Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Fox and the Snake

As you have probably noticed, I have been spotlighting a lot of Aesop's Fables lately. You may think that, by the title "The Fox and the Snake," that we are about to go there again. Well, sort of. This story is indeed a fable, but it was not written by Aesop. As a matter of fact, this fable was written by Yours Truly back in 2015.

Now with great pleasure, I now present to you the entire fable of "The Fox and the Snake" as written by T.K. Wade (me).

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A fox had heard word that snakes were known for their abilities in killing prey. Thinking snakes to be very slow and stupid creatures, the fox challenged the snake to a killing contest. The snake agreed to this and allowed the fox to have the first go. The fox hunted all day and killed every little animal he could find–eating them up. Indeed, he became quite fat. To the snake, he said, “As you can see, I have had no troubles in the hunt. My belly is full. Now, I would like to see a slithering snake do likewise. I do not believe you can do it.” And the fox was correct. The snake found it impossible to kill so many as his opponent, and this caused him to lose the contest. After all, he only managed to kill and eat one fat fox.

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What makes this story different then a proper Aesop's Fable? It's a tad more tongue-in-cheek. It has wit to it. Aesop usually avoided wit to get straight to the moral. But I have always been a wise-ass at heart.

My fable does not directly tell you that the snake eats the same fox participating in the contest. It merely insinuates it. This insinuation makes the story come out more like a clever joke than a proper moral tail. Yet there still seems to be a moral here.

Evil has no qualms about devouring other evil. There are no true friendships among bad people. The fox may have thought he was having a friendly competition with a like-minded creature, but in the end, the snake was only looking for an opportunity. So was the fox, if you think on it.

Snakes are often aligned with evil. They are patient opportunists. Foxes are commonly portrayed as clever tricksters with an ego. It was the ego of the fox in this story that ended up being his downfall. It was for no other reason than to prove his superiority to the snake. The fox even thought it would be an easy contest because of how slow the snake operated.

Despite it's narrative departure from the Aesop's formula, this is my favorite of my own fables. I always get a chuckle when I get to the end of it. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I do.

Thank you for reading my blog! If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Gauntlet

The year is 1985. Arcades are all over the place. There happened to be one about a block from where I live. I went in there wondering what sort of games I would find in a small town like mine. There wasn't much to choose from, but I did notice one particularly big machine in the corner with a large sign over it that read "Gauntlet" in fancy lettering.

The reason this arcade machine was so big was because it had a place for 4 players to play at one time. That's 4 joysticks and 8 buttons on one machine. I guess I was just dazzled by how huge this thing was. And then I saw the opening screen. It depicted a male and female warrior sounded by monsters. The man was wielding a mace and the woman a sword. They were in the middle of, what appeared to be, some glorious battle, but that wasn't what got my attention. They were smiling. It was as if the thrill of battle was driving them onward to kill! At this point, the game just had to be played.

Once the machine ate my quarter, I got to pick from 4 fighters: Thor the warrior, Merlin the wizard, Thyra the valkyrie, or Questor the elf. Each character has their own strength and weaknesses. It was a tough decision, but I ultimately went with Thor. He made me feel handsome or something. I don't know. I just wanted to be him.

The game started off by placing me in a painfully empty room. I moved around a little. Very disappointing. A few ghosts came at me and I took care of them easily. I found a key. And soon after, I found a door. Behind that door was... Well... It was what I saw in the opening titles. Behind that door were more monsters than I could imagine all piled up waiting for a chance to come and kill me.

This sight was so stunning that part of me wanted to not open the door. But then... I started to realize why those two warriors on the title screen were smiling. I concluded that there would be no spoils if I did not proceed onward. I also kind of had to because I noticed my life was ticking down on its own. Screw it! I'm going in for better or worse! I threw open the door, and here they came. I just ran in there and killed as many as I could. Pretty soon, I was overwhelmed by monsters of all kinds. Even Death himself showed up wondering why I hadn't died yet. He figured he'd have to do the job himself! Imagine that! I found out where Death lives! Apparently right here in this dungeon!

I can't remember how far I made it. I think it was level 9 or 10. Either way, I ended up falling to my wounds. But even after death, I felt like I had done something amazing. I may have been only looking at an 8-bit representation of a warrior combat game, but my imagination remembered it a little differently. Indeed, I had a fully realized 3-dimensional recall of what I had been doing. There was something magical about how this game executed it's story to the player.

