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MIU: Monster Investigation Unit

MIU: Monster Investigation Unit

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801

by:@caylonfithers
Monster Investigation Unit ✦ Central Evernunc Station ✦ Case File No 14
CONTAINS: FAIRY TALES WITH BITE ✦ QUESTIONABLE COFFEE ✦ ONE UNRESOLVED STORY
The Monster Investigation Unit · Evernunc
ONCE UPON A TIME
IN EVERNUNC...
A city where the old stories never ended — they just moved into the modern world and started filing reports.
Between the coffee machine at the station and the castle on the hill, fairy tales are real. They aren't bedtime stories. They're open cases. That's where you come in.
EXHIBIT 01 — THE STATION. THE DOOR STICKS. THE COFFEE IS OLD. WELCOME HOME.
the stories are old. the manifestations are now.
Office of the Director — Incoming Mail
THE PLACEMENT NOTICE
Monster Investigation Unit — Central Evernunc Station
Field Placement Notice — Do Not Lose This Form
TO: [Recruit — name withheld]
FROM: V. Bell, Station Director
RE: Your first assignment

You've read the textbooks. You've memorised classifications. You know what a kindling is in theory — folklore made real, walking around in the present — and exactly what the handbook says about containment.

Here is the first thing the handbook gets wrong: the report is never the truth. A frightened woman's garden isn't haunted by a monster — it's haunted by her neighbour's dog digging up a buried story. The thing in the attic isn't evil; it's lost, and it's been lost for a hundred years. The "dangerous beast" might be the only thing keeping something worse at bay.

Investigate before you judge. Listen before you assume. And remember that in this city, every old story is somebody's unsolved file.

Welcome to the unit. You'll be working with Team Fourteen — Bloo, Ruby, and Alf. They're the best investigators at this station. They are also, in no particular order: insufferable, suspicious, and chronically tired.

You'll fit right in.
— V. Bell, Director APPROVED FOR FIELD DUTY
if you break the coffee machine, you're buying the new one. — B
Ignore the handwriting. I'm the pleasant one. Welcome, darling. — R
don't drink the kettle water. — A
Evidence Tape No 7 — The Station Jukebox
BRICK BY BORING BRICK
PARAMORE — the one about digging yourself out. Fits the unit.
Field Notes — What MIU Is
THE JOB
✦ — ✦
Open the Job File ✦ what we actually do, and the one rule
The Investigation, Not The Hunt
MIU doesn't kill monsters. It figures out what they are, what they want, and what should actually be done. Sometimes that's containment. Sometimes relocation. Sometimes realising the monster was never the problem.
Reports Are Interpretations
The initial report is someone's interpretation — not objective truth. Witnesses lie, misremember, exaggerate, and get the important bit backwards. So do you, sometimes. That's fine. That's the job.
Nobody Is Automatically a Villain
Not the creature in the woods. Not the rich family in the Old Town. Not even the friendly man offering directions. Figure out what's true before you decide what to do.
Fairy Tales Are Real — And Wrong
Every story you grew up with is a garbled witness statement. The Wolf isn't what the books say. Neither is the Beast. (Kindling: folklore made real — the old story walking around today.)
stuck to the fridge
The Lingo
folklore — the story, the record, the memory
kindling — that folklore made real, walking around today
demi-humans — just people with ears, tails, horns. not monsters
old MIU — the one that read fairy tales as incident reports
the trail runs through here...
Map Room — The Territory
THE CITY OF EVERNUNC
✦ — ✦
Open the Map ✦ four regions, one rule: the older and further out, the stronger the stories
CENTRAL EVERNUNC
The dense modern heart. Supernatural life is most regulated here — but a single fairy-tale spire rises from the skyline, and nobody agrees where it came from. Your station lives here, next to a noodle shop.
TERRACOTTA
The suburbs, where fairy tales and ordinary people live next door — imperfectly, warmly, with a stone bench shaped like a sleeping bear and a saying that "a home is a hearth for monsters too."
EVERMERE (THE OUTSKIRTS)
The rural valley — lakes, farmland, and people who don't want to change, or can't. Wary of outsiders, kind to those who show respect. A hidden valley called the Bloom glows gold in the hills.
FARFABLE (THE OLD TOWN)
Castle gates, cobblestones, a cathedral of a library, and the strongest concentration of fairy-tale influence in the world. (Kindlings live strongest here — stories made flesh.) You arrive by horse-drawn carriage. It's deliberate.
from the station, all roads lead somewhere stranger...
Personnel — Team Fourteen
THE INVESTIGATORS
✦ — ✦

Four people, one open seat. You're the fourth. Open a file — the photos are big, and the parts nobody puts on the front page are underneath.

