#powers based on animals and mythical creatures to be exact

[starkawaiichan]

An AU I had in mind these past 3 days

Inspired by this dude's own powers right here

And no it does not based on Hazbin Hotel. Got the world-building up but I can't think of a name for this one. Magic AU? Myth AU? I don't know :'(

[ozzyeelz]

Here to ask you abt your ocs.

How did Shifter get his powers/abilities? Who's the merc he gets along with the most [personality wise] and complements the most [on the battlefield], if you had to choose?

And for your original universe ocs. What are they up to? Devious acts, I presume :3c?

I’ll answer these numerically just so it’s more organized, get ready for a long post yall!

1. How did Shifter get his powers/abilities?

Honestly, not even Shifter himself has a solid answer on that😅

As part of his backstory, when he was discovered by Mann Co. in his late teens, he was heavily experimented on, leaving his memory fragmented (and a bit traumatized). When they couldn’t find anything else useful about him, they shipped him off to fight in the gravel wars.

Due to this, he doesn’t really have any memory of where exactly his powers come from (or where he’s from, or his exact age, etc.), though through distant memories of his childhood, he guesses that he’s had his powers from birth! 

2. Who’s the merc he gets along with the most? (Personality wise)

I personally feel like he would be friends with Pyro, Demoman and Scout the most (with a little bit of Soldier and Sniper in the mix)!!

I feel that Demo and Shifter would be friends with a father/son (more like weird uncle/weirder nephew) dynamic going on! Shifter kinda sees Demo as his friend he can go to when conflicted, and Demo gives surprisingly good advice! Other than that, Shifter looks up to him for some reason hehe

Shifter and Pyro are definitely besties at first sight! Pyro was one of the first mercs to aproach Shifter when he arrived on base, all of the other mercs being too wary (or uninterested) to talk to the new hire. And because of Shifter’s sharp ears, they are able to understand Pyro pretty clear through the mask, so they just like to talk about whatever interests them :3

Because of Shifter’s ability to mix-and-match the animals he can turn into, he loves getting suggestions from Pyro of mythical creatures to turn into!! (Pyros favorites are dragons and unicorns, and Shifter loves to indulge them :3)

He can be quite mischievous when he wants to be, so he has no problem getting rowdy and indulging in some play-fighting with Scout!

Him and Scout are definitely friends, and though Scout had his reservations about the guy who looks just on the verge of non-human, as soon as Shifter discovered Scout’s love of challenges (especially when it comes to speed) Shifter became adamant on becoming friends with him! They also get into plenty of mischief together, with Scout’s favorite pastime picking on the other mercs, and Shifter’s love of chaos, trouble is bound to happen at some point!

They also both have a healthy fear of Medic (Shifter because of his time being experimented on by Mann co. (resulting in a fear of doctors/medical scientists), and Scout because who isn’t afraid of Medic)

3. Who’s the merc he compliments the most? (On the battlefield)

I feel like either Medic or Pyro would make an unstoppable force on the battlefield with him!!

Other than that, he already has a counterpart that works perfectly with his abilities (my other tf2 oc Comm (short for Communications))!!

(A quick sketch and early concept of this post!)

[sorenphelps]

PIRATE AU! Marauders

I decided to revisit and expand my take on the magical pirate au concept I had for last year's @siriusblackfest. This will be an unreasonably long description of my ideas, so if you don't feel like reading it, I absolutely understand. (I'm an artist first anyway.) I’d really really appreciate if you further expand or actually write these ideas into a proper fic, I mean, YES PLEASE!

I will definitely do more art for this concept, so stay tuned! My other pirate au works are here, here and here, or refer to my pirate au tag.

🌊🏴‍☠️⚓pirate AU concept ideas⚓🏴‍☠️🌊

About the lore:

Wizards and witches are all descendants of the lost empires Atlantis, Lemuria and Mu:

The Atlantean mages were once the world's most powerful leaders, who could predict the future with their magical stones, created great underground palaces, conquered the entire world with their gilded ships, commanded sea monsters such as the Kraken, the Leviathan, sirens, hydras and other sea demons. They possessed an extremely high level of technical and spiritual knowledge, which they could use to rule over life and death.

The Lemurians were tall, noble wizards, who were able to turn invisible or into an animal whenever they wanted. They were talented in alchemy, they knew a lot about the magical properties of precious stones and metals, which was the basis of their magic. They were very friendly with non-magical people, who often took advantage of their hospitality and stole their treasure which got scattered all around the world.

According to their belief, the wizards of Mu are the direct descendants of god-like creatures coming from the Sirius constellation. In Mu, wizards were excellent architects and sailors who lived in luxurious homes. Their magic was based on starlight and they had exceptional knowledge of astronomy. With the help of their advanced magical rituals, they could achieve anything. Hence the exact way of performing such rituals was kept as a secret, which was passed down from generation to generation only to those who were deemed worthy of it.

As the power of the "sea wizards" was feared among ordinary people, the wizarding world was forced into hiding, and the islands were swallowed up by the sea, seemingly forever… until a powerful dark wizard named Voldemort began searching for hidden treasures (horcruxes) to bring Atlantis and their superior magical capabilities back to the surface.

According to the legends, each of the Four Founders and the Peverell brothers created a horcrux (seven in total) to perform the most powerful magic known to wizardkind, which managed to sink and forever hide the Islands. They had poured all their power into their respective horcrux, giving up their magic forever. To release the power from a horcrux, a dark, forbidden ritual must be performed: the one who performs it will gather their power in exchange of a piece of their soul. Each horcrux is unique in shape and nature, and the rituals to release their binding requires immerse energy which is the easiest sourced by slaying mythical creatures and sacrificing innocent lives. The one who gathers and releases all seven horcruxes, will break the magic sealing the Islands to the bottom of the oceans and ascend to become a new immortal being with infinite power. However, their soul will be lost forever, never to be repaired, stuck in limbo for all eternity.

The horcruxes made by the Founders are Gryffindor’s Sword, Slytherin’s locket, Hufflepuff’s Cup and Ravenclaw’s Diadem. The Peverell Brother's horcruxes are:

Antioch’s Astrolabe: made from metals as shiny as the stars, could predict the future. If used incorrectly, it could give its user a false sense of assurance of potential events happening, making them too reckless. Most users died young as the results were misinterpreted easily. It belongs to Mu.

Cadmus’ Coat of Arms: a gold ring inset with the Resurrection Stone, engraved with the power to recall people from death. It belongs to Atlantis.

Ignotus’ Crown of Invisibility, an invisible crown-like object resembling peryton antlers. It belongs to Lemuria.

About the characters:

James - The Captain. He is a fun, mischievous and charismatic wizard of Lemurian origins. He is always up to no good but has the necessary natural leadership skills to make the most critical decisions quickly even in the tensest situations. He owns the ship ‘The Marauder’, which can turn invisible upon his command. His ancestors had a strong connection to perytons (large stag-bird hybrids), could call them at will, and because these beasts had the shadow of a man, people thought they were shapeshifters. The antlers can be forged to the strongest of metals possessing great power and their fur and wings are said to be the key to achieve true invisibility able to conceal its wearers so absolutely that even death itself could not find them. As perytons were prophesied to lead to the downfall of Atlantis, they were hunted to extinction supposedly. According to legends, a wizard of James’ lineage will be able to summon them again. He originally started his journey to find and secure these mythical creatures. When conveying his magic, his aura slightly changes to resemble antler motifs, prompting his nickname as “Prongs”.

Sirius - The Navigator. He is the firstborn son of an ancient wizarding family from Mu, therefore he has very powerful magical abilities, expertise in the art of combat and superior astronomical knowledge. Even though he is James’ closest and most trusted mate, who clearly possesses the necessary skills to be Quartermaster or Master Gunner, the Crew voted him unfit for those positions because of his rebellious nature, recklessness, and short temper. (Before they started sailing together as a Crew, during a full moon he decided to settle his personal disagreement with Snape by locking him in the underwater cabin they prepared for Remus. James intervened, earning him his position as the Captain.) He is very skilled in map reading and excellent at calculating the exact latitude of the ship just by observing the stars, making him the perfect Sailing Master responsible for navigating and sailing the ship flawlessly. He also has several magical tattoos to further enhance his navigation prowess. He enjoys music and pranking his fellow crew members, who like him nevertheless as he is fiercely loyal and protective of them.

Remus - The Quartermaster. He is not a wizard, but a sea monster. His mother was a selkie, who gave up her sea life willingly for her lover. Fenrir Greyback, an evil maniac obsessed with sea monsters and driven mad by siren songs, attacked and stole the seal-skin of Remus’ mother. Remus’ father, in a desperate attempt at helping his lover, offered her the skin of their son. The ritual backfired, and Remus became a selkie himself, who transforms into a sea monster every full moon. His mother never recovered and eventually disappeared. Remus has joined James’ pirate crew to find his mother and seal-skin to reunite his family, but ended up finding a new one. He’s elected as the Quartermaster of ‘The Marauder’, responsible for coordinating the ship’s day-to-day operations and discipline, dividing the shares fairly, settling disputes and acting as a representative for the Crew members when presenting their wishes to the Captain. He is very intelligent and practical, enjoys researching and is quite skilled in map reading/drawing. He is fascinated by Sirius’ expertise in navigation.

Peter - The Cook & Cooper. He is a seemingly weak and clumsy man with no magical talent. He claims he lost his right hand in an accident; others suspect it was cut off because he was caught stealing, but the truth is that he willingly sacrificed it during a ritual to gain the ability to turn into a rat. He is very resourceful, always listening to whispers and gathering all information. He serves as the Cook and the Cooper on ‘The Marauder’, spending most of his time onboard in the kitchen and food chambers, taking care of the provisions, preparing meals and making and maintaining barrels. He never fights, even when teased with being a coward. He knows every secret on the ship, making him possibly one of the most dangerous crew members, yet he maintains his helpless façade so perfectly, no one really suspects anything about him.

Lily - The Surgeon. She is a curious young lady with a passion for medical science, which she could develop while observing her father during work. Her father was a doctor, who often visited an orphanage nearby to help the monks. She met and befriended Severus there, they collected herbs and other ingredients for fun. She discovered she had magical abilities when the potions she had brewed all somehow possessed healing properties. (Severus’ potions on the other hand usually turned out to be poisonous.) Lily joined ‘The Marauder’ as the Surgeon, after James’ multiple unsuccessful attempts at recruiting her. (He made his crew to stage very elaborate emergency scenarios, which theoretically required immediate medical assistance... until one time it was not theoretical anymore.)

Severus - The Boatswain. He is an intelligent and perceptive young man, with an extraordinary talent for alchemy. His father married his mother hoping the woman could make him the richest man alive as she was the descendant of known Alchemists. However, Severus’ mother only held the Book of Magick Moste Evile as a family heirloom which couldn’t turn anything to gold. Severus was sent to an orphanage after his father killed his mother, where he met with Lily. He had learned every bit of potion making and dark magic from his mother’s book in an attempt at impressing the girl, but the better he became, the more she estranged from him. He eventually ran away from the orphanage, and lived by his wits and magic. He served as a Powder Monkey and a Cabin Boy of famous pirate captains, where he gathered remarkable sailing experience too. On ‘The Marauder’, he was appointed as the Boatswain, responsible for the general maintenance of the ship and making sure all the supplies (including gunpowder, medicine, magical ingredients) were in order. The Crew somewhat respects his abilities but dislikes him as he has a grumpy and unpleasant personality and is scarily skilled in dark magic.

Marlene - The Master Gunner. She is a no-nonsense witch of Lemurian descent, in charge of the cannons, the gunpowder, the shots and weapons of ‘The Marauder’. She is the foremost expert in the art of combat and war strategy onboard. Her family was tasked to guard the Sword of Gryffindor for centuries, unaware that it was a horcrux. The sword was forged from pure silver and is inset with rubies, said to ignite great courage in the hearts of everyone wielding it and capable to defeat all enemies. Marlene wears a necklace decorated with a large and shiny ruby, representing her brave and combative personality. The stone also enhances her fighting abilities.

Dorcas - The Carpenter. She is an easygoing girl with ancestors from Mu. Despite being loosely related to Sirius, her magic differs a lot from his. She is a fortune teller (uses cards and not the stars to predict the possibility of events), and has a natural affinity for working with wood. (A magical tree is the symbol of the eastern side of Mu, which is also tattooed on Sirius’ neck.) She works as the Carpenter, responsible for the ship's maintenance and damage control, even during battle. Her job is to reconstruct entire sections of the ship and the sails. She designed and built the underwater cabin for Remus’ transformations. She also enjoys music and is in a relationship with Marlene.

[kaypeace21]

Idk if this is possible or not or if you've done it already but could you list all the rainbow references in the show?

Haha- talk about pandora’s box. Sure, personally i think the rainbows have multiple meanings -3 meanings to to be exact

1) Rainbows being associated with psychics + Will’s powers plot twist

*We see in the stranger thing novel 'suspicious minds' when overusing powers you may hallucinate rainbows (which are also associated with the void/ monsters in the series) .

Terry: “Spots bloomed behind her eyelids. Every color … as the sunlight turned to rainbows” ( p44-45), “streaks of rainbow appeared (p47)”,“The rainbow stayed with Terry for a long while, but eventually it faded and in its place: darkness. A pit.”(p. 48). 

Alice (who sees visions of the future) : “Snarling, snapping monsters,RAINBOW LIGHTS playing in the air around them” (p. 121).

cough Will being in the upsidedown/being chased by “monsters”. And Joyce communicating with Will  via “rainbow lights.”

The rainbow room (from s2) also has a rainbow on the door- according to the novel kali drew that rainbow. Similar to Will's rainbow drawing. Kali in the book also creates a rainbow allusion with sunflowers (Terry ref).

Kali: “field of yellow sunflowers  grew up around them. A rainbow arcing over the golden tops.” (p. 139).  “He noticed she’d drawn up there, a rainbow with her colored pencils. Maybe he’d suggest that for the playroom” (the rainbow room we see in s2) (p. 298)

I also already talked about how Terry saying "breath, sunflower, rainbow " is actually a reference to s1 Will- here (in link including pic of Will and Terry being told to “breath”.

*El in s3 also thinks of papa, her mother , and the rainbow room- cause she sees a cereal box with a rainbow (on it).

Dustin and susie sing a song from the film adaption of the book "never ending story". Which indicates how Will is subconsciously creating the supernatural creatures & people in the series . Before they sing, we also see  susie is next to a ‘wizard of oz’ posters & she reads & talks to Dustin about the book "wizard of earthsea'. 2 of the 3 examples have  rainbow-related songs (in their film adaptions) & all 3 hint at Will’s powers.

* wizard of earthsea:

It’s about a pre-teen wizard named Ged who has a bowl cut (Will) who casts a powerful spell, but the spell goes awry and instead he releases a shadow creature (by opening a portal between the living & dead- Will is a zombie boy remember?)! The new Archmage, Gensher, describes the shadow as an ancient evil that wishes to possess Ged. But the ‘shadow’ turns out  to be a representation of the darkest aspects of his personality. It’ only when he calls the shadow monster by his own name “Ged”(cough mf=will the wise) does the monster stop acting out. The only way to save the world is for ged to then  merge with the shadow(and for Ged to accept himself-and “become whole”).This also reminds me of the “Jungian shadow” 

* never ending story: 

Bastian ( who has a bowl cut- and is from single parent house hold) subconsciously creates a fantasy world being over run by darkness (symbolizing the loss of hope and dreams). One of the characters he creates is Atreyu (El). Atreyu ( was the child deemed the ‘chosen one). “Atreyu is knocked into the sea of possibilities. There he wakes on the shore of abandoned ruins. And Gmorick (mindflayer) then latches his jaws onto Atreyu’s (El’s) leg.”Pretty much what happened to El.”The Empress in the story later tells Atreyu, that despite being told he was the chosen one (he never was). And that it was always Bastian (Will) who was the chosen one-since his imagination created Fantasia (so he’s the only way to stop the darkness from over -running it).”

Will has mental health issues and  accidentally writes a “story” about the shadow monster (reflecting his tra*ma). Bastian is depressed (over his parent) and subconsciously creates a story about darkness over-running everything. Like how Hopper describes his depression- like a black hole.

song Dustin & Susie sing:

 “Written on the pages is the answer to a never ending story” (cough the books susie referenced - are explaining the answer to what’s causing the mindflayer/upsidedown/the lab...this story )

“DREAM a dream. And what you DREAM will be” ( Will’s imagination making his nightmares come true)

“Rhymes that keep their secrets Will unfold behind the clouds.And there upon a RAINBOW Is the answer to a never ending story.”

(the lyric “rhymes that keep their SECRETS” purposely pans to Will both times the song is sung). Because the ‘SECRET’ is -he’s causing everything. And thus he’s the only way to stop it- or they’ll all be stuck in a never-ending story. The only way to stop it is for Will to face his shadow/the mindflayer (aka the other Will) who is always shown within the STORM CLOUDS . Will needs to create a RAINBOW (out of those storm clouds). Like rainbows that show up AFTER a storm.He’d do this by accepting himself , his tra*ma/mental health relating to his dad, and or his gay identity- then the story will be able to end.Dustin even says “ defeat his RAINBOW of DARKNESS” (and later says a “rainbow is the answer ”(to the story). st book:”The RAINBOW stayed with Terry for a long while, but eventually it faded and in its place: DARKNESS. A pit.”AKA: Will has to face his symbolic darkness and the storm/and than create a rainbow from it- for the story to end...

When Dustin says ‘rainbow of darkness’ he talks about my little pony- where one of their friends became a dragon.  in d&d wizards can become dragons &Bastian also summons a dragon with his imagination powers in ‘never ending story’. And Will is associated with dragons: s1he  has dragon comic & drawing, s2 Will has dragon poster in his room + watches his friends play dragon game. And again... dungeons & dragons.

Also tw for s.a/parental ab*se (so skip to ‘wizard of oz’  if you prefer ). In the 4th book of wizard of Eathsea (20 years after the original, where ged was the protagonist). The new main  protagonist - was r*ped and burned by her father as a child (and in the sequel she became a dragon as a form of empowerment ). which goes with my lonnie theory-sadly.

*wizard of oz: 

it’s about a Dorothy creating a mythical world based on people she both likes and dislikes . Dorothy sings in the movie a song about a ‘RAINBOW’ and references ‘DREAMS’ coming true in a mythical land -much like the ‘never ending story’ song (referencing “rainbows”/”dreams” coming to life).

“There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby Somewhere over the RAINBOW, Skies are blue, And the DREAMS that you dare to dream, really do come true...”

We see in s1 Hopper cop-partner calls the lab “emerald city”. Murray in s2 says people “don’t want to look behind the curtain” (to see what’s causing the supernatural -in the film what was literally behind the curtain was a wizard-cough like Will). We also have -lion, tiger, and bear stuffed animals (as a ‘lion, and tigers, and bears-oh my!’ quote )from the film. And David harbor (Hopper) when referencing the s4 rainbow room (quotes the song)  and he also quotes a speech from Dorothy-when posting about the cabin the mindflayer destroyed.

2) Rainbow cups (hinting at Lonnie’s return) 

We see 2 rainbow cups in the series. 

in s2) when Mike & Will are sitting together & saying they’re “crazy together” . This cup next to them says “happy birthday” in rainbow. Later that season- they talk about Will’s birthday-rainbow drawing, Mike&Will meeting & Lonnie leaving. And in s2, we also see in Will’s room a card that says “sorry, I forgot your birthday”(most likely from Lonnie). So both Lonnie & Mike are associated with Will’s bday.

in s3) We see a woman yell “I don’t want her in my house!” (while she sits next to a rainbow cup). reminiscent of Joyce saying to Lonnie “get out of my house”. We also know there are rumors s4 takes place during Will’s birthday & Lonnie’s actor may have been spotted on set.  Along with the fact (it’s pretty much confirmed) Mike will be visiting the Byers in s4. However, the woman (next to the rainbow cup)  also says “2 visitor only. 2!″

THE 2 VISITORS ARE MIKE &LONNIE (for Will’s b day). 

Also, in s3, when El is drinking from cup- she sees a rainbow. And what’s the first word she thinks of? “Papa.”

so rainbow+cup= shitty dads (lonnie & brenner) probably returning

*And of course if that’s the case -Lonnie (the same guy who called Will h*mophobic sl*rs) will not be supportive of Mike & Will’s “friendship”. And will not be nice to Mike (to say the least). Like... imagine Hopper in s3 - but we know he’s not bluffing and the audience won’t have the option to take it as a joke... and yes the s4 movies hint at that...

3) gay symbolism

First we have Mike wheeler. He in s1 has rainbows sheets, rainbow bedroom blinds , and in his basement there’s a heart propelled by a rainbow. This is like how in s3 Mike kisses El and there is a drawing that says "Mike'. And on the drawing is a heart propelled by a rainbow. I already explained how its symbolic of him trying to be straight/fighting his feelings for Will, but wherever he goes a rainbow still follows (even when he tries being romantic with El). He’s trying to hide his “rainbow heart” by dating  El- why in s3 (the rainbow-heart in his basement) mysteriously disappeared from his room (but a similar symbol follows Mike even when he kisses El). 

Even in s2 when talking about Will (in the AV tech room): Mike is placed in the center of 2 objects : an object with 11 on it & on the right a rainbow apple (this apple is supposed to be an ode to the gay father of computers- but also about the forbidden apple). Hinting at the love triangle of Mike (with El/Will). PLUS, in the ST book ‘worlds turned upsidedown’ they literally show Mike in the AV room- and  put the caption “FALLING IN LOVE- with tech” (and placed rainbow flags next to the caption). And of course we have Mike & Will pose next to the rainbow apple- in the AV room.

 We also see when Mike and Will says they’re “crazy together” (aka LOVE-as Flo stated) and they’re next to a rainbow cup that says Happy birthday .

And later that season they ref the rainbow ship Will drew for his birthday-which Joyce was "proud" of.  And while dancing with a girl (Will according to the script was looking at Mike instead of her) . That girl is wearing a rainbow heart hair pin. This is essentially a parallel to Mike . Will (next to a rainbow heart) is dancing with a girl, but is secretly thinking of Mike. Mike (next to a rainbow heart) is kissing el but secretly thinking of Will (and immediately goes on a movie double date with Will after this). The lyrics of both these scenes indicate they're not happy pretending to be straight. The lyrics for Will are "every smile you fake". And Mike while kissing el is "just a little uncertainty can bring you down" (and during this lyric is when El puts her hands on him-and he removes her hands from him *aka he’s not as confident in the relationship as he pretends to be.

We see in s4 bts that the rainbow heart hair pin (worn by the girl Will dances with) is also worn by nancy while standing next to Robin (who is gay). So being near a  ‘rainbow-heart’ is prob a hint a character is gay. Aka robin & Will & Mike.

tumblr user “awhstrangerthings” pointed out the nancy -hair clip detail.

In s1 when troy is calling Will h*mophobic sl*rs (in front of Mike) he wears a rainbow shirt. And max while often critiquing m*leven (in s3) (to Mike) often wears rainbow shirts. I talked about how I thought Troy and max subconsciously remind Mike he isn't straight - so they're associated with the rainbow iconography-post here. Like we see Max with rainbow sheets (like Mike) and than she immediately talks to him on the phone. I mean she could be queer- but I lean to that theory at the moment. 

The whole being near rainbows when associating with a queer character makes sense (it’s like a ‘gay-dar”). Similar to Nancy’s hair clip when being near Robin/ that Girl having the same rainbow hair clip when dancing with Will. If we assume this theory than see a pattern with other characters (when speaking about/being near queer coded characters)....

it’s similar to how : When lucas (via subtext) criticizes m*leven- he is also next to a rainbow (in Erica's room). I explained here- why it’s about m*leven.

or when Jonathan says he’s going to hang out with Will (it’s near a rainbow).

This Jonathan moment -Is similar to when Steve ( who has a rainbow bandaid-from the Byers’ house) calls Mike “Nancy” (which is slang for a gay guy)

*another addition: you see in the comments of this post ghostgirlsatin mentioned Dart has a rainbow blanket. But, I noticed a couple of other things. 

notice Dustin says "we have to talk- its about my friend ,Will". As Dustin is near rainbow lights and a rainbow bed sheet. Like how

A) rainbows are associated with the supernatural creatures + Will

B) rainbow lights associated with Will

C) rainbows near straight characters when talking about /near queer characters... similar to how Jonathan is near a rainbow when talking about Will

*also can’t tell if that is a ‘rainbow ship’ poster?

We also see Erica has a sunflower & rainbow drawing in her room... at the moment not sure if its just a random easteregg , foreshadowing something supernatural we're not aware of yet? or just for the m*leven diss?

(although given the fact i think some characters were created by Will- and given all the Max &Billy/Will & jonathan parallels ... the rainbow stuff may be a hint Will created them? I mean they even made a Troy comic just to show his dad is a bully.) But, at the moment, i still lean to (some) characters having rainbow iconography because they’re referring to/are near a queer character.

[thecreaturecodex]

Lycanthrope, Weredevil Monkey

“Mapinguari apeman” © Frank Parr, accessed at his deviantArt page here

[Paizo usually does alright by its adaptations of mythical/folkloric/legendary creatures, but it misses the mark sometimes. The official Pathfinder version of the mapinguari, for example, leaves out most of its most interesting features--the stench and the mouth in its stomach. This art doesn’t depict a very accurate mapinguari either, but it does make a great cyclops weremonkey.]

Weredevil Monkey CR 7 CE Humanoid (shapechanger) This red-furred, simian humanoid has prominent tufts of hair, a short tail, and a single glaring eye.

Weredevil monkeys are vicious and destructive lycanthropes. They enjoy tearing down the works of civilization and breaking things, the bigger and more complicated the better. As their base animal form is Huge, only giants can succumb to this form of lycanthropy. Cyclopes, great cyclopes and hill giants are the most likely to take this form, due to their shared habitats with the devil monkey.

Devil monkeys are omnivores with a fondness for meat, and their lycanthropic equivalents are much the same. They may raid farms and ranches for food, smashing all of the fences and barns and letting loose whatever animals they do not kill. If anyone tries to stop them, they will kill and eat them too. Weredevil monkeys often only eat parts of humanoid victims, taking the rest as grisly trophies and posting them as territorial markers. They are clannish with their kin, but violently territorial with other primates, lycanthrope or otherwise.

Weredevil Monkey (Cyclops form)            CR 7 XP 3,200 Cyclops natural weredevil monkey fighter 1 CE Large humanoid (giant, shapechanger) Init +5; Senses low-light vision, Perception +18 Defense AC 20, touch 10, flat-footed 19 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +3 armor, +7 natural) hp 88 (10d8+1d10+33) Fort +12, Ref +4, Will +6 Defensive Abilities ferocity Offense Speed 40 ft. Melee masterwork greataxe +15/+10 (3d6+10/x3) Ranged masterwork javelin +9 (1d8+7) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Statistics Str 25, Dex 12, Con 17, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 6 Base Atk +8; CMB +16 (+20 sunder); CMD 27 (29 vs. sunder) Feats Alertness, Cleave, Great Cleave, Greater Sunder, Improved Initiative, Improved Sunder, Power Attack Skills Acrobatics +4 (+8 when jumping), Climb +10, Perception +18, Sense Motive +8, Survival +8; Racial Modifiers +8 Perception Languages Cyclops, Common, Giant SQ change shape (cyclops, devil monkey or hybrid, polymorph), flash of insight, lycanthropic empathy (monkeys) Ecology Environment any temperate or tropical Organization solitary, pair or troop (3-10) Treasure standard (masterwork studded leather armor, masterwork Large greataxe, masterwork Large javelins [x3], other treasure) Special Abilities Flash of Insight (Su) Once per day as an immediate action, a cyclops can peer into an occluded visual spectrum of possible futures, gaining insight that allows it to select the exact result of one die roll before the roll is made. This effect can alter an action taken by the cyclops only, and cannot be applied to the rolls of others.

Weredevil Monkey (Hybrid form)             CR 7 XP 3,200 Cyclops natural weredevil monkey fighter 1 CE Huge humanoid (giant, shapechanger) Init +7; Senses low-light vision, Perception +18 Defense AC 23, touch 11, flat-footed 20 (-2 size, +3 Dex, +3 armor, +9 natural) hp 99 (10d8+1d10+44) Fort +13, Ref +6, Will +6 DR 10/cold iron Defensive Abilities ferocity Offense Speed 40 ft. Melee masterwork greataxe +16/+11 (3d6+16/x3), bite +12 (2d8+5 plus curse of lycanthropy and puncture armor) or bite +17 (2d8+16 plus curse of lycanthropy and puncture armor) Ranged masterwork javelin +8 (1d8+11) or rock +10 (1d8+11) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Special Attacks curse of lycanthropy (Large, Huge or Gargantuan, DC 15), rock throwing (30 ft.) Statistics Str 33, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 8 Base Atk +8; CMB +16 (+20 sunder); CMD 27 (29 vs. sunder) Feats Alertness, Cleave, Great Cleave, Greater Sunder, Improved Initiative, Improved Sunder, Power Attack Skills Acrobatics +8 (+12 when jumping), Climb +14, Perception +18, Sense Motive +8, Survival +8; Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics, +4 Climb, +8 Perception Languages Cyclops, Common, Giant SQ change shape (cyclops, devil monkey or hybrid, polymorph), flash of insight, lycanthropic empathy (monkeys) Ecology Environment temperate and warm hills and plains Organization solitary, pair or troop (3-10) Treasure standard (masterwork studded leather armor, masterwork Large greataxe, masterwork Large javelins [x3], other treasure) Special Abilities Flash of Insight (Su) Once per day as an immediate action, a cyclops can peer into an occluded visual spectrum of possible futures, gaining insight that allows it to select the exact result of one die roll before the roll is made. This effect can alter an action taken by the cyclops only, and cannot be applied to the rolls of others. Puncture Armor (Ex) A weredevil monkey’s fangs are devastating against armor and apparel. When a weredevil monkey hits with its bite, the creature bitten must succeed at a DC 18 Reflex save or the damage dealt by the bite is also dealt to any armor worn by the creature. If the target isn’t wearing armor and fails this save, there’s a 50% chance the bite damage is applied to a magic item worn in the body, chest, head, or shoulders slot (determine which item is bitten randomly among all potential targets). The save DC is Constitution-based.

[mysticmachmir]

Judaism: Solstices and Equinoxes

Photo Source

Overview

Judaism runs on a lunar calendar, for example, all our holidays start at sundown. So, this means that the changes of the seasons which are based on a solar calendar do not have as much prominence as the phases of the moon. However, in the Jewish Pre-Talmudic text the Book of Jubilees, we see an alternate Jewish solar calendar. In the end, it was not chosen for what our system is based on - but the Rabbis do talk about the solstices and equinoxes within the Talmud (Berakhot 59b, Shabbat 53a, Eruvin 56a). The word for these four seasons marked by these events is "Tekufot" (tekufah in the singular) which literally means "turn" or "cycle" in Hebrew. According to the sages, each tekufah marks the beginning of a period of 91 days 7½ hours. Tekufot are not necessarily positive events, associated with some negative superstitions. However, there are some different recorded Midrashim that have positive or neutral associations, along with a blessing that can be used to acknowledge them (though this is a minority opinion in the Babylonian Talmud, majority rules this was not necessary). While there is no exact answer, there is some speculation that the four new years within Judaism may be marking the four solar transitions within the year, but some of them are at half-points and not accurately aligned. 