I later realized that the reason I died so early was that the game was really intended to be played by 2 or more people simultaneously. Preferably 4. The game will not go easy on you if you choose to play it by yourself. Gauntlet was the embodiment of a 4-person party going into the thick of evil and slaughtering their way through thousands upon thousands of monsters for treasure and glory. When played by a full party, the thrill shoots through your veins like no other game can manage. It's all in the presentation. That opening title screen really sparks the fire. You see those two smiling worriers and you want to be them!

In 1988, a port was made for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was not as good looking at the arcade machine, but there was one addition to it that made all the difference: music. The opening title music specifically really set the tone for the franchise. Apparently the new theme was composed by a man named Hal Canon. His style was reminiscent of J.S. Bach organ music. The opening theme as well as the following level themes really had a way of pushing you forward into the dark depths of the dungeon.

This amazing theme song was strangely not used again until 2014 with Gauntlet Slayer Edition. The theme song was renewed with a full orchestra, and it was beautiful! The game was also revived in full 3D! It was a good game, but so was the original. In many ways, the original was better because the imagination got sparked so intensely that... it just felt good!

My opinion is this: Gauntlet managed to make fairy tale history in the video game realm. It made us imagine great and death defying acts with very small-time graphics. It encouraged us to see with our mind's eye what we were actually doing in the game. It made us wonder and almost feel what being a brave warrior would be like. And with others at our side, we could feel what it was like to be in a party of fairy tale counterparts.

Gauntlet is still fun to this day. It has been ported and remade for a lot of consoles, and I have played so many of them: NES, Atari Lynx, Sega Genesis, PS3, PC. There are so many ways to play it, and it is always fun! I highly encourage you to find a copy, get a few friends to come over, and go out to battle! Into the fray, and only death will be your release!

Thank you for reading my blog! If you liked it, you should leave a comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Wait... You can shoot the food?!

As an extra for my Blogger edition only, here is a link to the amazing NES theme and its Slayer Edition counterpart!

NES version: Click here!

Slayer Edition version: Click here!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Lion and the Mouse

It's Aesop's Fables time again! Today, we will have a look at another well-known Aesop's tail called "The Lion and the Mouse." As usual with how brief these stories are, I will be posting the entire story below for you and then follow it up with my own commentary.

And now, it is my pleasure to present to you Aesop's "The Lion and the Mouse."

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A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion's nose. Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.

"Spare me!" begged the poor Mouse. "Please let me go and some day I will surely repay you."

The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let the Mouse go.

Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter's net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.

"You laughed when I said I would repay you," said the Mouse. "Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion."

Moral: A kindness is never wasted.

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Forget the moral of "A kindness is never wasted." for a moment. I understand what the author was trying to say, but I think we may have something more interesting on our hands. Allow me to explain.

There are many types of people in the world. Some are big and strong and some are small and weak. However there is something to be said of the lightweights. They are often more agile and have more of a honed skill set. The large and mighty use brute force and sometimes brutality to accomplish their goals, Both are equally useful as people but in different ways.

We often attribute the big and strong with greater power because brute force is very intimidating. Big and strong is actually a great quality too. We need people like that to help in certain situations. But big can sometimes work against themselves. It makes them much easier to see. The hunter in the story had no problems capturing the lion for this reason. The trap would have not even been an issue for the mouse. The lion was rather cocky to think that anyone "lesser" than he would be useful.

That same cockiness can happen for the mousy types too. This often gets them bested by the big and strong types later on. Luckily, this mouse was humble and confident in his own abilities. He somehow convinced the lion of this and was able to prove it later on. If the mouse had been cocky after being caught, it might have led to his death. Either way, I think we can agree that the mouse did get lucky, but his luck was assisted by a humble spirit.

The moral, as listed, is not a bad one. I would just warn against being kind to every person that comes your way. There is something to be said to casting pearls before swine. In this case, I think the moral should be: "A humble spirit can sometimes prove greater than might." What do you think? Do you have your own moral you'd give to this story? Please let me know if you do!

Did you enjoy this blog? If you did and you want to either comment or tell me your own moral for this story, you can do so below or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Curse

I'm a weirdo who can be inspired by anything. Today, I am sick. Nothing more serious than a rather ambitious allergy attack. It's still giving me a lot of trouble though. But I was thinking about how illnesses and various other afflictions happen within fairy tales in the form of curses.

