Fairytales

I don't really know if there's an exact definition for a fairy tale, but I feel like I could easily recognize one. Often it's in a "far far away" place, in a land not in our own dimension, and with mythical creatures like unicorns or dragons. There is often a hero or heroine who foils the evil plot of a villain, and lives "happily ever after" in the end. But they don’t always have these elements and range as much as any kind of story.

I remember having a book of old fairy tales as a kid- I remember the Mouse and the Lion, about a mouse helping a lion and proving the strength of such a small creature. There was one where a girl was turned into a swan and had seven brothers. My favorites were often tales that included animals, and especially people turning into ones. I always wanted to turn into some cool fantasy creature with supernatural powers as a kid.

If I was in a fairy tale I would love to be a dragon. Often they accompany a villain, but I feel like they are simply doing their job and are not the villain theirself. I don’t know what specific fairy tale I would be a part of but I would prefer to live in the end. Maybe I could even fall and love with the knight that comes to slay me after we have a long battle laced with homosexual subtext. Perhaps afterward we could defeat a corrupt king and rule over the land together.

The Origin of Ants

I'm always a fan of older, almost silly folktales like these, so I did enjoy The Origin of Ants. The ending was surprising and almost came out of nowhere, mostly because I forgot the story was even about where ants came from. I believe the moral is to not lie, as then you need to keep making bigger lies to cover up the first one. Each situation is more extreme than the last, until the man straight up gets turned to dust (and then ants) in the end. Later I looked up how well ants could smell, and it turns out the farthest they could smell food from was about three meters. But I guess for something as small as an ant, that's pretty impressive.