The Host- Book Review

I was going through the files on my computer today and I found this book review that I'd meant to post months ago. 

                                                                       

 

When I started reading The Host I was very reserved about it.  I’m not a Twilight fan and I was “certain” it would be sappy and stupid and not well written.  Those were the negative things I’d heard about the Twilight saga.  But, for several reasons, I gave it a try anyway and I am very glad I did.

I think the story of The Host is really interesting.  It's about a species of aliens that take over the earth by taking up 'host' in humans.  Kind of like extraterrestrial parasites.  Most humans cease to exist once an alien takes them, but when the narrating character, Wanderer, takes up host in Melanie Stryder, she finds her human host is still very present.  The rest of the book is about the interaction and conflict between Wanderer and a group of humans she finds after agreeing to look for Melanie's brother and boyfriend, while they all try to survive in hiding.  

I didn’t find it to be sappy or stupid, like I expected.  For the most part the writing was well done, I only found a few places where the transitions could have been improved, but other than that I didn't notice any problems.  I like the voice given to Wanda’s narration; it’s interesting and works really well with her character and with the story.  

 I was really surprised by how much I liked this book.  For a while I wasn’t even willing to admit how much I really was enjoying the story, but I actually had trouble putting it down.  The characters are well developed and I really enjoy “watching” them interact.  I think Meyer did a good job of having the people behave realistically; how are different personalities going to behave when an alien controlled body- the enemy they all hate and fear- walks into their lives?  This was a question that was fun to explore throughout the book.

I really like the character of Wanda; I think she is one of my favorite fictional females.  There are plenty of in your face, tough as nails women in fiction today.  Wanda is very gentle and non-confrontational, yet has a definite strength in her gentleness and I like that.  It’s a combination we don’t see much of, and I think it makes her character very appealing.

Another criticism I’d heard of Twilight was that neither of the men in Bella’s life were very worthy of attention.  (I haven’t read them, so I can’t really comment on that, but it was one of the negative things I had in my mind going into The Host.)  I was surprised that eventually, I found both Ian and Jared to be men worth having.   Notice I said eventually.  I didn’t really like either one of them at the start, particularly Ian.   MINOR SPOILER I didn’t trust him at the first and even as it continued, it took me a while to accept that he really was sorry for what he’d done to Wanda and that he now wanted to help her.  But in the end, he did become my favorite of the two men.   END SPOILER  I was pleasantly surprised that, as the story continued, both Ian and Jared, while they have their faults, were both good men and I like both of them.           
I can’t believe I almost missed this story because of the Twilight (and resulting Meyer) stigma.  I am so glad I tried it- it's become one of my favorite stories- and I'll definitely be reading it again. 


As to the movie, I also really enjoyed that.   For the most part, the condensation of 600 pages into a two hour film was well handled, though they left out some of the best lines.  The acting is excellent all around, particularly Jake Able and Saoirse Ronan's.  They were perfect.  The Host movie was one of the few book adaptation that I have been, for the most part, happy with and I also recommend you watch it.  After reading the book of course.  :)

I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes, which comes from The Host:  

It's not the face but the expression on it.  It's not the voice, but what you say.  It's not how you look in that body, but what you do with it.  You are beautiful.-  Ian O'Shea

Ships I Refuse to Sail

First off, I apologize for the time gaps between my posts.  I told myself at the beginning of the year that I would post once a week, but I'm so busy with my college work that I now know that is not going to happen.  I will do my best to post every other week if I can, rotating Artemis's story and Once in Oz.  Hopefully later this week I'll post a short story fanfiction from my newest fandom.

But, here's just a fun post for today.  :) 

So, here is a list of fandom ships that I refuse to get on board with.  Several of these will have be running out my cannons every time. 

Luke Castellan and Thalia Grace--  This is my top 'anit-pairing'.  I will blow holes in this ship as long as I have ammo to load into my guns.  Yes, I think that Thalia had a crush on Luke when they were younger, but I think he saw her the same way he saw Annabeth.  They were his sisters.  I have not really seen any evidence of anything more between them.  (Honestly, I always thought it was amusing that Luke had quite a few girls interested in him, but he didn't seem to notice or care.)