The first one that comes to mind was the sleeping curse from the various "Sleeping Beauty" stories. Can you even imagine falling asleep and not being able to wake up? Would you dream? Would you be aware? Would it be miserable? Or would it simply be a blank? It could be any of those things.

A curse is a rather horrible type of illness. It's the worst kind. It's magical nature means that no doctor can formulate a cure. The evil at the heart of the curse needs to be counteracted. Demonic entities within these fairy tales love seeing the ones whom they hate suffer. It takes a hero to go up against this sort of thing. Not for me, understand. I just need time. Time to get over this crud. But sometimes I'd like to fantasize about being wrapped up in a world far more exciting. Or... maybe this world really does exist.

Sickness in this world is still likely a curse--a very old one. It was caused but evil entities that were willing to risk the universe for their own egos. Unlike the fairy tales, this one did not end so well. Among other things, we all just started getting sick occasionally. During this time, we slowed down and were not able to perform as well as we like. It is something we all sort of just accepted. It became the new normal. It isn't normal though. It's wrong, and we don't deserve it.

I want you all to imagine a world that's better than this. Imagine a world where demons don't rule and just propagate horrible things upon all of us. Don't be cynical. It can be better. If enough people fight against these horrible things, the world can be a better place after all. At the very least you can decide to not be a part of the problem by denying the will of those who have cursed us.

Human beings are amazing creatures. When we like something in fiction, we work very hard to make them happen. We went to the moon. I know that doesn't seem like much now because we got real good at it. But understand that going to the moon felt so impossible at one point in time. And in many ways it was. We had to not only get out of our own atmosphere, break free of our planet's gravity, and have a reasonable plan for return, but we also had to worry about the hostile environment up there. There was not only no air but it was also a vacuum. It was not a place made for us at all. We still did it though because we were inspired by all these books and movies about going there.

Well, inspiration is good against curses too. We do have people out there whacking various diseases pretty often. Still it seems like we could be doing more. They may be finding cures, but the diseases themselves still exist. Somehow we need to find a way to get at the origin of the problem. All problems can eventually be solved by dealing with the beginning. When we figure out how to do this, we'll bring an end to this ancient curse, and it will likely take a hero to accomplish it.

Now before I bring this blog to a close, I want to make one final point as clear as I can. None of this is about fighting the good fight and continuing on. We were wronged. We should be angry about it. This is not a matter where you just keep trying and hope for the best. This is a war. If you get sick, call it out for what it is--a curse. And it needs to be destroyed.

Thank you for reading my blog! If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Peace.

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Ava in Fairyland

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later. This spotlight is about a fairy tale I wrote personally. "Ava in Fairyland" is a book I published back in 2017. It is basically about a little girl who somehow travels to a magical land, called Fairyland, where animals can talk. Along the way she meets a fat man named Rupert, a talking bunny named Jasper, and a stone wolf who has no emotions whatsoever. I cannot just spoil the whole story because I do want people to buy it; however, I still want to talk a little about the inspiration that went into it.

I've mentioned this before: I have actually read every story written by L. Frank Baum. He was, of course, the man who created the famous Oz series of books for children. In the making of "Ava in Fairyland," I was very carefully trying to not only capture Baum's formula but also his writing style as well. In many ways, Fairyland was very similar to Oz. The same basic rules applied, but I did end up focusing on one very endearing thing to me personally: talking animals.

Where Oz has quite a number of non-animal characters, I was always looking forward to seeing which animal would get to be a character next. Those were my favorites. So in "Ava in Fairyland," I focused entirely on animal creatures. The book has bunnies, moles, wolves, mice, birds, foxes, and even a giant grumpy bear wearing a tutu. The story is a veritable zoo, and I was a lot happier that it was.

Rocky the Stone Wolf was based on a very unexpected source. There was a very odd video game called Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance which had a character in it called Blade Wolf. He was a metal robot wolf that had an unemotional robot's perspective on everything. There were extremely long conversations in the game where the game's main character, Raiden, would have debates with him about just about anything under the sun. Blade would would always have the logically driven arguments while Raiden had more emotionally driven ones. A lot of the things in the game are hit and miss, but the addition of these debates made the game for me and directly inspired Rocky.

Rocky is the stone version of Blade Wolf. He thinks the same way Blade Wolf does and has a terrible time understanding emotional arguments. The reason for this came from a Baum rules of being heartless. Rocky did not have a heart which prevented him from caring about anything. The Tin Woodsman had a similar problem in "The Wizard of Oz." The concept of needing a heart to care is based on the phrase "have a heart." Baum's Oz often utilized world building concepts based on popular terms.

The foxes are the main villains of the story. They are trying to capture Jasper the bunny before the group can get him back to his kingdom. These foxes were heavily inspired by the foxes of Foxville from Baum's "The Road to Oz." Foxville ended up being my favorite kingdoms in all of the Oz books. What's weird about this is that Foxville is not even in Oz at all. It is located in a land just south of Oz across the Deadly Desert.

I loved how Baum wrote them, but it was the comic drawn by Skottie Young that actually was the real inspiration. He depicted the foxes as more of a military based society where everything foxy was key. He even gave them rifles. When I introduced my own foxes, I just had to give them guns as well. They were a lot of fun to write for.

Time to wrap up this blog with some plugs. "Ava in Fairyland" is a fully illustrated book. The images were drawn by a very talented artist and a personal friend by the name of Coy Fields II. The book is available on Amazon as a paperback and also on Kindle. There is also a free 12 part audio drama available on You Tube written and co-produced by yours truly. I hope you will give the story a try. Here is some information to help you out:

-Ava in Fairyland-

A Magical Adventure!

Ava Paige is a sweet little girl who loves the color yellow. Rupert Appleton is a tubby man with a colorful bag. Somehow, they end up on the same train together, a train bound to a magical country called Fairyland!

Join Ava and Rupert on their adventure in this new fully illustrated book by T.K. Wade! Meet Jasper the Bunny, who is trying to get back home before an army of foxes capture him. Read about the friends they encounter along the way, like Rocky, a wolf made of stone, and Hyjinx, a hyena who likes to tell stories. In the tradition of "Wizard of Oz" and "Alice in Wonderland," this story will spark the imaginations of children everywhere!

Amazon Paperback - $7.99
Amazon Kindle - $2.99
Click here to see the Amazon listing!
Click here to listen to the audio drama!

Thank you for reading my blog! If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Thank you!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Fox and the Grapes

Go to the store. By a copy of Aesop's Fables. Open up to the very first story. There is a very good chance that the story will be "The Fox and the Grapes." This is probably the most famous of all the Aesop's Fables and has been told and retold in countless forms of media. Chances are you already know this story by heart. Nevertheless, I will provide it to you in its entirety. Enjoy!

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A Fox one day spied a beautiful bunch of ripe grapes hanging from a vine trained along the branches of a tree. The grapes seemed ready to burst with juice, and the Fox’s mouth watered as he gazed longingly at them.

The bunch hung from a high branch, and the Fox had to jump for it. The first time he jumped he missed it by a long way. So he walked off a short distance and took a running leap at it, only to fall short once more. Again and again he tried, but in vain.

Now he sat down and looked at the grapes in disgust.

“What a fool I am,” he said. “Here I am wearing myself out to get a bunch of sour grapes that are not worth gaping for.”

And off he walked very, very scornfully.

Moral: There are many who pretend to despise and belittle that which is beyond their reach.

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Why did the fox do that? I mean really! What the heck is wrong with him?! We all knew that those grapes were probably just fine. How did he figure that they were sour without tasting them?

That's right. They were sour because he couldn't enjoy them. No grapes means bad grapes... or sour grapes. In fact, "sour grapes" is a term used by people who don't get what they want. This story has actually weaved its way into our culture, and the sad thing is... many people actually side with the fox!

WHY?!

I understand how annoying it is not getting something you want, but what's with the attempt to cloud your own reality in order to make up for it? I don't get why people do that. Just move on. Stop diluting yourselves.

The fox had his ego damaged by the fact that he could not get the grapes. So he decided in his mind that it probably wouldn't have been worth it anyways. Why is he deciding that? There are people out there who will purposefully filter their reality in order to deal with personal pain. To a degree, I know why they do it, but its a pattern that will repeat. It will eventually lead to a lack of understanding of the world around them. They are creating their own false reality to supersede an unfortunate one. My main beef with this is that it can render a person useless in the long run.

So how should you deal with the lost grapes? Move on. Don't worry about it. They were not meant for you. Another solution is to just try harder. I know, for a fact, that some foxes can climb trees if they actually care enough to get up there. The fox was just lazy.

If something is important to you, just keep at it. Don't just roll your eyes and pretend it never happened. It is your responsibility to drive out your own path in this world. That requires clarity. People who just cynically stand aside won't get anywhere. Go get those grapes, and if it turns out they really are sour, make lemon aid! ... With the grapes! ... Grape aid! (It worked a lot better in my head than when I wrote it down.)

Thank you for reading my blog! If you enjoyed it, you can comment below or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Thank you, and I, once again, drew the crappy picture.

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Mice in Council

I present to you with great happiness and energy, what could possibility the cutest fable in all of history. I shall be giving it to you in its entirety. Diabetus warning! I'm not joking! There is no turning back! Once you read it, your very mind will turn into cotton candy and then you'll die... probably.

Ladies and gentleman... [Dramatic Pause] "The Mice in Council" by Aesop.

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Once upon a time the mice, being sadly distressed by the persecution of the cat, resolved to call a meeting to decide upon the best means of getting rid of their continual annoyance. Many plans were discussed and rejected. At last a young mouse got up and proposed that a bell should be hung round the cat's neck, that they might for the future always have notice of her coming, and so be able to escape.

This proposition was hailed with the greatest applause, and was agreed to at once unanimously. Upon which an old mouse, who had sat silent all the while, got up and said that he considered the contrivance most ingenious and that it would, no doubt, be quite successful. But he had only one short question, namely, which of them would bell the cat?

It is one thing to propose, another to execute.

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"What a great idea!" I thought while I was amidst these mice. We are such great thinkers in groups. Mice always are. They always go with the thinking of their fellow companions. it was such a simple solution. All we had to do was get the bell on the cat. We drew out plans on paper and everything. It looked something like this:

So simple! So glorious! What geniuses we mice are in groups! We stole a bell for it and everything. It was all going to work out so well. Of course, it didn't really happen. I blame the elder mouse. Naturally if he hadn't have asked who was going to do it, one of us would have surely done it just by the sheer energy we had. Old people are dumb.

But the way I see it, the fact that we didn't actually bell the cat does not mean that the idea was bad. Just imagine what life would be like if we had actually belled the cat! We all talked about it and pretty much decided that mice would just end up living forever. That's right. Without cats, we'd all be immortal.

But don't worry. We're never giving up! We're already working on a new plan: A poisonous mouse! Any volunteers?!

Thank you for reading this goofy blog. If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Thanks, and yes, I did draw the crappy picture.

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Independent Thought

Have you ever felt like there was an outside voice that was trying to guide you through life? Have you given it a name? God? The world? Is this voice right? Should you listen to it?

Let's take a step back. Where is this voice coming from? Is it your friend? Is it someone on TV? Are you hearing it within your own mind? What exactly have you been hearing? Does it sound like you or someone else? Does the voice sound trustworthy? Do you trust it?

What is the voice telling you? Chances are, the body of the message may say some of the following:

-The law is just.

-The law is moral.

-Work hard and then retire.

-Be a good person.

-Be polite.

-Respect your elders.

-Strive for a goal but be patient and careful about doing it.

-You should do this. It is the right thing to do.

-I think we can all agree that this is the right thing to do.

When an animal is born, it relies on its mother to teach it how the world works. It can then react properly to all stimuli. But then... animals are not really capable of making important decisions in the world. That's what humans are for. But humans have their own problems. They tend to believe everything that they hear and base their entire life around messages that are just floating around.

Why?

Let me ask you something. Are you truly a being of independent thought? I'll answer it for you. You are. You can form your own conclusions (whether right or wrong) and make your own decisions. You even have a choice whether or not to believe anything I am saying right now. I'm not controlling you. You are controlling you.

It seems a lot of people tend to think that a person only comes down to who they are willing to believe. But as to those they believe, who do THEY believe? Where does it all begin? Is popular opinion really all that significant? If someone on TV tells you that coffee is bad, does that mean coffee is bad? Does the fact that they are on TV give them credibility? Does the amount of money they make give their opinion credibility? Do they have more of a right to tell you the difference between right and wrong, and should you believe them at all?