Superstitions

An ancient superstition connected with the tekufot is surrounding water. All water that may be in the house or stored away in vessels in the first hour of the tekufah is thrown away in the belief that the water is then poisoned, and if drunk would cause swelling of the body, sickness, and sometimes death. One of the reasons it is said is because the angels who guard and are the protectors of the year "change shifts" at every solar transition, so water is left unguarded. Another is that Cancer fights with Libra and drops blood into the water. Another reason is that at every tekufah, blood has been shed in our spiritual history. At Tekufat Nissan, the waters in Egypt turned to blood. At Tekufat Tammuz, Moshe smote the rock and caused drops of blood to flow from it. At Tekufat Tishrei the knife which Avraham held to slay Yitzchak dropped blood. Finally, at Tekufat Tevet, Yiftach sacrificed his daughter. It is not only against kashrut laws to ingest blood, but there is a lot of superstition around keeping life and death separated in many of our rituals. To avoid this issue with unused water, one must put a piece of iron within it or put it in an iron vessel. If you are making matzot on Tekufat Nisan, you must use a new iron nail and lower it by a string into the water first. 

There is no traceable origin of this superstition, but in the 10th-century Rabbis asked about these questions and discussed it, meaning it was widespread even then.

Blessing

In Berakhot 59b, the sages say: "One who sees the sun in her tekufah, or the moon in her power, or the stars in their orbits, recites: Blessed is the one who makes Creation' (baruch oseh vereshit)." Abaye argues this should only be done every 29 years when the spring equinox falls so that the sun is in the same place it was on the day of Creation. However, the minority opinion was still written, so you could make the choice to recite it in the astrological events mentioned.

Havdalah ha-Tekufah

This blessing may be recited over a cup of wine or grape juice on the day of the equinox or solstice. This prayer also may be recited along with a blessing over a scent related to the season, for example, flowers for spring, fruit for summer, leaves for fall, and pine boughs for winter. It is based on the following texts:

The Havdalah ceremony dividing Shabbat from the weekday. 

The blessing over equinoxes and solstices found in the Babylonian Talmud (Berakhot 59b).

The traditional evening prayer marking the transition between day and night.

The Torah text in which the Holy One promises Noach that the seasons will continue as long as the earth endures (Bereishit 8:22).

The blessings over the abundance of years found in the daily Amidah prayer (recited in the feminine to honor the Skehinah, the immanent Divine Presence). 

Baruch atah Hashem Elokeinu melekh ha'olam borei peri ha'gafen.

Blessed are You, Hashem, Ruler of the Universe, creator of the fruit of the vine.

Bercuchah at Shekhinah Elokeinu ruach ha'olam, borei isvei (atzei) vesamim. 

Blessed are You, Shekhinah, the Presence who embodies the world, who creates fragrant plants and grasses (or: fragrant trees). 

Baruch atah Hashem Elokeinu melekh ha'olam, oseh vereishit, asher bit'vunah meshaneh itim umachalif et hazemanim. Od kol yemei ha'aretz zera vekatzir vekor vechom vekayitz vechoref veyom velailah lo yishbotu. Bercuhah at Shekhinah, mevarechet hashanim. 

Blessed are you, Hashem, Ruler of the Universe, who makes Creation, whose wisdom changes the times and turns the seasons. As long as the days of the earth endure, planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. Blessed are You, Divine Presence, who blesses the years.

Midrashim and Teachings

Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer, a Rabbinic work, tells of the teaching of tekufot to Adam and Chava as part of divine wisdom. Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer (7) also notes the combination of lunar and solar elements in the Jewish calendar. The passage explains that Rabbinic authorities inserted leap months in the calendar "for the sake of the trees, for the sake of the grasses, and for the sake of the tekufot," meaning that the lunar calendar had to be balanced with the cycles of planting and harvest and with the cycles of the solar year. 

Medieval traditions about the tekufot emphasized the eerie qualities of the solstices and equinoxes. The Machzor Vitry indicates the frightening biblical events such as the plague of blood that happened at the four seasonal transitions. 

The Otzar Midrashim (Hashem Behomah, Yasad Aretz 6) mentions a more positive midrash in which giant mythical beings and animals roar on each of the four seasonal dates. These roars compel the demons and wild creatures of the world to restrain themselves so that order prevails and life continues. Thus they encourage all beings to praise the compassion of the Divine. This midrash suggests that the solstices and equinoxes have both frightening and life-preserving qualities. 

Midrash Tanhuma (Korach 10) tells us that the chieftains of Moshe were selected partly because they knew how to calculate and observe the tekufot.

Tekufat Nisan

Tekufat Nisan is the vernal equinox when the Sun enters Aries; this is the beginning of spring, or "eit hazera" (seed-time) when day and night are equal. It is also known as the season of "the triumph of life". 

Jubilees (6:25) records the 1st of Nisan as the day the Divine commanded Noach to build an ark and the day Noach opened the ark and saw dry land.

Seder Olam (11:1), a work from Talmudic times, relates that the new moon of Nissan, the day the Holy Ones gives the calendar to Moshe in preparation for the first celebration of Pesach, is also the spring equinox.

The ancient midrashic collection Peskita Rabbati (15:17), on the other hand, suggests the day of the Exodus was the spring equinox.

In the Machzor Vitry, the spring equinox is the day the first plague, the plague of blood, falls upon Mitzrayim.

In Otzar Midrashim (Hashem Behomah, Yasad Aretz 6), the spring equinox is the day when humans receive protection from demons and evil spirits. On that day, the seraphim "lift up their heads to the heaven, and the fear of them falls upon demons and spirits, and the seraphim shelter humans beneath their wings to hide them from the demons."

The Purim holiday falls near the spring equinox. Its heroine, Esther, reveals herself as a Jew to save her people.

These tales associate the spring equinox with freedom, with divine protection from oppressor or danger, and with life. in spring, the young plants bursting forth from the ground need protection and room to grow, and we ask this blessing for ourselves as well.

Kavanot la-Tekufot: "Arise, my beloved, my fair one, come away, for now the winter is past, the rains are over and gone, the blossoms appear in the land, the time of singing has come, and the song of the dove is in heard in our land." -- Shir haShirim 2:10-12

Tekufat Tammuz

Tekufat Tammuz is the summer solstice when the Sun enters Cancer; this is the summer season, or "et ha-katsir" (harvest-time) when the day is the longest in the year. It is also known as the season of "loss and abundance".

In Jubilees (6:26), the story of Noach's flood, the summer solstice is the day the mouths of the great abyss are closed so that the water ceases pouring onto the earth. 

Jubilees (3:32) also names the summer solstice as the day the Divine exiles Adam and Chava from Gan Eden. This is the day the animals lose their power of speech.

In Seder Olam (11;1), we learn that the day the sun stood still so that Yehoshuah's warriors could win the battle of Gibeon was the summer solstice.

In Genesis Rabbah (6:6), we learn that "on the summer solstice no creation has a shadow."

In the Machzor Vitry, the summer solstice is the day Moshe strikes a rock in anger while seeking water for the people. The Eternal tells Moshe he will never enter Eretz Yisrael as a result of his actions.

In Otzar Midrashim (Hashem Behohmah, Yasad Aretz 6), the summer solstice is the day animals receive protection from their predators. On that day, "the Holy One puts strength in the Behemoth and it becomes strong and raises its head and cries out, and its voice extends through all the settled land, and the wild animals hear and are afraid."

In Jewish tradition, the summer solstice carries with it themes of closure, exile, and loss, yet also the benevolence of nature and the divine. We meditate on grief, yet also on the world's abundance. The summer solstice is a day of paradox: maximum light but also a turn toward darkness.

Kavanot la-Tekufot: "A day is coming that burns like a furnace … I will shine upon you who revere the name of the Infinite a sun of righteousness, with healing in Her wings." -- Malachi 3:19-20

Summer Solstice Rituals: http://telshemesh.org/tammuz/a_jewish_summer_solstice_ritual.html https://www.ritualwell.org/ritual/meditation-tekufat-tammuz https://www.ritualwell.org/ritual/earth-prays

Tekufat Tishrei

Tekufat Tishrei, the autumnal equinox, when the sun enters Libra, and autumn, or "et ha-batsir" (vintage-time), begins, and when the day again equals the night. It is also known as the season of "the link between earth and heaven". 

Jubilees (6:26), in its story of the Flood, records the autumn equinox as the day the floodwaters begin to descend back into the depths so that the earth can be fruitful once again.

On the autumn equinox, Avraham sits up all night to observe the stars, to forecast the rains of the coming season (Jubilees 12:16).

In the Machzor Vitry, the autumn equinox is the day Avraham nearly sacrifices Yitzchak on Mount Moriah, before the Divine stays his hand. Because of his act, Avraham is blessed that his seed will be as the stars in the sky.

According to the Babylonian Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 10b), Sarah, Rakhel, and Channah all conceived on the 1st of Tishrei, a date close to the autumn equinox. 

In Otzar Midrashim (Hashem Behohmah, Yasad Aretz 6), the autumn equinox is the season of the ziz, when birds receive protection from their predators. "On the autumn equinox, the Holy One gives strength to the ziz and it becomes strong, and it lifts is head and flaps its winds and sends forth its voice, so that fear of it falls on the culture and the osprey from one year to the next."

The autumn equinox seems related to the skies, the stars, and the rains. Yet it is also related to fertility and to the renewal of life. In many climates, autumn is a season of harvest and of rain. Perhaps the autumn equinox is the time of reforging the lin between earth and heaven- a link necessary for life to continue.

Kavanot la-Tekufot: "May it be Your will that it be a year of rain and dew, a year of favor, a year of blessing, and a year of abundance … and please do not listen to the prayers of those who pray that there be no rain!" -- Leviticus Rabbah 20:44

Tekufat Tevet

Tekufat Tevet is the winter solstice when the sun enters Capricorn; this is the beginning of winter, or "et ha-ḥoref" (winter-time), when the night is the longest during the year. It is also known as the season for "the search for light".

In Jubilees (7), in the days of Noach, the winter solstice is the day the peaks of the mountains became visible after the floodwaters recede.

In the Babylonian Talmud (Avodah Zarah 8a), Adam and Chava become frightened as the winter solstice approaches, thinking the shortening of the days is a punishment. They fast for eight days. On the winter solstice, when the light grows, they celebrate for eight days. 

In the Machzor Vitry, the winter solstice is the day Yiftach, a chieftain of Yisrael, sacrifices his daughter in fulfillment of a foolish battle vow. She has been bewailing her fate on the hills for two months.

Otzah Midrashim (Hashem Behohmah, Yasad Aretz 6), tells that on the winter solstice, Leviathan protects the creatures of the sea from their predators: "On every winter solstice he lifts his head and makes himself great, and blows in the water, and roils the sea, and makes all the fish in the ocean afraid." Leviathan is a creature known for being G!d's playmate (Babylonian Talmud, Avodah Zarah 3b) and a wise teacher of human beings (Otzar Midrashim Alphabet of Ben Sira 17). His eyes, according to the Talmud, flash in the deep (Bava Batra 74b). 

The winter solstice seems to have to do with sight or the lack thereof. Mountains become visible to Noach, and the patterns of nature become visible to Adam and Chava. Leviathan is associated with inner sight. Yiftach, on the other hand, is blind to his own wrongdoings. On the winter solstice, the sun's light begins to become stronger, and we too consider how to strengthen our vision.

Kavanot la-Tekufot: "We are grateful before You, Eternal One, for You have brought us from darkness to light." -- Midrash Bereshit 68:11

Winter Solstice Rituals: http://telshemesh.org/tevet/winter_solstice_take_2.html http://telshemesh.org/tevet/chanukahsolstice_thoughts_for_2008.html http://telshemesh.org/tevet/chanukat_hatekufahritual_for_chanukah_and_the_winter_solstice_jill_hammer.html https://www.ritualwell.org/blog/burning-away-darkness-winter-solstice-ritual

If you like my writing, feel free to leave me a tip here: https://ko-fi.com/ezrasaville

Sources: The Jewish Book of Days by Rabbi Jill Hammer Jewish Encyclopedia, 1906. http://www.peelapom.com/  http://www.devotaj.com/ http://telshemesh.org/ 

[americangodstalk]

American Gods fan-made RPG: The Old Gods (how to create)

If you want to play or create an Old God, we would advise you first to make sure to check first material about the mythological figure you want to use. Check encyclopedias about the religion or culture you want to explore, research online for articles or studies of the god or goddess that will be your character. Mythologies and legends already have so much funny, crazy and incredible character descriptions, traits, trivia and stories that you cannot ignore them. Use them as much as you can, play them straight or subvert them, make them a major point or just a reference, but using as much real-world knowledge as you can will only make the game more interesting.

A first important note to make is that an Old God doesn’t actually have to be a “god” per se. Old Gods include mythological monsters, mythical figures, fairies and spirits of all sorts, supernatural or divine creatures... A God is an entity that people believed in, whose stories were told and passed on, and that received worship in a form of another (and worship can be as simple as avoiding to do a specific thing or cross a specific place out of fear of the entity). By this definition angels, demons, jinns, fair folk, trolls and yokai are all gods. Do not feel like you need to get a big name - you can always play with smaller figures. In the decay and loneliness of the Old Gods, all are now equal. 

When you select a mythological, religious or historical figure, always remember that they need to have been brought to America somehow. You cannot have an Old God whose people never set a foot in America. All the Old Gods are not native of the land - they were brought here (for Native American Gods, a separate section will be written - this one focuses mostly on non-Native old gods). In the American Gods universe, most of the theories of “early contact” with America are actually true. In the American Gods canon, the Vikings, the Egyptians, the Romans and the Chinese all discovered America before Christopher Colombus set a foot there (though all never stayed for long in this land). Feel free to dig up “early contact” archeological theories and use them in your canon. Of course, you can also choose to have the Old Gods be brought strictly by historically-accurate immigration waves. This is strongly encouraged - and we advise you to make a bit of research about the history of immigration and ethnicities in the United-States. 

Once you have your Old God or Old Goddess, you need to think of what his or her appearance and personality will be like. Personality wise, the original myths and legends usually give enough material - though you should always remember that some are in America for centuries now, and lived through many hardships. Their personality very probably changed in front of the misery of their situation and whatever new activity they took upon themselves to survive. Some might be in denial, others depressed or angry... As for the appearance, while you should base yourself on canonical representations of the entity in their original religion or culture, a few things should always be remembered:

They appear as regular, human beings. They can have or hide some unusual traits (trolls will appear as massive, tall or obese humans, while ifrits can need to hide behind sunglasses eyes made of fire and gorgons will need to always cover their head to protect the snakes) but they all appear to be regular, if maybe a little odd, humans. They can take more fantastical shapes, but they usually only do so in the Backstage (see the devoted section). The Old Gods always reflect their original culture - do not take an Egyptian god and describe him as a white-skinned man, or do not take a Chinese goddess and describe her as a copper-skinned woman (unless the original mythological description demands it). Japanese gods will appear as Japanese men, Slavic goddesses will appear as Russian or Eastern-European women. Another element that should be remembered is that the Old Gods are weaker in America, old and abandonned, and this often reflects in their appearance. Most of them appear as elderly people, or as sick in a way or another. Not all have to look weary and ancient - some still look like young people (especially if they are ever-young entities), but while in legends they will be beautiful youth, in American they can turn into acneic and lanky teenagers. Or they can keep their original beauty and majesty - if they have enough worship and belief. In general, the level of beauty, youth and anomaly of an Old God appearance is linked to their level of “Divine Decay” - see the corresponding section. 

Once you have selected their appearance and personality, powers should be considered. The Old Gods are creatures of magic and legend. Not all have fantastical powers, but many do. Once again, we can’t advise you enough to make research about the supernatural abilities of the creature or entity you want to play as - they usually have a given set of powers you should reuse in the game. Gods in general have a certain set of already-given abilities (be it fast-healing, shapeshifting, mind-reading...), but their level of power will again change depending on their “Divine Decay” (see the corresponding section). Always remember, in doubt, that the gods are reflections and embodiments of what they represent. A god of youth and beauty will appear as young and beautiful, while a goddess of fertility and abundance will appear with generous curves and a planturous body. 

Find the exact place in the United-States your Old God resides. Usually, the Old Gods do not travel much. They tend to stay in a given city or state for a certain amount of time. You can choose a geographical location based on the influence their native culture, religion or people had on it. You can select a place you are most familiar with, so as to master its geography better. Or you can select a place where it will be more convenient to play. 

The most important and final section of the character should however be the way they feed. 

Gods are born of belief - but they survive on worship. The Old Gods, to not fall under the Divine Decay, need worship to maintain their life and powers. In the modern world, since most usually their religions are not celebrated anymore, they need to adapt and get their worship through another mean.

You have two types of worship. The indirect worship - also known as fame. A god can feed of fame. If their stories and legends are still actively told, if their name is famous or part of popular culture, if they appear in works of fiction such as comic books or novels, if they are still studied today in school, they can use it as a way to maintain themselves. Note however that surviving on indirect worship alone is not enough, and many gods ended up fading away due to lacking the other and more important worship.

The direct worship - also known as ritual. Gods feed of worship in the primal sense of the term. Rituals, sacrifices and prayers. People do not realize it, but there are many ways to practice the rituals of old. Animal sacrifices can still be carried through slaughterhouses. The sacred practice of mummification is not so different from the work of a modern undertaker. Prostitution used to be sacred, and the taking of drugs was a mystical experience. And concerts today are no different from ancient rituals - gathering of an enthralled audience in front of a sacred performer, with music, songs and carefully prepared gestures. There are many ways to keep one’s worship alive: if the figure you chose is not famous enough to survive merely out of indirect worship, make sure they have an activity that procures them enough direct worship to survive. 

[bigprettygothgf]

kayla bigprettygothgf’s halloween recommendation list

I know it’s a little late into October to publish this, and I had wanted to get this out at the start of the month, other things just got in the way of my time. But, I finished it anyway.

I’ve divided this into two parts - First, movies that are available on the big three streaming services - Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu. Second, movies that are not available on those services and you’ll have to get via… other means. All in all there’s over 70 films here.

Summaries are either written by me or lifted from letterboxd. Because I’m lazy.

It probably goes without saying that almost all of these come with a CW for violence. Violence will only be mentioned specifically in CWs in more extreme cases.

If I’ve missed any applicable content warnings here, please message me about it! it’s been a while since I’ve seen many of these movies and it’s likely there’s some details I’ve forgotten.

Full list under the cut.

Available on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Hulu

  -Annihilation (2018)

A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don’t apply.

   -Genres: Alien invasion, body horror, sci-fi horror

   -Content warnings: Death of a lesbian character 

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu

-Apostle (2018)

Netflix original horror tends to be very hit or miss, more often than not a catastrophic miss. While not without its flaws, Apostle is fortunately one of the better releases to the service, offering a very The Wicker Man (1973)-esque story about a man who travels to a remote island in search of his sister who has been kidnapped by a cult.

   -Genres: Cult horror, historical period horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Netflix

-As Above, So Below (2014)

While the dialogue in the film borders on unintentional comedy at times, As Above, So Below is a surprisingly decent found footage flick about a team of explorers delving into the Paris catacombs. 

   -Genres: Found footage, horror thriller

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Netflix

-The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2017)

Father and son coroners receive a mysterious unidentified corpse with no apparent cause of death. As they attempt to examine the young “Jane Doe,” they discover increasingly bizarre clues that hold the key to her terrifying secrets.

   -Genres: Supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Netflix

-Blade (1998)

When Blade’s mother was bitten by a vampire during pregnancy, she did not know that she gave her son a special gift while dying—all the good vampire attributes in combination with the best human skills. Blade and his mentor battle an evil vampire rebel who plans to take over the outdated vampire council, capture Blade and resurrect a voracious blood god.

   -Genres: Superhero, vampire horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Hulu

-Candyman (1992)

The Candyman, a murderous soul with a hook for a hand, is accidentally summoned to reality by a skeptic grad student researching the monster’s myth.

   -Genres: Psychological horror, slasher, supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: Animal death, R-slur

   -Available on: Netflix

-Cloverfield (2008)

Five young New Yorkers throw their friend a going-away party the night that a monster the size of a skyscraper descends upon the city. Told from the point of view of their video camera, the film is a document of their attempt to survive the most surreal, horrifying event of their lives.

   -Genres: Disaster, found footage, monster, sci-fi horror

   -Content warnings: One of the lead characters, Hud, is played by accused sexual abuser T.J. Miller

   -Available on: Hulu

-Constantine (2005)

By all accounts, Constantine is a bad adaption of its source material, taking far too many creative liberties and making many unnecessary changes from the Hellblazer comic. However, despite that, the film is a fun and decent movie in its own right, and worth a watch regardless of whether or not you’re familiar with the comic it’s based on.

   -Genres: Dark fantasy, superhero, supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: Suicide

   -Available on: Hulu

-Creep (2014)

Aaron answers an online ad and drives to a stranger's house to film him for the day. The man claims to want to make a movie for his unborn child, but his requests become more bizarre as the day goes along.

   -Genres: Found footage, horror thriller

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Netflix

-Creep 2 (2017)

A video artist who craves shocking stories realizes she has made a mistake when she meets a serial killer in a cabin.

   -Genres: Found footage, horror thriller

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Netflix

-The Crow (1994)

Exactly one year after young rock guitarist Eric Draven and his fiancée are brutally killed by a ruthless gang of criminals, Draven – watched over by a hypnotic crow – returns from the grave to exact revenge.

   -Genres: Dark fantasy, superhero

   -Content warnings: Sexual assault

   -Available on: Netflix

-Event Horizon (1997)

A film that could have been great had it not been marred by interference from Paramount, Event Horizon is still a decent entry into the sci-fi horror genre, even if just for the great scenery-chewing by Sam Neill. It’s just a shame that we’ll probably never see a fully uncensored version.

   -Genres: Sci-fi horror, supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu

-The Evil Dead (1981)

Bruce Campbell & friends take a trip out to a cabin in the woods. Hilarity ensues.

   -Genres: Dark fantasy, supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: The infamous tree rape scene

   -Available on: Hulu

-Evil Dead II (1987)

Bruce Campbell & friend takes a trip out to a cabin in the woods. Even more hilarity ensues.

   -Genres: Dark fantasy, horror comedy

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Hulu

-The Exorcist III (1990)

Despite the title, The Exorcist III has very little to do with the original Exorcist film, only given connections to it due to studio imposition. Fortunately, this is a rare case where studio interference didn’t actually negatively affect the film itself much at all, and I strongly recommend it, even if you haven’t seen the original.

   -Genres: Supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: Ableism

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video

-Gerald’s Game (2017)

When her husband’s sex game goes wrong, Jessie (who is handcuffed to a bed in a remote lake house) faces warped visions, dark secrets and a dire choice.

   -Genres: Psychological horror

   -Content warnings: CSA, graphic degloving

   -Available on: Netflix

-Ginger Snaps (2000)

The story of two outcast sisters, Ginger and Brigitte, in the mindless suburban town of Bailey Downs. On the night of Ginger’s first period, she is savagely attacked by a wild creature. Ginger’s wounds miraculously heal but something is not quite right. Now Brigitte must save her sister and save herself.

   -Genres: Supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: Animal death

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video

-Green Room (2015)

A punk rock band becomes trapped in a secluded venue after finding a scene of violence. For what they saw, the band themselves become targets of violence from a gang of white power skinheads, who want to eliminate all evidence of the crime.

   -Genres: Horror thriller

   -Content warnings: Nazism, racism, N-slurs

   -Available on: Netflix

-Hellraiser (1987)

An unfaithful wife encounters the zombie of her dead lover while the demonic cenobites are pursuing him after he escaped their sadomasochistic underworld.

   -Genres: Supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu

-Hereditary (2018)

When Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter’s family begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry.

   -Genres: Drama, supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: Animal death, child death

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video

-The Invitation (2015)

Will and his new girlfriend Kira are invited to a dinner with old friends at the house of Will’s ex Eden and her new partner David. Although the evening appears to be relaxed, Will soon gets a creeping suspicion that their charming host David is up to something.

   -Genres: Cult horror, horror thriller

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Netflix

-Lake Mungo (2010)

One of my personal favorite films in the horror genre, the underappreciated Lake Mungo - creatively presented in a faux-documentary style - is an eerie look at the difficulty of moving on from family loss.

   -Genres: Found footage, pseudo-documentary, psychological horror

   -Content warnings: CSA

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video

-Mother! (2017)

I hesitated adding this one because to be frank I do not care much for it and Darren Aronofsky, while a talented filmmaker, is a bit of a self-aggrandizing prick and this film demonstrates his pretentiousness more so than any of his past work. But, even so, there’s some legitimately great material here, particularly in the third act when everything goes to shit. If you can look past the extremely heavy-handed bible metaphors and clumsy environmental message, you may get something out of it.

   -Genres: Psychological horror, thriller

   -Content warnings: Misogynistic violence, graphic baby death

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu

-Nightbreed (1990)

A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of monsters are hiding from humanity.

   -Genres: Dark fantasy

   -Content warnings: Eye trauma, F-slur

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video

-Night of the Living Dead (1968)

A group of people try to survive an attack of bloodthirsty zombies while trapped in a rural Pennsylvania farmhouse.

   -Genres: Zombie horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video (Public domain, so you should have no trouble finding it elsewhere.)

-Possum (2018)

Long stretches of not much happening are made up for by some truly horrifying puppet sequences which are among the creepiest things I saw in any 2018 film.

   -Genres: Drama, psychological horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video

-Pumpkinhead (1988)

A man conjures up a gigantic vengeance demon called Pumpkinhead to destroy the teenagers who accidentally killed his son.

   -Genres: Dark fantasy, supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: Child death

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu*

*Audio is slightly out of sync on both streams.

-A Quiet Place (2018)

A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.

   -Genres: Alien invasion, sci-fi horror 

   -Content warnings: Child death

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu

-The Return of the Living Dead (1986)

When a bumbling pair of employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to re-animate as they go on a rampage seeking their favorite food: brains!

   -Genres: Horror comedy, zombie horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video

-The Ritual (2017)

A group of college friends reunite for a trip to the forest, but encounter a menacing presence in the woods that’s stalking them.

   -Genres: Cult horror, supernatural horror 

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Netflix

-Saw (2004)

Obsessed with teaching his victims the value of life, a deranged, sadistic serial killer abducts the morally wayward. Once captured, they must face impossible choices in a horrific game of survival. The victims must fight to win their lives back, or die trying.

   -Genres: Horror thriller

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Hulu

-Saw II (2005)

When a new murder victim is discovered with all the signs of Jigsaw’s hand, Detective Eric Matthews begins a full investigation and apprehends Jigsaw with little effort. But for Jigsaw, getting caught is just another part of his plan. Eight more of his victims are already fighting for their lives and now it’s time for Matthews to join the game.

   -Genres: Horror thriller

   -Content warnings: Needles

   -Available on: Hulu

-Scream (1996)

A killer known as Ghostface begins killing off teenagers, and as the body count begins to rise, one girl and her friends find themselves contemplating the ‘rules’ of horror films as they find themselves living in a real-life one.

   -Genres: Slasher

   -Content warnings: Rape mention

   -Available on: Netflix

-Society (1989)

Containing what I consider to be the greatest special effects Screaming Mad George ever did, Society is a story about the son of a rich Beverly Hills family feeling like he doesn’t quite fit in. If you like body horror, 80s practical effects, and satire about the west coast upper class, I can not recommend this hidden gem enough. Another of my personal favorites.

   -Genres: Black comedy, body horror, satire

   -Content warnings: Incest and really gross body horror. In general if you’re averse to sex and nudity you may wanna steer clear.

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video

-Suspiria (2018)

I can’t think of many films I hold such a high opinion on that I was initially ready to hate. When I found out that the Call Me by Your Name director would be behind a remake of Dario Argento’s 1977 classic Suspiria, I rolled my eyes. When official photos started to roll in indicating the film would be gory and desaturated in contrast to the original’s surreal usage of exaggerated colors, I decided I wasn’t touching it with a ten foot pole. Fast forward about a year later, and I eventually decide to give the film a chance. Low and behold, not only do I list it as a top film of 2018, I actually, genuinely like it more than the original. While there’s much to be said about the style and color palette of the original film, I find the remake’s radically different tone and style to be still, in a difficult to describe way, faithful to the 1977 original. But most importantly, the film stands on its own as a visceral, nightmarish, violent, and disturbing experience I still haven't stopped thinking about nearly a year later.

   -Genres: Body horror, cult horror, supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: Suicide, very graphic gore

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video

-The Terminator (1984)

In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the “Terminator” back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgents against 21st century mechanical hegemony. Meanwhile, the human-resistance movement dispatches a lone warrior to safeguard Sarah.

   -Genres: Science fiction, thriller

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, YouTube

-They Look Like People (2016)

While held back slightly by its low budget, They Look Like People is one of the best looks at mental illness I’ve seen in a film, especially a horror film, and I’d easily recommend it to anyone tired of the demonization of mental illness in the horror genre.

   -Genres: Psychological horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Amazon Prime Video

-Train to Busan (2016)

Martial law is declared when a mysterious viral outbreak pushes Korea into a state of emergency. Those on an express train to Busan, a city that has successfully fended off the viral outbreak, must fight for their own survival.

   -Genres: Thriller, zombie horror

   -Content Warnings: N/A

   -Available on: Netflix

-Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil (2010)

Two hillbillies are suspected of being killers by a group of paranoid college kids camping near the duo’s West Virginian cabin. As the body count climbs, so does the fear and confusion as the college kids try to seek revenge against the pair.

   -Genres: Horror comedy, slasher

   -Content Warnings: Rape mention

   -Available on: Netflix

-The Witch (2015)

In 1630s New England, William and Katherine lead a devout Christian life with five children, homesteading on the edge of an impassable wilderness, exiled from their settlement when William defies the local church. When their newborn son vanishes and crops mysteriously fail, the family turns on one another.

   -Genres: Religious horror, supernatural horror

   -Content Warnings: Abuse, animal death, child death, implied CSA

   -Available on: Netflix

Not Available on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Hulu

-Alien (1979)

During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.

   -Genres: Sci-fi horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-Aliens (1986)

When Ripley’s lifepod is found by a salvage crew over 50 years later, she finds that terra-formers are on the very planet they found the alien species. When the company sends a family of colonists out to investigate her story—all contact is lost with the planet and colonists. They enlist Ripley and the colonial marines to return and search for answers.