 Dramione-- Sorry, I just don't see this one working out.  I know Draco got better by the end of the books, and I have come to love him in some way, but I don't think they would fit well together.  They're both too proud, and headstrong to be a couple; they'd never be able to live together.  Hermione needed an easygoing man, and Draco is not that.
I don't care what the graspers of straws say, there really isn't much indication that that was going on anyway, they hated each other for most of it.  (Cannon says no in the epilogue anyway.) Plus I love Hermione and Ron together very much, so I'm not willing to picture her with any one else. (As a side note, I'm also opposed to Rose and Scorpius just because I feel like it's soul purpose I'd to force all the characters into one family. I do love the idea of Albus and Scorpius being buddies though.)

Cato and Clove- This is last of my big three.  If there was really something between them, Suzanne Collins would have told us in the book.  Which she didn't.  There's not any evidence of a love interest relationship between them.
And I don't know what was going on with Glimmer in the movie either, so before you Clato-ers get worried, I'm just as against that.  (Let's face it, no one was trying to ship Cato with anyone until Cato looked like Alexander Ludwig. I think that has a lot to do with it.)

The Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler-- I'll give it to you for the Tenth Doctor and Rose, but I don't think Nine loved Rose the way Ten did.  I think she was more of a companion, a friend, and that they had more of a paternal relationship than Ten and Rose did.  So yes, I think Nine did love Rose, but not in that way.

(I know people try to cite the Bad Wolf kiss as evidence, but that was to save her life, so I don't think that counts.)

Destiel-- I do not know where people get this one.  I wonder sometimes if these people actually watch the show, because Dean could not be any straighter.  He even said in "Live Free or Twihard" when that male vamp called him pretty that "I'm not on your team". And Castiel is an angel who doesn't look at any humans that way.   

Sterek--Sorry folks. I know that this is a popular one among the Teen Wolf fandom, but I really don't know why.  It has been made quite obvious on multiple occasions that they both like women.  I do love both of them, and the dynamic they have with their antagonistic friendship, but I see no actual basis in the show for anything else.

Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoke--  I just don't see this one panning out, and I don't really want it to.  Yes, I do think she is coming to love him and I think he cares about her, but I want her to find someone else.  Oliver ends up making out with every woman he crosses paths with.  I want Felicity to find someone that will be good to her and faithful. (Just FYI, I ship Baricity like FedEx.  But I don't think that's going to work out either.)

Sherlock Holmes with anybody-- Let's face it, as brilliant as Sherlock is, and as much as you can admire him for his mental abilities, he is not the type of person that can be easily loved.  He's selfish, arrogant, and conceited, and he has little or no consideration for the feelings of others.   Plus, he doesn't really like people, so I doubt he's very interested in romance, despite his fling with Irene Adler.   

Those are all I can think of right now.  I apologize if my list includes ships you would go down with.  These are my personal opinions and if you think differently, you are allowed to do so.  We shall just have to agree to disagree.  :)

Once in Oz 1.4

Natalie tested the weight of her new weapon.  She now carried a tree branch the size of a walking stick, which the boys had helped her pull off a tree.  Then, Felix had brought out a buck bone knife, which must have had at least an eight inch blade, and cut off all the smaller twigs growing out of it.  This would definitely be of more use than the branches and rocks she had been using to fend the creatures off.

She wasn’t quite sure what to make of her new companions.  Toodles, more than a head shorter than herself, with wavy brown hair and a smile she had yet to see disappear was friendly and seemed good natured enough.  Felix was quieter, or at least had been so far, and harder to read.  She tried to blame her uneasiness about him on the scar running across his face from the middle of his forehead nearly to his jaw.  It was just years of media stereotypes telling her men with scars were up to no good.  Still, she thought, I’ll keep my eyes on him.  She was also having trouble with the idea that they should both be dead.  But even with her misgivings, she was glad for their company.  This wasn’t the type of place she wanted to travel in alone. 

The monkeys at least were more wary now that there were three of them.  They had been walking most of the day and hadn’t run into any again. 

“Look.” Toodles pointed ahead.  “That’s got to be where the wicked witch lives.”