Now, I want you to take everything you ever heard from anyone ever and simply forget all of it. Just let it all go. Ignore all of their lessons and reasons for everything. It's not easy, is it? You are dealing with something called indoctrination. It's when you allow others to tell you what to think. Over time, it feels like they are your own thoughts. It becomes who you are. It hurts to let it go. It feels so safe.

Independent thought is when you are deciding things for yourself. You have probably been told that it is a bad things. That's where evil dictators and cult leaders come from. And that is right. They do come from that batch. But simply forming your own conclusions based on the content of who you are does not mean you will become something horrible. It simply means that you are thinking clearly without the assistance of other minds. With independent thought, you can finally realize who you are and not what people think you should be.

Every human being does have a responsibility to think for themselves and draw their own conclusions for better or worse. If they become a villain then so be it. At the very least, that person was who he was and not someone else.

I hear a lot of people telling me to be myself. Well... I am myself. I am entirely myself. I act entirely on how I perceive the world. I could be wrong in how I see the world. Perception is not an exact science. Nevertheless, I do the best I can. I don't let people tell me how I should act or how I should think. Ultimately, I am free.

What makes it so hard is that there are so many people in the world who will turn on their TVs, get told something, and they allow it to be their opinion too. I can get poked and prodded by these people about the fact that I am not conforming. I'm sorry. I'm just not interested in outside programming. I just want to be me. I am T.K. Wade. I am an author of fiction. I am a creator of music. I am a director of film and audio. That is who I am and who I intend to always be.

All humans have a choice to be human.

Thank you for reading this blog! Did you like it? Did you hate it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Definitions with Commentary (Vol. 2)

[All definitions are taken from Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Enjoy.]

Spell

-noun-

1. A story; a tale.

2. A charm consisting of some words of occult power. Start not; her actions shall be holy; you hear my speel is lawful. Begin, begin; the mystic spell prepare.

3. A turn of work; relief; turn of duty. Take a spell at the pump. Their toil is so extreme, that they cannot endure it above four hours in a day, but are succeed by spells.

4. In New England, a short time; a little time. [Not elegant.]

5. A turn of gratuitous labor, sometimes accompanied with presents. People give their neighbors a spell

-verb-

1. To tell or name the letters of a word, with a proper division of syllables, for the with a proper division of syllables, for the purpose of learning the pronunciation. In this matter children learn to read by first spelling the words.

2. To write or print with the proper letters; to form words by correct orthography. The word satire ought to be spelled with i, and not with y.

3. To take another's place or turn temporarily in any labor or service. [This is a popular use of the word in New England.]

4. To charm; as spelled with words of power.

5. To read; to discover by characters or marks; with out; as, to speel out the sense of an author. We are not left to spell out a God in the works of creation.

6. To tell; to relate; to teach. [Not in use.]

-verb intransitive-

1. To form words with the proper letters, either in reading or writing. He knows not how to spell Our orthography is so irregular that most persons never learn to spell

2. To read.

Commentary: This is one of those words that have different meanings that are utterly unrelated. The main example of this has to do with the spelling of a word. This really has nothing to do with the reason I chose this word to define. I was more interested in the word from a magical standpoint.

I was surprised to see that the very first definition was "A story; a tale." Only by the second definition do we go into the occult. Are the creation and telling of stories filled with some sort of magic power? Don't worry! I came with an answer. Yes! Storytelling is actually a spell that causes change in the reality around you. People get inspired and want to make these tales a reality. Stories also change people's perspective of the world which will inevitably alter their decisions. I know it looks like cause and effect, but that is actually what a spell does. It causes reactions, whether they are good or bad.

Fairy tales have always been about opening your eyes to that which is not often seen. It takes a willing listener for it to work, but the intention is clear enough. Also I am pretty sure we would have never gone to the moon if we did not have stories since time untold about visiting the sphere.

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Evil

-adjective-

1. Having bad qualities of a natural kind; mischievous; having qualities which tend to injury, or to produce mischief.
Some evil beast hath devoured him. Genesis 37:20.

2. Having bad qualities of a moral kind; wicked; corrupt; perverse; wrong; as evil thoughts; evil deeds; evil speaking; an evil generation.

