Topic Brainstorm: The Many Adventures of Toto from Kansas to Oz

Caption: "Bark." Translation - I'm going on an adventure

Link: http://fixnation.org/2011/05/toto-wizard-of-oz-fixnation-hollywood-forever/

Characteristics of Toto from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

"Toto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly."  page 13. 

                  1. Toto likes to have a good time.

"The Witch gave Dorothy a friendly little nod, whirled around on her left heel three times, and straightway disappeared, much to the surprise of little Toto, who barked after her loudly enough when she was gone, because he had been afraid even to growl while she stood by." page 29.

                  2. Toto is afraid of the Good Witch of the North (Glenda).

"Toto ran over to the trees and began to bark at the birds sitting there." page 31.

                  3. Toto can talk to the animals that cannot speak to humans/scarecrows/witches.

"And Toto looked up into her face with his little black eyes and wagged his tail to show he knew what she meant." page 32.

                  4. Toto can understand how Dorothy feels/what she means by words.

"These sounds made the little girl's heart beat fast, for she did not know what made them; but Toto knew, and he walked close to Dorothy's side, and did not even bark in return." page 65.

                  5. Toto knows when something is wrong and when it is not. He is aware.

"Little Toto, now that he had an enemy to face, ran barking toward the Lion, and the great beast had opened his mouth to bite the dog, when Dorothy, fearing Toto would be killed, and heedless of danger, rushed forward and slapped the Lion upon his nose as hard as she could..." page 66. 

                   6. Toto is brave, and he is not afraid to protect himself and his lady.

"Toto did not really care whether he was in Kansas or the Land of Oz so long as Dorothy was with him; but he knew the little girl was unhappy, and that made him unhappy too." page 152.

                   7. Toto loves Dorothy above anyone in the whole world. He would follow her                                   anywhere.

Caption: "I'll hold your hand if you insist."

Link: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/toto-the-wizard-of-oz

Story One: How Toto felt about Kansas and the farm.

This story begins with he and Dorothy's time on the farm. Toto's best friends: the chick and the mouse, are introduced here as well. Here we get an insight on why Toto loves Dorothy the most out of any human.

Story Two: Toto's thoughts about the cyclone and why he is so afraid of Glenda.

This story will go through the first thoughts about Oz from Toto's perspective. He was certainly unhappy about almost dying from falling out of the trap door and of course grateful for Dorothy for his rescue. Then, when they landed in Oz and an old lady that smelled more strange than he could attest to smelling before suddenly kisses Dorothy.. oh no not Dorothy! She'll never be the same again!

Story Three: The discovery of the Wizard of Oz - the not so great and powerful. Every time Toto and Dorothy ended up in the layer of the Wizard, he was shaken to the bone due to the ominous nature of the floating head. When they came the last time to the Wizard, and Toto, already scared, was frightened by the Lion enough to knock over the Wizard's hiding place, he felt very fortunate to have helped Dorothy solve a scary mystery. He had heard her say that this man would take them to Kansas, and to make her happy made him burst with pride.

Topic Brainstorm

Caption: The Tryll-ogy
Link: https://8tracks.com/piratemix/trylle

A story collection based off of Scheherazade and Arabian Nights

I can't seem to pry my thoughts away from Scheherazade and her heroic venture to tell the most titillating stories never before told. I think it would be interesting to write a collection of stories from the point of view of the Sultan as he finds his views on women changing due to the cleverness and thoughtfulness of Scheherazade as she spins her tales. Or perhaps a story can be made from the point of her childhood: when she was young and telling stories to her sister, and when her father first noticed that his daughter was "clever and courageous to the highest degree." This sentiment, even though it came from a father, had to have a background of action behind it.

A story collection based off of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz, including Wicked  by Gregory Maguire along with the new animated movie Oz the Great and Powerful, allow for so much wiggle room for creation. If I used this for my project, I would want to write a beginnings story for the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow. Maybe the Tin Man was a traveling wood carver who did work for a witch, but she was not satisfied with his work and thus turned him to tin. Perhaps the Lion used to be courageous, but something happened which shattered his confidence. Many possibilities.

A story collection based off of the Andersen Fairy Tales

The Anderson Fairy Tales, such as The Princess and the Pea and The Emperors New Suit, have meaning behind them. To do a collection based off of these stories, I would need a little more time for preparation thinking. The stories could write themselves if the thought has been created beforehand. 

These would be best written by me in a different era. 

A story collection based off of the legend of Changelings

I read an excellent, young adult book series, the Trylle series, of which this legend reminds me. Since the changelings can end up anywhere, there are a plethora of locations which can be used. Also, new heroines/heroes can be created as well and allude to already existing stories of changelings. An example of this is The Kane Chronicles which alludes to the Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan.