Best HFY Reddit Stories: A Uniquely Human Magic (r/HFY)

When you think you've hit the bottom, sometimes you just need a ray of hope...
An original story written, and granted permission to narrate by Nathan Dyer, AKA u/Salishaz
Original Post: / a_uniquely_human_magic
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#hfy #Greentext #awesome #space #spaceorcs #/tg/ #greentexts #4chan

[@vonkug]

My best brother Steve ate the wrong end of a shotgun. It was a closed casket affair. He was 400 miles away, but I wish he had some fair-folk to talk him down. Meeting his dad, mom, and brother was hard. Meeting his students was harder.

[@lejatzman96]

You k?

[@Emerald__Ace]

Them onion cutting ninjas are at it again.

[@johnnycampbell3422]

Oh no. Not onion ninjas. I hate those guys.

[@logangraham2956]

quickly , turn on the tap and stand beside it :)

[@s0cc451]

Not many story are related to depression and suicide, this one is a great story. Hope anyone who is suicidal and fighting depression a great day.

[@GEWB2105]

Every hand extended out changes the shape of the world. Be it the hammering destruction of a fist. The grasping claw tearing down... Or the the prod of finger in the most helpful direction. The cupped palm offering something in need. Or the splayed hand, reaching out for other search hands, to grab them and pull them up.

[@Darkinu2]

Very poetic~

[@jayeisenhardt1337]

reminds me of the "praying hands" painting and that story of sacrifice

[@the_fallen_halo163]

I’ve passed up this story many times, I finally listened to it while at work almost teared up on the job because of the ending

[@ATSucks1]

11:09 that red one is from your father. Yes it is, I'd die to protect my child. Fathers k ow this as only fathers can. Fight on fellow father, never give up, fight on. We are with you.

[@jayeisenhardt1337]

Thank the fathers that sacrifice themselves to build this great wall of civilization against the claws of nature. 14:46 "outside the red and tooth and claw that is the natural world" red vs red it seems. That protection and safety as others stand on the shoulders of giants. Our wonders of creation so common as to be taken for granted. A flood of information absorbed everyday, all to lead me to this one idea in this story. A reminder of what we have and can neglect.

[@ethanmoon3925]

Very relatable. One of the angels I know used to be a demon. It tormented my best friend since childhood. It wasn't as easy as it was in this story, but when we were finally able to see it and deal with it we gained a guardian angel.

[@nathandyer8296]

Very well done narration! Thank you for contacting me and choosing my story. I particularly liked the accents you used for the Fey!

[@johnnycampbell3422]

Nice work

[@NathanBChampine]

From one Nathan to another. Well done 😎

[@nathandyer8296]

@@johnnycampbell3422 Thank you!

[@nathandyer8296]

@@NathanBChampine And from one Nathan to another, Thanks! :)

[@grimstruck5300]

Beautiful just wow great writing just wow🥲

[@daltonsharp6254]

Hmm… I’d love to see a prequel to this. It’s a good story!

[@denalozecon9074]

This is multilayered in meaning. Despair Hope Fae that sincerely admire Creator of Humanity Magic that could be called Synchronicity; effectively not detectable by most Humans, but a subtle probability or Fate that Humans get what they desire. Note while this story is hopeful it is the idea Humans get what they genuinely desire...so if too many Humans were negative that results in Distopia. Utopia would be boring to many Humans; Matrix movie had some commentary on that. So...Humans desire some complex middle ground between Distopia and Utopia, and at least secretly( subconsiously no matter what they say out loud ) desire uncertainty because absolute certainty is boring.

[@jayeisenhardt1337]

14 of them and thousands of years, and we are born and fall by the millions so easily. We can't really lose hope as we know we are already doomed. The only hope to lose, is in how we lived.

[@kurtismiller9544]

THAT is a story that Definitely makes One think about Life!

[@wulfricgale4381]

This, this gets to me, it hurts to hear those things vocalised but it's also brilliant that it shows how important and helpful other people can be when your being beaten down by depression, it's helped me to appreciate those who have put their magic around me

[@victortahlor4038]

Thank you for the reading

[@DEMONOFLOVEANDDEATH]

Bless the Narrator Bless the Author

[@willparry530]

Dang onion ninjas always strike when you least expect it. Also seems the chapter was heavily edited for flow since the narration was recorded, but nothing that changes its essence.