Just coming into view was a large house, surrounded by a high stone wall.  Natalie didn’t think it was quite a castle, but it was close. 

“What kind of witch are we dealing with?” Felix asked. 

“I don’t really know,” Toodles answered, pausing.  “The book never really said much about her powers. Oh well,” he started walking again, “she can’t be as bad as the Dark One.”

 “So you two have had experience with witches before then?” Natalie asked.

“Sort of,” Toodles said.  “Besides, the Dark One is much worse than a witch.”

“It’ll be dark by the time we get there,” Felix said, eyes moving like he was mentally measuring the distance between them and the castle.  “I don’t much like the idea of going up against any kind of witch in the dark.”

“Maybe we’ll be lucky and she’ll be asleep,” Toodles said.  “Then we can take the hat and go before she knows we were there.”

It’s never that easy in the stories, Natalie thought, but kept it to herself.

Night fell nearly an hour before they reached the building.  The group crouched in the cover of the clump of trees nearest the witch’s abode.  Natalie couldn’t help but think that someone must of have seen them crossing the open ground.  However, there was no sign of anyone inside. 

“Do you think she’s the only one who lives here?” she whispered.

“Could be,” Toodles whispered back.  “Wicked witches probably don’t have many friends.”

“How are we going to get in?”

Toodles looked at Felix.  The other boy studied the building for a moment then opened his mouth to say something.  Natalie felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up.  The shadows descended on them from the thick foliage above them.  Rough hands seized Natalie’s arms, hair and midriff.  Her staff was wrenched from her hand as she was hoisted into the air. 

“Let me go!” Toodles yelled, biting the arm of one of his captors. 

The flying monkeys carried them over the wall and landed in the courtyard in front of a green-skinned woman with a patch over one eye.  At first, Natalie tried to break free but gave up after seeing a monkey sink its claws into the shoulder of struggling Felix.  All three resigned themselves to glaring at their captors. 

One monkey, wearing what looked like a conductor’s hat, laid the trio’s weapons at the woman’s feet, and made a sweeping bow.

“The tresspassers, as you commanded your wickedness,” it said in a gravelly voice.

“Well my pretties,” the witch crooned, stalking towards them.  “What are we doing out at night, hmm?”  She brushed her long finger nails down Natalie’s jaw line.  “Come to kill a witch?” she snarled and made claws out of her fingers and swatting at Natalie’s face, making her jerk back. “That’s all little girls who fall from the sky are good for.”

“No,” Natalie said, leaning back as far from the witch as the monkeys holding her would let her.  “No, I don’t…”

“Hrrr,” the witch growled, turning on her heal.   “Lock them in the cellar.  I’ll deal with them in the morning.” 

The monkeys half led, half dragged them into the house, through several rooms and then threw them into a cellar, slamming the door behind them.

Natalie shuddered at the sound of their receding laughter, trying not to imagine all the ways a witch could probably kill them.  No one moved for a few minutes, waiting for their eyes to adjust to the darkness of the cellar. 

Toodles climbed back up the stairs and rattled the door.  “Ok,” he said, turning back toward them when it didn’t budge.  “We may not be able to take it and leave before she knows we were here, but this is not a problem.”

“How is this not a problem?” Felix asked. 

“Because I know her weakness,” Toodles said, coming back down the stairs.  “If she gets wet, she’ll melt.  All we have to do is find some water and we won’t have to worry about her.”

                                                         . . .

Natalie started at the sudden jerk on the cellar door.  Toodles inhaled sharply from the corner across from her, then sat up rubbing his eyes. 

She guessed he was the only one of them who had actually slept.   During their search of the cellar, they hadn’t found any water, or anything they could use as a weapon.  Once they gave up on that, Natalie had retired to the corner nearest the door where she’d spent the night listening for the monkeys return.  Even so, she hadn’t heard them coming.

Another jerk on the door and it swung open with a creak.  Natalie blinked at the light, raising a hand to shield her eyes.

Four monkeys hopped down the steps, sneering at their captives in a way that was frightening and ridiculous at the same time.   Two of them took hold of Felix, already on his feet.  One of the others grabbed Natalie’s arm and hauled her up, the remaining one doing the same to Toodles. 

They took them up the steps and into what looked like a sitting room, where the witch reclined on a couch having her breakfast.  Natalie’s stomach rumbled; she hadn’t eaten since the afternoon of the storm, more than three days ago.  She hoped the witch hadn’t heard it.

The witch set down a half-eaten biscuit and stood, beginning to pace the floor in front of them. 

“Well my pretties, what am I going to do with you?  It does seem a bit of a waste to destroy you right off.”  She paused and looked them over, turning up her nose like she was not impressed with what she saw.  “Perhaps I’ll get what use I can out of you first.  You shall be the first of my slaves.”  She ran her fingers through Toodles hair, then shoved him back.  “At least until I subdue this land and get some proper ones.”  The witch looked at one of the monkeys holding Felix.  “They can begin by cleaning up the yard.”

The monkeys bobbed their heads to their mistress and began to lead the captives out. 

“And just in case you get any foolish ideas…” The witch waved her hand toward them.  For a few seconds, Natalie felt a prickling sensations run up and down her skin.  “That is a holding spell.  You won’t be able to set foot outside the outer wall.”

Once in Oz 1.3

Pan knelt where Felix and Toodles had fallen through, placing one hand on the ground.  He could barely feel any residual magic. 

“What was that?” one of the Lost Boys asked.

“A portal,” he answered, his eyes half closed.  “The question is, where did it take them.”

No, he thought, drawing back his hand.  Why not the Enchanted Forest, or even Wonderland?  Anywhere would be better than there. 

“Oz,” he answered, standing.  “Of all places-“ He stopped and kicked at a rock.

“Can’t you send the shadow to bring them back?”

“No, Oz is closed to me now,” Pan said.  He looked around at the other boys, his pensive expression replaced by a more optimistic one.  “Don’t worry, lads.  Felix can handle most anything; they’ll be fine.  I’ll think of some way to get them back.”

Some of them nodded, others continued to stare at the ground as if they expected another portal to appear and swallow them too. 

Pan picked his spear up off the ground.  “Come on boys, let’s get back to camp.”

They started back through the forest.

“Are they really going to be all right?” Jonathan asked in a low tone.

Pan nodded.  “They’ll be fine.  As long as they don’t go to Glinda.”

                                                  . . .

“I have an idea,” Toodles said.  “Let’s find Glinda.  She’s supposed to be good.  She should know a way to get us home.”

“The Good Witch of the North?” Natalie said, raising an eyebrow.

“South,” Toodles corrected.

“Either way,” she said, “that’s not where we are.  And I can’t even find the yellow brick road.  Of course, the monkeys don’t let me get very far.”

“So first we have to get the monkeys on our side.”

“Don’t they work for a wicked witch?”

“Only because she has the magic hat.  They have to obey whoever owns it,” Toodles said.

“How do you know that?” Natalie asked.

“It was in the book,” he said, looking at her incredulously.

“Oh, I forgot there were books.”

“How do you know about Oz then?”

“I’ve seen the movie a few times,” she answered.

Toodles eyes widened.  “They made a movie?”

Natalie nodded.

“With sound?”

“Mmhmm.”

“And color?”

“Yes.”

“Anyway, about the monkeys,” Felix interrupted.

“Right,” Toodles said.  “We’ll have to find the witch’s castle and steal her hat.  Once it’s ours, we can make the monkeys do whatever we want.”  He turned to Natalie.  “You haven’t happened to see a castle while you’ve been here have you?”

She shook her head.  “I haven’t seen any buildings at all.”

Toodles nodded, thought for a second, then shrugged.  “Then we’ll just have to start walking.  Eventually we’ll either find our way out of this part of the country or the witch’s castle.”

“Ok,” Natalie said.  “Just let me get another stick first.  The monkeys will probably come back.”

                                                      . . .

Natalie tested the weight of her new weapon.  She now carried a tree branch the size of a walking stick, which the boys had helped her pull off a tree.  Then, Felix had brought out a buck bone knife, which must have had at least an eight inch blade, and cut off all the smaller twigs growing out of it.  This would definitely be of more use than the branches and rocks she had been using to fend the creatures off.

