♞ 001

[fearbringer]

[Today, DramaDramaDuck is streaming a rather strange video post: it's filming a dark, cavernous cave from the ground up. At first, the place appears to be empty, but if one looks closely they might notice that the darkness is actually moving-- tendrils of shadow swirl through the air, occasionally flicking close to the camera. Not long after, slow, quiet footsteps can be heard, followed by...]

What...?

[It's low and muttered, and the speaker clearly isn't expecting a response; the feed shakes suddenly as the device is picked up, and then it goes black.]

Comments

[makewayforroze]

Are you alright? It doesn't look safe there.

[fearbringer]

It isn't.

[makewayforroze]

[She's starting to get a bit nervous, as he doesn't seem terribly afraid to be there or bothered that it isn't safe. Normally, those kind of people were unsafe themselves.]

What kind of place is it? I've never seen anything like it.

[fearbringer]

It's my lair. Cozy, isn't it?

[makewayforroze]

It doesn't look very cozy. I've never seen anything that looked that way. It looks like...shadows.

[fearbringer]

I think shadows are cozy.

[makewayforroze]

Are you...human?

[fearbringer]

Of course not.

I'm the Boogeyman.

[makewayforroze]

[The gasp is almost inaudible.]

The real one?

[fearbringer]

[He's surprised by someone who sounds like an adult believing in him, but he'll roll with it.]

The one and only.

[makewayforroze]

[Compared to what she's seen here, a Boogeyman was hardly the strangest.]

The same that scares children?

[fearbringer]

Is there any other kind?

[makewayforroze]

I had hoped you would be the other kind. [But her voice has grown cold.] You shouldn't try to hurt them.

[fearbringer]

You shouldn't try to coddle them.

iddy, have I told you enough about how children are children today xD

[makewayforroze]

They're children, they're meant to be protected, not hurt. You will not hurt them while I'm here.

no we need at least 1000 more threads about how children are children

[fearbringer]

And fear can protect them, too-- not that most people recognize that.

You can't stop me.

well, see, they're kids, you know?

[makewayforroze]

How do you... how do you hurt them? [She can't protect them if she doesn't know. But she will protect them.]

[fearbringer]

I don't.

[makewayforroze]

You really don't think scaring them hurts them?

[fearbringer]

You really think children should grow up in a completely sanitized environment, devoid of anything difficult or unpleasant?

They'd be in for a rude awakening once they hit adulthood.

[makewayforroze]

No, I think they have enough to do as children without needing to be targets. They'll have more once they're grown, so they shouldn't suffer as much now.

[fearbringer]

So what you meant to say was "No, but actually yes".

[makewayforroze]

No, I don't. Were you...ever a child?

[fearbringer]

Of course not.

[makewayforroze]

You're not the only thing a child has to worry about, even with adults doing their best to protect them.