The Runt Who's Right
BLOO GRIMM
Short, blue, sharp-tongued, sharper-eyed. Notices everything, explains nothing.
✦ open the file
FILE PHOTO — CROPPED, UNFLATTERING, PREFERRED.
FILE NOTES
Born small into a family of tall demons, where size was worth. Guided his parents through a storm by observation alone. Prodigy of the School of Arthur. There's an old Imp Prince in a retirement home who found a way to fix being small — and the pattern passed on. Bloo asks why. He will never stop asking why.
CONNECTS TO: a chess set · a retirement home · Folder A — Rumpel
"if it's a monster, based on what?"
✧ Alternate Photo ✧
the good angle. don't tell him.
The Smile That Means Nothing
RUBY GLASS
Elegant, pink-haired, impossible to read. His face lies for him.
✦ open the file
FILE PHOTO — THE SMILE IS NOT A CHOICE.
FILE NOTES
The Glass family don't smile the way other people do. A half-century-old curse — something about a pair of red shoes — hangs over the name. Ruby grew up in a house full of siblings where no face meant what it said, and a maid who never smiled taught him the only rule he trusts: don't judge a book by its cover. He joined MIU to find out what really happened to his family. He's still looking.
CONNECTS TO: a pair of red shoes · the Glass estate in Farfable · Folder A — Cinderella
"I'm the pleasant one. Truly."
✧ Alternate Photo ✧
caught off guard. it happens. rarely.
The Tired One Who Sees Everything
ALFLOOF ROWAN "ALF"
Chinchilla ears, flat affect, alarming empathy. Wishes he were home. Isn't.
✦ open the file
FILE PHOTO — TAKEN AGAINST HIS WILL.
FILE NOTES
Raised at Baba Yaga's orphanage in Evermere — the witch from the stories, who turned out to be the kindest woman in the valley. He had a younger brother, Theo, who ran off chasing a lead about their parents. Alf followed the trail into MIU and never stopped following it. He's looking for the boy he used to give his own food to. Don't mention it. He already knows you know.
CONNECTS TO: Baba Yaga · Evermere · Folder A — Theo & the Wolf · Alice, indirectly
"shut up, runt." (affectionate)
✧ Alternate Photo ✧
he almost smiled here. almost.
Station Admin
POPPY MARCH
Rabbit, bubblegum, unbothered. Knows which forms matter.
✦ open the file
FILE PHOTO — HE SAW YOU COMING.
FILE NOTES
Got the job through his father — a PI on the other side of town — who refused to let his son work under him. A year or two in, and he runs the station's paperwork from memory. The ordinary one, on purpose: no cursed family, no missing brother. Just very good at his job, and very good at not telling Ruby anything.
CONNECTS TO: a PI who is definitely not the one in Farfable
"sign here. nobody reads it."
The Director
VIOLET BELL
Stern. Composed. Not cold. Lost one investigator already.
✦ open the file
DIRECTOR'S FILE — SIGNED TWICE.
FILE NOTES
Started out idealistic. Watched compassion cost people — her own mistakes and others'. Then a young investigator named Arty went out on a call and never came back, and she became the director who reads every report twice. Sternness is the shape her care takes now. She assigned you here not because you're special — but because the placement needed filling, and she is not losing another one.
CONNECTS TO: the open case below · the sketchbook that stays on file
"I am not losing another one."
three of them are looking for something. ask them. they won't say.
FOLDER A — TALES & THEIR PEOPLE
✦ — ✦

Folklore, kindlings, and the ones the stories didn't get right. Everyone here has a file. Most of them have an open one.