She wasn’t quite sure what to make of her new companions.  Toodles, more than a head shorter than herself, with wavy brown hair and a smile she had yet to see disappear was friendly and seemed good natured enough.  Felix was quieter, or at least had been so far, and harder to read.  She tried to blame her uneasiness about him on the scar running across his face from the middle of his forehead nearly to his jaw.  It was just years of media stereotypes telling her men with scars were up to no good.  Still, she thought, I’ll keep my eyes on him.  She was also having trouble with the idea that they should both be dead.  But even with her misgivings, she was glad for their company.  This wasn’t the type of place she wanted to travel in alone. 

The monkeys at least were more wary now that there were three of them.  They had been walking most of the day and hadn’t run into any again. 

“Look.” Toodles pointed ahead.  “That’s got to be where the wicked witch lives.”

Just coming into view was a large house, surrounded by a high stone wall.  Natalie didn’t think it was quite a castle, but it was close. 

“What kind of witch are we dealing with?” Felix asked. 

“I don’t really know,” Toodles answered, pausing.  “The book never really said much about her powers. Oh well,” he shrugged and started walking again, “she can’t be as bad as the Dark One.”

“So you two have had experience with witches before then?” she asked.

“Sort of,” Toodles said.  “Besides, the Dark One is much worse than a witch.”

“It’ll be dark by the time we get there,” Felix said, mentally measuring the distance between them and the castle.  “I don’t much like the idea of going up against any kind of witch in the dark.”

“Maybe we’ll be lucky and she’ll be asleep,” Toodles said.  “Then we can take the hat and go before she knows we were there.”

It’s never that easy in the stories, Natalie thought, but kept it to herself.

Once Upon a Time in Oz 1.2

It really didn’t feel like he fell for very long.  Almost before he could register what had happened the wind and the noise stopped.  He was falling through midair, plummeting fast. 

This is going to hurt, he thought, praying he wouldn’t break anything.  He landed hard on his back, the impact driving all the air from his lungs.  He lay still for a moment, hoping that soon he’d be able to breathe, almost afraid to move anything.  When he didn’t experience any shooting pain, he sat up cautiously.

“Felix,” he choked out between gasps for air. 

“Right here,” the other boy grunted, off to Toodles’s right, pulling himself to his hands and knees.

Where are we? Toodles shook his head and looked around.  They’d fallen into some kind of hill country, dotted with clumps of trees.  He blinked and shook his head again.  No, it all still looked the same.  He rubbed his eyes.  Maybe he’d hit his head when he landed.

“Felix, is everything blue?”

Felix pushed his hair out of his eyes and sighed. “Yeah.”

“Oh.”  Everything, grass, leaves, the bark on the trees, were different shades of blue.   Even the sky seemed a bluer blue than the skies of Neverland and Earth.     

“Why…” Toodles started.

“Shh,” Felix said softly, holding up a hand to stop him.  “Hear that?”

Toodles listened and soon picked up the sound Felix meant.  Leaves rusting and some kind of shrieking animal cry.  It sounded like they were fighting. 

“What do you think those are?”  He glanced down at the crossbow in his hand,  nodding satisfaction when he saw it hadn’t been damaged in the fall.

“I don’t know.” Felix stood and shouldered his club.  “Let’s go see.  It might help us figure out where we are.”

Toodles scrambled to his feet, snatching up the arrows that had fallen from his quiver.

The boys made for the sound as quickly as they could while staying quiet enough to hopefully keep the creatures from hearing them.  When they got to the top of a nearby hill they saw the source of the racket. 

“Monkeys!” Toodles exclaimed, staring down at them.  “Monkeys with wings.”

More than half a dozen of the creatures hopped and flapped around something near a group of trees.  One screeched in pain and three of them fluttered back.  That gave Toodles a view of their prey.  A girl stood in the midst of them, franticly trying to beat the monkeys back with a tree branch.  But with so many, it didn’t look like she would be able to hold them off long. 

“She needs help,” Toodles said, fitting an arrow to his crossbow and starting down the hill. 

Once they reached the bottom, Toodles raised his crossbow.

“Careful what you hit,” Felix cautioned.