3. Unfortunate; unhappy; producing sorrow, distress, injury or calamity; as evil tidings; evil arrows; evil days.

-noun-

1. Evil is natural or moral. Natural evil is any thing which produces pain, distress, loss or calamity, or which in any way disturbs the peace, impairs the happiness, or destroys the perfection of natural beings.

Moral evil is any deviation of a moral agent from the rules of conduct prescribed to him by God, or by legitimate human authority; or it is any violation of the plain principles of justice and rectitude.

There are also evils called civil, which affect injuriously the peace or prosperity of a city or state; and political evils, which injure a nation, in its public capacity.

All wickedness, all crimes, all violations of law and right are moral evils. Diseases are natural evils, but they often proceed from moral evils.

2. Misfortune; mischief; injury.
There shall no evil befall thee. Psalms 91:10.
A prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself. Proverbs 22:3.

3. Depravity; corruption of heart, or disposition to commit wickedness; malignity.
The heart of the sons of men is full of evil Ecclesiastes 9:3.

4. Malady; as the king's evil or scrophula.

-adverb-

1. Not well; not with justice or propriety; unsuitable.
Evil it beseems thee.

2. Not virtuously; not innocently.

3. Not happily; unfortunately.
It went evil with his house.

4. Injuriously; not kindly.
The Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us.
In composition, evil denoting something bad or wrong, is often contracted to ill.

Commentary: Here is a word that gets thrown around a lot. People like to call anything bad "evil." I know what you must be thinking. Evil is something more specific, right? No, it isn't. Evil is anything that should be good, but isn't. It makes perfect sense that everyone wants to call bad things evil. It is indicative of a world that isn't working the way it was intended. A broken machine is evil. Pain is evil. Death itself is evil. That's why the definitions cover such a broad spectrum.

People can be evil too--what Webster refers to as "moral evil." Humans are supposed to uplift others and bring new things to the world around us. Instead, many of them hurt others, murder, and destroy. That is evil.

But what is the worst possible evil? I'll tell you. It is when someone can readily help another in need and won't. Remember that.

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Sorcerer

-noun-

1. A conjurer; an enchanter; a magician. The Egyptian sorcerers contended with Moses.

Commentary: First thing you'll note is there is nothing specifically maligned about the sorcerer. He could be either good or evil. We often tend to think of them as being on the wrong side of things. Even Webster chooses a more maligned example. This is likely because there was a time when we feared people that could play around with the forces of nature merely through hand gestures and words. Power and humanity often make very dangerous bedfellows.

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Villainous

-adjective-

1. Base; very vile.

2. Wicked; extremely depraved; as a villanous person or wretch.

3. Proceeding from extreme depravity; as a villanous action.

4. Sorry; vile; mischievous; in a familiar sense; as a villanous trick of the eye.
Villanous judgment, in old law, a judgment that casts reproach on the guilty person.

Commentary: I was actually going for the word "Villain (noun)" but the dictionary for some reason redirected me to the adjective version. That's fine. I'll settle for it since this is really about the qualities of a villain.

The word "Villain" often conjures to the mind some sort of great antagonist in a story. We can forget that they do actually exist in real life. There are people who are base, wicked, and vile. There are even those who revel in such qualities. I am not talking about dictators and terrorists; although, there is a place for them. You may have someone in your life that is against you. Go ahead. Call that person a villain. That's what they are. By definition, the word is not limited by class.

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Fiction

-noun-

1. The act of feigning, inventing or imagining; as, by the mere fiction of the mind.

2. That which is feigned, invented or imagined. The story is a fiction
So also was the fiction of those golden apples kept by a dragon, taken from the serpent which tempted Eve.

Commentary: The definition suggests that fiction is a falsehood but does not out rightly say it. Fiction is clearly something invented or imagined. What does the imagination have to do with falsities? God imagined the universe, and so it became real. George Lucas imagined Star Wars, and that universe is a very established part of our society now. Scientology was imagined by L.Ron Hubbard, and now it's an established religion. Fiction can become reality real quickly, so be careful what you create in this world. Creation has consequences.

Thank you for reading my blog! If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Kappa

Ever wonder where our famous swamp monster legends come from? The answer lies in a Japanese legend called a kappa. I have always been a fan of kappas since I was very young, and my book illustrator Coy Fields II also has a fondness for them. Now don't get me wrong. In this blog, you will see that the kappa is not really a friendly creature. But the fascination is still there, and despite all the terrible things surrounding it, humor can still be found.

