Children of the Moon - Ian Fontova 

I find the forest spirit to be quite a fascinating character. His righteous fury, his gentle kindness, his slight naivete in assuming that the city knights must be good and heroic figures. He's separated from humanity, both biologically and socially, and yet still fundamentally holding those qualities we most ascribe to the quality of 'humanity.' A powerful outsider able to act where others cannot or will not, the sort of person everyone dreams of being rescued by at least once in their life no matter how charmed ones life is. A distinctly archetypal hero in an unusual form.

When I was a little girl, my 'home' wasn't safe. So I used to run away into the forest and search for fairies amongst the streambeds and ferns. This song struck a chord with me... my 9 month old daughter will always have a home and hearth and my protection. Beautiful song, lyrics and video.

The lyrics “Darkness looks like haven when fiends hide in plain sight.” hit hard every time.

I love the forest spirit's anger at the end but how it also helped the child. He seems more like not just a protector of the forest but also of children or those that seek help. He felt sorry for the child but also took charge to help the child unlike some that might not have helped the child at all.

"But having nowhere you could go, that I don't forgive!" is an interesting line. As a forest spirit, he symbolises the concept of having the freedom to roam or spread to wherever they wish, but also that forests have distinct boundaries which they don't cross. If trees don't spread to a certain distance, they form a boundary and stay there, or until the requirements to continue expanding have been met. Basically, the fact that this child wasn't protected nor looked after, but forced to flee and wasn't even allowed to grant him any place to settle would go against every rule of the forest. Which explains his righteous anger. At least from my point of view. *Sequel:* Forest spirit collects children and adopted them, protecting them in his realm, and they grow up to become druid rangers which protect the forest from monsters and humans, and the forest quickly develops the reputation of being the "Dark Forest". Crap, this makes me wanna write a *fanfic* about this. 😗 This was very good, Ian! Well done! ❤💯👍

I wasn't abused by my parents as a kid, but I've had so many people I trusted hurt me. This song drove me to tears

Wow, this hit me deeply. I am a disabled and autistic 42 year old man. I was severely bullied all through out school and I had an abusive father who didn’t know how to handle me as a person or my disabilities growing up and after my parents divorced he let his frustration and temper rule over my childhood home. Being a well liked member of our community he issued a similar warning to me about speaking out. Because I was so regularly physically attacked and bullied at school the nature of my disability it was easy to lie about and/or hide the physical signs of the abuse. I was and still am also an insomniac, when it got too bad I also would escape into the moonlit forest around my home; living in my own fantasy world. I would pretend I was on all manner of late night adventures. As I got older I would spend hours conversing with the moon, or telling stories to the trees about heroes and villains. When I finally came of age, and with my disability check in hand and some help from a friend, I left and never looked back. I am okay now but man, this got me sobbing like a baby. I was not expecting it. Thank you so much for making this.

My friend, I have no words to express how good that was. The music is so gorgeous, and so are the animations. I cannot wait for the Volume 2 !

the moment when the child ask hopeful yet fearful for help - and gets way more than he expected -can't say how much that touched me knowing someone who was abused the worst way possible from her father and had noone to turn to that time - may everyone in need get an angel in whatever shape

Heartbreaking story. An enchanted wood. And a horned owl I've never known of before. This is precious. Tears in my eyes and a smile on my face. You made my day Ian. Thank you from the bottom of my witchy soul.

How naively I clicked on this expecting a fantasy folk song. Only to weep upon realising the reality woven into the fantasy. You evoke such beautiful cruel emotion in this. I am fortunate enough to live in a safe home thanks to my mother. She shields me from the evils of life because she wasn't afforded the same. Domestic abuse is no joke and I am grateful you are covering this issue so eloquently in song. The forest is a wonderful thematic device for a safe haven. Something that provides safe harbour and takes serious of the injustice of being refused refuge. I love reading the comments here. Everyone has such wonderful interpretations. Reminds me of English class, but this feels infinitely more meaningful and relevant. I will always remember "Darkness looks like haven when fiends hide in plain sight" a reminder that the greatest evils are the realest ones. Thank you Mr Fontova, for something rich and worthwhile in an era where thing seem exceedingly shallow and insensitive.

I was bullied a lot as a kid and my home life was not great. As a result I ended up loving the night. I feel safer walking alone at night then any where else. Love this song.