   -Genres: Sci-fi action, sci-fi horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-Altered States (1980)

A research scientist explores the boundaries and frontiers of consciousness. Using sensory deprivation and hallucinogenic mixtures from native American shamans, he explores these altered states of consciousness and finds that memory, time, and perhaps reality itself are states of mind.

   -Genres: Sci-fi horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-AM1200 (2008)

A fantastic little horror short film. Officially on Vimeo.

   -Genres: Eldritch horror

   -Content warnings: Suicide

-Army of Darkness (1992)

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that Army of Darkness isn’t as good as Evil Dead II. They’re full of shit and this movie fucking rules.

   -Genres: Dark fantasy, horror comedy

   -Content warnings: N/A

-Basket Case (1982)

A young man carrying a big basket that contains his deformed Siamese-twin brother seeks vengeance on the doctors who separated them against their will.

   -Genres: Body horror, horror comedy, slasher

   -Content warnings: Attempted rape

-Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)

Deep within the mysterious Arboria Institute, a disturbed girl is held captive by a doctor in search of inner peace. Her mind controlled by a sinister technology. Silently, she waits for her next session with deranged therapist Dr. Barry Nyle. If she hopes to escape, she must journey through the darkest reaches of The Institute, but Nyle wonʼt easily part with his most gifted and dangerous creation.

   -Genres: Sci-fi horror 

   -Content warnings: N/A

-The Blair Witch Project (1999)

In October of 1994 three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found.

   -Genres: Found footage, supernatural horror 

   -Content warnings: N/A

-The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Five college friends spend the weekend at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

   -Genres: Black comedy, eldritch horror, horror comedy, satire

   -Content warnings: N/A

-Christine (1983)

Geeky student Arnie Cunningham falls for Christine, a rusty 1958 Plymouth Fury, and becomes obsessed with restoring the classic automobile to her former glory. As the car changes, so does Arnie, whose newfound confidence turns to arrogance behind the wheel of his exotic beauty. Arnie’s girlfriend Leigh and best friend Dennis reach out to him, only to be met by a Fury like no other.

   -Genres: Horror thriller, supernaturally horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-Donnie Darko (2001)

After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.

   -Genres: Drama, psychological thriller

   -Content warnings: References to CSA

-The Fly (1986)

When Seth Brundle makes a huge scientific and technological breakthrough in teleportation, he decides to test it on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a common housefly manages to get inside the device and the two become one.

   -Genres: Body horror, sci-fi horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-From Beyond (1986)

A group of scientists have developed the Resonator, a machine which allows whoever is within range to see beyond normal perceptible reality. But when the experiment succeeds, they are immediately attacked by terrible life forms.

   -Genres: Body horror, sci-fi horror

   -Content warnings: Sexual assault

-Get Out (2017)

Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family’s overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter’s interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.

   -Genres: Horror thriller, psychological horror, satire

   -Content warnings: N/A

-Grave Encounters (2011)

I’ll admit that this found footage pseudo-reality show film isn’t all that good, but if you’re like me and you’re a slut for all those dumb Ghost Hunters-type TV shows, this should be right up your alley.

   -Genres: Found footage, supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: Ableism

-Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

I’m just going to quote my best friend Lars @dracenines:

there is so much shit in this movie that makes no goddamn sense at all but it's so damn fun that i can't help but love it anyways

   -Genres: Supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-The House of the Devil (2009)

In the 1980s, college student Samantha Hughes takes a strange babysitting job that coincides with a full lunar eclipse. She slowly realizes her clients harbor a terrifying secret.

   -Genres: Cult horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-In the Mouth of Madness (1994)

With the disappearance of hack horror writer Sutter Cane, all Hell is breaking loose…literally! Author Cane, it seems, has a knack for description that really brings his evil creepy-crawlies to life. Insurance investigator John Trent is sent to investigate Cane’s mysterious vanishing act and ends up in the sleepy little East Coast town of Hobb’s End.

   -Genres: Supernatural horror, eldritch horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-It Follows (2014)

For 19-year-old Jay, fall should be about school, boys and weekends out at the lake. But a seemingly innocent physical encounter turns sour and gives her the inescapable sense that someone, or something, is following her. Faced with this burden, Jay and her teenage friends must find a way to escape the horror that seems to be only a few steps behind.

   -Genres: Psychological horror, supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: Sexual assault

-Jacob’s Ladder (1990)

A traumatized Vietnam war veteran finds out that his post-war life isn’t what he believes it to be when he’s attacked by horned creatures in the subway.

   -Genres: Drama, psychological horror, religious horror, thriller

   -Content warnings: N/A

-Jennifer’s Body (2009)

A newly possessed cheerleader turns into a killer who specializes in offing her male classmates.

   -Genres: Black comedy, supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-The Keep (1983)

A great seemingly forgotten horror film that was unfortunately never able to be fully finished due to the death of the special effects supervisor early in post-production, and much more to the film’s determent, heavy studio interference, resulting in shoddy sound design and over 100 minutes cut from the movie. Despite this, I still enjoy this film quite a bit, particularly for its fantastic atmosphere and excellent soundtrack by Tangerine Dream.

   -Genres: Supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: Nazis

-The Lost Boys (1987)

A mother and her two teenage sons move to a seemingly nice and quiet small coastal California town yet soon find out that it’s overrun by bike gangs and vampires. A couple of teenage friends take it upon themselves to hunt down the vampires that they suspect of a few mysterious murders and restore peace and calm to their town.

   -Genres: Horror comedy, supernatural horror, vampire horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-Marebito (2004)

A fear-obsessed freelance cameraman investigates an urban legend involving mysterious spirits that haunt the subways of Tokyo.

   -Genres: Supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: Eye trauma

-The Others (2001)

Grace is a religious woman who lives in an old house kept dark because her two children, Anne and Nicholas, have a rare sensitivity to light. When the family begins to suspect the house is haunted, Grace fights to protect her children at any cost in the face of strange events and disturbing visions.

   -Genres: Drama, gothic horror, psychological horror, supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-Prince of Darkness (1987)

A research team finds a mysterious cylinder in a deserted church. If opened, it could mean the end of the world.

   -Genres: Supernatural horror, zombie horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-Resident Evil (2002)

Look, this movie is not great, it doesn’t follow the games, I know. But it’s a guilty pleasure and Milla Jovovitch awakens homosexual feelings in me. Just don’t bother with the sequels. Or do bother with them. Honestly, you could do a lot worse with your time.

   -Genres: Action horror, sci-fi horror, zombie horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-Sinister (2012)

Found footage helps a true-crime novelist realize how and why a family was murdered in his new home, though his discoveries put his entire family in the path of a supernatural entity.

   -Genres: Mystery, supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: Child death

-Spring (2014)

Sci-fi horror romance film about a shapeshifting monster girl. That’s all I need to tell you.

   -Genres: Romance, sci-fi horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-Suspiria (1977)

From the moment she arrives in Freiberg, Germany, to attend the prestigious Tanz Academy, American ballet-dancer Suzy Bannion senses that something horribly evil lurks within the walls of the age-old institution.

   -Genres: Gothic horror, supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)

One of my favorite found footage films and and a great example of how much potential the genre holds when handled by a director who seems to actually give a shit. To top that off, it features a lesbian lead character who doesn’t die. It’s really that easy!

   -Genres: Found footage, supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Five friends visiting their grandfather’s house in the country are hunted and terrorized by a chain-saw wielding killer and his family of grave-robbing cannibals.

   -Genres: Slasher

   -Content warnings: Ableism

-The Thing (1982)

Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people it kills.

   -Genres: Alien invasion, body horror, sci-fi horror

   -Content warnings: Animal death

-Trick ’r Treat (2007)

Four interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: an everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the one guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a bitter old recluse receives an uninvited guest.

   -Genres: Anthology, black comedy, supernatural horror 

   -Content warnings: Child death

-Us (2019)

Husband and wife Gabe and Adelaide Wilson take their kids to their beach house expecting to unplug and unwind with friends. But as night descends, their serenity turns to tension and chaos when some shocking visitors arrive uninvited.

   -Genres: Cult horror, sci-fi horror, supernatural horror 

   -Content warnings: Child death

-V/H/S (2012)

When a group of misfits is hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house and acquire a rare VHS tape, they discover more found footage than they bargained for.

   -Genres: Anthology, found footage, supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: Sexual assault

-V/H/S/2 (2013)

While there’s less good to be found in the sequel than in the previous installment, the segment featured in V/H/S/2 titled Safe Haven is easily the best in the entire series and has quickly become one of my favorite horror short films of all time. It alone makes V/H/S/2 a worthwhile watch.

   -Genres: Alien invasion, anthology, cult horror, found footage, sci-fi horror, supernatural horror, zombie horror

   -Content warnings: References to CSA, eye trauma

-Videodrome (1983)

As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn is desperate for new programming to attract viewers. When he happens upon “Videodrome,” a TV show dedicated to gratuitous torture and punishment, Max sees a potential hit and broadcasts the show on his channel. However, after his girlfriend auditions for the show and never returns, Max investigates the truth behind Videodrome and discovers that the graphic violence may not be as fake as he thought.

   -Genres: Body horror, sci-fi horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-The Void (2016)

Cloaked, cult-like figures trap a police officer, patients and staffers inside a hospital that is a gateway to evil.

   -Genres: Cult horror, eldritch horror, supernatural horror

   -Content warnings: N/A

-What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

Vampire housemates try to cope with the complexities of modern life and show a newly turned hipster some of the perks of being undead.

   -Genres: Horror comedy, pseudo-documentary

   -Content warnings: One F-slur

[antoine-roquentin]

At around the 49 minute mark in BDobbinsFTW’s video “WARNING: BLACK OPS 4 IS BAD FOR YOU” he delivers the following explication of his ideal school: “First period is Runescape, where you don't pass until you've amassed ten million gold. After the sixth grade this class switches to EVE Online. Second period is ARK Survival where and your group must tame a Titanosaurus. Third period is Overwatch where you must hit GM. Fourth period is Blackout where your squad must amass a hundred wins. Fifth period is Minecraft where in a given period you must build the greatest structure you possibly can and you are graded on just how good the instructor thinks it is. Sixth period is story games. KOTOR, Skyrim, Last of Us, Tales of Walking Dead, every semester, a whole new set of classes relying on new games pushing students to learn and adapt the mind on a neurological level to new challenges, new obstacles, neuroplasticity, neurofluidity, exposure, adaptation, kill, kill, kill. I am not kidding about any of this. This is not a joke. This is the future and I'll do it myself if I have to.” This comes at the end of a long narrative of comparing his experience with two video games, Call of Duty and Runescape. Call of Duty, as he describes it, was a period of immense waste, a time in which he built for himself a life of childish unending indulgence in a mindless easy matchmaking while alternating between sex and marijuana in his downtime. Runescape is contrasted as positive through describing the various dramas and conflicts of his friends, the thesis of which is in his direct comparison to Lord of the Flies stating “we lived it”. Among settler-colonial cultures, there is a recurring fascination with sporting. The mythic art of White America has in large part consisted of such glorifications, high school athletics, young attractive men hiking through rugged terrain, men and boys stalking the wilderness with firearms, etc. In Rhodesia, the culture of the whites at the turn of the century was best summarized by Piers Brandon as “when not making a fetish of sport (...) tended to worship Bacchus.”. In their myths, this plays along as an undercurrent throughout. From a vague chaos across the Atlantic, they staked out across the frontier, the singular man, the cowboy, in raw struggles against the elements. Here lessons were learned which cannot be taught in the safe, coddled, feminine world. In The Cowboys (1972) John Wayne makes a point of disrupting the lecture and erasing the blackboard to draw a crude horizontal line in order to take the boys from their school into the real world of a cattle drive. This is recreated in pageant plays of conquest every year during gun season, when all the men and boys engage in the adjectives they were taught to worship from their youngest age, parading through the untamed wilderness with firearms on patrol for the largest, the biggest, the trophy… It would be a mistake to conflate this settler-colonial sporting with the traditionalist pursuits of often identical activities under some vague attack on “male athletics”. Mishima Yukio and Julius Evola wrote extensively on sport (bodybuilding & martial arts, skydiving & mountaineering respectively) and their usage of which to pursue pre-modern forms of consciousness and activity which has a markedly more profound and interesting character than what I am addressing. Rather, the settler-colonial sportsman is differentiated from this as seeing himself firstly as an economic unit. Notice the language of the ideal school described by BDobbinsFTW. Each grade is based not on an experience of the game as an artwork or means of social bonding, but of the ability of the player and their group to achieve high numbers within the game. Ranks, vague qualities of “goodness” for Minecraft, exact counts of monetary holdings, the lumping in of anything without this unending sporting gameplay loop reduced to “story games” and the description’s degeneration into a bizarre rant wherein single words which vaguely point to concepts of power and efficiency are thrown about, ending with an empty manly cry of “I’ll do it myself if I have to.”. In settler-colonialism, the notion of the human was violently recreated into the economic unit, coequal with other, equally abstracted, non-human economic units such as the financial instrument or corporations, onto the equal playing field of liberal economics. The individual created is one which exists in relations of numbers and of quantity and is from this that the conception of the person that liberal materialism develops. The American glorification of engineering for engineering’s sake as example, what matters is never the meaning of objects in any artistic or experiential qualities, but in its relation to some body-without-organs of numerical value. American agricultural contests have been a long standing tradition, monocultural farms ever striving to use any means it can to achieve the best numbers, the biggest hog or tomato. Her emerges an individual who is possessed of “freedom”, insofar as freedom is the individual’s ability to experience animal-pleasures in meaningless tasks for the glorification of a numerical abstraction. The liberal masculinity is one empty and slavish, men suited for nothing other than loops of numerical value achievement. It is thus a natural evolution from the cowboy to the “world’s biggest hog” contest winner and now into the contemporary problem of the bugman, the weak urbanites who build a life for themselves out of plastic toys and sugary troughs filled with pop-cultural slime. In their attempts at true freedom and rationality, white-male civilization has created for itself a creature suited only for slavery, a creature which derives satisfaction from nothing except the enjoyment of Sisyphean tasks, further striving for more and more, bigger and larger, greater and greater. To this new species of man, there is no meaning, nothing higher, nothing greater. There is only number and the insectoid love of increasing number.

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff: Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty

WARNING: League of Legends needs to stop being a top-down MMOBA; someone tell Riot that it needs to be 3rd person. Thank you, take care out there, and enjoy.

Fuzzy, Fantastic Fantasy Filled Friendships for the Family

Let’s get this out the way. That title is heavily syllabic like holy carp, 8 syllables and phonologically, it’s a Kingdom Hearts level disaster. I’ve seen some incredibly wordy titles but never for a western cartoon, it’s surreal. It’s not even one where you can shorten it like Jimmy Neutron or MLP it just feels nightmarish to my literary senses. In any case, we have our first Nickelodeon show of the year and it’s feelin’ awfully familiar. Especially the Unicorn Kitty. The Unikitty, to be exact...

UNIKITTY T-T-T-T-T-T-T-TWO, BABEEEEY!

But not quite. I know it can seem obvious and I’m not at fault for making this pretty obvious comparison, but like how every semi-decent story based cartoon is annoyingly compared to The Last Airbender, there is admittedly more than meets the eye. For starters, there are surprising references to mythical fantasy in this. We got rockin’ Anubis doggos, yetis, Binicorns, wizards, goblins, leprechauns, gods, dragons, different types of phobias, and many crunkin’ children creatures of folklore. It’s pretty imaginative in its worldbuilding in a way that isn’t just throwing random stuff for the kids to be in awe at, especially those not in the know about mythology.

They especially understand that goblins can be EVIL

Another thing that certainly sets this apart from Unikitty is in its theme of Friendship. This is more MLP than anything in that main character Felicity loves and supports everybody that isn’t the rat character that dresses up like a rabbit for no explicable reason other than feeling left out cuz... rats are drat in this world, I guess. Also, this series explores individuality in a way that, while a bit cliched, is respectable and the bromance between Felicity and her anubian doggo friend Miguel is especially a highlight of this series overall.

Good Feels All Around

Only drawback I can find is that the look of it and animation can be... I don’t know. On the one hand, it can be expressive, colorful, and more toned down than Unikitty. But on the other, unlike Unikitty, I wish the energy of the character movements can have a little more energy to it. Like, I don’t want to harp on flash animation to be like the likes of MLP or Wakfu, but this admittedly lacks that snap sometimes and can feel more like a show you’d see years ago. It’s not bad, but could use some tweaks to give the imaginative world the energy it deserves.

The music though can be pretty hyphy, I can’t lie

Allinall, this is most definitely a kids show in every way, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s nothing outlandish or a must see, but it at least deserves a watch on the grounds that’s it’s colorful and just an all around swell time. You might learn a thing or two, see some action, and it’s all centered around a rainbow cat with unicorn powers and butterfly wings. Honestly, what you see is what ya get, and they certainly give as far as Rainbow Butterfly *cough, COUGH* Uni... orn Kitty can provide. Seriously, that is still a mouth and type full.

3 out of 5. A Paw-sitively Endearing Time

[nvcl347]

NANOPULUS Diagnosis (Original G/T Species)

(Updated as of 2/5/19)

-

PASSAGE 1 : ORIGIN

May 27 was the day people all around the world suddenly vanished without a trace. Families messaged loved ones, schools and businesses were closed, and people shut themselves from society. Everyone was on edge on who may be next. Some people believed that perhaps this was Judgement Day, and chaos nearly flamed everywhere. The next day, suddenly everything went quiet. No missing person reports, no anything. Turning on your local news station would only be discussing what had happened the day before with the only minor, cut-short stories here and there. Search parties went out across countries, while the overall world government kept quiet. For conspiracists, it was a miner’s dreamed hit goldmine.

The people who went missing that day never came back. Not until decades later, when by then, the incident had been forgotten by the world. Only a select few could recollect it clearly, but they had no power in their hands to challenge the authorities in court, and their days were already numbered.

PASSAGE 2 : RECOVERED CASE FILES

DECEMBER 1996

ENGAGED HENRY C. LILIAM AND JESSIE I. LILIAM REPORT SMALL PRESENTS STOLEN OVERNIGHT

NO SIGNS OF FORCED BREAK-IN DISCOVERED

SLIM WRAPPING PAPER TEARS SCATTERED ACROSS FLOOR

NO FURTHER EVIDENCE COVERED

***CASE CLOSED AS OF JANUARY 1997***

FEBRUARY 1998

SCHOOL BUILDING HAVING CONSISTENT POWER OUTAGES

REASON: UNKNOWN

PLAYGROUND AREA GENERATOR REPAIRED MARCH 1998

NO FURTHER EVIDENCE COVERED

***CASE CLOSED AS OF APRIL 1998***

OCTOBER 2003

CHILD REPORT OF LIVE MINIATURE DOLL SNAGGING FOOD FROM LEFTOVER CANDY

CANDY WRAPPER GNAWING MARKS MATCH NO DISCOVERED ANATOMY OF CREATURE IN PRESENT-DAY RECORDS

NO FURTHER EVIDENCE COVERED

***CASE CLOSED AS OF NOVEMBER 2003***

JUNE 2004

ANIMAL CARETAKER EMPLOYEE SARAH J. MALLS REPORT OF TINY UNKNOWN CREATURE TAMPERING WITH RODENT CAGES

NO FURTHER EVIDENCE COVERED

***CASE CLOSED AS OF JUNE 2004***

APRIL 2007

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT DAVID A. HAN PERSONAL BELONGINGS REPEATEDLY DISAPPEAR

ALL STUDENTS CLAIMED THEMSELVES INNOCENT

PLAYBACK QUALITY MODERATE

NO STUDENTS CAPTURED TAMPERING WITH LOCKER #34

NO FURTHER EVIDENCE COVERED

***CASE CLOSED AS OF JUNE 2007***

SEPTEMBER 2009

FAST FOOD STORE MONITOR #3 CAPTURES “AGILE SMALL PERSON” RUMMAGING THROUGH STORAGE CONTAINERS

PLAYBACK QUALITY DAMAGED

AUTHORITY CONCLUSION: “IT’S MERELY A MOUSE PASSING THROUGH”

***CASE CLOSED AS OF DECEMBER 2009***

JULY 2010

48% OF U.S. CHILDREN SUDDENLY REPORT “REAL” FAIRIES OCCASIONALLY ROAMING BACKYARDS

NO FURTHER EVIDENCE COVERED

***TREND IS RISING***

PASSAGE 3 : THE RELEASE

In November of 2013, the records of these incidents were released, alongside what had caused them. These creatures were sent across the world by an organization of unknown origins nor title and placed these creatures into the black market, other experimental agencies, or just out into the wild for a study of its survival in certain environments. As hypothesized, this species thrives best in forest-like environments, however, the species at the same time has no capabilities of reproduction, and cannot survive as a whole due to its weak state in natural selection. But, due to major injections of unknown chemicals, the species’ life expectancy (if healthy), is just about the same as a human’s is. Some hypothesize this may be an enhanced version of what may be the experiments causing longer mice life expectancy, which are open to the public.

The overall species according to the organizational records is titled NANOPULUS, as to which the general public has dubbed the species, “The Nano Creatures.”

PASSAGE 4 : APPEARANCE

Most reports find the species mythical or “unrealistic” due to the sheer size of these creatures. All Nanos have been recorded in the average height range of 1-3 inches tall. This has managed to give Nanos numerous places for them to sneak and hide, along with the pressure of gravity giving them no struggle to run nimble and quick from their small amount of weight. The heaviest Nano on record weighed around 12.5 grams (.44 oz), equivalent to holding a stack of around five pennies in your hand. According to the files, the experimentalists had predicted (or perhaps hoped for) a height range of 4-5 inches at average, but apparently, a certain overdose of an undefined chemical caused an overreaction to the shrinkage expectancies.

The facial features of a Nano aren’t much of a difference to a human appearance, that is until you really look at them. Their ears are sharp- much like what you’d imagine from an elf- but not very pointy at their ends, and more rounded like ours instead. Their ears will slightly shift and twitch to help pick up any signals of noise or movement.

The next thing you may notice if you look close enough at a Nano is their eyes. Their eye color is unnatural and seems to shift through every hue of the rainbow. Looking closer, unlike our round pupils, Nanos have more round oval-shaped pupils. The first thing you may think of at this is perhaps a slit cat-like eye, but it’s not exactly like that, however. The oval pupil of a Nano is wider than a cat’s and is not pointed at the top and bottom like a cat’s either. Rather, it is rounded, mirroring the sharp-but-rounded ears they have as well. It is also worth noting that when the pupil of a Nano dilates, although having a similar shape to a cat’s, it does not flatten itself into one slick line. Instead, the pupil just shrinks, like a normal round pupil as would like humans. The smaller the pupil, the more intently the Nano is concentrating.

The Nanos also heir mutated traits of sharper teeth and fingers (not to be confused with nails) for defense. Their fingers are only slightly pointed and barely can cause a bleeding scratch. This goes the same for the toes of their feet as well. They could cause a small, nagging scrape, though. As for the teeth, now they can cause some bleeding. Nothing fatal, of course, but definitely a scratch that of a paper cut for sure if they were really desperate. The teeth are only slightly pointed and are wide, too. They are also smoothly rounded, similar to how their fingers and toes are formed.

Every Nano has one thing in reference to their past: their branding. Not a burned-in branding, but a stitched branding- like a tattoo- but it’s not exactly the same thing; it’s permanent, even when damaged… it can be regenerated just like normal skin. Each symbol was made to represent the Nano’s personality, and it is made up of one single line, like cursive letters. They can depict harshness or intellect, based on the design. Wavy lines represented a calm persona, while jagged meant the opposite. The single line never overlaps with itself. Many Nanos’ brandings show depictions of animals, such as ocelots for speed, but wavy to show they were collected as well. Another branding occurrence may be a jagged alligator, representing a vicious and brash Nano. No single pair of Nanos have the same exact branding; every single one of them is different, like fingerprints. That doesn’t mean they can’t have the same meaning, though; they just don’t have the same visible imagery.

PASSAGE 5 : EYE COLOR DEFINING

The following image illustrates the colors as to which a Nano’s iris can shift between, alongside what the color represents/what the Nano at that current state is feeling/what a Nano senses somebody else is feeling. If a Nano has “mixed feelings,” the defined colors of those feelings in the irises will mix together.

PASSAGE 6 : ABILITIES

Studies show that their ears have a high sensibility to noise, capable of easily alerting them off as much as the dropping of a pen just rooms away from their position. This has assisted them in the warning of when oncoming threats are nearby way ahead of time, giving them a good amount of time to find a place to securely conceal themselves. Even if the threat was running as fast as they could, they’d be lucky to get a sly glimpse of these tiny human creatures with their swift movement.

Their nose is much similar to dogs’ as well. Not in shape, of course, but in sensibility. They are incredibly strong and can smell out a piece of pepperoni from rooms away.

Nanos, much like mice, can actually survive great falls in height as opposing to the common belief that they couldn’t even survive the fall from a countertop. A nano at the size of one inch could actually survive a fall as high as an eleven story window and get up with little-to-no damage at all. Answer? Terminal velocity. Due to their small weight and frail bone structure, they can survive great falls with minimal damage, much like mice and rats.

What if a Nano is deaf? What if they are nose blind? “Sense of Danger,” they call it. That swelling feeling in your gut that something isn’t right, is exactly what Nano’s feel when legitimate danger is nearby. Sometimes for humans, it’s an overreaction, but Nano’s instincts are incredibly accurate in this case scenario. The only downside is, this Sense of Danger is purely based off of movement. If a dangerous object is inanimate, a Nano wouldn’t be aware of it.

Nanos heir a venom in their teeth, which can be injected by bite if they feel threatened. This venom, dubbed “Nurnostium,” causes a numbing sensation upon the surrounding area of the bite, causing it to fall asleep for a short period of time (recorded 5-10 minute average lasting effect). There are no fatal effects to this bite, but in order to escape capture, it is highly effective. It takes about a full minute for the effect to fully kick in. The venom in itself is incredibly strong and could cause an entire human to fall unconscious with just a quarter of a cup's injection of it. Because the Nano is so small in size, let alone its bite, the tiny portion of venom cannot affect the threat at its entirety.

PASSAGE 7 : WEAKNESSES

One of a Nano’s biggest weaknesses, of course, would be their size. So incredibly small, they have little-to-no chance in physical combat, making them quite queasy and fearful creatures. This is why they are so distant from interaction of many other creatures besides themselves… and humans- which is where we lean into our next weakness.

Curiosity kills the cat. With no recollection of almost anything of their past, they have an IQ intelligence of as much as a newborn child. Some will learn naturally, others will need introduction of “good and bad,” if their Sense of Danger doesn’t do the trick for them. All in all, Nanos are quite stupid for their age, and need a little help.

Tagging along with curiosity, explains their interest of sociality between themselves and humans. This urge won’t exactly occur to them until Nanos get a good look at what their physical appearance looks like. This isn’t necessarily a “good look” type of thing where they stare at themselves in the mirror, but a good look where they care to inspect themselves in their own point of view and make comparisons. ‘Arms? Hands? The big creatures have them. Legs? Feet? They have those, and I do too.’ Because humans are so similar in physical appearance compared to Nanos (who socialize with each other very well), it drives their interest and mental questionnaire as to ‘why they’re so much bigger compared to us,’ and want to socialize with them as they would each other. However, then their fear-factor comes in as to how absolutely massive humans are, which is why Nanos abstain themselves from view despite their urge to interact with us… like a war is going inside themselves. Go with willful curiosity? Or go with natural instinct?

Why is this considered a weakness? Well, if a Nano does fuss up to interact with a human (intentionally or accidental), there of course will be humans that are kind, maybe confused, and gentle. Others, as we know, will just be assholes. You know exactly what I’m talking about, which is why this is considered a weakness, and needs no further explanation.

Next weakness, is manipulation. Because of their feeble minds, Nanos are incredibly vulnerable to misdirectory, as when someone gains a Nano’s trust, they gain their trust. Nanos when they allow someone/something into their comfort zone, signals strong loyalty and affection. But, as easily as it can be achieved is as easily as it can be lost.

Their final weakness, which really isn’t too severe in any way, is their vocals: so small in size, Nanos can only vocalize to one another like mice. Air pressure on their lungs causes their pitch to rise incredibly to inaudible, squeaky-grunty chipmunk babble. Gradually, as they do learn language, however, they can minimally speak basic words like “yes,” “no,” or other such words/names. But, their grammar isn’t the best, and will talk much like cavemen, and the factor of their high-pitched voice still stands.

On the topic of vocals: unnaturally, and without any logical explanation on record, Nanos never pronounce proper names correctly, and they never entirely learn how to pronounce them either. The only ones they ever seem to get right are their own and others’ in the Nano species. Sometimes, they’ll never even attempt to pronounce someone by their real name, and refer to them as a single adjective or descriptions along the lines of “bad man,” “big man,” “strong,” “loud,” etc. Once someone/something is given a name, it keeps that name throughout the Nano species.

-

Feel free to use in writing/illustration. Do not steal or repost. Be sure to tag me so I can see your work!

Tags if interested - @anqshusxx @pizsospa @depressed-owl-in-narnia @cloud-addict @gianttol @mini-macaroon @tiny-artist-ace @gt-confessions @gt-handhelds @a-sweet-pea @lord-of-the-pastries @so-very-small @sawyergt @sadtinyissad @territorial-utopia

[akinnie75]

Moonchild

Pairing: V x Reader

Genre: Fluff, Slow Burn, Fantasy, Romance, Somewhat Angsty

Word Count: 25k

Summary: The tale of the legendary Moonchild—a mythical creature known for its ability to heal life of all sorts—is merely a fantasy, but an encounter with one makes it a reality.

For millions of years, the moon watched over Earth, revolving around the planet and gazing at its beauty. But no matter how long she remains with Earth, the moon is too far away to ever grasp it. So whenever the earth was in danger, she can never protect it. That’s when the moon gave birth to her children, dropping them on earth and become destined to protect the earth. For many centuries, the children of the moon protected the earth, healing its dying plants and wounded animals.

As time marches forward, there came the birth of humanity, who then became fascinated by the remarkable beauty of the moon’s children, capturing and enslaving them for the value of their appearance. Chained down and unable to keep the promise with the moon, they were given harsh treatments by the humans, and the moon could do nothing to stop their suffering.

No longer able to watch her children in agony, she took away their powers, draining them of their outward grace as well, only equating them as the same quality that of a human. Soon, when she gave birth to new children, they would become tainted by the sins of humanity. So she brought upon another curse on her children afterwards. If they ever face the wrath of the sun, then they would wither under it.

The lore of the moonchildren has been passed on in the small town of Hwanghon, supposedly the town where the first moonchildren were born. Though the tale of the moonchildren has been twisted and told in many different versions, the origin story still remains the same.