A kappa a fairy creature with an ugly scaly body. He lives in rivers and has webbed feet which help him swim in them. The kappa also possesses a beak and a shell. But where all these features may be very interesting to you, it is the top of his head which you will find the most surprising. Here you will find a plate or bowl which is filled with water from the river. This area must always remain wet or else the kappa will die.

The bowl on his head allows the kappa to leave the river and walk about. When I first heard about this, I was thinking about how nervous I would be if I had to balance water within a recess in my head as I walked. Apparently the kappa is just good at it and is not worried about it at all. At least he has confidence in himself.

The kappa has a favorite food! It is well documented that kappas adore cucumbers even to a fault. The very sight of them fills them with a yearning that almost rids them of their senses. They also have dislikes too. Anything with iron in it is a no. They also dislike sesame and ginger.

Kappas act very much like spoiled children; however, they are not children at all. They are fully grown creatures with all the faculties of an adult. But even as adults they are extremely selfish and prone to impulsive actions based on envy, hate, and boredom. This is where we go into the dark side of the kappa.

These creatures are known for committing infractions against humans that range from simple mischievousness to the outright horrible. On a good day, a kappa might walk about and peak under the kimonos of women. Yes, they are insatiable perverts, and they have no interest in other kappas. They like human women. They have also been known to rape women as they swam in their river. The women would very often become pregnant from this. The offspring would be incredibly hideous and often buried as a result.

Kappas also enjoy drowning people and animals. This is actually a result of the aforementioned boredom. Drowning people is simply something it did to amuse itself. He did so by wrestling them until they were forced underwater. Many drownings in Japan have been attributed to the kappa.

This fairy creature is also known for eating humans. He drinks their blood and eats their liver. This action is actually an attempt to gain himself power rather than for the love of the taste of human flesh, He would still much prefer a cucumber, believe me.

So after hearing all this, how does one thwart a kappa? Well this part of the story is actually where the fondness comes from. They have particular personality quirks that can be exploited. Despite all the horrible nasty things the kappa is known to do to his victims, he is still somehow obsessed with being polite. I am sure he even asks for a pardon while he attempts to drown or rape you. But this quirk is also used against him.

Sometimes a kappa will leave the river to steal an animal from a stable or find a woman to rape. If the woman noticed the kappa, she will politely bow before him. The kappa suddenly has an impulse to bow back. See where this is going yet? I'll give you a hint: head bowl! That's right, the bowl of river water on his head has now spilled right out. But he's fine! Don't worry! As long as he continues to bow, he will remain alive. The second he stands up, he's a gonner. This puts the kappa in a very embarrassing position.

It is not at all common for the humans to force him to stand and thus cause his murder. Instead, the potential victim will often assist the silly looking bowing kappa back to his river where she will refill his head bowl. The kappa will then pledge himself to her as her slave for eternity. I know that latter part sounds great, but I don't recommend taking life debts from fairies of any type. Just wanted to get that on the record.

Did you know that the kappa's arms are detachable? It's true! They're barely hanging on there! Humans will sometimes sneak up on kappas and yank one or both of their arms off. This will really upset the kappa to the point of crying. He will beg them to give his arms back. The human will ask for a favor or information in exchange for the arms back. This always struck me as very cruel to the fairy. I am sure it will also evoke a hatred from him towards the one who did it. For this reason, I do not recommend that it be done.

Kappas are not always trying to rape or kill people. Sometimes they just want things. They go around trying to make deals with people. What do they want? Sacrifice? Human souls? No, just cucumbers. A kappa may show up and promise to give them something they want in exchange for a cucumber. You got to imagine that the cucumber farmers probably never had a kappa attack in all of their lives. Those were obviously the best friends of the fairies. Behold the only vegetable that can turn this evil little fairy into a love-stricken mush! He'd marry a cucumber if he could, but he would end up eating it before the wedding day.

Before I wrap up this spotlight, I do want to comment on how Japan actually managed to make a killer, rapist, blood-sucking river monster... cute. I'm serious! How?! Only Japan! There really is a boyish adorable aspect to the kappas. Nevertheless, I would not go anywhere near them or their river. They are not good. All amusing qualities aside, the kappa is a dangerous demon. Avoid him at all cost!

Thank you for reading my blog! If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. ♥Cucumbers!♥