As tightly packed as the creatures were, Toodles felt certain he could hit one, even with all of their movement. 

He fired an arrow at the largest monkey.  The creature jumped, reaching for the tree branch so the arrow struck its leg instead of its back.  It screeched and redoubled its attack on the girl.  Toodles fired another arrow, catching another monkey’s wing.  By this time, Felix was close enough to bash them with his club. 

That was when the monkeys started to realize they were being attacked from another quarter.  Toodles put another arrow in the monkey with the injured wing, killing it.  Some of the monkeys flapped up into the trees while some of the bolder ones turned to face the new threat. 

Toodles shot at the monkey coming towards him, but in his haste, the arrow went wide.  The creature zoomed over his head, grabbing his hood.  Toodles shouted and tried to beat it off with his unloaded crossbow.  The monkey jerked hard on his hood, snapping his neck back and pulling him to the ground. 

With their initial fear of the newcomers abated, and, seeing that they still had superior numbers, the monkeys in the trees swooped down, attempting to overwhelm Felix and the girl. 

Toodles grabbed an arrow out of his quiver with his left hand and jabbed it behind him.  The first time he missed, but the second he stabbed the creature’s arm.  It snarled and leaned over him, baring its teeth.  Toodles brought his cross bow up over his head and slammed it down on the monkey’s back.  It yelped and loosened its hold on him.  Toodles kicked it off and started fitting the arrow in his hand to the string of his bow.  The monkey skipped off to the side and hopped into the air, one wing flapping oddly.

When it didn’t turn to face him again, Toodles shifted his attention to the rest.  Most of them were taking to the trees again, while the few brave, or stupid, ones kept the humans busy.  Toodles fired two shots up at the monkeys, killing one and wounding another.  One of the remaining creatures gave an undulating cry and they all began to take wing, flying away this time. 

The girl clubbed one of the slower ones with her tree branch and turned as if to strike another, nearly hitting Felix instead.  He brought his club up instinctively and the branch broke when the two collided.  She gave a little yelp of surprise, her eyes still wide with fear.

“Easy,” Felix said, holding up his free hand.  “It’s all right.”

She dropped what was left of her branch and the two stood, panting for a moment. 

Toodles looked the girl up and down.  She looked around Felix’s age- maybe eighteen-and was around a head shorted than the other boy.  She had dark hair, brown eyes and Toodles guessed she was reasonably pretty.  With the dirt smudging her face and the blood dripping from a busted lower lip, as well as two scratches under the corner of her right eyes, it was hard to tell.  She was dressed in a fashion similar to what most of the Lost Boys came in since the mid- 2000’s.  Blue jeans, a bright red shirt and a plaid button down shirt over it.  She carried a blue drawstring bag slung over her back.

“Thank you,” she said, taking a step back and wiping the blood off her chin with the back of her hand.  “Those things have been after me for days.”

“Do you live here?” Toodles asked, starting to pick up the arrows that were scattered over the ground.  

“No,” she said.  “ I just got here a few days ago.  A tornado picked me up and dropped me here.”

Toodles noticed she had a slight twang to her speech, similar to the way Felix spoke but not quite the same. 

“So you don’t know where we are then?” Felix asked.

The girl opened her mouth to answer but Toodles cut her off.  “I know where we are,” he said.  “Flying monkeys, tornados, it can only be one place- Oz.”

Felix flashed him a questioning glance but the girl nodded.  “That’s what I figured too,” she said.

“Were you from back in the real world?  Earth I mean?” Toodles asked.

She studied him with a puzzled expression for a few seconds, then nodded.  “Yes. Where are you from?”

“Earth originally.”  Toodles now had all his arrows and went to stand by Felix.  “Both of us.  But we’ve been living in Neverland.”

“No way,” she said.  “That’s not…I mean its…” She paused.  “Actually I guess if Oz is real then Neverland has every right to be too.  Wow.  You’re not… Lost Boys, are you?”

“We are,” Toodles said.  She wasn’t the first to be surprised.  Ever since Disney made Peter Pan in the 1950’s, boys had been coming with misconceptions.  “I’ve been told the movie was different than the way things really are.”

“Obviously,” she said, looking mainly at Felix. 