------

You’re wandering alone in the dark, gloomy forest as you cry for your mother. After you lost your ball in the forest, you ran inside in search of it, but by the time you found it, you were already deep in the forest to be able to retrace your steps. You searched in all directions for an access way out of the forest, tripping over every tree root and getting scrapes and cuts from falling. By the end of the day, you’re hungry, scared, and alone. Because you’ve been walking all day, you finally give up, getting in a fetal position as you wail loudly for anyone to help you.

That’s when you hear a tune so clear and vivid that it’s impossible for you not to hear it. It sounds like a husky voice, humming an unfamiliar but delicate tune that you’ve never heard before. Instinctively, you get on your feet, following the alluring voice. Whenever you lose the direction of the voice, you stop to listen to it carefully, then return to your tracks. You have no idea who it is who’s singing this tune, but you find it oddly enticing as you try to find the source of it.

But to your surprise, the voice leads you out of the forest. All day, every villager in your small town of Hwanghon searched everywhere for you. One of the villagers spots you and runs toward you, asking if you’re alright. It’s the old man who runs the bakery, and he carries you to your mother. He runs as quickly as he can, and you can only turn your head to get one last glance of the forest.

There, at the edge of the forest, stands a tall, slender man hiding behind a tree. You can’t get a clear picture of his face since it’s nighttime and he’s under the tree’s shade, but all you can remember are those fluorescent, murky blue eyes, glaring right back at you.

------

It’s been eleven years since that time you got lost in the forest, but it still feels like it was just yesterday when you saw a moonchild for the first time. Moonchildren have been a folklore in your small town, Hwanghon, claiming that they are droplets of the moon who come here and protect nature. Though they’ve never been spotted before in real life, there are rough sketches of them everywhere. They normally have skin as pale as milk, silver hair resembling the color of the moon, and eyes as blue as sapphire. You know for certain that when you were lost in the forest, you encountered a moonchild, and he led you out of the forest.

Despite it being more than a decade since that incident, you can’t quite seem to get that tune out of your head, though you don’t exactly remember every note of it. His voice was so deep and hoarse, but distinct in a way that you’ve never heard another person sound like him before. This led to you to develop a fascination in music, as you spend every moment of your time replaying that melody in your head, trying to replicate it, but never getting it perfectly. You would always play it on the piano, but it just doesn’t sound the same if it isn’t him singing it.

You’re alone in the music room of your high school, sitting in front of a piano. You play the first couple of chords that you remember slowly, then picking up the tempo and changing the rhythm, but it doesn’t feel right. It’s not like how he sang it. You slouch as you huff out a sigh, frustrated that once again, you can’t exactly remember the tune.

You lean over to grab the music sheet from the piano’s stand. The sheet is scribbled with your writing, music notes in between measures, personal notes to yourself. On the top of the sheet is the title, The Moonchild’s Melody, written in dark blue ink. You take your pencil that’s been resting on your ear, and you scribble out the potential tune that you just played. It isn’t the one that you were looking for. Another sigh escapes your mouth as you rub your sinus with the eraser end of the pencil.

Suddenly, someone takes away your paper from your hands. You spin your head around to find Soori staring at the music sheet that she took from you with an eyebrow raised.

“What the hell is this? The Moonchild’s Melody? What kind of fairytale shit are you writing?”

“Soori...can you please give it back to me?” You ask in a unmotivational tone because you know Soori never listens to you.

“Don’t tell me, you still think that moonchildren are real?” Soori rolls her eyes at you. “What the hell are you, a kid?”

Soori tosses your music sheet to the side, flailing in the air before landing on the floor. You were about to get up and pick up the paper, but Soori sits next to you, one arm wrapped over your arm.

“Did you forget what I asked you to do? Instead, you wandered to here pretending to be Mozart and shit.” She whispers into your ear.

“But...you told me to go away.”

“Bitch, you’ve been with me since we were kids. I think you know the fucking drill without me having to explain every rule to your ass,” you can hear the change in tone in Soori’s voice. She’s clearly getting annoyed at you for standing up against her. “Hurry up and buy us some lunch before they run out of the good stuff.”

Scared of what she might do if you retaliate, you get up and walk out of the music room. Standing by the side of the door is Soori’s two friends, Eunhae and Jieun. They whisper into each other’s ears before they saw you. When you make eye contact with them, they simply giggle at you then continue to whisper among themselves.

“Oh yea, and Jieun needs to copy your English assignment from yesterday.”

You don’t say anything because you know that you have no choice but to let her copy off of your homework. You continue to the cafeteria, where you check your wallet to see if you have enough money.

Soori is your older cousin. Before you were born, she was the only child in your immediate family, so of course she was spoiled to death, but it wasn’t until you were born that you started getting the attention. She hated how she wasn’t the center of attention anymore, so whenever the two of you were together, Soori would pretend to play the loving, mature cousin, but behind the scenes, she is a demon. You could never escape her grasp because your family has family gatherings very often and pair you two together, and on top of that, she goes to the same school as you.

After buying them the same exact packs of food that you always buy for them, you run across the halls. You didn’t expect the line to be this long, especially since it’s the later half of lunch. You can already imagine Soori calling you foul names for taking too long. You quicken your pace to the music room in fear of Soori lashing out on you.

“Hey! No running in the halls.” You’re right by the music room when someone calls out to you.

You spin your head around and slow down your speed. “I’m sorry!”

The person who called out to you is your homeroom teacher, Mr. Kim. He immediately smiles, waving at you after he recognizes you. “Oh, (Y/N)! Didn’t expect you to be the one breaking the rules. Actually, can I speak for you for a second?”

You don’t want to stall time longer than you should, but you can’t bring yourself to say no to a teacher. You turn back around and approach Mr. Kim, who’s still smiling, unaware of the situation you’re in.

“So, have you thought about the competition I told you about?”

Not only is Mr. Kim your homeroom teacher, but he’s also a music teacher. Other than Soori and her friends, he’s the only one who knows that you like music. One morning at school, he caught you playing the piano, but since it’s rare for people to play originals and not some theme song they found on a popular animated show, he let you play.

You shake your head. “No...I don’t think I’m up for it. Besides, I don’t think the music that I play is popular with people.”

That’s right, you love listening to slow, piano ballads and ancient Western folk tunes, anything that reminds you of nature. People nowadays are interested in EDM or techno, no longer the old-fashioned, real instrument-based songs. There’s no point in entering a competition filled with people much more talented than you.

“Come on now! I’m pretty sure you’ll be a breath of fresh air! Why don’t you talk it over with me?”

“Uhm, sorry but now right now. There’s somewhere that I have to go now.”

You really don’t want to see yourself with Mr. Kim. It’s not because you don’t like him; if anything, he’s one of the most supportive teachers in your school. But besides disliking your entire existence, the one thing that Soori hates the most is seeing you talking to Mr. Kim. She was a part of his choir when she was a freshman, and she fell in love with his kind personality. She gets immensely jealous, even if it’s an innocent greeting across the hall, it’s enough to tick her off. You look behind you at the music room in case Soori is listening.

And what you were afraid of comes to life, as you see Soori peering out of the music room, glaring at you while conversing with Mr. Kim. There’s an uneasy feeling settling inside of you as she shoots dagger eyes at you. You dislike how of all students, Mr. Kim has to stop and talk to you.

“Oh okay. Well, lunch is almost over anyway and you have a lot of food to eat by yourself, so enjoy the rest of your lunch.” Mr. Kim pats your head before walking off.

You don’t look back at him, just eyes kept on Soori. You walk to her, holding the packs of food close to your chest. Once you get close enough, the irritated look on her face disappears, and she puts her arm around you, dragging you into the music room, where you see Jieun and Eunhae reading your music sheet.

“You wrote this?? It looks so ugly.” Eunhae remarks.

“Soori said that you still believe in that moonchildren fairytale, the one that old people tell kids, right?” Jieun asks.

“...Yea…” You nod your head timidly.

Soori smirks, pitching you on the cheek. “Awww, isn’t my little cousin here just so naive? It’s like she still believes in Santa!”

“But I really did see one…!”

Soori’s expression changes nearly immediately, glaring at you with squinted eyes. “Well, aren’t you a smartass? You know, all four-year-olds claim that they see Santa too.”

Normally, you’d take in everything that Soori would throw at you, but the one thing that you can’t stand is when she calls you a liar about seeing a moonchild. You know what you saw, and it wasn’t something you made up when you were a kid. Even if you don’t remember the face, you do remember it sang a song, which is why you keep trying to replicate it—to remind you that that memory isn’t a fake.

You shrug Soori’s arm off of you. “I’m not lying! I really saw one in the forest! Why would I lie about it?”

Soori hates how you get like this sometimes, so she was so close to tugging at your hair, but then an idea pops up. She smiles, complimenting herself for having such a brilliant idea.

“I know! Since you’re so adamant about them being real, then how about tonight, let’s go catch us some, yea?”

Your head is already screaming for you that that’s a bad idea. Even her friends give the impression that Soori must be out of her mind. As much as you believe in the folklore, you’re more terrified of the forest, especially at night. It’s already difficult to move around in the forest during the day, but at night? It’s practically impossible without night vision.

You still remember that time when you got lost—how scared you were. All those wounds you got on your feet, the unfamiliar, eerie sounds coming from all sorts of directions. Just thinking about returning to the forest is already enough for you to send chills down your spine.

“S-Soori...I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“But aren’t you the one who’s always saying that they’re real? Well then, prove it to us!” Suddenly, Soori pulls you in close. “If you don’t come, then I swear I’ll do whatever I can to make your life miserable.”

She shoves you away, taking the lunch that you bought for them from your arms.

“Let’s go. The music room feels too humid. I want some fresh air.”

Jieun and Eunhae both look at each other before following Soori. The two of them have no idea what Soori has in store for you. Knowing Soori, it’s probably something that you won’t like for sure, but then of all the time you’ve known her, she’s never gone this far before. Usually, she would call you names and boss you around, but she not to the extent of going to somewhere. You can only pray that she won’t do anything too harsh.

------

It’s 10 PM, and the four of you are standing at the edge of the forest. It’s so dark that if you didn’t have the flashlight on your phone, then you would have no idea where you would be going. Eunhae and Jieun are sticking close to each other while Soori stands confidently on her own.

You turn to Soori, clutching onto your phone tighter. “Soori...do we really have to go in? It’s late, a-and we have school tomorrow.”

“We didn’t come this far for nothing! Don’t pussy out and let’s go in!”

She smacks your back, encouraging you to go in. You try to stop your feet from moving forward, but Soori makes it hard for you not to. Pushing you in first, Soori, Jieun, and Eunhae follow from behind.

“Ew! This place is so dirty!” Jieun screeches

“It’s because we’re in a forest, no duh.” Soori comments.

“Ugh, I’m definitely gonna take a shower right after this. I can’t stand the dirt.” Eunhae clicks the roof of her mouth.

The four of you trek your way through the forest without any real sense of where you’re all going, just wherever Soori is leading. You do find it ironic that Soori is the one who suggested that you would find the mythical creature, but she ends up taking the lead. You stay right behind Soori, terrified of the dark and anything that’s in the forest.

“Soori, where are you taking us? I just wanna go home! I feel like there’s spiders all over me!”

“Geez, stop being such a wuss Jieun! This forest doesn’t have any dangerous animals! It’s too small of a habitat to keep animals like a wolf.”

“But that still means foxes, snakes, bugs, and all sorts of other animals!”

“You sure do hate animals, do you Ji-Ji?” Eunhae chuckles.

You also don’t like thinking about the possible dangerous animals that could be slithering around your legs either, but you don’t tell them anything because you know that Soori is only going to use it against you and tease you.

Suddenly, Soori stops walking, having you nearly bump into her. Jieun and Eunhae stops walking soon after, holding each other’s hands.

“Wh-what is it, Soori?”

“I...think I just saw something.” She points her flashlight to a specific area.

None of you say anything, just trying to make out what Soori sees. Even if she claims that she saw something, you can’t really define what exactly she’s looking at. If anything, you don’t see anything that stands out at all.

That’s when Soori screams practically out of nowhere, alerting you and her two other friends. “Run!”

Jieun and Eunhae scream from the top of their lungs and run off. You try to follow them, but then Soori purposely pulls you back, causing you to fall and lose the grip on your phone. In that quick glance when looking at Soori, you can see her grinning. You drop your phone with the flashlight side covered by dirt.

By the time you land on your bottom, the three girls already ran off, laughing. That’s when it hits you--this was a prank to leave you in the forest. Soori knew that despite your strong belief in moonchildren, you’re absolutely terrified of the forest. She must’ve done this to get back at you for talking to Mr. Kim today. But why go to this extent? Is it because she didn’t like how he loves to talk about competitions with you and not her? Or is it because he pat you on the head, while she’s practically become nonexistent to him?

The memories of being lost in the forest resurfaces, and the sounds of crickets, branches breaking, and rustling of bushes are making you petrified. Your feet refuses to get up, and you resort to covering your ears and covering your eyes. You can only hear your heavy, unsteady breathing as you try to calm yourself down. Get it together. You’re not five anymore. All the sounds that you hear is just you making it up.

You know that this time, no one is coming back for you. The three people who left you here will undoubtedly lie about leaving you here if anyone were to find out that you went missing. You manage to calm your nerves down and get on your knees to search for phone. Since you can’t see anything, you use your hands to feel everywhere. You feel a bit squeamish when you feel something that isn’t grass or dirt, but you try to ignore it, telling yourself that it’s just your mind playing tricks on you.

Eventually, you do find your phone, and you sweep the dirt off of it. It’s a relief to find that the flashlight is still working, so now you have to search for a way out of the forest. You leap over bushes and watch out for branches that stick out to avoid getting scratches. You’re still terrified of what could be in the forest, but you block out everything that scares you. You try to remain strong because you know that no matter how many times you would call out for help, there will be no one to save you.

When you jump over a small bush, you accidentally slip on a loose rock and in front of you is a steep slope that you didn’t see previously. You roll out the slope, trying to reach out to anything that’ll stop you from rolling, but you’re going too fast to get ahold of anything. You do manage to grab a branch, but it’s not strong enough to hold you, so the sharp edge of the branch ends up slicing your palm instead. The next thing you know, the back of your head heads a rock, and you fall unconscious.

------

“Soori is such a kind girl! You should how to be like her more, (Y/N).”

“Your cousin already learned how to cook, so why can’t you cook?”

“Why don’t you get into choir too? I’m pretty sure that you’ll learn a lot from Soori. She’s really good at everything she does.”

Why does Soori have to be better at everything you do, yet still put you down? It’s not like she does all those things because she likes to, but because she just wants to be better than you at everything. It just took your birth to make it her lifelong goal to make sure that you never get the spotlight. You wish you were never born if you knew that Soori was set out to make you miserable.

That’s why you’re so passionate when it comes to moonchildren. That belief is the only thing that Soori can’t take away from you. From a simple witness of a potential moonchild, you want to nurture that memory and create it into something that Soori can’t take away from you. It might sound small and ridiculous, but it’s really the only thing that you can call yours. And so, even if you never see a moonchild ever again or if whoever you saw in the forest that fateful night wasn’t one, you still wouldn’t care, because that memory in itself belongs only to you.

Even if he doesn’t actually exist, or if he’s in your dreams, it would be nice to see him one more time before you go away. That’s the one wish that you ask for.

The first thing you see when you open your eyes is the full moon in a small opening with no trees. You’re still in the forest, lying flat on the dirt. You can’t remember anything after hitting your head hard on the rock. If you hit your head hard enough to fall unconscious, then you should be having a bad headache...but you’re not feeling anything? Your head isn’t pulsating, nor is there any physical injuries.

You feel your forehead, but that’s when you feel something sticky on your palm and a sting on your hand. You raise it up to the the light coming from the moon to see a black stain running down your arm, starting from your palm and ending at your elbow. You realize that it’s dry blood, and you must’ve cut your hand when you tried to grab that branch when you fell down. You sigh, trying to think of a way to explain this to your parents.

You try to figure where you fell down. By the way, what are you laying on? Your head is resting on something that feels soft, like it isn’t leaves, soil, nothing. It even feels like you’re resting on a hand. You turn your head to the side to see a pair of legs. Where the hell are you?

“Wh...what?”

A shadow hovers over you, and when you look up, you’re met with a pair of glimmering, dark blue eyes darting back at you. Right now, you’re resting on stranger’s lap. You scream in horror as you scoot away from the stranger, but you don’t go very far when a piece of bark on the ground pierces your wounded hand. You cringe in pain, clutching your wrist to stop the stinging.

When you look back at the stranger, you finally get a better look at him. His features look oddly familiar, like you’ve seen him before. The blue eyes, the silver hair, his outfit all white. This person...looks the same as the person you saw in the forest eleven years ago.

The stranger gets up from his spot and walks towards you. You want to run away, but then you’re too slow at getting up as the stranger is already down on one knee, reaching out for your hand. He takes you by the hand, and you flinch, nearly pulling your hand away from him, but the way he’s handling you so gently make you doubt that he’s dangerous.

The man traces his index and middle fingers down the bloodstain on your arm, then reaches over to pat you on the back of your head with his fingers. You don’t understand what he’s trying to convey. He sandwiches your injured hand in between his hands, and there’s a shimmering glow coming from the palms of his hand. Your eyebrows crease, unable to comprehend what kind of sorcery he’s pulling right now. When he finishes, he releases your hand. You look at your hand, and you’re astonished to see that despite the dry blood still remaining, your wound is gone!

You shoot your eyes at the man with your jaws dropped, speechless of what just happened. “Y-you...did you...just...heal me?”

You can’t believe this, but then, how can you? He just pulled off some magic trick right in front of you, something you would only see one television. Are you still dreaming by any chance? But you can’t be dreaming because you definitely felt pain from your hand.

The man doesn’t respond, not even a slight reaction. You lean a little closer to him, debating whether or not you should ask him something that’s been in your mind for a while now.

“Are you by any chance...a moonchild?”

But he doesn’t respond. He just stares at you with those teal eyes of his. He acts as if you didn’t say anything.

“Can you understand me?”

Once again, no respond. That most likely means that he can’t understand a word you’re saying, or he’s purposely choosing not to answer you. You want to express to him how thankful you are to him for healing and keeping an eye on you while you were unconscious, but since you can’t do it in words, you try to think of other possible ways to express it.

You take him by the hand, and he stares at you with a confused expression. You hold it tightly, both hands wrapped around it. You give him a heartwarming and sincere smile. “Thank you.”

Even though he doesn’t know what you’re saying, you still think it’s polite to say it at least. The man’s face finally changes to a slight expression of confusion. Perhaps he doesn’t understand human customs of thanking others. He wiggles his hand out of your grasp so that he can feel the top of your chest. He lightly puts his fingers where your heart should be, then he uses his other hand to caress your cheek, with his thumb touching the tip of your lips.

Normally if some stranger were to touch you like this, you’d kick them off this instance, but there’s something innocent about the way he’s feeling you. It’s not out of lustful desires over your body...but more so out of curiosity. His eyebrows crease, as if observing every detail of your face. Your eyes are locked onto his eyes, unable to look away from those gems.

That’s when the tips of his lips curl up ever so slightly, but his lips seem to be quivering. His expression has been serious all this time, but this is the first time he’s smiling since you’ve woken up. It’s not a real smile though, as he seems somewhat awkward trying to smile. That’s when a possible theory pops up in your head: does he...not know what a smile looks like? If your hypothesis is correct regarding him being a moonchild, then it would make sense that he doesn’t understand what seems to be normal to humans.

“(Y/N)!! Where the hell are you??”

The sound of Soori’s voice echoing in the forest scares the man, and he pulls his hands back immediately. When the two of you see three flashlights pointing everywhere, that’s the signal for him to run away. He gets up and silently runs away.

“Wait!” You call out to him, but he’s already too far gone to hear you.

Your voice doesn’t reach out to the one who you wanted, but to the three people who left you. “(Y/N)?! Where are you??”

Eunhae shines her light down the slope and finds you sitting on a patch of grass. “Hey guys! I found her!”

You decide to forget about him for now, and you climb up the slope back to them. When Jieun flashes her light on you, she screams in horror, scaring you as well, as she might’ve seen an animal from afar.

“Oh my god!” Eunhae jumps from fright.

“What?”

“There’s fucking blood all over you!”

You raise your arm up to show them your stained blood. Jieun and Eunhae screech at the sight of your blood. You know you won’t be able to explain it to them that some stranger healed your wound within seconds, so you quickly try to think of excuses.

“Are you talking about this? It’s just sap from a tree.” You don’t know any tree that oozes sap as dark as this, but this is the best you can think of in a few seconds.

“No, you idiot! We’re talking about the blood all over your head!”

Blood on your head? You touch your face with your clean hand, but you don’t feel blood. However, you do feel it when you touch the back of your head, around your ears, and your hair just covered in your dry blood. When did this happen? When you woke up, your head wasn’t in pain at all.

And then you figured it out. Earlier when the man was pointing to your bloody arm then to your head, he was trying to say that he just healed your head. It would also make sense why his hands were on your head when you woke up.

“Should we take her to the hospital?” Eunhae suggests.

“No! I’m fine! Really!! I look like this, but I’m fine.”

“But that looks really bad…”

How can you prove that you’re okay? The blood isn’t making your situation better. You try to think of other possibilities to make them brush this off, but nothing comes to mind.

“If she says that she’s fine, then she is. Let’s just go home. I’m tired,” Soori starts walking ahead, leaving the three of you simply confused. “You better wash yourself before Auntie and Uncle finds you like this. If I get in trouble for this, you’re dead.”

“O-okay…”

She might’ve said that so she can save herself, but you’re still thankful that she said that, which is probably the only time you thanked her. Since Soori is the one who makes the final decisions, Eunhae and Jieun don’t disagree with her. They follow her right from behind, and you turn around, getting that one last glance at the place where the moonchild found you. Is he even a moonchild, or are you going insane? You don’t even know if what happened earlier was even real, but then the blood without a single sight of a cut is proof that what happened a couple moments ago really did happen.

------

You already feel like you’re going insane with what you’re about to do. Right now, you’re in the forest and the sun is setting. Based on the books that you’ve read about moonchildren, they are never seen during the day, so nighttime is the only chance you’ll see them.

You aren’t sure that by visiting the forest again will guarantee that you’ll see him again, but there’s no other way. You hate going into the forest alone more than anything, but your interest in him is stronger. You take in a deep inhale before entering the forest.

This time, you brought a better flashlight. In case you get into another accident, you conserve the battery in your phone so you can call for help. You just pray that there will be reception when you’re in danger. Since the sun is up, you still have time to kill before it’s completely dark out. You search for a nice-looking tree, and once you do, you sit down with your back leaning against it. You take out your phone from your pocket and your earphones from your backpack. For the time being, you decide to listen to music while watching the sun going down.

It’s now dark, and your paranoia is starting to creep up to you again. Thankfully you brought your earphones to block all the scary sounds away, but then that would mean that you wouldn’t be able to hear if he’s nearby. With that in mind, you take out your earphones so that you can hear him.

Unfortunately though, you’re already starting to fall asleep. Because you wake up early for school, you tend to sleep earlier. It’s not 100% certain that he’ll come out again, so you even start to wonder if this is even worth the time. Last time you came here, it was because it was a joke for Soori to just scare you, but this time you really do want to see him.

A few hours has already gone by, and still no sight of him. You think about getting up and searching for him, but the thought of possibly falling down a small hill again scares you. Your eyes are becoming heavy, and it becomes harder for you to stay awake. Your plan was thought out too prematurely, and you should’ve brought something like coffee to keep you awake. And the next thing you know, you fall asleep.

That’s when you’re quick to remember what you were doing here in the first place. You open your eyes, and you see a familiar pair of sapphire eyes staring at you. You screech, not expecting to see a face as the first thing when you wake up. Your scream terrifies the man in front of you, causing him to flinch. He moves away from you, but then you reach out to him, feeling apologetic about rudely screaming in his face.

“W-wait! Don’t go!”

He doesn’t make another move. You’re relieved that he actually stopped, especially since he doesn’t seem to understand what you’re saying. You crawl slowly to him, and he looks like he wants to run away. You shush him, trying to calm him down as you move closer.

You close the gap between you and him, and you’re now sitting on your knees. The two of you stare at each other without saying another word, as you don’t know what to say to him. You honestly didn’t expect to see him again. You’re trying to think of anything that’ll make him understand you, but you’re drawing to a blank.

While you were thinking, he leans forward and takes a lock of your hair, brushing it downwards with his fingers. “...Girl.”

You’re surprised that he can speak. You also lean a little closer to him, excited that he can speak. “You can speak??”

But he doesn’t respond. He simply moves back, a little shaken that you seem exhilarated for some reason.

“Uhm...h-how about this…” You point to your face. “...My name...is (Y/N).”

He tilts his head in confusion, but he ends up raising his finger, then points to you. “(Y/N)...”

You feel giddy inside. You’re happy that your conversation is getting somewhere with him. Since he’s finally opening his mouth, you decide to see if he’s really what you think he is. You pause to think about how you’re going to approach this, then you have an idea.

“Okay...then…” You point to him, then you point up at the moon. “Are you...a moonchild?”

You pull your hand back, but he only continues to stare up at the moon. He stares at it longingly, seemingly contemplating about something.

“Mother…”

You can assume that that single word is enough to prove that the myth of children of the moon really do exist. Then again, how else can you explain last night when he healed your wounds within a span of a few seconds? No only that, but his physical features definitely fit the descriptions of a moonchild.

When he finally lowers his head, you point to his chest. “...What’s your name? Name?”

But he doesn’t respond. He only stares at you, waiting for something else to come out of your mouth. You give him a few more seconds before giving up.

“You don’t have a name, huh.” Either that, or he doesn’t know what ‘name’ means.

Despite knowing a few words, it’s not enough to really start a conversation. He knows less than a toddler. You did read in one book that a moonchild stays away from human civilization, so it would make sense for his lack of a language. But...he can’t have lived without learning any form of communication. Maybe he can communicate in some other way that you don’t know? But then again, he does seem to know some words, so it might mean that he’s gotten into human contact before. You don’t know. Thinking about this too much is going to make your head hurt.

------

The next day, you’re in your house, looking for something. You’re glad that your mother didn’t throw away your elementary school workbooks, though you question why she would even still have them in the first place. You were able to find it in the depths of your basement. Once you gathered everything that you need to bring to him, you set out to the forest again at sunset. Since you don’t know where he usually stays before it gets dark, you decide to pick another place to wait for him.

Just around the time when the sun disappears, you can see a figure hiding behind a tree. You wonder if he’s trying to hide from you, which you think is cute. Maybe it’s the first time he’s approaching you while you’re awake, so he’s feeling a bit shy. You smile, unable to handle how cute he’s acting right now.

“It’s okay. You can come out.”

He peers his head out from behind the tree, and giving in to your welcoming smile, he creeps towards you. Once he’s close enough, he kneels down in front of you, waiting for you to say or do something. You rummage through your backpack, where you take out a few of your workbooks and a pencil for him. He only stares at it curiously, too busy observing it rather than taking it.

“Here, let me help you,” you crawl next to him, opening to the first page of the book. “Trace the letters just like how it’s shown right here. Use the pencil to write it out, then just repeat.”

You hope that brief explanation was enough for him, even though it was poorly explained. Just as you thought, he doesn’t seem to understand what you were trying to say. You grab the pencil and start tracing some of the letters for him to copy. You give the pencil to him so that he can try it.

He follows your steps by writing the same letter that you wrote. His handwriting is sloppier than yours, similar to that of a five-year-old’s. It’s barely recognizable compared to the letter that you wrote, but it’s good that he’s starting somewhere.

He repeats this process for the other letters of the alphabet, and you’re surprised that he’s learning fast. It might be because he did learn a language before, but it might be the first time he’s learning how to read and write. His brain is connecting the dots between words he didn’t know make sense before. Since he’s learning so much so quickly, you might have to bring in level two tomorrow.

Seemingly out of nowhere, his head perks up as if something caught his attention, startling you. “What is it?”

He sets the workbook down and jogs towards whatever alerted him. You follow right after him because you don’t want to be alone in this pitch-black forest. You shine the flashlight on him so that you don’t lose track of him. He’s pretty fast, jumping over bushes and dodging trees like it’s nothing, meanwhile, you’re struggling to even watch out for rocks.

Eventually, he stops in a specific spot with an area in covered in dry dirt. After fighting against the prickly shrubs, you find him kneeling down in front of what seems like a chunk of fur. When you get closer, you realize that the chunk of fur is a deer. At first, you cower back, afraid that the deer will start kicking, but one you have a better look, you discover that the deer has injured its hind leg, and there’s blood pouring out of its leg.

The deer is breathing heavily as if gasping for every bit of air possible, and you feel sympathetic for the poor deer. On the other hand, he doesn’t seem bothered by it. Without an ounce of hesitation, he hovers his right hand over the deer’s bloody hind leg. A white glow of light appears in the palm of his hand, and you witness his powers in work. You wipe your eyes, unable to believe that the wound on the deer’s leg is closing. All that remains is the deer’s blood smeared on its light brown fur. He then pets the deer’s back, and the deer slowly gets on all fours. It glances at you and him, only for it to then turn away and calmly walk off as if all of this never happened.

Once the deer is gone, he turns his attention back to you, sitting on the ground and crossing his legs. His gaze doesn’t deter from you as you stutter with your words while pointing at him. What in the world happened?

“Y-you...you…” Because of the shock, you can’t quite make out your sentence.

He merely stares at you with his round, glittering eyes, his head tilted ever so slightly, wondering what you’re doing. That’s when he plays a game of charades and imitates holding a pencil, pretending to write the air. You come to the conclusion that he wants to continue to write in the workbook. You try your best to brush it off like how he does it, but then you just can’t quite do it like him. Besides, you accidentally left your workbook back at the other spot, so you have to go back to get it.

------

You’ve been sneaking out of your house to meet that person in the forest. Most of the time, you bring your workbooks so that he can learn how to communicate with you. So far, the books have been helping him, and now you’re able to make a decent conversation with him. It’s only been a couple of weeks since you first met him, and he’s already almost done with your fifth grade level book. It kind of offends you in a way that it takes you a year to complete one workbook, whereas it only takes him a few days.

The both of you are reading the book together, reading one of those word problems you used to dislike so much when you were a kid. You still hate them if you have to be honest. You shine the light on the book so that you can read it along with him.

“‘Minseo walks down the block to meet Woonji...and when she sees him, she waves her hand e-en...enthu…’” He stutters with the last word.

“En-thu-si-as-ti-cal-ly,” you underline the word with your index finger. “Enthusiastically.”

“En-enthusias...tically?”

You nod.

“What does that word mean?”

“Uhm...well…” You put your finger to your cheek, pondering. You really don’t know how to explain what enthusiastic means in basic terms. “It could mean as in happy, like you’re happy to see Woonji.”

You imitate the pictures, pretending to be Minseo and waving at him with a smile. Though, since you’re not really an expressive person, you feel somewhat awkward imitating an emotion you don’t really feel, but you hope that you were able to portray it enough to him.