[@nathandyer8296]

Yeah, I did edit it a bit after it was narrated. I didn't realize he had already done the recording months ago. I was attempting to clean it up a bit but sadly I was too late for this. The biggest thing was tweaking the ending, which I thought the original was pretty weak on. Have an awesome day!

[@willparry530]

@@nathandyer8296 Ah, I wondered about that. I read your stuff back when you had just finished the first Apex storyline. So yeah, keep on writing. ^_^

[@chrisdufresne9359]

I expected the fae to do something bad, not to talk him down from suicide.

[@mattstrandquist2148]

You have no idea how much I wish to walk through the Veil again, to see her dancing and alive before me. She has gone away to the Summerlands, and I cannot yet follow her. Well wrote, wordsmith. Well spake, narrator. You have conspired to transmute a measure of my sadness to bitter-sweet this night, and I am grateful.

[@doctorbright1065]

Damn, I was running while listening to this, and the sweat seems to have gotten into my eyes.

[@paulhuston9991]

I like fey and human stories! More please.

[@ShadoWave2]

That was beautiful.

[@johnruta1359]

yea. that ending got me

[@torgomaghanyan7633]

Finally, a quality content

[@stalwartteakettlepotato9879]

The true magic is the power of friendship xD

[@CS-pe5uz]

Magical wholesome go big burr

[@BeeKisses]

These make me fiercely proud, fuck yeah

[@stabingAdragon]

What a beautiful story!

[@lawrencehagge3199]

That was,,, , ,,,,, pretty cool! Tnx, Lee

[@jackrea7857]

The fey are real, you just have to know where to believe and they will find you

[@LezlyLikesYuri]

The narration was on point for the most part, except there at the beginning where a sentence or two was repeated. The story itself was very, VERY rough around the edges and it was obviously written to send a message. The message itself though was powerful. In a way we all have the power of creation in us. We get to choose and that choice itself is magical. But sometimes we lose our way and we end up creating our own destruction... I pulled the knife across my wrist once, watch my blood stain the sheets, felt the creeping cold and darkness overtake me. I eventually lost consciousness but woke up a few hours later with dried blood holding my wrist closed and a sense that it wasn't my time. I honestly have no idea how or why I'm still here, but I'm glad that I am....

[@nathandyer8296]

Hi Lezly, I agree, the story in this form was pretty rough. I usually post to Reddit's HFY sub and put a bit more time into editing and story development. In this case, it was just a little one off I intended to get an idea out there. Usually when I do that, I am not expecting it to hit as large an audience so I don't really make it as polished as I could theoretically. When I was contacted by Net Narrator to use the story, I had posted it but I was not particularly pleased with the online form. I did some editing after that and cleaned up the story a bit. If you are interested in seeing the edited form, please feel free to follow the link above and let me know what you think. There are not a lot of major changes, but I think the little tweaks added something to the story. Currently I am not a professional writer (obviously) and I have a lot to learn before I take larger steps into that realm, if ever. Thank you for taking the time to comment and share your thoughts. Have an awesome day! -Nathan

[@LezlyLikesYuri]

@@nathandyer8296 Well this is unexpected. Didn't think the author would respond to a comment I made... Thanks for the info on the more polished story. Think I'll go check that out right now actually. This one really hit me despite its rough nature and I could actually see this concept going somewhere. Have you ever thought about expanding it??

[@nathandyer8296]

@@LezlyLikesYuri As far as this going farther, I pretty much just had inspiration for a one-shot little thing. I have an entire series I am trying to keep going...very slowly...and it takes up most of my time I actually get to write. With a wife, two kids, and dogs it can be difficult at times to get the solitude I need to stay in the headspace needed to put words on screen. It's sad to me that authors don't respond more. I figure if people are going to take the time to make thoughtful comments, if I have time I think it is only polite to try and respond. I know that even the 'polished' version is not all that great, for the record, but I do think it is better. I especially felt like the original needed something better for the ending so I fixed that up a bit. I hope you enjoyed it. Have an awesome day! -Nathan

[@LezlyLikesYuri]