This hit home hard. Survivor of an abusive sperm donor and trafficking here. I've always been drawn into forests and mountains and away from humans whenever I needed space or time to myself. You hit every button in exactly the right way with this. Thank you. Beautifully done, excellent storytelling as well as a wonderful singer (and the artwork is just gorgeous, too!). I've never heard you before, so please pardon me while I go trudging around your channel now. :)

This song gave me chills. Such a powerful ballad, and one of my new favorites. I was never abused, but I do have demons that I run from, and I have always considered the wilderness my safe haven, and my friend who have been abused feel the same.

My "home" has all the food, clothing, and items i could've ever asked for in a lifetime. Yet the one that i ask for ever year is my mom because alcohol has consumed her life and now she is consuming mine at a such young age. So many times i have forgiven her, but lately she did something that i feel like i could never forget or forgive her for it. So when i heard this song for the first time, i broke into tears realizing that my mom was the dad in the song and my dad was the mom. Your song brought me joy because i love the forest and your song was very reliable to me and my broken heart.

Even though this beautiful video literally has the lyrics. I've written it down for the people who'd like it. Guided by the moon tonight Across the frozen path Strides a fearful spirit Running from the past Deep inside the dark wood Where roots are veiled in ice They fall and find upon them Two eerie bright eyes Tell me troubled young soul What is it that you fear? I watch over this forest None shall hurt you here Did you come across the dead That roam around the bog? Did you wake the wicked troll Or breathe the deadly fog? Will my garden settle you, Or will you follow your flight? Darkness looks like haven When fiends hide in plain sight Let the dawn light scatter 'round And spread the robin's tune May this glade be home and hearth For the children of the moon There's no dragon, wraith or curse, No monster that i woke For it was someone close to me The reason i donned my cloak Twas my father I ran from I'm afraid to tell Made my life so miserable He does not wish me well How can that be possible? How can it be true? A parent must protect their child He should've cared for you Did you seek your mother's aid? What about your god's? Surely the righteous city knights Would chase a man so flawed Will my garden settle you, Or will you follow your flight? Darkness looks like haven When fiends hide in plain sight Let the dawn light scatter 'round And spread the robin's tune May this glade be home and hearth For the children of the moon Mother weeps and stays aside She does not dare to speak Her laughter once a sunny storm Turned to sigh so bleak Father's a respected man He's the mayor and the priest There's no guards I could go to For they would turn on me He said 'If you run I will find you I'll spread the word, there's nowhere to hide I'm a friend of each honourable man, From here to the end of known land' Will you help me? A cursed evil coward snake Is enough to grieve But having nowhere you could go That I don't forgive May the night fall upon him And those who take his side My roots will crawl beneath their beds And spread a rotten blight Will my garden settle you, Or will you follow your flight? Darkness looks like haven When fiends hide in plain sight Let the dawn light scatter 'round And spread the robin's tune May this glade be home and hearth For the children of the moon May this glade be home and hearth For the children of the moon

Stunning... What a beyond gorgeous melody. This is haunting, stirring and comforting at the same time... I got so many chills and teared up at the part when the owl spirit soars through the air. Just, wow, wow, wow..... ❤♥♥♥

Ooo. This one hit me in multiple ways. I expected so much beautiful art and music, and you've more than delivered.❤️🙏🏼 But I have also been a child of the moon in my life, wandering at nights to feel free and safe in the darkness, and sometimes with my siblings and friends, and processing parental abuse since then. I've also been a volunteer advocate at a domestic and sexual violence services organization, and I see these kids (and abused spouses) around me more often than I think is right. This is beautiful, for obvious reasons, as well as for those that may not be as easy for some to see, but which are very clear to those who haven't had a voice for their struggles. Thank you.

My wooden boat is named ‘Ayla’ , which means ‘halo of the moon’ … maybe a good name for one of your little friends ??? 👩

My name is Rhiannon and I've reflected this very same opinion - that children should not be so deprived of rights and autonomy - for almost my entire life just to go unheard. This is beautiful. Thank you.

This hit so hard, I'm ngl. I have too many friends who were abused by their parents, and even my own parents went through that. Just knowing how hard it is for a kid to run from a traumatizing childhood makes this song hit hard. I can't count how many times I'd be messaged in the middle of the night by my now adult friends because they had night terrors of their parents, how many times I've sat with them as they fall into another pit of depression because "they're not good enough". This song legitimately almost made me cry.