“For example, right now I’m waving at you because I’m excited to meet...uhm…”

Even after all this time, you really don’t have a name to call him. You don’t know how you were able to spend all that time with him without calling him something. You assume that it’s because there never came a situation where you had to call his name.

“...Do you really not have a name?”

He ogles you, not really knowing how to answer you. “...I don’t know what ‘name’ means. Does it mean (Y/N)?”

“What?” You have no idea where he got that from.

He points to the top right corner, and up there, there’s the font ‘name’ with an underline on the right side. On top of that underline is your name in your elementary school handwriting. He must’ve assumed that name means (Y/N), which you can’t help but find that adorable. You never got the chance to erase your name for him. Well, you never thought it was necessary in the first place.

You chuckle. “No, that’s my name. A name is what you call something or someone.”

He still doesn’t understand what you mean.  You search around to make your explanation more understandable. You pick up your backpack and point at it.

“Like this. Its name is called ‘backpack’,” you set your backpack down, then you take an extra pencil from your backpack. “And the name for this one is called ‘pencil’. Basically, a name makes it easier to call you. Like if I see you from far away, but you don’t see me, I shout your name and you react to it.”

You think that he understands, or you hope so. He stares blankly at the pages in front of him, scanning the childish images of two poorly drawn stick figures that are supposed to represent Minseo and Woonji.

“I don’t think...I have a name…”

That’s what you thought, but then...it’s kind of sad that of all his time living here, he never had a name. There is the name ‘moonchild’, but that’s similar to calling you ‘human’ or ‘girl’. Since you’re in the topic, you might as well pick a name for him, but you just don’t know what name suits him. First, you think of naming him ‘forest’, but then that’s too basic, and you get the feeling that he’ll probably come to hate that name. You think about the most common names, but none of them fits him.

Then you look down at the workbook, in the next word problem, it’s a short story about a young girl sharing her apples with a little boy. You read the boy’s name, and you think it fits perfectly with him.

“I know! How about...Taehyung?”

“Tae...hyung?”

“Yea. Do you not like that name?”

He shakes his head, smiling timidly with his head lowered. “No, I like it.”

Just by seeing his content for his name makes your heart jump. You can feel your cheeks burning up, so you look away before he can catch you. However, it seems like Taehyung already caught on, and he darts his eyes at you with a worried expression.

“Are you okay? Are you sick?”

“N-no...I’m fine. Just ignore it.” You clear your throat.

You can’t believe your heart skipped a beat because of a simple smile. You just don’t see it often on Taehyung’s face, that’s all. Maybe you’re not comfortable with his smiling face, which is why it took you by surprise.

------

Now that you and Taehyung can talk to each other, you’ve been learning a lot about him. You learn that Taehyung enjoys making flower decorations for animals, though most of the time, they don’t accept them. Usually, they would have it around their necks, but soon after, they would pull it off with their paw. You also learn that Taehyung doesn’t eat. He said that he doesn’t know what it feels like to be hungry, but he does understand the concept of sleeping.

He explains to you that the earliest memory he has is of him staring up at the moon. He remembers his small hands reaching out for it, but he knew that he could never reach it. Taehyung learned the concept of motherly love from the various animals who cater to their children, and sometimes, he could hear the moon weeping for him, though he doesn’t know why the moon cries.

You also learned that you’re not the first human interaction he’s ever had before. There has been countless of other kids that have gotten lost here, and he was able to help them escape. Most of the time, they don’t return.

“You say that you only help kids, right? What about older kids and adults?”

Taehyung knows what to tell you, but he isn’t quite sure how to say it. “...They...don’t have good intentions. They only like to take things and not give back. Kids don’t have evil thoughts, so I trust them.”

“What about me? You saved me when I was a kid, too. Do you remember me? I was that little girl in that red dress, buckle shoes...”

“I remember all kids who come here. Even though I save kids, it’s rare to see them here.”

“But why did you save me a second time? I’m not a kid.”

Taehyung does his usual habit of staring at you intently, then he points to your chest, specifically where your heart is. “Because you called out to me, and I came.”

You called out to him? Surely you knew that he existed, but you don’t remember consciously calling him.

“It was the first time someone called for me. I only come when they cry for help, but you didn’t say that you needed help. You said that you only wanted to see me.”

You don’t understand a word he’s saying. Did you call out to him when you were knocked out? But then you didn’t have a name for him at that time, so how could you? Plus, he barely knew any words, and when you spoke to him for the first time, he didn’t understand you. That’s when you were thinking of another scenario. You recall the time when he knew there was an injured deer. He knew the exact spot without any faults.

“I have a question. How do you know I said that? And at the time with the deer...how did you know?”

Taehyung clutches his chest. “I listen to here, the heart. It tells me everything.”

What? During your time of research about moonchildren, you didn’t know anything about them being able to read the heartbeat (or what you assume is the heartbeat). Perhaps this is an ability of the moonchildren that has yet to be recorded, or maybe it’s a new ability that has been developed over time?

“The deer cried, saying that it wants to live. It wanted to see her babies one more time. And then...your heart told me that it wanted to see me.”

Oh no. So does that mean that this entire time, he can pretty much read your mind through your heart? All those times when you thought that you were being slick, hiding your emotions and all, he knew what you were really feeling? It’s so embarrassing that you can’t bring yourself to look at him. Now that you know of this, you know that you can’t really hide your true feelings from him.

“But I don’t know what your heart is saying right now. You only feel this when I say some words, or if I do something. Am I making you mad in a different way?”

If ‘mad’ meaning crazy, then yes. Everything he does always catches you off-guard. Of course he’s gorgeous, but there’s so much to him that you adore about him too. At least you’re safe for now since he doesn’t know what it means.

“No, don’t worry about it. I’m not mad at you. It’s not like that.”

Taehyung still doesn’t know what you’re talking about, but you think it’s better this way for now.

------

You’ve been having a hard time staying awake during school. Most of the time, you find yourself nodding off before realizing that you’ve just missed a large portion of the lesson. Fortunately for you, Taehyung only appears at night, so you have all the time you need to finish your assignments before meeting him.

The only real time you have peace and quiet from Soori is when you’re in your school’s music room early in the morning, but with the decrease in sleep hours in exchange to see Taehyung, it’s becoming difficult for you to stay up to play the piano. You know it’s not a necessity to meet Taehyung every single night, nor is it a requirement for you to be at school so early, but those two things are what makes you the happiest.

You don’t remember when you fell asleep in the music room, but when you wake up, you realize that you’ve been leaning on the piano keys. You were feeling uncomfortable with your posture, so you moved your arm, accidentally pressing four keys at once, startling you. You check the time, and you’ve been asleep for ten minutes. Rubbing your sinuses, you sigh, searching for the music sheet that you left on the piano stand. For some reason, it’s not there. Did the wind blow it off by any chance?

“This is really different compared the kind of songs that kids like you nowadays listen to. It’s really intriguing.” You hear a familiar voice from behind you.

You spin around to see Mr. Kim standing behind you, reading the song that you’re currently working on. “Mr. Kim!”

“The Moonchild’s Melody, hm,” he studies your sheet a bit longer, making you feel all the more embarrassed. “That’s an oddly specific name. Is there a reason behind that?”

 “About that...it’s a dumb reason. You don’t want to know.”

Mr. Kim sets the music sheet down and leans on the side of the piano. “But I did ask you, right? So in some way or another, I do want to know.”

“Uhm...well...it’s not really a big thing, but when I was little, I got lost in the forest. Right when I was losing hope that someone would find me, I heard someone sang a tune. I followed the voice, and the next thing I know, it led me out of the forest.”

“Oh wow! Must’ve been a really crazy night.”

“It really was. And when I looked back, I saw a moonchild. That’s when I knew that the moonchild helped me get out.”

You can still vividly remember that day. Those blue eyes that belong to Taehyung, and that voice he used to sing the song. You know, you never thought about asking Taehyung to sing it again. Would it be too much to ask him to sing it again?

“So you saw someone, and you automatically assume that it’s a moonchild?”

You blush slightly, just grasping at how childish that sounds. “I-I told you it was really stupid.”

“No, it’s not. To be fair...I believe that they’re real too.”

“Really?!” You didn’t expect him to believe in them too.

“I usually never like to say that I do because don’t you think it’s weird that a man in his late twenties still believe in them? But since you think they’re real, I think it’s safe for me to say that they’re real too.”

You can’t imagine Mr. Kim’s reaction if he were to find out that moonchildren are real. He has no idea that they aren’t just myths, but real beings such as Taehyung.

“I also had a similar experience. My grandma took me to the forest when I was little to watch the fireflies, but then me being a kid, I trailed off. I was really scared that I wouldn’t see her again because she’s very important to me, but then I saw a mysterious person with glowing blue eyes sang this enchanting song, and then I was reunited with my grandma again.”

“Actually, they…” But your voice trails off before you even finish.

You almost told Mr. Kim about Taehyung. At first, you thought that it’d be terrific to share this secret with Mr. Kim too since he’s a believer, but then you immediately remember Taehyung told you that he doesn’t like adults, and Mr. Kim will surely ask to see Taehyung. Sure, you’d like to think that Mr. Kim isn’t like any other adult who has malicious intentions as what Taehyung claim they are, but you can’t read people like how Taehyung can. You don’t like to doubt your favorite teacher, but you don’t want to betray Taehyung.

“Hm? What were you going to say?”

“Nothing! I was just speaking my mind. Anyway, first period is about to start, so I should get going.” You give him a brief smile before grabbing your backpack from the floor.

“Okay well, if you ever need anything, then don’t be afraid to ask.”

Before you leave, Mr. Kim gets close to you—closer than usual—and pats you on the head. It’s a normal habit of his to pat you on the head, but this time, this one feels different. Because after he pats you on the head, he runs his fingers down your hair.

Feeling unsettled by this, you move away from him. “I should get going now.”

“Okay. See you later.”

You speed out of the music room, having no idea what just happened. Unbeknownst to you, you didn’t notice that this entire time, Eunhae was standing on the other side of the door, listening in to your entire conversation with Mr. Kim. Since Soori is infatuated with Mr. Kim, Eunhae took pictures of Mr. Kim patting your head and brushing your hair and sends it to Soori.

------

In the forest, you’re following Taehyung, who’s going around the forest and healing various kinds of plants. You simply observe him feeling the different plants before healing them, returning their green colors back to them. No matter how many times you’ve seen Taehyung use his powers, it never stops to fascinate you.

“So if you keep mending them, is it possible that they’ll become immortal?”

“What is immortal?”

“When you live forever.”

“...No. Everything I heal dies one day, I’m only return them to their original aging state.”

Original state? It doesn’t exactly make sense, but you accept it regardless.

“So then...how do you know when it’s time for them to go away?”

“I’ll know, and they’ll tell me.” He answered it like he knew you were going to ask that.

“What about during the day? What do you do?”

“I...don’t know what I do. I think I sleep. Before I even get a glimpse of the sun, I close my eyes, then wake up when the moon is up.”

“Are you saying that you’ve never seen the sun before?”

He shakes his head. “I did see it one time. I was really curious about how the world looks like from the perspective that humans usually see it, but…”

That’s when Taehyung rolls up the sleeve on his right arm, revealing a horrifying, red burn mark across his forearm. Seeing the scar across his arm scares you, as you thought that Taehyung is impervious to injuries. Just seeing it plastered on his pale skin makes you think that Taehyung also has a possible ending to his lifespan as well.

“I was trying to protect my eyes from the sun, but in a few seconds, it burned my arm. I was too scared to come out to the sun again after that. I think my skin can’t handle anything that’s too hot.”

You feel bad for him that he’s never gotten to experience what it’s like being awake during the daytime. Sure, you’ve been in the sun for most of your life, so you should be immune to it, but just hearing that Taehyung can’t even get a chance to be out in the sun or anywhere hot makes you feel sad. You wish Taehyung got to see the beauty of daytime.

Taehyung can sense that pit of sadness in your heart. He can feel the pain, but you don’t have any physical pain, so he doesn’t know what to do to fix that. That’s when he remembers the workbooks that you lend to him and the different scenarios that he’s read. There was one short story that he read that intrigued him, and it was how to comfort someone during their rough times.

He extends his hand out to and pats you on the head. He’s so stiff when touching your hair, just moving his hand up and down with his fingers spread out. When you realize what he’s doing, you look up at him, confused with what he’s doing.

“It’s okay, don’t feel bad about it.” Taehyung forces an awkward, square-shaped smile.

Just like that time earlier, your heart skips a beat. Your face explodes in red, and your mind is a disaster. There’s just something about the little things that Taehyung does that makes you feel all fuzzy inside.

Earlier today when Mr. Kim patted you on the head, it didn’t feel as good as this. In a way, you felt a little disgusted. But why? He’s your favorite teacher, and all the girls love him. Not only that, but he gives you a lot of special treatment. Shouldn’t you be feeling the same way you do as the other girls feel for him too? So then, why is it that Taehyung is the one that makes you feel like this and not him?

You lower your head slightly, feeling his large hand messing with the top of your hair. Your heart is pounding like crazy, but you don’t hate this.

However, just like how Taehyung always throws you off, the amount of emotions your heart is extruding to Taehyung is making him confused as well. There’s something captivating about the expression on your face and your heart beating so rapidly that he finds so alluring. He doesn’t know what your heart is trying to express because he’s never seen a living being communicate this way towards him, but he doesn’t particularly hate it. On fact, it also makes his chest pound too.

Unconsciously, Taehyung wants to see more of this side of you, so he becomes rougher with his head-patting. At this point, you think Taehyung’s behavior is becoming weird. And in the next moment, that feeling in your heart disappears from Taehyung’s sight, leaving him disappointed and wanting more.

“Uhm...Taehyung? Are you okay?”

Taehyung blinks profusely, a bit surprised at how much in a daze he was in. “Yea...I think I’m okay.”

You thought that that was pretty odd of him to do that. But then again, he can read you, so he must’ve known what you were feeling when he pat you on the head. Now you’re starting to get embarrassed again since you completely forgot that he can do that. You tell yourself that you have to be more careful next time and make sure that Taehyung doesn’t tease you again.

------

You’re feeling really frustrated. Right when you finally thought about sharing Taehyung the song he inspired you to make, you lose your music sheet. Of course, you can sing the tune without your paper, but you wanted to have your paper so you can keep notes in case Taehyung helps you with it. You also thought it’d be nice to teach him how to read music too.

For now, you decide to visit Taehyung and forget about it. Although you’re upset that years of work put on that single song is now gone, you can look for it later. You hike through the dim forest in search of Taehyung with your flashlight as your only vision. You’ve been calling his name out for quite a while now. Normally, he’d answer you back or appear out of nowhere from behind a tree, but he’s nowhere to be found.

You continue to trek through the tall trees surrounding you for a little longer, then from a distance, you see someone’s head peering over a bundle of bushes. You immediately recognize the silver hair, so you pick up your pace to get closer. Just as you thought, the person is Taehyung, and he’s crouching over something. Since his back is facing you, you can’t make out what he’s looking at.

You approach him, leaning over at what is in front of him. “Hey Taehyung, what are you looking at?”

But your question is answered when you see what it is. What lies in front of him is an orange fox, resting on its side and barely breathing. Your peace of mind is disturbed, and you feel this overwhelming sense of melancholy. Taehyung can sense how clouded you must be feeling, having to see an animal nearing its death.

“Wh...what happened?”

“...He got sick from eating too much human food. He said that when he got hungry, he would visit a little boy who would feed him food his stomach isn’t used to.”

Since foxes are naturally from the wild, their diet isn’t immune to human food, so their stomach cannot handle too much food that isn’t consistent to what they eat. You can’t but pity the feeble animal. He could’ve lived a longer life had he not been fed by humans.

“Healing the injuries inside of him is the same as healing the outside ones too, right?” You ask.

Taehyung doesn’t answer right away. “…Yes, it is, but...he says that he doesn’t want to be healed.”

“What? What do you mean? But he’s in pain.”

“He is, but he said that he’s ready to go away now. He’s lived a happy life and wants this to be his ending.”

That...sounds so sad. If you’re in pain, wouldn’t you want to be healed? You can’t seem to grasp what Taehyung’s talking about.

“But you can still heal him right? Or at least make it less painful?”

He shakes his head. “I can’t do anything if he doesn’t want me to help him.”

And in that moment, you could’ve sworn that you saw the life drain out of the fox’s eyes. The fox gives out one last breath before finally passing away. That was the first death you’ve ever witnessed with your own eyes, and you’re consumed with a mixture of emotions. You’re sad to see the fox not wish for an extended lifespan, but you’re also upset that the cause of his death is human ignorance. For humans, it seems fun feeding animals all sorts of food, but they don’t know the consequences. They don’t see the ugly side, seeing the animal actually die in front of them.

Your emotions are being thrust out so strongly on Taehyung. He strokes the fox’s back one more time. “It’s okay, (Y/N). The fox doesn’t blame the young child for his sickness. I think he was happy that he got to see the child one more time.”

“What?”

That kid is the reason why the fox died, but he doesn’t blame him for it? Then again, who are you to speak for the fox? Perhaps, there was a relationship between them only they understand. Though, you still are a bit surprised that the fox holds no anger towards the kid.

Taehyung stands up, leaving the fox’s body on the ground. “Let’s go.”

You’re caught off guard by Taehyung’s apathetic tone. He just saw an animal die, and he doesn’t seem to be affected by it.

“Taehyung?”

He turns around. “Yes?”

“…Never mind.”

You decide that it’s not worth mentioning it. Perhaps he’s so used to seeing death that it’s natural for him to not acknowledge the body. You turn back to look at the body once more before running after Taehyung.

------

A few days later, you return home from school, though it isn’t like usual. This time, Soori didn’t walk home with you. Normally, she’d walk home with you to criticize everything you do, and the only time she doesn’t walk home with you is when she’s hanging out with Jieun and Eunhae. Personally, you don’t really care because that means that you get to spend less time with Soori. You rather walk back alone then hear another word come out of her mouth.

You enter your house through the front door, and there are voices coming from the kitchen. At first, you thought that it was your parents talking, but then you can make out three or four more voices including your parents’. After taking off your shoes, you walk to the kitchen to find your aunt, uncle, and Soori with your parents. The first person to notice you is Soori, and just by seeing that smudge little smile on her face, you know that misery is about to unfold.

“Oh! (Y/N), why didn’t you walk home with Soori?” Your mother asks as she rushes to you.

You look at all of your relatives in the kitchen, and you have no idea what is going on. “Uh...I don’t know. I had something to do after school.”

“Well, you should’ve been here to hear the news, but Soori probably already told you at school!” Your mother exclaims with excitement.

“What news?” Though you don’t know, your gut tells you that it isn’t good.

“Oh jeez kid, you’re such a bad cousin! How can you not know this? You go to the same school, so it should’ve heard about this by now.” Your father sighs.

“It’s okay, Uncle! It’s my fault. I was too excited to tell everyone that I wanted to wait until we were all home, but then I thought (Y/N) was already home. I guess not.”

You wish you could wipe that innocent smile off of her face and let your family know how much of a demon she is, but she’s so good at playing her role that you know that your family won’t believe you. Soori skips towards you, taking you by both hands, tilting her head innocently with a childish smile.

“Remember the music competition Mr. Kim mentioned? So I submitted an original song written all by me, and I just got the notice that I got second place!”

“Wh-what??”

“The judges read her song, and they said that the song is so unique and distinct from other competitors’ work, saying that it’s such a uncommon yet mystifying outlook on the world around us.” Your uncle chimes in.

It’s too hard to believe that. You’ve known Soori for so long that you know that Soori has never picked up a pencil to write music. In fact, she only got into choir just so that she can beat you in music, and that she can get close to Mr. Kim. Soori has no real interest in music, so there’s no way she wrote something from the top of her head.

“Aren’t you going to congratulate her?” Your father interrupts your thoughts.

You shake your head, retreating back to reality. There’s no way you’re going to congratulate her because this is unbelievable. You shrug your hands off Soori’s grip and move away from her.

“Show me the song. Prove it to me that you wrote it.”

“What? But…(Y/N), I really did-”

“I need to see it.”

“(Y/N)! Is there a need to interrogate your cousin??”

“I-it’s alright Auntie, I kept it a secret that I enjoy writing music, so it’s normal for (Y/N) to suspect me. A copy of the song is in my backpack, so I can show it to her since she wants to see it.”

Soori takes off her backpack and puts it on top of the dinner table. She rummages through her backpack, taking out her binder and revealing a music sheet. The moment you saw the title, that’s when you knew that she stole your music sheet and submitted it, claiming it to be hers. Everything is exactly written likes yours from note to note. She didn’t even try to change it up.

Enraged, you snatch the paper from her hand. “You copied me!”

“What…? (Y/N), wh-why would you suspect me of something like that?? I...I…”

“(Y/N)! Lower your voice this instance! Soori did nothing to you!”

“You stole this from me, then you wrote it in your handwriting, saying that it’s yours!! All this time, you said that this song was crap, but then you go ahead and submit it into the competition?? You’re a scum!”

Soori pretends to be distraught by your words, clutching her hands close to her chest as if offended. You know well enough that Soori is just acting, but her acting is convincing her parents and yours too.

“S-sure...I might’ve been inspired by you because you’re such a great musician, but I didn’t mean any harm...I would never copy you! So please...please believe me that I actually wrote this!”

“(Y/N)...this is so unlike you...You always looked up to Soori, and now you’re raising your voice.” Your aunt finally speaks up.

Looked up to that lowlife? There is no way in hell that you would ever respect Soori. Soori is an egotistical maniac who would do anything to just be better than everyone else. You’ve gotten so used to Soori being in the spotlight that you honestly don’t even care if she takes nearly everything from you.

Soori always thought that your music is stupid, so she always looked away from that, and you liked that about her. You liked how shallow and materialistic she is as a person that she doesn’t value anything really important. Even with her romantic interest in Mr. Kim, she likes him merely because he’s handsome.

Writing music and being in your own world, so deep into your thoughts that you forget that you exist, was the only thing you could enjoy because you knew that Soori can never breach it. But now that she has by taking what you treasure the most and turning in into an item to be judged by outsiders, it’s as if she stepped then spat on it.

Unable to contain years of contempt towards her, you grab her by the collar of her shirt, pulling her close to your face. “When will you stop fucking playing around?!”

Soori doesn’t say anything, and she only looks surprised.

“You’re a piece of vermin that can never get out of my fucking life, and I wish you could just fucking grow up and learn how to take a shit on your own!! Just looking at you irritates me! I pray that one day, you will get what you asked for, you bitch!!”

Before you can let your mouth run any further, your father takes you by the arm, and Soori’s father takes her away from you. Since you’re not even done releasing your steam, you try to fight out of your father’s arms.

“Why the fuck are you always defending that piece of trash?! You’re my dad, so aren’t you supposed to believe me more than her?! Why does everyone believe that faker more than me?!” At this point, you’re just blaming your anger at everyone.

“(Y/N)!! Calm down right now!”

“That’s right, you’ve always wished that I was like Soori!! You all wish I was the perfect, beautiful, straight-A girl just like Soori, right?? No! You ended up with me! Someone who’s out shadowed by Soori that it puts you guys to shame! You all wish I was dead, right? Well, I hope I fucking die too!!”

Without warning, your father lets go of you, then you feel a sharp pain hit your left cheek. It was so sudden that it didn’t even register in your brain that your father slapped you. The force was so strong that your head swung the same direction as the hand. You look up to see your father, and all you can see is anger in your father’s eyes.

Your mother runs to Soori, hugging her as if you’re the one in the wrong. “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry Soori!”

“I-it’s okay...I was just a bit shaken up...that’s all.”

“(Y/N), don’t you dare talk to your cousin like that ever again, especially since she did nothing wrong. You’re getting upset over a piece of paper. Get over it.”

It hurts to hear that even after your outburst, your father is still defending Soori. But the fatal blow didn’t hit until your father said that you got mad over ‘a piece of paper’. It’s the same ‘piece of paper’ that you spent years working on. You woke up so early in the morning to work on that single song, playing the piano until your hands began to ache to the point of bandages. You took care of it as if it was your child. That ‘piece of paper’ made you feel like you can be ‘you’, and to hear that your father doesn’t even accept ‘you’ it hurts you all the more.

When you look at everyone’s reaction, you can see from the corner of your eye something you wished you never saw. In your mother and aunt’s arms is Soori, covering her face with her hand as if traumatized, but underneath that hand is the most malicious smile you’ve ever seen in your entire life. There is no feeling of regret in Soori, and her expression is telling you that she won yet again.

You can’t stand being in the same room as everyone, so you run out the door, not even bothering to wear shoes. Your parents run after you, calling after you, but you ignore them as you run with tears covering your eyes. Being in your own house is too suffocating.

------

You didn’t even give second thoughts when you instinctively ran into the forest. For some reason, your feet led you there, and all you can think about is one person. You want that person to be with you--to remind you that you really are important and that someone does treasure you. Unfortunately, since it’s still sunny outside, Taehyung can’t come out to comfort you.

You circle around the forest, eyes darting everywhere in hopes that Taehyung would appear somewhere, anywhere. “Taehyung? Taehyung!!”

No matter how many times you call out for him, he doesn’t come out.

“Taehyung, please...I really need you right now...I feel so alone…”

He doesn’t respond back to you. The only thing that you can hear return to you is the sound of various noises coming from animals. You can’t see them, but you can hear them. Your head makes a sharp turn when you hear the bushes hustling, and your paranoia is playing tricks on you again. What if that’s a poisonous snake? What if a wild animal jumps out at you and eats you alive?

You were able to forget about your phobia of the forest whenever you ventured in here because you knew that Taehyung would be here to protect you. Your fear never really went away, but Taehyung helped you pushed those thoughts away temporarily. Now that you’re here without Taehyung, your mind plays tricks on you, convincing you that there’s no one out here in this world that wants to save you.

You crouch down, covering your ears with your hands. Why did you come here? You were naive and thought that Taehyung is your hero. Taehyung hates people like you--people who ask for things but never expect to repay them. You only came here because you want to be reminded that you are needed without even thinking of repaying Taehyung. Taehyung did fine without you before, so what makes you think that you changed him in some sort of way?

In the end...I really am alone.

------

What point is there to live when you aren’t important to anyone? Should you die if you truly believe that you can’t change anyone or anything? That’s how I feel right now. There are so many scenarios where I can think of a world without me. My parents won’t have a daughter, but at least they would have Soori as a replacement. Even if they have Soori, they would only try again to have another child.

Out of the billions of people out there, one person dying doesn’t make a real difference, so if I were to die, it won’t change anything. I’m merely a speck of dust in a world filled with dirt. So if anything, I would prefer to die than to live in an intoxicating world.

Even though I ask for death, why is there this beautiful tune that I hear? That sweet, tender tune that I tried so hard to replicate because I desperately want to remember it. It reminds me of the time when I saw Taehyung for the first time as a child. I think he was the first person who ever reached out to me. He didn’t need to lend his hand physically, just that simple lullaby was enough for me to stand back up again. And ever since then, that lullaby has been enough to push me through life.

Whenever I was pulled down, all I had to do is play that tune on the piano, and I would feel so relieved. Even though it may never be exactly the same as the original, it helped me more than I could’ve imagined. So…if I were to ask for death…would that mean I would never hear this tune ever again?

You don’t remember when you fell asleep. You must have after all that crying, despite being terrified of the forest. You can still hear the sound of unknown noises coming from all around the forest, but there’s one distinct sound that’s louder than them all.

There’s the sound of someone whimpering very close to you. You can even feel something wet dripping onto your cheeks. Is it raining? When you checked the forecast this morning, it never said anything about rain. So then, what is falling onto your face?

You open our eyes, and you get this sense of deja vu when you’re met with two familar pair of blue eyes. However, the huge difference is that the eyes in front of you right now are covered with tears. You then realize that you’re laying on the ground, and Taehyung cupped both hands on your cheeks as he sobs uncontrollably.

Once Taehyung catches on that you’re awake, he doesn’t hesitate to pull you in for an embrace. You’re shocked, blinking profusely, wondering what’s going on. “Taehyung…? Are you okay?”

“I’m so sorry…I didn’t know how to heal you.”

“Wh-what? What are you talking about?”

“Your heart…it was screaming in pain…but I didn’t know how to fix it. You were hurting yourself…but you weren’t giving yourself physical injuries, so I couldn’t fix you,” Taehyung’s voice hiccups as he struggles to speak. “I wanted to heal you…but I couldn’t because you didn’t need my help…your heart kept screaming for you to die. You didn’t want to live anymore, and I was so scared…I really thought you were going to…di…die…”

Taehyung holds you tighter, and you can feel his fingers trembling.

“Don’t ever say that about yourself again…Don’t hurt yourself like that.”

You can’t imagine what Taehyung must’ve felt when he read your heart. You must’ve been suicidal, and he might’ve never known what it feels like to go through that so he panicked. Taehyung may have the power to heal inner and physical injuries, but not psychological and emotional scars. He must be so used to having the ability to heal people that he must’ve felt so powerless to see you fight with yourself.

“Taehyung…I’m so sorry I…just wasn’t in the right mind.”

Words cannot express how sorry you are for making Taehyung experience emotional pain, but Taehyung must’ve understood you since his grip around you has loosen up a bit. You think it’s a bit strange that Taehyung would hug you so suddenly, since most of the time he’s kept his personal space unless he was curious about something. Perhaps this is one of the few things he knows without having to be taught.

You were behaving so selfishly. The dark side of your mind was driving you to think that you wanted attention. In reality, you just wanted someone who can understand you, and you’re happy that you got to meet Taehyung. You don’t have to speak a word, and he knows how you feel.

Taehyung finds it so odd. Just moments ago, you were asking yourself to disappear, but with just a simple hug, it was enough to change the pace of your heart. He didn’t even use his powers heal you, but you’re already feeling at ease. Ironically, he’s also feeling calmer compared to before. That was the first time he’s ever felt that sort of wound. He wishes to never feel that pain ever again. But most importantly, he wishes that you would value yourself more. You don’t know how much you mean to him, and he didn’t know either until there was an actual possibility of you disappearing from his sight.

------

You’re leaning against a tree, shining a flashlight on the book that you’re currently reading when you hear a branch cracking in half. You beam the light to the source of the sound to find Taehyung standing still, only staring at you. You shove your book back into your backpack, and you get up to greet him.

Patting the dirt off your pants, you approach him and smile. “Hey, Taehyung.”

Instead of greeting you back, Taehyung remains silent since he knows that your smile is only a coverup for how you truly feel. Suddenly, he pulls you in for a hug, holding you with very little space in between.

“Taehyung?”

Instead of saying ‘hello’ to you, Taehyung has been greeting you with a hug every time you meet him. He knows that you’re not completely fine after what happened, but you are improving. Still, it frustrates him to know that he can’t fix your troubles.

“(Y/N)…”

“What is it?”