“I’m Toodles.” He held out his hand.

“Natalie,” she said, shaking it.  It was the way men shook hands, which struck Toodles as odd at first, but she was wearing trousers too, so maybe things were different now.  Mike had said something about women trying to liberate themselves.  He decided it didn’t really matter.

“Pleased to meet you, Natalie.”  Toodles gestured to the other boy standing behind him.  “This is Felix.”

The two exchanged nods of acknowledgement. 

She looked down at Toodles.  “You know, I half expected you to say his name was Slightly.”

Toodles giggled.  “That’s a funny name.  Why?”

She blushed a little.  “It’s just, in the movie, and I think in the book too, there was a Toodles and then the tall blonde one was Slightly.  Or the tallest one anyway.  They were all about eight.”  She tried to look at Felix, but couldn’t meet his eyes.  “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I said that.  Long couple of days I guess.”

Toodles took up the conversation again before Felix could reply.  “The newer guys do usually say something about expecting us to be younger.  Pan doesn’t take little boys though.  They wouldn’t be as much fun.  I’m the youngest, and I’m twelve.”

“What year was it when you left?” he asked.

“2011,” she said.

“I’m from 1906,” Toodles said, grinning.

“Really?”

“Mm-hmm.” He nodded.  “That’s nothing.  George, he’s the only original Lost Boy still in Neverland, is around 300 years old.  Felix is the next oldest after him.  He’s from 186…2?”  He looked at Felix.

“’64,” the other boy muttered.

Natalie blinked twice, then nodded.  “How did you guys get here?”

“We fell through a portal,” Toodles said.  “One just  opened up under our feet.”

“Can you fly back?” she asked.

Toodles shook his head.  “The pixie flowers died a long time ago.”

“And of course, no ruby slippers.” She sighed.  “Looks like we’re stuck here.”

Once Upon a Time in Oz 1.1

Sorry it's taken so long to post again.  I promise I'll be back with more of Artemis soon, but I haven't had time to work on that.  Here's part of a Once Upon a Time fanfiction. (This is one of my favorite series of fanfics I've written) The main characters are Felix, from season three, Toodles, from the Peter Pan book, and Natalie, a girl from modern earth.

  

                                                  The Malevolent Land of Oz

            They said it was just going to rain. 

The thought played over and over again at the back of Natalie Wolf’s mind like a broken record in the other room.  She swerved around a large branch that had fallen into the road, gripping the steering wheel of her car with white knuckled fingers. 

They said it was just going to rain.

The rain pelted down from grey-green clouds, driven almost horizontally by the howling wind.  Natalie could barely keep her little car in her lane; the winds buffeted it one way then the other. 

Natalie started at a sudden noise from the seat beside her, her already pounding heart skipping along a little faster for three beats.  She tried to laugh at herself when she realized it was just her phone, but the sound died before it was fully formed.  She reached across and grabbed her drawstring bag from the passenger seat, fumbling to get it open with one hand.    She managed to get it open, and tangle her arm in the strap in the process.  She found her phone and looked down at the screen.

Text from Aunt Emily.

Natalie glanced back at the road, then looked at the phone again.

‘Where are you?’

I don’t know, she thought, biting her lip.  The last she knew, she was still a half an hour’s drive from her cousins’ house.  Then the storm started and she’d had to slow to a twenty-five miles per hour pace just to stay on the road. 

She started to reply.  ‘Still 20 ? min awa…’

Natalie stomped her brakes and skidded to a stop.  No, she thought.  She threw open the car door and scrambled out, staring in wide-eyed horror at the horizon.  The wind whipped her hair into her eyes, but that didn’t obscure her view of the spinning funnel of clouds dipping down to touch the ground a few hundred yards in front of her. 

The cyclone was tinted green and blue and the air started to crack with electricity.  Panic rose in Natalie’s chest and she turned and ran toward the side of the road.  She slid into a muddy ditch and flattened herself against the ground, covering her head with her arms. 

They said it was just going to rain.

                                                       . . .

“Catchin’ up to him,” Felix muttered as he crouched to study the tracks in the dirt. 

