I've posted a large encyclopedia of fairies on Google Books for free.  "Fairy Encyclopedia" Many of the fairies and spirits mentioned within this book come from regions where information on the fairies isn’t readily available in English elsewhere. A few of these include; Mari-El – In the heart of an ancient forest which was so vast and isolated it allowed the people within to remain the last pagans in Europe. For the people of this land never converted to Islam or Christianity, and so to this day they still value the spirits of the forest. Their woodlands are filled with a dizzyi ..read more

By Ty Hulse "In Popeca, vampires are said to be at their worst before Easter" The blood drinking, milk curdling, lords of the dead who haunted the living in a terrifying parody of what people believed to be good and decent.  It's important to remember that there isn't one type of vampire, but many regional variations. Irish vampires might ensnare someone's mind to get them to do as they wanted but in many other places vampires were more likely to crush someone to death. These "things" about vampires then are, as with all things regionally specific.  1-December is the time of va ..read more

By Ty Hulse The greatest value of art is in helping people emotionally and psychologically.   Although often derided by art critics as kitsch, cute works of art have power to change the way people think, feel and act, and most often for the better. Research into cute imagery by Steinnes, Blomster, et al. (2019) has found that cuteness evokes emotions of kama muta, which media psychology has shown can cause people to act more caring and kindly towards others, while also reducing stress and anxiety. When paired with a strong active message such as “Recycle Now” cute art increases the likel ..read more

Toys and children's games can be a fun and interesting piece of your worldbuilding and lore-building puzzle, allowing people to feel a connection to fun and sentimental moments within the societies you have constructed. Take the pewter knight on display at the Muesum of London, for example. This is one of the earliest examples of a mass-produced toy, at the time it came out it would have been relatively rare and a signal that the world was changing to allow such mass production, and that wealth was growing to the point where multiple parents could buy such toys for their children. As with toda ..read more

Halflings take pleasure in simple things that most everyone else recognizes as good but which most don’t think is enough to fill their lives; such as their gardens, a calm evening in their parlor, good food, and simply doing their job. More than any other genus halflings love their homes, families, and their place in the world. This means that few of them ever leave the place where they live, yet some are struck by a desire to wander and explore the world. These halflings especially can come to enjoy treasures collected and won through luck and skill. Such treasures might include seeds for pl ..read more

 Previous                  Index                 Next Art of Djer-Kiss: Pleasure, frivolity, and aesthetics by Ty Hulse The 1920s was still haunted by the ghost of “The Great War” which had ushered in modern mechanized warfare with the birth of tanks, chemical attacks, bomb carrying planes, and the disease filled trenches that nearly killed Tolkien. This time, after the war, came to be known as the Roaring 20s, and a frivolous generation. In truth, however, the people of that era were in fact r ..read more

  Intro Romantic Desires: The Philosophy of Fairy -p2 Geeks, Wild People, and Fairies - p3  Heroism and Fantasy - p4  Playful and Whimsical Art and Stories - p5 Djer Kiss - Fairy Illustration and Advertising  Dragons: The Need for Altruism and Heroism - p6  Heroic Fantasy and Strength - p7 Cuteness, Love, and Protectiveness  - p8  Horror: The Sublime Through a Dark and Uncertain World - p10  Awe and Transcendence in Fantasy - p11  Politics and Philosophy - p12  Greed, Heroism and Longing for Connectedness - p13   ..read more

 Previous                  Index                 Next  Understanding Fairytales and Fairy Mythology  by Ty Hulse The sun is setting and you are so hungry its difficult to think, despite the inedible leaves you stuffed yourself with in hopes of staving off the pains of starvations. That’s when there’s a knock at the door. On answering you discover a tiny man with a goose’s foot, a fairy! Your first reaction is to slam the door in the fairy’s face, for you have heard stories about fair ..read more

 Previous                  Index                 Next  Why Do People Rewatch and Reread Stories? by Ty Hulse A Valuable question for any entertainer to ask is; “why do people seek to reexperience a story by rereading or rewatching it, or by watching its sequels?” People don’t simply seek entertainment for its own sake, rather they seek to experience specific emotions during specific moods. (Vorderer, Klimmt, and Ritterfield, 2004.) The seeking of these emotions is more than just a desire t ..read more

 Previous                  Index                 Next  Our Fairy Neighbors   by Ty Hulse An English woman clutches her feverish child close as she runs up the side of a hill. Just a few hundred feet from her village is a small cave, home to a fairy known as a hob she hopes will cure her child’s illness, that had been caused by the shot from an elf’s invisible arrow. On the far side of Europe, a teenage girl, who is being chased by a vampire, runs into her bathhouse and calls out ..read more