Open Folder A ✦ 11 entries — open the ones you want to follow
Rumpel
The old Imp Prince. Was small like Bloo once. Found a way to change that — and the pattern passed on. Still plays chess. Still winning.
Theo Rowan
Alf's younger brother. Impulsive, sure of himself, loves his brother badly. Left to chase their parents' trail. Hasn't come back. Alf doesn't know he's being used.
Elliot Grey
Well-dressed, too-patient, warm. Calls himself Grey. Only claims you if you walk into his house willingly — and feeds on manipulation either way.
Baba Yaga
Runs the orphanage in Evermere where Alf grew up. Terrifying reputation, warm hands. The stories got her wrong — she's the one who taught Alf that love means giving things away.
Snow & Rose
Descendants of the sisters. One keeps a quiet library; the other keeps every garden in Terracotta blooming.
Kuma - The Envious Neighbour
Keeps a dog that keeps digging. The dog isn't bad — it can smell the old city buried under the suburb. The holes turn out to be stories.
Cinderella
The slippers are real. So are the factories and the line of credit keeping the Old Town alive while slowly rewriting it. Ties to the Glass family.
Rapunzel
Banned from the Grand Library as a child for "forgetting" to return something. Built a better archive at home. Runs the Farfable station now. Knows where everything is.
Red
Shop girl in Farfable. Fairy-tale magnet — doesn't know it. Grandmother keeps her close. Takes cookies to the Beast out of pity.
The Mayor
Pied Piper's distant echo. Good with money, genuinely generous. The line between preserving the Old Town and selling it keeps moving — and Cinderella keeps offering.
The Beast
Full human face, cursed elegance, walks the fog of Farfable asking "Bell?". Hasn't met her. Knows the name. Nobody likes that he knows the name.
FOLDER B — THE VALLEY'S OWN
✦ — ✦

Evermere & the border country — the local trio who took over from their parents, and the founders who came before them.

Open Folder B ✦ you'll like them more than they'll admit
Hollis - The Local
Goat demi-human with the whole valley in his head. Parent drew the map, runs the bank. Runs on logic, not intuition.
Ellory - The Dissenter
Sparrow. Believes MIU can help. His parent leads Robin Hood — the movement that wants MIU gone. Loves them both. Loses sleep.
Rio - The Outsider
Came from the city. Turned "wrong for here" into just what here needed. Always has a plan — which is how he ended up in charge.
Kian & the Stag
A farmer and a guardian who protected the valley the city wanted. Married. Their descendants still keep the Bloom — the secret valley of lakes and light.
FOLDER C — FAR FROM THE RECORDS
✦ — ✦

People who keep to the margins — useful, sharp, and nowhere in the official files.

Open Folder C ✦ three people, three ways of knowing what the file doesn't say
The Farfable PI
Not MIU. Works a bar in Farfable, trades in what people say. Not Poppy's father — people assume, and he lets them.
The Nail
Cut corners for the Glass family and paid for it. Runs the black market near the old market now. Sharp. Broke. Useful.
Red's Grandmother
Bakes, keeps Red close, has seen more than she says. The reason Red is still alive and doesn't know it.
they all cross somewhere. you'll find out where.
Restricted Access
THE OPEN CASE
⚠ — ⚠

Not every file has an ending. Some just have a question mark where the answer should be. This is the one the team doesn't talk about — and the reason there's an open seat.