@@nathandyer8296 Okay, I know you didn't ask but this will probably be the only chance I ever get so here are some notes: You managed to clean it up quite a bit and it's a lot smoother than before, but the main problem is still there. Lots of telling and not a lot of showing. You tend to go into unnecessary detail and exposition about what's happening at the moment or what the MC is thinking, kind of like you are justifying what's going on to the reader. It's kind of like the trap that a lot of erotic authors fall into where they feel the need to put a scene in where the main character catches a glimpse of themselves in a mirror and has to go on a long tangent about their exact measurements. It just feels unnatural and kinda breaks up the narrative. An example from your work: "He felt stupid as soon as he shouted at them. He knew words were going to be less important than the emotion in your voice, but it was all he could think to say. Even the best trained dogs could only vaguely understand complex human commands from a stranger. It’s not like wild dogs or wolves could understand human language and obey." The first, second, and fourth sentences are all right but could be trimmed down a little. The third sentence is the problem. It's completely unnecessary and gives the reader information that isn't relevant to the story. It also kinda runs the risk of insulting the readers intelligence on the subject. Granted, there are probably some people that don't know this fact but again it's not important to the story. My personal fix for this paragraph: "He felt stupid as soon as he shouted at them. He knew words were less important than the emotion in his voice, but it was all he could think to say. It’s not like they would understand him and obey." Again this is all just my opinion but I think this one flows better. There are numerous other examples of this throughout your work and if you could trim those down not only would the story flow better but you would also have more room to expand on the important concepts and scenes whilst keeping roughly the same word count. Even with all these things this story still hit me very hard. Shame you aren't planning on doing any more as this is such a new and fresh concept that it leaves me wanting more. Regardless if you ever continue though you should know that you have a talent that just needs a little more work. All gems are rough until they are polished and you sir are gem. Please keep writing...

[@nathandyer8296]

​@@LezlyLikesYuri Thank you very much for taking the time to look over it and communicate your insights to me! I very much agree that those are areas I need more work on. It's odd, really. I tend to do pretty well in my Science Fiction series, I think (maybe?), of showing rather than telling, but writing a fairy tale was different enough that my habits went by the wayside. Again, thank you for sharing your observations and I value them very much. Also, thank you so much for your kind words. I have read a few books on writing now and it is daunting to say the least to try and build up the skills to become a fluent storyteller. If you have any interest in Sci-Fi, take a peek at my series here: www.royalroad.com/fiction/29465/stories-of-the-apex/chapter/444254/humans-may-be-our-salvation Have an awesome day! -Nathan

[@TheDandyMann]

Love absolutely is a uniquely human magic.

[@alexfranz817]

More and more frequently as I've been going through your hfy stuff I've been finding that there seem to be more and more double reads of lines. Entering the moonlit glade was repeated this time.

[@TheStartrek99]

You need to start putting a warning in front of stories like these. I'm at work struggling to not start bawling in front of my coworkers.

[@admiralglenn2323]

Sadness, all I feel is such.

[@Germlin]

Hello good time of day to you all

[@Namel909]

yesssss

[@peterwall8191]

Nice and sappy! Nice dream, sadly its not real. We are part of nature, very much apart of it. We are not something separate, a little changed, but still part of this world.. We do care for it, its our home after all, our only home. But , we are at war. Our survival is not assured , we are hanging by our fingertips. Far from being separate, the world affects us profoundly.

[@boobah5643]

Story never said we weren't part of nature. Said we were something special, unique, with a greater power to change the world than anything else. And that's something you've not actually argued against.

[@WiredTurkey316]

For the algorithm

[@scullcrusher3981]

Hi

[@chrissoto7187]

Could have told us sooner

[@jadesidhe2634]

A uniquely human magic.....lsd

[@Preaplanes]

I'm not buying it since you could teach the fey... or a chimpanzee... or a dog... to operate machinery.

[@jayeisenhardt1337]

When I think fey I think elves, and even elves should know what a pointy stick is. The bow and arrow elves we love so much. But here only 14 fey in all creation? Immortals compared to we who are doomed to die and they lose hope? lol A small group dumb as rocks, as even we can use a rock as a tool and create magic with it. A few thousand years ain't even that long, and we've only been zooming recently.