“Will you ever feel better? I don’t like seeing you hurt and not be able to do anything about it…”

You adore how Taehyung is so innocent. It seems like the only thing he can think of is how to cheer you up again. You feel terrible that you make him feel sad as well. As much as you want to continue to smile for his sake, he can read through your facade.

You gently push Taehyung away, feeling undeserving of his sympathy. “Thank you Taehyung for your concern, but something like this can’t be fixed in an instant.”

“How long does it take?”

“…It takes time. I don’t know how long, but it’ll definitely heal.” You force a comforting smile.

But your emotions contradict your words. You sound so unsure of yourself, almost like you’re really telling him that you may never get over the fact that your family seems to love Soori more than they love you.

Since you don’t want Taehyung to keep worrying about you, you try your hardest not to exert your negative aura even more than necessary. “Come on Taehyung, I brought you a new book to read.”

------

Due to the lack of sleep you’ve been having ever since you started meeting Taehyung, you’ve been prone to falling asleep in nearly every location. You started sleeping more in class, and you no longer go to the music room early in the morning. Alternately, you use that time to wake up later, especially since you don’t have the same passion like you did before when composing music.

Regardless of exchanging your hobby for sleep, you still feel tired. You don’t feel like you belong in your own home anymore. You never really did in the first place, but after that incident, there’s no way you can look at your parents the same. To try and forget about your stress, you start spending more time with Taehyung. Though, Taehyung doesn’t make your situation at home any better--he simply makes you forget about your issues temporarily.

You and Taehyung are sitting next to each other, leaning on a tree as Taehyung is reading the book that you brought him. He recognizes this book as the one you were reading before he interrupted you. It’s a story about the struggles of an adolescent boy as he transitions from childhood to adulthood. You thought this would be a good book for him to read because it has a lot of aspects of what it’s like living with humans, and it’ll help Taehyung learn more about them through that book.

“‘His eyes gaze from top to bottom at the mature woman….He has never seen a female so go...gorgeous...Her e...e...eth…ethe’…?” Taehyung scans the word ‘ethereal’, having no knowledge of how to pronounce that word. “(Y/N), how do you say this word?”

He calls out to you, but you don’t respond.

“(Y/N)?”

Taehyung looks down to see that you’ve fallen asleep on his shoulder. He was so invested into the book that he didn’t realize that you fell asleep on him. Taehyung sets the book down on his lap as he watches you, your chest rising up and falling down slowly. He listens to your breathing that is barely visible, observing every detail of your face.

Though your heart rate is calm, it’s still unsteady. He’s aware that you said that pain like this takes time to heal, but he can’t accept it that easily. Since he can’t use his powers to treat you, he has to think of other solutions to make sure that you return to that once happy and bright person.

Taehyung returns to the book, skipping over ‘ethereal’ and continuing with his reading. That’s when he read something that intrigued him.

Though anxious to speak to the girl of his dreams, he gathers up the courage regardless. He has taken note that she is a typical girl who has a keen interest in anything that shines as bright as the moon--something that even shines brighter than a million stars. He can already picture her grinning the smile that he grew to know and love.

Taehyung reads over the lines ‘shines as bright as the moon’ over and over again. Though he knows very little about humans, he likes to believe that he knows the moon better than any human out there. Taehyung looks up at the moon, seeing as it illuminates its light down on earth. He closes his eyes, figuring out a possible way of bringing the moon and a million stars to you.

------

“Taehyung, where are you taking me?” You ask him as he drags you by the hand.

The next night, Taehyung is taking you deeper into the forest. You’ve never gone this far because you always felt the need to be able to see the exit of the forest, but since Taehyung is with you, you put faith into where he wants to take you. Besides, this is the first time Taehyung wants to show you something, not you this time.

“A place where you can touch the moon and stars.” Taehyung answers rather discreetly.

You have no idea what he could mean by that, but you trust him anyway. Since he doesn’t want to ruin the surprise, Taehyung had requested that you turn off your flashlight and rely on his hand to guide you. He also said that your flashlight might scare the moon and stars away, though you don’t know what he means by that.

“We’re here.”

Taehyung pushes a low branch aside, and the sight in front of you leaves you in awe. There’s a small but clear lake; it’s so clean that you can see the bottom. On the shallow side of the lake is the reflection of the moon, and there are dozens upon dozens of fireflies hovering the lake.

You’re astounded by the indescribable beauty of the lake. You could’ve never imagine that this small forest has a lake this magnificent. You approach the reflection of the moon, kneeling down and staring face-to-face with it. You want to dip your fingers into the water, but you’re worried that you will dirty the crystal water with your hands.

“This place is beautiful.”

“...Are you feeling better?”

You turn to him, a bit confused. “What?”

“The book that you lent me said that female humans like things that are shiny like the moon and a million stars. I wanted to take you to the moon, but it’s too far away, and the fireflies here are shiny like the stars.”

So that’s what he meant. He wanted to take you to the lake to see if he can cheer you up. You must’ve worried him more than you thought, and you feel at fault. You look down, feeling so guilty, since you don’t deserve Taehyung’s kindness, and he can sense that you don’t seem all that happy about this.

“...It didn’t work. Is it because it’s not the real moon and stars?”

“Taehyung...why?”

He tilts his head. “Why what?”

“Why are you being so nice to me? Didn’t you say that humans my age and older are scary because of their bad intentions? I have bad intentions too, you know. I only went into the forest to see if you’re real, and I only give you stuff to read so that I can communicate with you. It’s all only for me. So why don’t you ever try to run away?”

In a way, you want to scare Taehyung away because he’s too good for someone as average as you. He can sense that deep inside, you’re begging him to leave you, but the selfish side of you wants him to stay by your side forever. Right now, your heart is very fragile. A single word can shatter your heart because you’re in a state of confusion. You don’t know what you really want.

“At first...my first instinct was to run away from you.”

Just as he thought, his words pierce your heart like a wooden stake. He can see your torn expression, wanting to run away and cry but at the same time try to accept his words.

“Even though I can communicate with anything that breathes, they could never communicate back with me. I thought that I would be fine with healing the wounded, then see their backs as they walk off, never approaching me ever again.  But then...you became the first one to acknowledge me.”

Taehyung kneels down in front of you, caressing your cheek as he reminisces the time when he healed you. His thumb touches the edge of your lips, and his gaze remains locked onto it. Taehyung grabs your hand, pressing it tightly against his chest.

“I will never forget that warm feeling you gave me when you smiled and said ‘thank you’. It felt like the loneliness I never knew I had had been wiped away. I want to do anything I can to protect you because I want to reciprocate the same feeling back to you like you did for me. So I think...I’m selfish like a human too.”

Your heart skips a beat and your face flush with red. No matter how you look at Taehyung, he’s not for you. You couldn’t hold it in anymore. With his hand still on your cheek, you put both of your hands over his, and you burst into tears. You were busy pitying yourself, when you have Taehyung here who cared only about you. In a way, you understand how Taehyung feels, being alone and trying your hardest to please others, but to only receive nothing in return.

Your eyes cried, but your heart was screaming with joy. He’s never seen an emotion as confusing as this. Of all the lost children he saved in the forest, he always saw that their expression matched their feelings when they cried, but you’re crying despite how happy you seem.

“Did I make you cry again?”

You scoff, grinning as you shake your head. “No, I’m happy.”

“Then why are you crying?”

“This is called ‘tears of joy’. Sometimes you’re so happy, thankful, and relieved that a rush of emotions run through you that it’s hard not to cry.”

Taehyung still doesn’t understand.

“Maybe one day you’ll experience too. It’s a good feeling.”

“So then...you’re happy again?”

You nod. “Better than before. Thank you, Taehyung.”

Words cannot describe how appreciative you are of Taehyung, but you think he fully understands how you feel. You feel like all those time you’ve spent with him has been worth it.

------

Soori can’t seem to understand you. She took away the thing that was most important to you and claimed it as hers. Sure, it did take a toll on you, and you did seem quieter than usual, but all of a sudden, you’re back to normal. Was she mistaken about music being most important to you?

Not only that, but she’s noticed that you’ve been looking rather sleepy, but there’s something about your attitude that changed—like you’re glistening with optimism and hope. She’s determined to figure out what it is that has changed you.

It’s lunch break, and Soori is getting annoyed that you’re nowhere to be found. You’re supposed to be in Soori’s classroom within five minute after the lunch bell has rung. She hates it when you do this. This usually means that you have some idiotic idea for your song and you rush to the music room.

Just as she suspected, Soori finds you in the music room, but you’re with Mr. Kim this time, which she finds irritating to see. No matter how many times she’s threaten you, you just never seem to learn, and you continue to stand by the man that Soori loves. What is it that is so important that they have to have a conversation about?

When Soori looks through the classroom window, your back is facing the door while Mr. Kim stands on the opposite direction. She hides behind the door, pressing her ear on the door, listening in to your conversation with him.

“Why weren’t you upset?”

You sigh. “I really was. I think...that was the first time I’ve ever exploded on my parents. Even though I know that Soori copied, I can’t really prove that it’s mine.”

Soori knows what you’re talking about, but she prays that you better not paint her in a bad way to Mr. Kim or she’ll definitely kill you.

“But then I realize that I got worked up over nothing because the song isn’t even mine in the first place. Technically, I copied too.”

“Hm, really? Could it be that you copied off the moonchild?”

There’s a long pause.

“Yes. Honestly in the end, it was just my fault for being childish. I claimed something that was mine and didn’t want anyone else to take it. I feel like such a hypocrite…but something inside of me tells me that the moonchild who made this song wouldn’t mind that I took it from him. So I don’t have any rights to get angry at Soori for copying me.”

Soori rolls her eyes at your attempt at using pretty words. There’s no way you truly feel like that 100%; a part of you has to be upset at her.

“And how would you know that the moonchild wouldn’t mind that you stole the song from him?”

“…Because he’s a pure person, and he never asks for anything, nor does he get upset at anyone for giving him nothing. And when you do show him appreciation, he treasures it so much, so…I want to learn how to be as selfless as he is.”

“…You seem to know moonchildren very well. Are you perhaps talking about the moonchild both you and I met long ago?”

Soori is surprised to hear that Mr. Kim believes in that ridiculous myth that moonchildren exist. Though, that can possibly explain why he’s so attached to you. In a way, the both of you are similar.

It takes you awhile to answer him back, as if you’re carefully thinking of what words to tell him. “I guess you can say that.”

You’re not really denying it, nor are you agreeing with Mr. Kim. Soori can smell that you’re hiding a big secret from everyone, and she wants to know what it is. Whatever this secret is, it could possibly be the source of why you’re so bubbly as of recent.

------

Of all places, why is it that you’re walking into the forest? If Soori can remember correctly, you always were on edge whenever she would mention anything about the forest.

Since she doesn’t want you to know that she’s following you, Soori decides to use a dimly lit lighter to remain behind the shadows, but enough to see her surroundings. When she looks at you from afar, she can’t just seem to understand how you’re better at moving around the forest than her. If anything, when Soori dragged you into the forest a few months back, you were too scared to move alone.

Because she dozed off, the wind blows the fire from the lighter away, and you’re already gone from her eye. Also adding that there is little to no natural lighting, Soori has no idea where she’s going. She tries to fight through the plants that is in the way, wishing that she had a machete to cut down every piece of nature in here. Soori curses your name under her breath, wondering why you have to go to a location as hassling as this.

“Taehyung? What’s wrong?” Soori can hear your voice from a distance, but who are you talking to?

“There’s something dangerous nearby.”

Who is that voice? And what is it that’s so dangerous? It’s starting to freak Soori out as well. She doesn’t want to be in danger, so Soori wastes no time to find you.

“Be careful, (Y/N). It’s coming closer.”

It doesn’t matter to Soori who that second person is. She just wants to find you so that she isn’t scared. She follows the direction of your voice, as well as the second person’s voice. Eventually, she can see you a few feet away. She runs towards you, and once the distance is closed, she sees Taehyung, the one you were speaking to earlier. To prevent her presence from being noticed, she hides behind a bush.

Soori is completely shocked seeing Taehyung. She knew immediately from his appearance that he is a moonchild. Though she knows only little about moonchildren, she knows that their physical beauty is absolutely stunning, and that statement alone cannot describe his appearance. Soori has never seen anyone as gorgeous and exotic as Taehyung.

“It stopped moving.”

“Do you know what it is?”

“...Not exactly...but whatever it is, it’s not safe to be around it.” He says as he stares directly at Soori’s direction.

Soori gets the feeling that the ‘dangerous person’ he might be talking about is not an animal, but her. Whenever she looks through the small holes in the bushes, she can just feel Taehyung’s eyes locked onto her, which terrifies her.

However, the tense air is interrupted by the sound of grass rustling behind you and Taehyung. Getting a better look, what lies between them is an injured white rabbit with a patch of red blood on the top of it.

“Sorry rabbit, we shouldn’t be distracted from you. We know how much pain you’re in.” You say comforting words to the rabbit as you kneel down.

Taehyung kneels down in front of the rabbit, choosing to forget Soori behind the bushes since right now more than emitting dangerous vibes, she seems more fearful. He presses his hand gently on the rabbit’s back, and what Soori sees shocks her. She is speechless when she sees the white glow appear from the palm of his hands, healing the rabbit within seconds.

The rabbit stands on its hind legs, sniffing the tips of Taehyung’s hands. He giggles when the whiskers tickle his hand, and you laugh along with the scene. Meanwhile, Soori is covering both of her mouth, having no idea what to take in. She swears, maybe her mind is going crazy, but even if what she saw is a fake, there is no doubt that you snuck out of the forest to meet a man. After soothing her beating heart, Soori knows what to do to get you back.

Once the rabbit leaves, Taehyung turns his head back to the bush where Soori was hiding. “What is it, Taehyung?”

“The thing that was hiding behind the bushes just left.”

------

Before you know it, it’s already two in the morning. You spent most of your time teaching Taehyung how to read and do simple math. He seems to be slower when it comes to learning numbers because it’s a foreign concept to him. At least for reading, he has some background experience, but nothing for math, so teaching him definitely took longer than needed.

You walk back to your house, walking through your neighborhood like you normally would when you come home from school. You stand in front of the door to your house, unlocking it with your key. Since your parents are both heavy sleepers, it’s easy for you to sneak in and out of the house without waking them up.

When you quietly shut the door behind you, you hear a booming voice, making your heart jump. “(Y/N)!!”

Following that voice is footsteps approaching you, then grabbing you by the arm. You look to see that it’s your father, seemingly infuriated by you.

“What the hell are doing so fucking late at night?! Have you’ve been sneaking out to meet a boy?!”

Your heart drops when you hear that. How did they find out? For all the times when you snuck out, you made sure to check and see if they’re sleeping. Were you not careful this time?

“Wh-where did you hear that from?”

“Soori told us! She called us, saying that she was very worried about you because she saw you run into the forest only to find you alone with a boy!”

Now it makes sense what that ‘dangerous’ vibe that Taehyung was sensing. It wasn’t a dangerous animal, but Soori. Did she by chance also find out that he is a moonchild?

“Who the hell is this boy?? I’m going to fucking kill him.” Your father mumbles under his breath before attempting march out of the house.

Fearing for Taehyung’s life, you instinctively push your father away from the door. “Stop it! Don’t hurt him!!!”

“So you have been meeting a boy!! Do you have any idea what girls like you are called? A whore!!”

Those words sting you, especially hearing that from your own father, but right now, your feelings come second. You have to do everything to stop him from finding Taehyung. You wrap your arms around your father, tugging him by the bottom of his shirt and pushing him back to stop him from charging outside.

Seeing as your father is becoming violent, your mother finally steps in, pulling both you and your father apart. “Stop fighting! We can discuss this in the morning, but as for now, we do not need to be immature!”

Your father sneers at you one more time before snatching his arm back from your mother. “Fine, but I’m going to install a lock on the outside of your bedroom.”

“What?! But Dad-”

“You lost my trust, and you’re going to have to earn it back.”

Your father grabs you by the arm and drags you upstairs to your bedroom. You glance back at the front door, desperately wanting to tell Taehyung your situation. But no matter how much you try to fight off your father, you just can’t seem to get away.

------

A week has passed since your parents found out, and they’ve been keeping a close eye on you. You are strictly prohibited from going anywhere after school and must come back home. You can’t sneak out to the forest to tell Taehyung about your situation because they made Soori in charge of you at school.

She won’t let you out of her sight whatsoever. She pretends to act like this caring cousin, but you know that beneath that smile, she’s enjoying your pain. You would love to rebel against her, but Soori threatened to tell everyone about Taehyung. You know how selfish humans can become knowing Taehyung’s powers, so you want to keep him hidden for as long as you can.

Every day feels like hell having to be stuck with Soori and her two sheep friends; it even makes you wonder how you were able to tolerate this for years before you met Taehyung. Every day just feels excruciating knowing that you won’t get to see Taehyung. At this point, Taehyung might think you abandoned him, and you wish you can tell him your situation.

It’s lunch break, and you’re tasked to buy lunch for Soori and her friends. You used to dread buying food for them, but then now that Soori is glued onto you, this is your only time to be separated from her. You’d love to take your sweet time getting the food, but taking longer means a worst punishment from Soori.

While making your way to the cafeteria, you just so happen to pass by the music room. Mr. Kim sees you through the classroom window, and since it’s been a long time since he last spoke to you alone, he wants to take this opportunity to talk to you again. He gets up from his desk, jogging towards you.

“Wait! (Y/N)!” Mr. Kim calls out.

You turn around, and you’re relieved to see a familiar and trustworthy person. “Mr. Kim!”

“The music room gets kinda lonely, you know, without you playing the piano.”

“Don’t lie. I’m sure there are other students too who come in to play the piano.”

“That’s true, but I miss listening to you play the piano,” He smiles. “Anyway, where have you been lately? You came back to the music room for a time, but stopped again. Did something happen?”

You don’t know what to tell him. You want to tell him the full story, but Mr. Kim doesn’t understand how heavy your situation is. You know that besides Taehyung, you can trust him, but how can you when you’re unsure if he’ll believe your story?

Seeing how silent you became when he asked that question, he knows that what you’re going through is serious. “Why don’t you talk to me in the classroom?”

“But I have to go back to Soori.”

“Soori can wait,” he grins reassuringly. “And if she throws a fit, then I’ll be there to back you up.”

Just hearing him saying that already sounds comforting to you. You’ve been desperately needing someone to listen to you, so you’re glad that Mr. Kim stopped you in the middle of the halls.

“So...your parents found out that you’ve been seeing someone in the forest, and because of that, your father installed a lock on the outside of your door and your mother asked Soori to watch over you at school?”

You nod your head.

“...I understand your parents’ concerns...but isn’t that going a bit too far? Your father sounds...controlling.”

“He can be sometimes, but other times he’s a great dad. I just...wish I can talk to my friend again and let him know that I didn’t abandon him…”

Thinking about Taehyung and imagining him waiting for you pains you. You don’t want him to doubt you, especially after his confession that night at the lake. Mr. Kim leans forward on his chair, contemplating about you told him.

“May I ask who this ‘friend’ is?”

You pause to think about it. Should you be honest and tell him that Taehyung is a moonchild? Or should you lie? You know that Mr. Kim believes in moonchildren, but you don’t know to what extent he believes in.

“Could it be that this ‘friend’ you’re meeting is a moonchild?”

You eyes become wide, surprised that he guessed it right, and on the first try. “H-how did you…?”

“You hinted it a lot to me, so I just guessed. Don’t forget, I know a lot about moonchildren too, so I know when you’re talking about one.”

You’re glad that the worst part you feared the most is over. It was a lot easier than you thought it’d actually be.

“If you want...I can help you reunite with him.”

“What?” You can’t believe what you’re hearing.

“I can talk to your parents saying that you need to stay after school. I can tell them that you’ll be rehearsing for a music competition. I think they can trust me enough that they wouldn’t need Soori to supervise you, right? What do you say?”

You can’t believe it—Mr. Kim is going to help you see Taehyung again! Because of how excited you were when hearing that, you nearly jumped and agreed to it. However, thinking realistically, you start to wonder if that’ll really work. Your parents have never met Mr. Kim before, so you’re unsure of what your parents will believe him.

Seeing how concerned you look about Mr. Kim’s plot to lie to your parents, he puts his hand over yours to put your mind to rest. “You can believe in me. I know how it feels to treasure someone. You want to do anything you can for them.”

You can see how determined Mr. Kim is. He even seems more determined than you do, honestly. You’re going to lie to your parents, and your own teacher is going to help you with it too. Though this seems far fetch, you’re willing to go through this plan for Taehyung.

------

Amazingly enough, your parents agreed to Mr. Kim’s plan. You don’t know what Mr. Kim said to convince them, but he did. Maybe a part of it is due to his good looks and that somehow persuaded your mother to agree to him, but you’re more surprised that your father said yes too.

Regardless of what happened, you and Mr. Kim are walking together to the forest. It’s been a few hours since school ended, and the sun is setting. At the edge of the forest, you and Mr. Kim stand, side by side.

“Wow, today is fairly hot, isn’t it?”

“It is hot, but it’s okay.”

Mr. Kim reaches into his backpack, taking out a water bottle. Because you’re taking him to the forest, Mr. Kim brought his hiking backpack and inside of it is a whole array of necessities, such as first aid kit, flashlight, food, water, etc. You think it’s quite comical seeing Mr. Kim all prepared like he’s going camping.

Since you are feeling slightly thirsty, you take the water bottle and take a sip. “Thank you, Mr. Kim.”

“No problem! Don’t want my student to faint because of the heat!”

“Actually...thank you, Mr. Kim, for a lot of things. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t helped me.”

Mr. Kim smiles, showing all of his white teeth. “No problem, (Y/N)! Anything for my favorite student.”

“Well anyway, thank you again. I’ll repay you in any way I can!”

“Actually…I am a bit curious about something.”

“What is it?”

“I’d like to see how a moonchild looks in real life.”

This is the question that you’ve been dreading in the back of your head. You were hoping that Mr. Kim wouldn’t make that request. As much as you trust him, you don’t know if Taehyung will be okay with it. You’re already lucky that you’re the exception, but since Mr. Kim is a full grown adult, who knows if Taehyung sees something about him that you can’t.

“Uhm...if I could, I would...but I don’t know if Taehyung will be okay with it. He’s a bit shy when meeting other humans.”

“Ah, I see. If it makes him feel uncomfortable, then I’d like to see where you and your friend meets at least. He won’t appear until nighttime, correct? You see, I’m just very curious about moonchildren, and I want to get to know more about them.”

Mr. Kim’s request seems more reasonable, so you decide that showing him the spot where you meet Taehyung is enough.

------

“How intriguing! I can already feel the vibe of a moonchild here!” Mr. Kim utters as he excitedly strokes the trunk of a tree.

You chuckle at Mr. Kim’s childish behavior. “It’s just a normal tree. I just happen to meet Taehyung here, that’s all.”

You say that, but Mr. Kim seems more interested in this section of the forest. The sun is still setting, drawing closer to nightfall. All you want is for the sun to hurry up and go away so you can see Taehyung again. You’re worried that Taehyung might be upset at you for not telling him where you’ve been all this time, so you want to clear up the misunderstanding as soon as possible.

“Say (Y/N), do you know about the origin story of moonchildren?”

Your head perks up.

“It’s said that millions of years ago when the first sign of life came to exist on earth, the moon fell in love with life as if they’re her children. So when she saw them suffer due to illness, disasters, and age, she gave birth to children of her own to save children that doesn’t even belong to her. How weird is that?” Mr. Kim’s voice suddenly became serious.

“Ummm...I guess so?”

“Actually, did you know that is false? The moon didn’t give birth to life because she’s incapable of creating it. Instead, she cried because she knew that she couldn’t save those who were suffering, and those tears fell on those who suffered the most.”

Where is Mr. Kim getting at?

“The word ‘suffering’ is such a subjective term, so who gave the moon to judge someone who is suffering? Because of how unfair the moon is, for a time, I didn’t believe that moonchildren existed.”

All of a sudden, your head starts spinning, and your knees feel weak. “W-wait...Mr. Kim.”

“It wasn’t until I found out that you saw a moonchild, I became obsessed with you. I did everything I could to make you favor me, but you were so stubborn, keeping to yourself all the freakin’ time.”

It’s getting harder for you to hear Mr. Kim, and all you can hear is mumbling. Your eyelids are becoming heavy, and your body feels so weak that you fall to the ground, too weak to even lift your head up.

    “Mr...Kim...”

Mr. Kim looks at you from the corner of his eyes, looking apathetic as it becomes difficult for you to even move a single muscle. You can’t explain it, but for some reason, you’re starting to feel tired. Mr. Kim approaches you, kneeling down, but you can only see his shoes. He wiggles the water bottle that you drank in front of you.

“The medication kicked in faster, probably because you’ve been feeling fatigued due to a lack of sleep, isn’t that right?” Mr. Kim leans in closer to your ear. “I should really thank your cousin. If it weren’t for her making your life miserable, then you wouldn’t have leaned on me for help, and I would’ve never been able to find a moonchild.”

You want to curse at him, but even your mouth isn’t moving. What have you done? You put Taehyung in danger, and you don’t know what Mr. Kim is going to do with him. You impulsively thought that Mr. Kim had good intentions. You should’ve known, and you should’ve listened to Taehyung. The medicine fully kicks in, and you’re unconscious.

Once your finally asleep, Soori, who has been following you and Mr. Kim, walks out from behind a tree. “Is she finally knocked out?”

“Yes. Take her to another section and keep an eye out.”

“Anything for you, Mr. Kim.”

------

Just like the previous days, Taehyung hopes that tonight is the night that you finally return. After waking up from a deep sleep, he stretches his arms and yawns. If you aren’t at the usual meeting place, then he would have to do this usual routine of searching for you in the forest. He’s been debating whether he should leave the forest and search for you, but then he’s never gone outside before, so he wouldn’t know where to start.

However, this day is different in particular because he can sense your heartbeat somewhere in the forest. It’s not as visible as usual, but regardless, he’s ecstatic to know that you’ve returned. Taehyung listens carefully to the sound of your heartbeat and follows it diligently. Unfortunately, he gets interrupted when he senses another being in the forest—and standing right behind him.

Taehyung turns out and finds a tall man with a hiking backpack on and hands up to signify his surrender. Taehyung didn’t notice him before because he was so focused on finding you that he didn’t check his surroundings. Taehyung is ready to run away when the man calls out to him.

“Wait, don’t run away! You must be a moonchild, aren’t you?”

Moonchild? Taehyung does recall that word being bounced here and there from you, but he doesn’t really know what it means. He assumes that it might be what humans call his species. Still, this doesn’t make Taehyung feel less cautious.

“I know I’m a stranger, but (Y/N) has told me a lot about you, Taehyung.”

His ears perks up when he hears your name. Seeing how Taehyung’s guard has decreased, the man slumps his shoulders and stretches his arm out for a handshake.

“My name is Jihun Kim, and (Y/N) is my student. She brought me out here to meet you, so you can trust me.

Taehyung is hesitant about taking his hand. He claims that you led him here, so you must trust him a lot. But there’s this heavy and dreadful feeling about him that Taehyung can’t shake off. If Taehyung has to describe it, then the only way to explain it is that he hasn’t felt this terrified in such a long time.

Sensing the immense amount of danger coming from Mr. Kim, Taehyung moves away from him.

“...What’s wrong?”

“Where’s (Y/N)?”

“I don’t know. She was with me but we separated.”

Taehyung knows that he’s lying through his teeth. This only worries him even more about what he’s done to you. Thankfully, Taehyung can still hear your heartbeat, but he can’t pinpoint exactly where you are.

“How about you help me look for her?” He suggests.

Mr. Kim gives him a fake smile, but Taehyung only glares at him. “I can look for her on my own.”

Taehyung turns around and is about to head off. Mr. Kim is surprised how quick Taehyung is to reject his offers. You described him as friendly and pure, but maybe only to you. Even though he wishes not to cooperate with him, Taehyung seems to care about you a lot.

“Taehyung, it’s either you help me, or (Y/N) will be in danger.”

Taehyung stops in his tracks. He knew there was something off putting about Mr. Kim, but hearing it from his mouth confirms it.

Taehyung is overwhelmed with anger, imagining endless possibilities of what he could’ve done to you. “Where is she??”

“Don’t worry, she’s safe. Unless, you do something that gets me upset, then in exchange, I’ll hurt the one you love the most.”

“D…don’t hurt her…please…!” Taehyung’s anger swiftly changes into desperation for you.

“I won’t hurt her as long as you do something for me.”

“What is it?”

------

In a remote area of the town, Mr. Kim is walking behind Taehyung while having both his hands tied behind his back with a rope. This is the first time Taehyung has gotten out of the forest, and it’s different from what he pictured. He thought that the buildings would look more cartoony based on the picture books that he read, but they’re more firm and dull than he expected.

Unfortunately Taehyung isn’t given enough time to observe them because each time he slows down, Mr. Kim pushes him to move faster, pointing the tip of a pocket knife to his back. “Come on! Don’t slow down!”

Mr. Kim puts his hand on Taehyung’s shoulder to make him move faster, which would usually force Taehyung to nearly lose balance and fall. Since Mr. Kim is leading him to an isolate part of the town, no one can hear or see them walk along the empty, dark streets.

As much as Taehyung wants to run away, the thought of you in danger refrains him from escaping. He’s afraid that if he were to run away, then your life would be in danger. If it means to see you again, then he’ll endure this.

Taehyung and Mr. Kim stand in front of a two-story house made of all wood. The house looks rather old—resembling that of a haunted house in those horror films. However, Mr. Kim gives him no time to glorify the tall building, as he pushes him into the house.

Inside the house is dark and cold—slightly disorganized with a piece of cloth here and there, a couple of plates in the sink, but not too extreme where it’s completely unsanitary. There are so many objects and technology that Taehyung is unfamiliar with. If he wasn’t bidden by the ropes, then he would approach every item in the living room and kitchen and touch them.

“Why do I have to keep reminding you to keep moving?! Go!!” Mr. Kim orders Taehyung while shoving him up the stairs.

Taehyung has never seen stairs before in his entire life, so initially, he didn’t know that he had to lift his feet up to go up the stairs. Mr. Kim doesn’t waste time to let Taehyung learn how to use the stairs, so Taehyung is tripping over his own feet.

Once they make it up the stairs, Mr. Kim takes him by the arm and drags him to a bedroom, where it’s pitch-black. Mr. Kim may not be able to see things clearly, but Taehyung can—and the first thing Taehyung notices is offsetting to him. In the corner of the room is a bed, and on that bed is a human being. However, the human’s heartbeat is slower compared to an average heartbeat, and it feels as though it gets slower by the second.

To be specific, the human on the bed is a very old, wrinkly woman. The elderly woman on the bed looks rather peaceful, despite Taehyung sensing that her life is deteriorating in front of his eyes.

Suddenly, Taehyung is shoved forward, then forced down onto his knees, face-to-face with the elderly person. “Heal her.” Mr. Kim orders.