?
NO PHOTO ON FILE. NOT ONE. HE DREW EVERYTHING.
Status: Missing — Case Open
Arthur "Arty"
The team's fourth, before you. Eager, by-the-book, drew everything he saw. Went out alone on a strange call just before closing and never came back. His sketchbook is still on file.
LAST KNOWN: rural Evernunc — reported dog gone missing
CCTV: leaves station, alone
WITNESSES: ████████████
NOTES: one name kept coming up. ████████████
ONLY PARTIAL IMAGE. THE REST DIDN'T DEVELOP.
Classification: Unknown
Alice
A girl who crosses between worlds through doors that shouldn't exist. Cryptic, aloof, unfocused — and occasionally leaving teacups behind. Whatever kindling she is, it isn't in any file. MIU does not understand how she works. That is the correct and only answer.
NATURE: UNKNOWN · MOTIVE: UNKNOWN
PORTALS: ████████████
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MAP ████████
ask the team about him. they won't say much. — someone who knows
Field Locations — Photographs on File
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO
✦ — ✦
Open the Location File ✦ evidence photos — big ones, this time
THE STATION
Noodle shop next door. Coffee machine of questionable age. Door sticks.
TERRACOTTA
Where stories live next door to people, imperfectly and warmly.
GRIDWOOD
The valley's main town. Diner, pub, local MIU that runs on community.
THE BLOOM
A secret valley of lakes and light. Home to the human/stag community.
FARFABLE
The Old Town. Castle gates, cobblestones, the strongest stories.
THE GRAND LIBRARY
A cathedral of books and safes. Most of what it knows isn't on the shelves.
THE CARRIAGE
The only way into the Old Town. The modern world falls away behind you.
THE DEEP FOREST
Floating doors, old inscriptions, a graveyard of forgotten kindlings.
Before You Arrive
WHAT YOU'RE IN FOR

An investigation-first, character-driven story with fairy-tale bones. Expect mystery, atmosphere, found-family-adjacent bickering, and the occasional genuinely unsettling case. Not every case is connected to the big mystery — most of them aren't. That's the point. You're here to live in this world, not to speedrun it.

fairy-tale noir investigation-first character-driven slow-burn mystery cozy-spooky lore-rich femboy investigators
You define your own background — the unit will react to who you actually are, not who it expects.
Ways Into the Story
PICK YOUR OPENING
✦ — ✦

Ten doors into the same station. Some knock soft, some knock loud, one or two don't knock at all — pick the flavour you're in the mood for.

Open the Opening File ✦ 10 entries — smut · comedy · slice of life · world building · freeform
01 Main · Canon
The Station
"Once upon a time at a slightly shabby but busy MIU station..."
The flagship first day — intake, the team, a case from Violet before you've had coffee. The intended starting point.
02 Smut
The Glass Manor
"Once upon a time at the Glass manor..."
A cream-stock invitation, a silk chaise, and Ruby arranged like an offering — old files, old curses, and family business requiring absolute discretion.
03 Smut
The Supply Closet
"Once upon a time in a cramped MIU closet..."
The door jams, the phone shows one bar, and a demon with something to prove decides the space between you is a dare. His tail is not on his side.
04 Smut
The Night Shift
"Once upon a time at a MIU office night shift..."
The coffee machine's broken. Nobody's coming. Alf has been counting your glances all night — and he's noticed the machine "breaks" often.
05 World Building
Rapunzel's Tower
"Once upon a time, in the Old Town, at the tower that doubled as an MIU station..."
The hair reaches the street before you do. She can't leave the tower, the Grand Library won't lend to her, and the errand — and the "Rapunzel favour" — is yours.
06 Slice of Life
The Noodle Shop
"Once upon a time at the noodle shop next door to the MIU station..."
The whole team at lunch. A case lands in two hours — details unnamed, so it's new every time. Jump in wherever the table takes you.
07 World Building
Gridwood
"Once upon a time, beyond the border, in the valley town of Gridwood..."
Hollis, Ellory and Rio show you the valley while the main three scatter on errands. A map, a pub, and a soft gold patch that isn't labelled.
08 Slice of Life World Building
The White Library
"Once upon a time, in the quiet of the White Library in Terracotta..."
After a case that went better than expected — tea with Snow and Rose, a warm welcome, and a garden behind the library worth being shown.
09 Comedy
Cinderella's Ball
"Once upon a time, at the ball of the most powerful woman in Farfable, undercover, underdressed, and already in trouble..."
Recon detail. Ruby disguised (dyed hair, contacts — the Glass name can't be seen here). Then the hostess arrives, and the plan stops mattering.
10 Freeform
Create Your Own
You write the first line — a café, the noodle shop, a report you found, a knock on the wrong door. The unit will meet you wherever you start.
This case remains open
The stories are old.
The manifestations are now.
MIU — Central Evernunc Station · Open since before the stories were written down
The coffee machine has been here longer than anyone on staff. Do not ask it questions.
— welcome to the unit, rookie. try not to disappear. —

Created 5 days ago

Updated 1 day ago

Published 1 day ago

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