother, Boq.
(Ok I will stop right there for a sec, I do have to do a few things but I will continue in the next reblog)