Toodles knelt beside the older boy, so he could look at the prints too.  “He’s big,” he said, holding his hand above the clearest track and spreading his fingers.  The beast’s foot must be three times the size of his hand. 

“Yes, and he’s going to make a lovely wall decoration.”  Peter Pan studied the track over their shoulders, then turned his gaze to the trees in from of them.  He grinned over his shoulder at the six Lost Boys that formed the hunting party.   “Get ready boys.  The fun’s about to begin.”

Toodles stood, gripping his cross bow tighter, and moved along with the others.  The group had started out after the lion early that morning, tracking it through the Dark Forest.  Toodles wasn’t sure how long they’d been hunting it, it was always black as night in these woods, but he guess by how hungry he was getting that it must be late afternoon. 

He’d hunted lions before, but this one was a monster.  Pan said it was possibly the biggest to ever be seen in Neverland.    Several of the other boys had seen it and they all attested to its size and ferocity.   He looked ahead at George and Felix, several yards in front of the group, doing most of the tracking.  Both carried a net, George held a loaded crossbow and Felix had his club resting at its usual place over his right shoulder.  The thought of facing any sized lion with nothing but a club and a buck bone knife made Toodles’ mouth go dry, but Felix never carried any other weapons. 

After a few minutes more, George held up his hand and the others stopped.  Toodles thought he heard something moving ahead of them. 

“Here we go boys,” Pan whispered, an excited glint in his eyes.  “Ivan, you move in with Felix and George.  Jesse, you move in from behind it.  The rest of you,” he gestured with his spear, “try to circle around it.” 

Ivan, who carried a torch along with a spear, moved to stand by Felix and George while the others fanned out into the trees.  Toodles was sure he could hear something now; a low rumble, fading and coming back at regular intervals.

Attack the lion, fight with it for a few minutes, it runs off.

Pan cocked his head and stared in the direction the beast had run off in with a puzzled expression.  It wasn’t like Neverland lions to just run away.  Not before they’d drawn a fair amount of blood anyway. 

All of a sudden the air around them seemed to hold something threatening. Toodles shuddered.  It wasn’t them the lion was running from.  There was something else.  The other boys must have felt it too; they all started glancing around at the trees, holding their weapons ready.  Feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand up, Toodles took an involuntary step or two toward Felix as he fitted another arrow to his crossbow. 

Then, the ground beneath their feet opened up into a green and black hole.  Toodles tried to scramble back, tried to grab hold of something but his free hand only met with the corner of Felix’s cloak.  That was no help; the other boy was falling too.  Dimly he heard the shouts of the rest of the hunting party before the whirling vortex swallowed him. 

When the Game Stands Tall- Movie Review

Today, I went to see "When the Game Stands Tall."  I'm not a big sports person; not when it comes to watching anyway.  I've been to a handful of high school football games, but I never really watch them on TV and I don't keep up with football in any way.  However, after watching a few of the TV previews for this movie, I thought it might be all right.   I enjoyed 'The Blind Side' and thought this might be similar, so I tried it. 

I very much enjoyed this movie.  If you couldn't tell from the previews, its not really about the game at all but  about the people, and about the coach who is teaching these young men not just to be good athletes, but to be good men, which in the long run is much more important.  I love the emphasis on being a team player, on behaving with integrity and giving whatever you do your best try because that's what you and the people around you deserve.  I think the lessons Coach Ladouceur  strove to teach to his players are lessons that are applicable to all of us no matter where we are in life or what we're doing.  
I think the adaptation from the true story was well done and the pacing of the movie was handled really well.  I was engaged by the story and drawn to the characters.  I found myself cringing during some of the game sequences, even though I knew that this was a movie and no one was really in danger of having a heat stroke, getting a concussion or breaking bone.
There was even a small amount of Bible stuff in the movie, which I wasn't expecting and I think that aspect was also handled really well.  It was presented without apology, but wasn't overly preachy.
There were some really touching moments; the whole movie just seemed very heart felt, like the people who worked on it really had a passion for it.

So, as I have said, I think 'When the Game Stands Tall' was very well done, is an entertaining movie- even for non-football fans- and has a great message that applies to everyone.  I would say it is definitely worth seeing.