[@eddoh2701]

Humanity has more magic than Fae of legend......lame, and using "they" makes it really hard to follow

[@chaddts]

Thus story is straight ass 6 minutes in and no straight answers to any questions and proper questions not even asked. The author just handwaved the intelligence of every character away. If you have to make your characters stupid for tension or plot. You are doing it wrong.

[@nathandyer8296]

Hi Chad, I am sorry you didn't like the story and its pacing. I will be the first to admit that I am not some genius of the written word. I mostly just do it for fun as a hobby and hope people enjoy it. Certainly and without question, pretty much all my writing could use a skilled editor to take a run through. Thank you for taking the time to comment on the content of the piece. I will go through it and consider your comments carefully to see if there is something I can do better next time. Have an awesome day! -Nathan Dyer

[@chaddts]

@@nathandyer8296 sorry I'm a bit blunt I hate it when a great writing prompt isn't used well. I tend to put myself into the shoes of the characters and perhaps my reasoning is off from the norm? Idk I read alot mostly on royal road. And I unfortunately run my mouth too much. I think if anything you should ask around hypothetical on how people pe would respond to the circumstances in your stories to get a feel for what a normal response would be. A tip I find many authors use would be to start where you want the story to end this gives you a clear ending as well as allows you to plot the journey the m.c must undergo to become the person he/she is by the end. Also a contsistency issue I noticed right away....how do the demon dogs keep eye contact yet walk away at the same time? Unless they are walking backwards. Which would be slow and awkward. Dogs can barely walk backwards and only a few like Dalmatians can jump backwards.

[@nathandyer8296]

​@@chaddts Yeah, I hear you buddy. I too get disappointed when stories don't quite capture what they could have been. As someone who tries to write and get stories out there for people to enjoy, but who is also a diagnosed perfectionist, that's a fear I run into with my writing all the time. The tough thing on this one was trying to stay in the head of a guy that is suicidal. Mix that with the first time he sees a bunch of mythical fey creatures and things get...weird. I tried to keep it consistent with someone who was a little out of it, given the emotional state of a person about to take their own life is usually not rational and clear. Still though, I could have outlined the mental states he was going through better in the story. It's hard to try and find the balance between too much and too little detail when either of those things can impact the flow of the story overall. As I said, I am not by any means a genius at all this. I do feel like I have been getting better though...slowly. :) As far as the dogs backing up goes, it may have been a little unclear. When they left the clearing, they pretty much melted into puddles of black shadow and "flowed" away. That with the red eyes still being there looking at him was also part of why he was a little, "off," mentally. Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts. I will keep these things in mind (along with the couple hundred other things fighting for space) next time I write up a story. Have an awesome day! -Nathan

[@chaddts]

@@nathandyer8296 I personally hate an untruthful narrator who omitts details. Tell everything as it is. Its just like lieing to the audience. And my brother committed suicide on Christmas day. He did it to be hurtful to others. Suicide is the most selfish thing a person can do. Its rarely out of spintanaity it's usually planned and thought out. I personally hate suspense myself. I want details all available from the point of view its being told. I want rationalization for why decisions are made etc. I don't like being left in the dark. Hell I remember being a child and refusing to watch a movie unless I new what it was first..imma dick I guess I just don't like movies or books where anything can happen due to the author having spent the entire time misleading the audience.

[@nathandyer8296]

​@@chaddts Oh man, I am so sorry to hear about your brother. Words are insufficient. Yeah, twists and unexpected endings are definitely not for everyone. In all fairness though, many stories don't properly foreshadow the components needed to make the ending actually make and be consistent. Chekov's Gun is a real thing a storyteller needs to do in that case. For my part, I have never been into anything in the horror genre. That's my personal, "Nope," set of movies and stories I walk away from. If twist endings are what turns you away, that's totally fair. A lot of the reason I tend to think a lot about the flow of the story is because primarily I have been writing Sci-Fi stories. Those need to have a pretty specific pacing, and it's REALLY easy to get bogged down in too much detail. I mean, there are books out there where the author goes off for three or four pages on the specifics of how the engines work. That's cool and all, but people don't pick up fiction to be educated on some arcane figment of an author's imagined space drive. People read fiction to feel things they can't normally feel in their average day. I suppose some of that emphasis on keeping the story moving at the expense of detail made its way into this story.

[@damustache1714]

For the algorithm