But Taehyung does not move a muscle. He simply stares at the elderly woman with a bewildered expression. Mr. Kim is confused, since Taehyung has been listening to every one of his orders except for the most important one of all.

“I said heal her!” Mr. Kim demands.

Still, Taehyung continues to stare at the elderly lady. This only irritates Mr. Kim more, so he grabs Taehyung by the hair, clutching it hard enough where strands fall off, and pushes his head closer to the elderly lady.

“What’s so hard about healing someone?! Can’t you see how sick she is?? If you don’t hurry up, my grandmother will die!” Underneath that angry tone, there’s a touch of desperation.

Unable to remain impassive, Taehyung looks away from the old woman. “I...can’t.”

“What…? But you’re a moonchild! Aren’t you supposed to?! Soori said that she saw it with her own eyes...a-and (Y/N)...”

Taehyung looks down with guilt. “I’m sorry…”

Mr. Kim is horrified to learn about this. He went the extra mile to make sure that he’d be able to capture Taehyung and heal his grandmother. There is no other cure for her other than the powers of a moonchild.

Not willing to take ‘no’ for an answer, Mr. Kim turns him around and points the blade of the pocket knife to this throat. “If you don’t fucking heal her right now, then I’m going to kill you and (Y/N).”

Taehyung is horrified of the knife being pressed against his throat, but there is nothing he can do. “I can’t heal her.”

“WHY THE HELL NOT?! SHE’S DYING RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, AND YOU DON’T FEEL AN INCH OF SADNESS?!” Mr. Kim raises his voice unexpectedly, but his lips begin to quiver. “She’s...dying. She’s my only relative who still loves me...so if she dies...then...I’ll be alone…”

“Grandma, I’m here again.”

“Jihun? Did you have another fight with your parents again?”

“Yea, we always get into arguments every time we talk about music. What’s so bad about doing that as a career? I’m better off just cutting ties with my parents and live with you, Grandma.”

“Jihun...I know it’s hard to get along with your parents, but you can’t keep relying on me to run to. One day, I’m not going to be here anymore, and you’ll have to make friends of your own. Why don’t you start by mending your relationship with your parents?”

“You always worry about that! Relax, Grandma.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because when the time comes, I’ll definitely find a cure for you! Grandma, I promise that I’ll protect you.”

“...I promise...I swore to myself that when the day comes...I’ll do anything to make sure that my grandmother doesn’t die…” Mr. Kim mumbles to himself, biting his bottom lip. “If I can’t keep to my own promise, then what am I as a person?!”

Mr. Kim looks at Taehyung, feeling futile and bitter.

“So please...save her…I beg of you.”

“...I-I can’t...I’m sorry.”

Just hearing that again is irritating Mr. Kim even more. “WHY NOT?!”

“Because...she's lived a happy life.”

Mr. Kim is shocked to hear that. He moves back from Taehyung in a state of shock, dropping the knife. Mr. Kim can’t believe it. Was he annoying enough that even his own grandmother seeks death to escape from him? Is Mr. Kim just that unlovable?

“Jihun…” His sickly grandmother calls out to him.

“Grandma!” Mr. Kim immediately runs to his grandmother’s side, kneeling down and facing her.

His grandmother uses all of her remaining strength to give her grandson a reassuring smile. “It’s okay...you don’t have to pretend to be strong anymore...You’ve grown up to be a fine, young man, and that’s already enough for me. You’ll be fine without me.”

“Grandma...I…” Mr. Kim’s eyes start to well up with tears.

“Even when I’m gone, you still have people who care about you...You just have to take the time to accept them. Promise me...that you’ll keep running for your dreams and never stop.”

At this point, Mr. Kim is covered with tears, seeing that his grandmother is going to die within moments.

“I-I will…”

But even before Mr. Kim got the chance to answer, Taehyung can already feel his grandmother’s heart has stopped beating. Despite not hearing his answer, his grandmother died happily, as if knowing that Mr. Kim will not break the promise.

Taehyung has seen numerous deaths before, but this one was so heartbreaking for him to watch. Perhaps it’s because every time he saw a living being die, they were always alone. A mother fox would know when her baby is about to die, so she leaves it alone to wither. Plants have no emotions, so when a flower next to them dies, there is no response.

However, Taehyung has never seen someone mourn for one life. He forgets that sometimes, as cruel as humans as be, they are the most sympathetic beings on this earth. In a sense, Taehyung can understand Mr. Kim’s grieving, because he felt that way when you were depressed. It was a type of pain that Taehyung has never witnessed before, and it was terrifying, never knowing when you would take your life away. He wanted to help, but you refused his help.

Even if he could, how could he have fixed you? He’s relieved that in the end, he was able to make you feel better again, but after seeing Mr. Kim lose his grandmother and seeing how broken he is, will he one day have to face this with you?

------

“What do you mean ‘let her go’???” Soori shouts in her phone.

Meanwhile, Soori is in the forest with you, still unconscious and lying on the ground. It’s been a few minutes since Mr. Kim’s grandma’s passing, and Soori received a call from him.

“There’s nothing more to it, just let her go. Taehyung really wants to see her.”

“B-but...why are you letting that creature free too?? You said that after it heals your grandma, we would sell it and keep the money to run away together. Whatever happened to that?”

There’s silence on the other side of the phone. “I said that...but I’m sorry Soori. I lied to you.”

“What?”

“I knew you had feelings for me but hated (Y/N), so I used that to my advantage to convince her into letting me meet the moonchild. I’m sorry, but I don’t feel the same for you.”

Soori is speechless, having nothing to say to him.

“Just let her go, and I’ll report myself to the police. I’ll tell them that you had nothing to do with this. And Soori...please stop hating your cousin. Life is too short to hate people.”

Without saying another word, Soori hangs up the phone. She can’t believe what Mr. Kim just told her. What does he mean that he used her all this time? She thought that Mr. Kim felt the same way, and their relationship was mutual. Was it all just a lie?

Soori turns her head to you, who is still asleep on the ground. She grinds her teeth, clutching on her phone tightly.

“Why does everything always have to work out well for you?” She crouches down next to you. “What did you do to my precious Jihun to make him side with you? All those times you spent in the classroom, were you fucking him?”

Soori takes out her lighter from her back pocket, flicking it on. She smiles maniacally as she stares at the enchanting flaming ball of light.

“I’ll teach you not to mess with me anymore.”

------

Taehyung and Mr. Kim are walking side by side. Mr. Kim feels a little awkward walking with Taehyung, knowing that he manipulated Soori, drugged you, and kidnapped him. But Taehyung doesn’t seem to mind it, as he’s too busy staring at all the houses and buildings around him. Despite his physical appearance being that of an adult, he’s got a mind of a child.

“I know this is late to say this but...sorry for everything I did.”

Taehyung stares at him with a stoic expression. “It’s okay.”

Surprised, Mr. Kim head jerks back slightly. “What? That’s it? You’re not mad at me?”

“No,” he shakes his head. “You had good intentions. I think...if it were (Y/N), I would do anything too.”

Once again, he remembers the time when you were upset, and he didn’t know how to make you feel better. Mr. Kim tilts his head curiously, wondering about his relationship with you.

“I’m curious, what is (Y/N) to you?”

“What (Y/N) is to me? What does that mean?”

“It’s to describe the level of importance a person or thing is to you. For example, is she just an acquaintance? Friend? Girlfriend?”

Taehyung reacts slightly to the term ‘girlfriend’. He’s read it before in the books that you lent him, but he never bothered to ask what it means because he assumed that it meant a female friend. Since Mr. Kim separated to two terms, friend and girlfriend, Taehyung’s initial assumption is doubted.

“What’s ‘girlfriend’?”

“Well, it’s when you are romantically interested in a person.”

Taehyung doesn’t say anything, which probably means that he doesn’t know what that means either.

“How should I explain this? To be romantically interested in someone, you’d think about them all the time, your heart tends to beat faster, and you want to be with them all the time. In simpler terms, you love her.”

Mr. Kim’s explanation is very cheesy and basic, but he doesn't know how else to explain romance. Taehyung thinks about all the times when he waited for you and how lonely he felt when you weren’t around. Taehyung’s mind is constantly occupied with thoughts of you, that unforgettable smile you gave him the first time you met him, the insatiable amount of compassion you give him, and everything else. If it is what Mr. Kim describes, then it might be what he says it is.

“I think...I love her.”

That’s what Mr. Kim probably assumed already. The length that both he and you go for each other is beyond friendship, and the way you both look when talking about each other; it’s impossible not to see how much the two of you are in love. Just thinking about you makes Taehyung want to see you even more.

Unfortunately, that sweet thought is cut short when Taehyung hears a number of cries coming from the forest. He’s never heard this many cries before at once. That’s when Mr. Kim and Taehyung both get a whiff of smoke, coming from the same direction of the forest. Looking up at the sky, they can see red and orange flames just above the trees, and smoke covering the sky. Without hesitation, both men run to the forest, worried for Soori and you.

------

The fire looks stronger from up close. With each second wasted, Taehyung can hear more and more animals and plants cry for help. He’s never seen a disaster this bad before, and he can’t stop hearing all of these cries. He keeps his distance from the fire, already feeling his skin burning up and the tips of his hair burning to a crisp.

Right beside the edge of the forest is Soori, on her knees and staring at the burning forest with disbelief. Mr. Kim runs to her, kneels down in front of her and shakes her. “What’s going on?! What happened???”

“...What have I done? ...I killed her. I killed her. I killed her. I killed her. I killed my only cousin.”

“Oh my god...Soori, please tell me you didn’t start this fire! Tell me that (Y/N) is safe!!”

“She’s gone...I killed her...What did I just do?! I killed her!! It’s all my fault!!!” Soori covers her ears, unable to bear with the sounds of the flames, only increasing her guilt.

Mr. Kim can’t believe what she’s saying. Soori is at the brink of insanity, and there’s no way he can get her to talk. Amidst the cries coming from the lives in the forest, Taehyung overhears Soori repeating how she killed you. He doesn’t believe it himself--he won’t believe it.

He listens carefully amongst the cries, hoping to hear you. Taehyung blocks everything but the sound of your voice, having it memorized in his head. And it works. He can hear you, somewhere around the center of  the forest.

I don’t want to die yet.

Taehyung sprints into the forest. Mr. Kim calls out to him, but he ignores him. His priority right now is to save you, but the moment he stepped into the blazing fire, his skin started to burn. Because his body isn’t used to the exposure, his skin is easily burned, and just like the scar on his arm, his skin soon turns into the same color as his burn mark. It’s extremely painful having to experience wounds to this extent, but right now, nothing else matters except for you.

Taehyung tails your voice, and eventually he finds you, still unconscious on the ground. Luckily, the fire hasn’t gotten to you yet, but it’s very close. He jumps through raging flames, though not left unscathed. He picks you up bridal style, with his arms writhing in pain from physical contact with your body. His skin burned nearly to the point where he no longer has any, the exposure of his muscles is excruciating, but your safety comes first. He takes in the pain, biting his lips, and sprints out the forest.

------

Despite it being a tough journey, Taehyung is able to get you out of the forest. Right by the side of the forest, he lays you down, where you finally wake up, coughing out all of the soot that you inhaled. Relieved that you’re still breathing, Taehyung leans close to you.

Though even the slightest touch of you is enough to bring him an indescribable amount of pain on his burned skin, Taehyung helps you sit up. “(Y/N), are you okay?”

You rub your eyes, as it still hurts from having close contact with fire, but you recognize that voice to belong to Taehyung. “Taehyung? Is that you?”

Clearing your eyes, the sight of Taehyung’s entire body covered in burns horrifies you. Initially, you didn’t even recognize him. The pale, smooth skin that you always saw is now cooked to a golden brown, and the tips of his silver hair are practically gone. Because of his injuries, he no longer resembles that of a moonchild.

You’ve been unconscious for so long that you have no idea what’s going on and why Taehyung is hurt. Even though you’re extremely concerned for him, Taehyung is relieved to know that you’re not suffering from any physical injuries.

“Oh my god, Taehyung! You’re covered in burns!! We have to take you to the hospital!”

You put your hand on his forearm, but he flinches. You move your hand back, realizing that even the slightest touch is as bad as a thousand needles to the stomach.

“No, I’m okay.”

“This is not okay!! You said that you can’t expose yourself to any heat, right?! Then why did you run into the forest?!”

“Because you didn’t want to die...and I wanted to see you one more time.”

You feel a sharp pain in your chest, feeling guilty for being the reason for his injuries. You look down, angry with both him and yourself, clutching a handful of grass on each hand out of irritation. You try your hardest not to shed tears.

“You idiot!! Why did you have to go this far for me?! Why couldn’t you just run away and save yourself?!”

This is not how you wanted to reunite with Taehyung again. He stays silent, not knowing what to say to soothe your anger. You look over his shoulder, watching as the forest is covered in a blaze of fire and hearing the townsfolk trying to calm the fire down. You can’t help but blame yourself for all of this. If you hadn’t been so naive and believed that Mr. Kim was a good person, then Taehyung and his home wouldn’t be in danger.

“This is my fault...If I had not met you in the first place, then you wouldn’t be hurt, and you would still have a home. It’s all because of me that your life and home is in danger!! I wish I never met you!” As hard as you try, you simply can’t hold back the tears.

You sob to yourself, having no idea how to fix this. You gave Taehyung nothing but trouble. Who knows what Mr. Kim did to him while you were still unconscious. The least you can do in this situation is blame yourself.

Taehyung takes you by the hands, his hands trembling from the pain. You look at him, confused, wanting to ask what he’s doing, but you refrain yourself when you stare in awe at how Taehyung is smiling softly.

“But I’m glad I met you.”

He brings your hand to his chest, feeling his heart beating at an unhealthy rate.

“Even if you regret it, I won’t. The memories I made with you will always be important to me. I learned so much from the time I’ve spent with you.”

Taehyung thinks he now knows why it was more heartbreaking to see Mr. Kim lose his grandmother. It’s all those memories he created with his grandmother; it built up to something irreplaceable. To know that a life will one day become nothing more than a person’s memory is what makes death difficult to face. That’s why Taehyung is a moonchild  ecause the moon couldn’t bare with the suffering and deaths. But in the end, a life that breathes will one day stop.

Taehyung removes your hands and stands up. “Wait, Taehyung! Where are you going?!”

“...Now that I know that you’re going to be safe, I have to do what I’ve been doing all my life. I can’t let those who is still clinging onto life lose hope.”

Taehyung walks into the burning forest. In the state that he’s in, you know that without a doubt, Taehyung will surely not make it out alive. The thought of Taehyung dying is unbearable, especially since you finally got to see him one more time.

“No, stop Taehyung! Look at yourself! You’re not in any condition to save lives! Stop trying to act like a hero and come back!! Please!! I don’t want you to die…” You say, but Taehyung continues to walk off. “Taehyung I...I love you…”

He stops walking.

“I’ve been in love with you all this time, but I was too scared to tell you anything. So please...don’t go...You’ll die..” You sob in your hands.

Taehyung walks towards you, removing your hands from your wet face. You and Taehyung make a long and agonizing eye contact. He uses his thumb to wipe your tears away, then he raises his head up, kissing you softly on the forehead. His lips burns as it touches your head, but it feels so sweet at the same time. You never taught him what a kiss means, but he still did it instinctively. Perhaps in the end, Taehyung is more human than you think.

He pulls his head back, and now you see tears streaming down his burnt cheeks, giving you the most genuine smile you’ve ever seen in your entire life. “(Y/N), I think I finally know what ‘tears of joy’ feels like. I wish I can live a long, peaceful life as a human with you, but I know I can’t. So I can only tell you that I love you too.”

Just like the animals who died in front of his eyes, they were all ready to face death, and now it’s Taehyung’s turn. You can tell from his eyes that no matter how much you try to convince him, he’s going through with his plans. Even until his last moments, he’s putting others before his.

Taehyung stands up and walks into the forest. You can only do nothing but sob in defeat, head lowered to the grass. You cry aloud with agony, losing your first love.

My child...you’ve been nothing but given during your entire existence on this earth. You’ve never asked for anything but me, and you truly are a saint. Because I’ve been a poor guardian, I will grant you one wish.

------

Epilogue

The next morning, the fire died down as if it never happened. Taehyung must’ve used his powers to save the entire forest, as well as the animals harmed by it. The townsfolk can’t explain how the fire disappeared so suddenly like that, but only you know the full truth. Soori brings herself forward to the police and is arrested for arsen. Mr. Kim also comes forward and is also arrested for attempted kidnapping and drugging of a minor.

You walk into the forest, looking for any signs of Taehyung’s body. You’ve been searching for hours to no avail, praying that his body didn’t turn into ashes. With Taehyung gone, this forest feels bigger. It just doesn’t feel right knowing that Taehyung isn’t here anymore.

Among the silence, a familiar tune plays from a distance. It’s the tune that Taehyung sang to you many years ago to help you out of the forest. You turn your head to the direction of the song. The source of the singing is not from a human—it sounds more...bird-like, as if a bird is whistling the tune. When you look up at a tree branch, you see a blue jay humming the tune.

With your eyes on it now, the bird flies to a different branch, but it looks behind, as if waiting for you. For some reason, your instinct tells you to follow the bird, and so you do. The bird picks up its speed, and you start running after it. You don’t know where this bird is taking you--you don’t even know if the bird is taking you anywhere and if it’s just you desperate for answers.

That’s when the bird leads you to a large bed of flowers surrounded by various animals, ranging from deers to rabbits. When you get closer, you scare the animals away, causing them to all run away. At the center of the flower bed is a young man, lying flat on his back. You rush towards him, thinking he’s one of the men from town who was trying to stop the fire.

However, upon closer inspection, the physical appearance shocks you, as he has exactly the same features as Taehyung. His body figure, height, smooth-like skin, but the major difference is that his hair isn’t silver...but dark brown. His skin isn’t silky like Taehyung’s, but peach--if not, a shade darker than peach.

You get down on your knees, staring at him longer. He undeniably resembles Taehyung. Can he actually be him? He can’t be. He was in a state where even if he were to heal himself, he would still be left with scars. But this person has no signs of injuries on him.

While thinking to yourself, the young man opens his eyes, revealing it to be brown colored. You move away, unsure whether he’s good or bad. He sits up immediately, then he feels himself, acting as if he’s dreaming. Then he turns to you, absolutely shocked.

“(Y/N)...”

Hearing that all too familiar voice, he is without a doubt Taehyung. But how is he still alive? And why does he look...more human? He no longer has his abnormal hair and eye colors. However, right now, none of that matters to the both of you. You’re both just glad that you get to see each other again.

Taehyung jumps onto you, hugging you tightly. He then pulls you back, kissing you on the lips. Because he wasn’t focused on where to aim, he accidentally kisses you on the corner of your lips, but it doesn't matter. All that matters is that right now, Taehyung is alive again, no longer a moonchild, but as a human.

The End

A/N: Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this, it really means a lot to me! I’d love to hear your opinions and advice on how to improve in terms of writing, so don’t be afraid to message me! :D

Masterlist

[signetofworlds]

Master of Light (An introduction)

“I can shake now and I can show

I can go where no one else goes Check your head now and hold on tight It's surfin' time with the master of light”

-David Wyndorf, Master of Light

It’s been quite a long time since I’ve put pen to paper, in part because I’ve gotten so used to dictation over the aeons. Most likely, you wouldn’t understand the strange pidgin language which I’ve synthesized from the tongues of a thousand worlds, the bizarre and nonlinear dialect with which I compose my dictation. That said, this form of communication facilitates not only coherency but also prudence, as I am forced by the medium to place down my words one at a time. A priest of Lissala once told that this forced hesitation and leisurely taste makes writing the most enlightened form of communication, and while I personally disagree I can understand how a Thassilonian politician would come to think that way (of course, the clarity of his writings proved insufficient to save his civilization from debauchery).

My preferred title is Coeus, as it was given to me by an individual for whom I have nothing but fond memories. I was seven years old when I was first exposed to the magical workings often referred to as the arcane, and this eventually led to my first encounter with representatives of the Elder Gods at age 14. These higher entities fascinated me, guiding my endeavors until after many grueling years I learned to harness a fragment of the strange energies which Yog-Sothoth, the Gate, the Key, the Pattern which binds all that shall ever exist, utilizes in his infinite existence.

Beyond the age of 34, I have ceased to keep track of my passing years, for relativity makes age a rather difficult figure to properly calculate. My infallible memory (a most useful gift from my patron) ensures that I could determine my exact age to the very second if ever I desired, but such tedium has eluded me for the entirety of my existence and will likely continue to elude me so long as there is universe to explore.

You may call me a pilgrim, an individual with a mission far greater than myself for which I trek all of existence. I have no true ambitions of my own, for an individual of my age and experience has come to recognize the trivialities of every worldly goal as well as every vain pursuit of enlightenment. My purpose lies in my work, gathering the knowledge of the universe in the unique implement which Yog-Sothoth has provided me: The Signet of Worlds.

The many-metaled gem which I wear on my left hand is perhaps the greatest repository of lore and experiences in the entire multiverse, a catalog of every planet I have travelled to, every civilization I have seen, every technology I have witnessed the use of, every stratagem I have observed, and every use of magic I have privy to. Up until now, I have filled its infinite memory banks privately, refusing to disgorge even the tiniest fragment of knowledge from its depths. Now, however, my ancient and addled mind has dubbed the universe worthy of a few of my signet’s secrets.

As much as I wish to provide a detailed record of events, I am but one man, hardly important in this infinite multiverse. In fact, I do my best to avoid exerting too much of my will on the flow of history, for I lack to rigor to hold any sort of empire together or to warp the fundamental forces of reality in a manner that pleases me.

Here, I offer my accounts of the small fraction of multiverse that I am capable of understanding for your enjoyment. That said, I envision that the first thing many of you will ask about are the limits of my own abilities and the Signet’s. As I am already sharing a variety of dangerous lore with you all, I feel that this question can be indulged.

COEUS     CR 24/MR 6 Human Cleric of Yog-Sothoth (Ecclesitheurge) 1/Wizard (Chronomancer) 1/Investigator (Portal Seeker) 1/Mystic Theurge 10/Grand Unifier 7*/Hierophant 6

Medium Humanoid (human, mythic) Init +13 Senses Aura Sight, Darkvision 60 ft, Detect Magic See Beyond, See Invisibility, Perception +33 DEFENSE AC 38 touch 23, flat-footed 32 (+6 dex, +9 armor, +6 natural, +5 deflection, +2 insight) hp 240 (2d8+18d6+141) Fort +19, Ref +20, Will +28; extra +3 vs mind-affecting effects Defensive Abilities Forewarned +1, Freedom of Movement, Knowledge is Power, Life Bubble, Mind Blank, Nine Lives, DR 10/adamantine Immune Aging, Disease, Divination, Insanity Space 5 feet Reach 5 ft Speed 30 feet, Fly 40 feet (good) Melee +13 Ranged +14 Special Attacks Blessing of the Faithful, Channel Positive Energy 1d6 (11/day, DC 18), Channel Power, Combined Spells (9th), Form Blending, Form Fluidity, Indistinguishable Power, Inspiration +1d6 (18/day), Inspired Spell, Mythic Power (15/day, surge +1d8), Spell Synthesis, Temporal Pool (18 points, Forewarned, Rewind), Wild Arcana

Diviner Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st, concentration +18)

20/day-Prescience

Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st, concentration +18)

20/day-Door Sight

20/day-Recall

Investigator Extracts Prepared (CL 1st)

1st-Adjuring Step, Detect Secret Doors, Disguise Self, Heightened Awareness, Identify, Tears to Wine Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 18th, concentration +37, DC 27+spell level, 28+spell level for conjuration spells)) 9th—Astral Projection, Energy Drain, Gate, Miracle, Summon Monster IX, World Wave

8th—Dimensional Lock, Discern Location, Greater Planar Ally, Moment of Prescience, Nine Lives, Phasic Challenge, Summon Monster VIII 7th—Contact Entity IV, Ethereal Jaunt, Greater Scrying, Greater Teleport, Memory of Function, Quickened Prayer, Resurrection 6th—Find the Path, Greater Dispel Magic, Heal, Modify Memory, Quickened Alter Summoned Monster, Source Severance, Summon Laborers, Summon Monster VI 5th—Army Across Time, Break Enchantment, Commune, Fickle Winds, Life Bubble, Locate Gate, Plane Shift, Siphon Magic, True Seeing

4th—Blessing of Fervor, Death Ward, Divination, False Future, Foretell Failure, Freedom of Movement, Master’s Escape, Summon Monster IV, Wall of Bone 3rd—Animate Dead, Channel Vigor, Detect Anxieties, Detect Desires, Dispel Magic, Magic Vestment, Obscure Object, Protection from Energy, Speak with Dead 2nd—Ancestral Communion, Enthrall, Grace, Ironskin, Lesser Restoration, Locate Object, Silence, Stalwart Resolve, Visualization of the Mind 1st—Air Bubble, Deathwatch, Detect the Faithful, Divine Favor, Expeditious Retreat, Hide from Undead, Obscuring Mist, Sanctuary, Shadow Trap, Shield of Faith 0 (at will)—Create Water, Detect Magic, Mending, Read Magic

Domains: Knowledge (Memory Subdomain) (Primary Domain), Travel (Exploration Subdomain)

Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 18th, concentration +37, DC 27+spell level, 28+spell level for conjuration spells) 9th—Foresight, Mage’s Disjunction, Maze of Madness and Suffering, Shapechange, Time Stop, Wish

8th—Antipathy, Greater Planar Binding, Mind Blank, Polymorph Any Object, Prediction of Failure, Quickened Dimension Door, Temporal Stasis 7th—Control Construct, Greater Arcane Sight, Limited Wish, Mage’s Magnificent Mansion, Particulate Form, Spell Turning, Waves of Exhaustion 6th—Antimagic Field, Borrowed Time, Cold Ice Strike, Contingency, Greater Illusion of Treachery, Ice Crystal Teleport, Legend Lore, Unwilling Shield 5th—Commune with Texts, Contact Other Plane, Dominate Person, Fabricate, Magic Jar, Mirage Arcana, Overland Flight, Permanency, Wall of Force

4th—Akashic Communion, Confusion, Dimension Door, Dimensional Anchor, Enervation, Horrific Doubles, Locate Creature, Mad Sultan’s Melody, Stoneskin 3rd—Aura Sight, Displacement, Harrowing, Haste, Ice Spears, Protection from Chaos, See Beyond, Slow, Suggestion, Tongues 2nd—Aboleth’s Lung, Alter Self, Blood Transcription, Create Treasure Map, Detect Thoughts, Glitterdust, Invisibility, Spell Gauge, Web 1st—Anticipate Peril, Feather Fall, Grease, Magic Missile, Mount, Shield, Silent Image, Songbird, Technomancy, Unseen Servant 0 (at will)—Arcane Mark, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation

School Specialization: Divination (Foresight) Opposed Schools: Enchantment, Evocation

STATISTICS Str 21, Dex 23, Con 25, Int 44, Wis 26, Cha 27 Base Atk +8; CMB +30; CMD 47 Feats Augment Summoning, Compatible Forces*, Dual PathM (Archmage), Evolved Summoned Monster, Extra Path AbilityM x2, Heighten Spell, Metamagic Amplification*, Quicken Spell, Sacred Summons, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (Conjuration), Technologist, Unusual Methodology* (Cleric, Intelligence rather than Wisdom) Skills Appraise +40, Bluff +36, Diplomacy +36, Disable Device +10, Disguise +31, Escape Artist +10, Fly +19, Heal +12, Knowledge (all) +42, Linguistics +40, Perception +33, Sense Motive +36, Spellcraft +40, Sleight of Hand +10, Stealth +34, Use Magic Device +31 Languages Aklo, Truespeech, and numerous other languages which I have not bothered to completely tabulate here. SQ Amazing Initiative, Beyond Morality (Mythic Adventures version), Bonded Object (Signet of Worlds), Domain Mastery, Ecclesitheurge’s Vow, Enduring Blessing (Freedom of Movement), Harmonious Mage, Hunt Portal, Legendary Item x3 (Signet of Worlds, Eternal Bond, Everlasting, Legendary Fortification, Metamagician, Perfect Surge, Powerful, Rejuvenating, Returning x2, Undetectable) Combat Gear Ambrosia x5, Annihilation Spectacles, Belt of Physical Perfection +6, Boots of Teleportation, Bracelet of Bargaining, Gloves of the Commanding Conjurer, Greater Maximize Metamagic Rod, Greater Quicken Metamagic Rod, Handy Haversack x10, Headband of Mental Superiority +6, Highwayman’s Cape, Nectar of the Gods x4, Persistent Metamagic Rod, Robe of the Archmagi, Ring of Energy Dampening, Scarlet and Green Cabochen Ioun Stone, Signet of Worlds, Steel-Mind Cap, Thanatopic Metamagic Rod, Torc of Truespeech, Tunic of Careful Casting 845k

Active Spells (Sp) My statblock above treats me as already having cast the following spells upon my person: Stoneskin, See Invisibility, Shield of Faith, Ironskin, Magic Vestment, Moment of Prescience, Mind Blank, Overland Flight, Nine Lives, See Beyond, Soul Vault, Life Bubble, Heightened Awareness, Spell Turning (10 levels), and Foresight. The reason for this is that I have made many of these spells permanent upon myself or at least am not so stupid as to venture out into the absurdly dangerous multiverse without a proper index of precautionary measures.

Exceptional Stats (Ex) My ability scores were generated using 25 points, and I possess substantial wealth which far exceeds the arsenal of the rare individuals who rival my abilities. In addition, I have enhanced all of my ability scores by 5 using the Wish spell. These modifications increase my total CR by 2.

Immortal (Su) I have lived far beyond any human’s normal lifespan. I gains the +3 bonus to my Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores for having lived beyond venerable age, yet I do not take penalties to my physical ability scores. I am immune to disease and to all forms of madness (including confusion effects and feeblemind).

Mythic Contingencies (Sp) In the event any misfortunes befall me, I have prepared contingencies which activate under the following conditions.

If I wink with my right eye, I am affected by a Mythic Globe of Invulnerability spell which negates non-mythic spells of up to 7th level

If I wink with my left eye, I am affected by a Restoration spell

If I ever stop tapping my right big toe for longer than one minute (a tendency which I perform even in my sleep), I am immediately recalled to one of my concealed sanctuaries as per Word of Recall

Finally, if I am affected by an compulsion effect, the effect is immediately dispelled as per Greater Dispel Magic.

Abilities marked with a * appear in the book Adepts of the Inward Eye. The rest can be found on d20pfsrd

SIGNET OF WORLDS

Aura: overwhelming all; CL: 20th

Slot: ring; Weight .5 lbs.

DESCRIPTION

This bauble has kept me alive for more lifetimes than I can be bothered to count, and acts a reservoir for the tremendous lore I have collected. The Signet of Worlds functions as a spellbook which contains every spell I have ever encountered, and any character capable of preparing spells from a spellbook can use the Signet of Worlds to prepare them as if from a spellbook. The Signet of Worlds can be presented in place of using any material or focus components used in casting a spell (this includes even expensive material components). A character who prepares spells using the Signet of Worlds is also considered to know the Mythic versions of all spells prepared using the Signet. In addition, the wearer of the Signet of Worlds can take 20 on any intelligence-based skill checks they make. New spells can be scribed into the Signet using the same method as scribing spells into a spellbook.

DESTRUCTION

The Signet of Worlds can be destroyed by speaking the verbal components of every spell contained within the signet in a perverse and primordial dialect of Aklo. Afterwards, the signet must be exposed directly to the Azathoth, at which point it would explode in a surge of arcane power.

At the very least, that’s what I’ve been able to intuit about its destruction.

NOTE:

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[stargaziing]

TWEWY Bible

The setting of The World Ends with You is heavily based on the Japanese city of Shibuya, including major landmarks like the Scramble Crossing  It even has the same currency, Yen (¥), which is used in shops. Many elements of the game are also based on Japanese culture, including the food, fashion & artwork in the game.

The Reapers’ Game

‣ The Game is a one-week competition in which those who have died may participate. Each potential participant is approached shortly after their passing & is given the choice by the Reaper. Games usually take place weeks apart, but sometimes games can be held two times in a row, & in rare instances, three times.

Players

‣ Every contestant is called a Player & is given a player pin as a sign of his or her entry. To enter in the game every player has to pay an ‘entry fee’, that is taken by the Conductor. Every Player must give up whatever is dearest to them in order to participate. This entry fee can be physical, such as mementos or people, or more psychological or immaterial such as one’s appearance, dreams, or memories.

Scanning

‣ The player pin lets the holder read the mind of any person not carrying a player pin ( with some exceptions like the reapers ), an ability called “Scanning”.

Pacts

‣ A Pact is the partnership between two Players during the Game. Symbolized by the Puck in battles, the pact is not simply an agreement; it is a binding force between two Players, & its benefits are vital to their survival in the Game. These benefits include the ability to activate psychs & the prevention of unwanted battles with Noise ( except those set upon them by Reapers & Taboo Noise ). A Player whose partner is Erased has seven minutes to make a new pact before being erased him or herself. As any nearby Player will probably already have a partner, Erasure is almost certain. Pacts can also be formed with certain objects, such as Beat with Rhyme’s pin. Harrier Reapers may form a pact with another Harrier, & a Puck will travel between them in battle, but often, they will fight alone, presumably making a Pact with their own shadow, hence why they are not consumed by regular Noise & granting them a shadow doppelganger to help them fight. Additionally, Harrier Reapers may also form pacts with unpartnered Players, as Beat did with Neku.

Reapers

‣ Reapers are a type of administrator in the Game. They are identified by the black wings on their back, which are a manifestation of their supernatural powers. Reapers are recruited from Players who have survived previous runs of the game. Any such player, provided they are strong enough, may choose to become a Reaper if they wish. Reapers are able to move between the Realground & the Underground without anybody really noticing. While on the RG, reapers do not possess their wings & cannot use their powers. Reapers are permitted to live normal lives on the RG within certain constraints, although they must report for duty in the UG whenever required. The lifespan of a Reaper is determined by the number of Players they successfully Erase ( their “Score” ). Reapers can also be Erased by players as part of the game. A new Reaper has around a 2 week lifespan in which to erase their first Player. The majority of Reapers are eventually erased before they can rise very high in the organization, either directly by Players or by their lifespan running out. Reapers can instantly erase any Noise that they themselves created. Reapers can make Pacts & work together like players; they can also project their Shadow onto the alternate plane to fight Noise - or groups of players - alone, but they are less effective in this case. All Reapers are forbidden from attacking players directly except in exceptional circumstances. One such exceptional circumstance is an Emergency Call ( EC ) - an alert to an event that affects the continued existence of the UG. In this case, all Reapers - even Support Reapers - may directly engage Players. The symbol for the Reapers is a very stylized skull & crossbones, the crossbones showing up on two pins throughout the game. Reapers are subdivided into three broad categories: officers, harriers, & support.

Wings

‣ The wings on the backs of most Reapers are one of the more obvious indications of their strength, & also a distinguishing feature apart from normal people & Players in the UG. While many would state “The bigger-looking the wings, the stronger the Reaper,” Reapers in The World Ends with You go by an opposite mentality. The reason this can be claimed is because most of the weaker Reapers have slightly large yet crude wings, while more polished Reapers have smooth, thin, & smaller wings. This can be a measurement of how much control they have of their powers: the stronger they are, the more they can control their wings. This is apparent in the fact that Sho Minamimoto, Megumi Kitaniji, & Mitsuki Konishi don’t show their wings except when Neku fights against them. Higashizawa, who was a newly promoted game master, had puny wings, which would mean he was one step under Sho, Megumi, & Mitsuki. This also supports the fact that Koki Kariya is a long time veteran, as his wings are quite small in proportion to others Harriers such as his own partner, Uzuki Yashiro.

Support Reapers

‣ Support Reapers are the lowest ranking Reapers. They create challenges within the game exactly as instructed by the Game Master. Usually, this involves maintaining special walls separating the different districts of Shibuya, informing players of the requirements to destroy certain walls, & lowering the walls when the requirements are met. Like all Reapers, they have the power to create Noise, but usually only as part of the challenges required to remove walls. It appears that a large number of these Reapers have identical appearance, or they are able to exist simultaneously in more than one place on the RG. However, it is possible that low-ranking Reapers simply have a regulated uniform, as they would need to be easily identifiable to passing Players. As support Reapers were former Players, they do, in fact, have names, although the only one known is 777’s bandmate Tenho & BJ. It is not clear which Reapers are able to create Walls. Tenho & Konishi demonstrate the ability to create Walls in the game; BJ guards numerous walls, but doesn’t clearly create any. Not only support reapers can create walls, it is mentioned in the game by Sho Minamimoto, that Mitsuki Konishi made a wall, that even he couldn’t take down. This could however suggest officers & support have this exclusive ability.

Harrier Reapers

‣ Harrier reapers are mid-ranking reapers who are permitted to act independently ( within a few constraints ) in order to erase Players during the game. Usually, the Game Master will specify when & where Harriers may act. Due to the rule that Reapers may not normally attack players directly, Harriers must summon Noise to attack the players. Under special conditions as decided by the Conductor, it is possible for a new Reaper to join directly as a Harrier ( as in the case of Beat ). It is possible that this is determined by the player’s score during his or her time as a player.

Officer Reapers

‣ Officer Reapers are the highest ranking below Angels. Not much is known about this class other than that they can manifest their wings at will & one is chosen by the Composer to be Game Master for a week. They are assumed to be much stronger than Harriers but must still abide by the Composer’s laws. Within reason, they, too, can live normal lives outside of Game weeks. They have the same abilities as Harriers, being able to spawn & despawn Noise at will, though, assumingly, the Noise they can summon is much stronger than their Harrier counter parts.

Game Master

‣ Game Master an Officer-rank Reaper selected by the Composer to assign the missions for the Reapers’ Game of that week. While the rank of Game Master doesn’t affect one’s power, it does grant more liberties than a non-Game Master has. For example, Game Masters have control over all the Reapers below the rank of Conductor. The only way to become a Game Master is to be chosen by the Composer. The Game Master isn’t really a “rank”, but rather a temporary title & privilege, since one is only Game Master for a period of seven days.

Noise

‣ Noise are a race of beings, summoned physical forms from a Soul bound to a Pin, incarnated between the Underground & Realground planes of Shibuya. Because they straddle the border between the two planes, they are able to exact an influence in both, being physically present in the Underground, while capable of influencing people’s thought in the Realground, typically resulting in negative emotions on the victim’s behalf. Noise take on the form of an animal or mythical creature, colored in a wide variety of pallettes. It is worth mentioning that the Noise at least has a part of its body lined with or replaced with a tattoo like patterns. All Reapers have the power to create Noise. Reapers have their own pins which they use to create different forms of Noise. Most Noise will not attack players who have a Pact. Taboo Noise, however, freely attack anybody, Player or Reaper.

Taboo Noise

‣ Taboo Noise are a form of Noise which are artificially made. Unlike their normal counterparts, Taboo Noise will attack both players & reapers at will, unlike normal Noise which will only attack players if brought into battle. They are powerful in comparison to normal Noise & battles against them should be taken with extreme caution. Taboo Noise take on a very monochrome shade of their familial counterparts, being a mix of black, dark grey & light grey. All of their eyes are red, which supports their aggressive nature. Their Noise symbol is also shaded in a monochrome-like manner, being dark or light grey in color. Unlike regular Noise symbols, which will drift harmlessly when a Player scans, Taboo Noise symbols will charge at them in haste to initiate a battle. Unlike regular Noise, which Reapers can create at will, Taboo Noise can only be created using Taboo Noise Refineries. These are shown as a blue noise symbol surrounded by Japanese writing on walls & floors. Because they are technically “artificial” Noise, this is the only current method known of how they are made. Creating them also requires a high amount of capability, making it impossible for most reapers to make them. Fighting Taboo Noise are much harder than their normal counterparts. Due to their high resistance to almost all sources of damage, defeating Taboo Noise requires high level pins & good puck passing work. Puck-passing is important due to the fact that the player without the puck will deal considerably less damage to Taboo Noise. They are also on the high end of damage dealing within their respective Noise family, which makes them harder to fight against. It is impossible to escape from a Taboo battle once forced into one.

UG/RG

‣ The Underground, or UG, is a parallel plane of existence of Shibuya that only Reapers & Players of the Reapers’ Game can see. It exists in the same space/time as the Realground ( RG ) but has a higher vibration frequency. Those in the RG cannot generally see, hear, or in any way perceive events & people in the UG, while those in the UG can perceive RG events freely ( though physical interaction remains difficult ). It is said in a report that the Noise plane straddles both the UG & the RG. Certain people are able to see the UG or the Noise plane from the RG, what causes this being unclear.

Pins/Psychs

‣ Pins can be used to activate Psychs in combat. Players can obtain pins by defeating enemies, by buying them from shops, or in rare situations, from Reapers. Pins are material objects which act as a medium to activate Psychs; supernatural abilities of a wide variety. From interacting with the RG environment to damaging an enemy to giving oneself a unique buff, to dealing chunks of damage in the form of lightning bolts or pillars of ice, Pins & Psychs are the only way to injure Noise & Reapers, but the diversity is almost endless.

Composer

‣ The Composer is the leader of the Reapers & the ruler of the Underground. It falls upon the Composer’s shoulders to create the rules for the Reapers’ Game, & to judge the Players. The Composer’s main purpose in the Underground is to create & maintain the rules for the Reapers’ Game, & to run the Reapers’ Game. While almost never leaving his headquarters in the Shibuya River, the Composer works through his second-in-command, the Conductor. The Composer is the most powerful being in the UG, having almost god like abilities. To achieve the rank of Composer, the current Composer must be defeated. This is easier said than done, considering the Composer’s immense amount of power. As the supreme commander of the Reaper’s Game, the Composer has little direct contact with Reapers below the rank of Conductor. The relationship with the Conductor is marked by the power dynamics of a commanding officer & his underling, with little friendship readily apparent between the two. The Composer only leaves his hidden base during absolute emergencies or in special circumstances. Because of this, most Reapers never meet the Composer. Throughout the course of normal games, the Composer presumably has extremely limited contact with Players. His primary role is to judge the Players who survive the week & determine what fate should await them. Whether the Composer meets with Players following their victory on Day 7 in normal circumstances is unknown; the Conductor seems capable of relaying the Composer’s decisions to the winners, although only the Composer may resurrect Players to the RG, should they elect that option.

Conductor

‣ The Conductor is the Composer’s second in command. He carries out the Composer’s missions, & delivers messages from the Composer to the Reapers. The Conductor serves as the Composer’s representative, transmitting orders from the Composer to the Reapers. Their respective roles are analogous to that of their musical counterparts: just as a composer writes music & a conductor interprets & communicates that music to the orchestra, so does the Game’s Composer create plans & orders, & it falls to the Conductor to give those orders to the Reapers & ensure they are followed. He can also serve as a last line of defense, as he guards the entrance to the Composer’s lair. While it is never revealed how one achieves the position of the Conductor, it is assumed that the Composer hand picks him or her out of the Officer-rank Reapers. The Reapers generally honor the assignments given to them by the Conductor. The only Reaper who frequently defies the Conductor’s missions is Sho Minamimoto. Normally, however, the Conductor is respected & revered among the Reaper community. As far as the information given in The World Ends with You goes, the Conductor is oblivious to the existence of the Angels, & as such has never knowingly met or spoken with any of them.

Producer

‣ The Producer is an Angel chosen to watch over the Reapers’ Game & to make reports on it. The Producer also serves as a sort of guardian of the Game, traveling around Shibuya & making sure both Reapers & Players play by the rules set by the Composer. The Producer’s power is on the same tier as the Composer ( if not a higher tier ). The Producer wields immense strength in the Underground despite having to limit his power by “tuning down” his frequency to the travel to the Underground. One could only imagine his strength while in his homeworld of the Higher Plane. Similar to the Conductor, no information is given to how one receives the rank of Producer. It’s assumed that the Angels as a whole select someone among themselves to become the Producer. This is not a proven fact, however, & shouldn’t be relied upon as one. The Producer cannot reveal his identity to anyone besides the Composer. Due to this rule, the Producer is not allowed to have relationships with Reapers or Players as the Producer. However, the Producer is allowed to communicate & give information ( to an extent ) to both Players & Reapers as long as he keeps his position of Producer a secret. Because the Producer himself is an Angel, it is assumed that he is on good terms with all of the other Angels. The term “Fallen Angel” is a direct reference to the biblical tradition of angels who rebelled against God, siding with Lucifer ( Satan ), & some interpretations of biblical text depict Fallen Angels as demons following their defeat.

Angels

‣ The only known ranking of the angel species is the Producer. Angels live in a separate & higher plane from the RG & UG. They created a social schema web to guide their activities. The Angels have their own frequency & the Composer can only pick up one frequency from the Angels, which would be the Producer’s. There are also Fallen Angels who are considered criminals for breaking the Angel’s code. A Reaper can become an Angel after achieving Officer rank & ascending. It is unclear how exactly this happens.

Dead God’s Pad

‣ The Dead God’s Pad is a district in Shibuya. It is the fourth part of the Shibuya River & connects the Trail of the Bygone with the Trail of the Judged. This is the general area in which Reapers are believed to congregate; for social reasons & for missions.

Shibuya River

‣ The Shibuya River is an area of Shibuya where the Composer ‘lives’. It is inaccessible by players until the final day, & is reached via the Station Underpass. It consists of the Trail of the Sinner, the Rubicon, the Trail of the Bygone, the Dead God’s Pad, the Trail of the Judged, & the Room of Reckoning.

[thecreaturecodex]

Great Old One, Chaugnar Faugn

Image © deviantArt user fed0t, accessed at his gallery here

[Commissioned by @monstersdownthepath​. Chaugnar Faugn is a canonical Great Old One in Pathfinder from the Cthulhu Mythos, specifically the novella “The Horror From the Hills” by Frank Belknap Long. Although I’ve been familiar with good ol’ CF since I got a copy of Call of Cthulhu d20 for Christmas one year, I only just now read “The Horror From The Hills” in order to write this entry. I can see why the story hasn’t been reprinted a ton; it’s basically just “The Call of Cthulhu” with more action and more racism. Yes, more racism than Lovecraft. Let that sink in. Also, I think it’s hilarious how many times Long has his characters describe Chaugnar Faugn as unlike any other mythological entity, and completely unimaginable by mere human minds, when he’s clearly Eldritch Vampire Ganesha.]

Great Old One, Chaugnar Faugn CR 26 CE Aberration This creature is vaguely like a parody of an elephant-headed humanoid, but the resemblances to both elephants and humanoids are only superficial. Tentacles held together with webbing mirror ears, and its twin tusks are translucent and interwoven. Its trunk is impossibly long and ends in a lamprey-like maw.

Chaugnar Faugn, the Horror From the Hills, the Feeder CE male Great Old One of blood, patience and remote landscapes Domains Chaos, Death, Evil, War Subdomains Blood, Entropy, Murder, Tactics Favored Weapon Light pick Unholy Symbol An elephant’s head with a bloody trunk Worshipers evil elves, murderers, nosferatu, those seeking revenge Minions faceless stalkers, morlocks, hill giants

Chagnaur Faugn, the Feeder, was old when the planets were young. He is a being formed from the initial creation of matter in the universe, and has traveled the cosmos in search of blood to drink and death to deal. He is perhaps the first parasite, and is truly one of the greatest. His body and senses stretch into both the Ethereal and Shadow Planes, and he will prey on their denizens as readily as any Material creature. Chaugnar Faugn is capable of flying between worlds, but does so only on rare occasions. He has witnessed the birth and death of at least one biosphere in its totality, and wishes to compare that to other arcs of planetary development.

Chaugnar Faugn prefers swift and precise attacks to destructive rampages, despite his bulk and strength. He spends most of his life in the shape of a stone statue, animating only to drink blood or punish followers who betray his faith. If forced to actually fight, the Feeder tramples enemies, then uses his crystalline tusks (which swivel independently) and mighty claws to finish off opponents. He is gifted in magic, and often transforms his allies into monstrous beasts to fight on his behalf, or simply stops an enemy’s heart with power word: kill.

Chaugnar Faugn’s current appellation, The Horror from the Hills, stems from his preference for remote country. He seeks out dispossessed and marginalized groups and bullies his way into a place of honor in their pantheon, demanding blood sacrifice and murdering them if they do not comply. To mark his chosen, he inflicts a terrible curse on them, granting them animalistic features. The trunk and ears of an elephant are a favorite, as they resemble his own form. Chaugnar Faugn teaches patience, for he has lived for literal eons, and savors the suspense of a revenge drawn out. His worship is popular with long lived and endangered species, such as the nosferatu, and he teaches that if they cannot make more of themselves, they should at least be remembered for the terror they inflict.

Chaugnar Faugn   CR 26 XP 2,457,600 CE Large aberration (great old one) Init +18; Senses darkvision 60 ft., hyperdimensional sight, Perception +38, scent, true seeing Aura cloak of chaos (DC 26), unspeakable (300 ft., Will DC 33) Defense AC 43, touch 31, flat-footed 42 (-1 size, +8 Dex, +12 natural, +10 insight, +4 deflection) hp 615 (30d8+480); fast healing 10 Fort +25, Ref +24, Will +31 Immune ability damage, ability drain, aging, cold, death effects, disease, energy drain, fire, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, and petrifaction; SR 37 Defensive Abilities hyperdimensional body, immortality, improved uncanny dodge Offense Speed 80 ft., swim 80 ft. Melee 2 gores +36 (2d8+15/19-20), 2 claws +36 (2d6+15), bite +36 (1d6+15 plus chew magic plus grab) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (15 ft. with bite) Special Attacks blood drain (2d4 Con), curse of Chaugnar Faugn, demanding dreams, insanity (DC 33), mythic (10/day, 1d12), subtle magic, trample (Ref DC 40, 4d6+22) Spell-like Abilities CL 26th, concentration +34 Constant—cloak of chaos (self only, DC 26), true seeing At will—darkness M, gaseous form M, greater command (DC 23), nightmare (DC 23), stone shape M, telekinesis (DC 23) M 3/day—greater dispel magic, horrid wilting (DC 26), quickened mass inflict pain (DC 24), polymorph any object (DC 26), empowered vampiric touch M 1/day—etherealness, shadow walk, power word: kill M, power word: stun M M = Chaugnar Faugn can use the mythic version of this SLA Statistics Str 40, Dex 27, Con 42, Int 26, Wis 30, Cha 27 Base Atk +22; CMB +38 (+40 bull rush, +42 sunder), CMD 60 (62 vs. bull rush, sunder) Feats Acrobatic Steps, Awesome Blow, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Empower SLA (vampiric touch), Greater Sunder, Improved Bull Rush,  Improved Critical (gore), Improved Sunder, Lightning Reflexes, Nimble Moves, Power Attack, Quicken SLA (mass inflict pain), Staggering Critical, Stunning Critical Skills Bluff +33, Climb +36, Intimidate +38, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, geography, nature, religion, planes) +33, Knowledge (history) +36, Perception +38, Sense Motive +35, Spellcraft +36, Stealth +36, Swim +43 Languages Aklo, Aquan, Terran, Undercommon, telepathy 300 ft. SQ no breath, otherworldly insight, starflight, statue form Ecology Environment any Organization unique Treasure double standard Special Abilities Chew Magic (Su) A creature or object bitten by Chaugnar Faugn is subject to a targeted greater dispel magic effect (CL 26th). This effect first affects spells that protect against being grappled, such as freedom of movement, before any other spells. Curse of Chaugnar Faugn (Su) As a standard action, Chaugnar Faugn can cast its curse upon a creature within 120 feet. A creature targeted must succeed a DC 33 Will save to suffer a -6 penalty to an ability score of Chaugnar Faugn’s choice. A creature cursed in this manner has their facial features altered to resemble those of an animal. A creature that succeeds on this save is immune to the Curse of Chaugnar Faugn for the next 24 hours. Chagnaur Faugn can use this ability as a swift action against a creature it is grappling. This is a curse effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. Demanding Dreams (Su) When Chaugnar Faugn targets a creature with its nightmare spell-like ability, regardless of whether it passes or fails the save, the creature must succeed a DC 33 Will save or be affected as per a demand spell. A creature that passes its save against the damage from the nightmare gains a +5 bonus on this saving throw. This is a mind-influencing compulsion effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. Hyperdimensional Body (Su) Chaugnar Faugn exists in multiple dimensions at once, granting it abilities similar to those of an incorporeal creature. It is immune to damage from non-magical weapons, and takes half damage from all corporeal sources except for force effects and ghost touch weapons. It can move through solid objects as if they were difficult terrain, except that it cannot end its movement in an object. This ability does not function if Chaugnar Faugn is subject to a dimensional anchor or similar effect. Hyperdimensional Sight (Su) Chaugnar Faugn can see into the Ethereal Plane and Shadow Plane at a distance of 60 feet. It can attack creatures on either of these planes normally, although such creatures are treated as having cover against his attacks. Immortality (Ex) If Chaugnar Faugn is slain, he dissolves into a noxious sludge, and incarnates in his statue form on a distant planet over the course of 100 years. He must remain in his statue form for an additional 1011 years before he can return to animation, but can still use his subtle magic in this forced hibernation. Starflight (Su) Chagnaur Faugn can survive in the void of outer space. It flies through space at an incredible speed. Although exact travel times vary, a trip within a single solar system should take 3d20 hours, while a trip beyond should take 3d20 days (or more, at the GM's discretion)—provided it knows the way to its destination. Statue Form (Su) As a standard action, Chaugnar Faugn can assume the form of a statue of Medium, Large or Huge size. He can use his senses normally in this form and communicate using telepathy, but can take no actions except for his subtle magic. He may resume his animate form as a move action. Subtle Magic (Su) Chaugnar Faugn does not detect as magical when in statue form. In addition, he can spend a use of mythic power to use one of its spell-like abilities or the Curse of Chaugnar Faugn while in statue form. If he does so, he cannot deliver a touch attack unless the creature is touching it. When it uses this ability, creatures that witness the spell must succeed an opposed Spellcraft check against Chaugnar Faugn to determine that he is the source of the spell-like ability. Unspeakable Presence (Su) Creatures that succumb to Chaugnar Faugn’s unspeakable presence find themselves literally falling apart. A creature that fails a DC 33 Will save gains vulnerability to bludgeoning, slashing or piercing damage (determined randomly) for as long as it remains in the area of effect. The save DC is Charisma based.

[evolutionsvoid]

When you travel the world for years and explore exotic environments, you are bound to get a lot of questions whenever you talk to people. You say that you are a natural historian, explain what you do and people immediately take you as a kind of explorer. Then comes the questions. I could probably rattle off about a dozen or so questions that I have heard over a million times during my travels. Be it honest inquiries or quips that have long lost their humor, they have become quite weary to hear. Out of all of them, there has been one that I have always found quite strange. "Have you seen a unicorn?" I cannot for the life of me figure out why people ask me that so much. They always want to know if I have seen a unicorn, either in a serious or joking manner. Why? What is so crazy or absurd about a unicorn? It's a horse that has a horn. True, it is quite a pretty horse, and rather elusive, but it is by no means some impossible alien being that dwells where man cannot reach. To answer that question, yes. I have seen a unicorn, several in fact. This incredibly rare, somewhat mythical, species is not all that hard to find when you know where to look. It might be a bit easier to find them if stinking poachers didn't keep shooting them and cutting off their horns. That issue aside, I have indeed seen these creatures, but not for the reasons you think. While unicorns are fascinating in their own right, my time in their territory was focused more on the creatures that walk like them. I was there for the unicons. When I write unicon, I mean it. It is not a typo or some error, I truly mean unicon. Despite the oddity of their name, unicons are totally real creatures, and quite bizarre ones at that. Their body shape is almost exactly like that of a unicorn's but everything else is radically different. While unicorns are mammalian creatures, unicons seem to be a bit more reptilian. Instead of ivory fur and flowing hair, they possess rough scales and sharp spines. Their appendages end in bladed hooves and spurs. Their tails are more like a rat's rather than a horses, and a nasty barb hides at the end of the whipping appendage. They lack the beautiful coiled horn of the unicorn and instead carry a nasty spur of bone that looks like a rotted tooth. While unicorns may be seen as symbols of purity and innocence, unicons are more like the filthy disease that floats in the scum of a putrid well. 

Not only are their appearances radically different, but their behavior and ways are as well. Unicorns are strictly herbivorous, while unicons are violently carnivorous. That is not even an exaggeration, unicons are nasty little buggers when it comes to hunting and eating. They tear into food like vultures on a carcass, making an unnecessary mess out of the whole ordeal. As meat eaters, they have quite the supply of tools for downing prey. Crushing teeth, sharp spines and powerful hooves make for deadly weapons, but the real killer is their "horn." The "horn" of a unicon acts more like the fang of a viper, as it is hollow and capable of injecting venom into prey. This venom is extremely potent and kills within minutes. It seems to target the nerves, causing victims to be wracked by seizures and spasms before suffocating as their muscles shut down. As of now, there is no antidote for this powerful venom, probably since many do not wish to approach this creature, not intentionally anyway. Some may look at this horrible beast and wonder how it is capable of taking down prey or causing havoc. Clearly everyone could see that it is some horrible abomination and that they should quickly vacate the premises. Why would any prey not detect something this vile and obvious? Well, the mechanics behind the answer are not fully known, but the short response is because unicons don't walk around looking like that. Instead, these creatures disguise themselves as unicorns, and use that species' reputation as a way to get prey to drop their guard. No one fully knows how these reptilian creatures are capable of mimicking the exact appearance of a mammal, as its disguise is too perfect to be organically based. How would you explain it suddenly being covered in pure white fur and bear an ivory mane? How could something like that put on a disguise that intricate within seconds? One moment, it looks like some warped dragon and then the next it is a pristine horned horse prancing through fields of tulips and daisies. No one knows what allows them to do this. Theories range from shapeshifting or extremely intricate camouflage to mass hypnosis or clouding of the mind. I am not one who knows much about magic, but I wouldn't be surprised if these creatures used some form of it to pull off this feat. With this stunning ability to mimic the beautiful, naive unicorns, unicons primarily get their food through ambush tactics. Other woodland creatures are accustomed to unicorns and know they are no threat, so they often let them get close without any worry. Unicons prey on this trust, waltzing up to a happy deer and then viciously mauling it before it realizes it has been duped. This method also works extremely well on cultures that fantasize unicorns and view them as beautiful, magnificent creatures. A child or even a grown adult may spot the gorgeous horse and approach it in wonder and curiosity. The unicon will play the part, until it gets in stabbing range. I can't imagine how many awe-filled victims have fallen for this trap, thinking they are approaching a mythical creature before being horribly murdered. It might explain some myths that claim that unicorns kill those who are "unworthy" or "wicked of heart." Can't say it is ridiculous to assume when a majestic horse suddenly turns into a scaly monstrous creature and bites your throat out. Especially since they find that sort of thing endlessly amusing. Bad enough that unicons are vicious beasts, but they are also intelligent. While they may not have the faculties of a human or dryad, they do have quite the brain in their skulls. Unicons can set up elaborate traps, or act to lure in prey. They seem to find amusement in tricking others and have quite a good time mauling prey. In fact, unicons enjoy hunting so much that they often change their method of execution each time they down prey. The first victim may be killed with venom, while the next will be trampled to death, followed by a third that will be shredded by their teeth. Unicons seem to enjoy these different ways of killing, and seem to grow bored with repetition. This cruelty is not functional on a simple level, which indicates some form of an intelligent mind. The wolves do not laugh about their kills, and the manticore does not "change things up" to keep itself amused. These are frivolous things that only higher minds care about, a cruelty that is beyond the simple realms of survival. This can be seen when unicons decide to prey on sapient creatures like humans. They love tricking them and acting like they are majestic innocent animals so that they can lure them into a deadly trap. Some stories tell of unicons that have gotten humans to ride their backs, only to have their rough scales shred the flesh from their legs. Others have told how unicons may allow themselves to be "captured" so that they can be taken back home and slaughter the entire family. Even those who poach unicorns have dealt with these creatures, who will act wounded in order for the shooters to come within killing range. When prey is cut down, the unicons usually let out a clattering cackle before tearing into their dead (or sometimes not dead) meal. While unicons mimic unicorns for hunting purposes, that is not their only interactions with these creatures. It turns out that unicons use them for breeding, like some sort of parasite. Unicons are capable of mating with unicorns, but what is birthed will always be a unicon. They shall put on their disguises, breed, and then let their young be raised by the oblivious creatures. It seems that unicons are born with this mimicking power, making it so that their unicorn parent does not realize the monster they are raising. In time, the young will develop enough to run away from its foster parent and start up its cruel life of slaughtering and devouring. In some cases, unicons have even acted as brood parasites, swapping their young out with a unicorn's so that they could eat the foal and let the unwitting parent do the real work. It's an insidious method, but one that sadly seems to work quite well. At the end of it all, natural historians and citizens alike are puzzled by the purpose or origin of the unicons. A species that relies solely on the existence of a quite rare species seems a bit odd to form naturally. How could unicons have a healthy population when they rely on an animal that does not have a large population itself? What would happen if unicons grew overpopulated and fully consumed their hosts? What would happen then? Would they drop the ruse or keep it up? Could we reach a time in the future where unicorns have perished without our knowing, their images only surviving in the very things that slaughtered them? How could such a system function? If these beings are not natural, then where did they come from? Are they magical experiments gone awry? Are they beings crossed over from another plane? Or could they be the response to the poaching and hunting that has devastated the unicorn species? Perhaps the supposedly magical horses have grown bitter and hateful of the masses that kill them, and have grown into horrid things that would prey upon our assumptions. Who knows! I sure don't! Chlora Myron Dryad Natural Historian