And so an order of druids would be born. Guardians of their oak father and children of their mother moon.

this song sends shivers down my spine. The forest spirit's gentle yet agressive voice, the instraumentals, even the lyrics make this feel like something out of Dragon age or a DnD campaign where the song explains the backstory of a particular player character. I feel my skin grow cold as the spirit says "BLIGht", and want to shelter the child as he explains his situation. It FEELS like a legit old Celtic folk song. Fantastic work.

I cannot put in words how much I love this song. I already love a lot of your music, so I've kinda been spoiled to expect great songs but this somehow really hit me by surprise by how awesome this is! Thank you for sharing your work and passion with us. (Man this comment came out waay more schmaltzy than I intended, but I mean it 😄)

This song is so beautiful i nearly cried. I adore your music and work, and i especially appreciate these amazing celtic tunes which also tell a tale, but not just any tale, but that slip in social commentary that's important to have. Child autonomy is so heavily disrespected in our society today, and i've seen how deep those rotten roots grow, I've met countless people, and have many friends who have their own tales of abuse, neglect, of having their boundaries trampled upon, and having everyone else around them turn a blind eye, make excuses for their abuser, or outright take their abuser's side, ESPECIALLY if the wounds aren't physical. Even then, when you find few who may listen if any, they don't know what to do, or don't bother to do something, they express hollow sympathy but don't dare to try, because full authority of a parent is placed on a pedestal in our society, while the constant, demonstrable harms are just overlooked, or swept under the rug, if not called "normal". As a rotten cherry on top, some of the people who argue against this, somehow argue that child autonomy would put children more in danger to abuse or predation, not just ignoring the fact that the total authority of a parent multiplies this 100 fold already, but that allowing children to say no, to set boundaries, and to stand up for themselves, is part of preventing those things from happening. These conversations need to be had but too many don't even engage with it, too many will only throw out snarky, bad faith responses to these things, like pointing out how children don't know a lot, or might be immature, or might set some "unreasonable boundary" (very important to press them on why depending on the context), which even if they do, doesn't change the importance of this topic. Obviously it's not reasonable for a child to set a boundary of "i will only eat candy" for example, but that's never what we're talking about, but it's along the lines of the kind of sarcastic, snarky, bad faith responses people will throw out as a way to dismiss the subject entirely, rather to think critically about how we treat children in our society, and how it can enable abuse, predation, and a slew of other harmful things. (Also there's a misspelling in the description of LGBTQIA+) On another note, could i recommend some streamers i watch who talk about these issues to react to this song on stream? if not i understand, but I just wanted to check for permission and if it was copyright.

Noodle arms Gobbo is my spirit animal! xD

Holy cow this is criminally underrated, so frikken good.

RU-vid randomly recommended this to me, and I started listening to this as a sort of background music for something else, as I took it for some cool but ordinary folk themed music. Then I caught the lyrics of verse 2, felt chills running all over me, and I felt compelled to redtart and give it a proper watch and listen. Amazing work ❤

I'm surprised how much this song means to me. At first, I didn't expect much, but I turned out to be wrong. The part which resonated the most with me was the second verse where the spirit finds that she can't trust anyone. It's the first time a song has ever made my cry. Everything about this, from the music, the meaning, the animation, is perfect!

I am very lucky to live right next to a very beautiful forest. Sometimes i go out at night and enjoy how the sound and atmosphere take me in, swallow the sounds of the city behind me and give me inner peace. When i stand still for a while and listen to the sounds of the forest i often wonder if the forest also listens back to me. I love the way you pictured the Forest Guardian here. The thought of something watching over these beautiful places is somehow very calming to me. Just very very beautiful, the music, animation and Story. Thank you so much for this wonderful song!

Absolutely beautiful, genuinely magical, wonderfully crafted. Thank you for the phenomenal music!!

This song has a special place in my friends and my own heart. It came on by accident during a dnd session. Truely a spectical to my eyes and like honey to my ears!

The forest spirits anger and disbelife... I love his character so muuch. Sadly bringing up a lot of negative flashback from my childhood. I found that song maybe 5 days before, it's on loop, all day, so far.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you. You're truly one of the best composers of the era, and I mean it. Your music is powerful, enchanting, and makes us want to dance all night. Be blessed forever, Ian Fontova. You deserve it.

This song hits me in a very primal part of my feels. Feels like you got the forest spirit perfectly. Their confusion about how a parent could treat their child like that is almost beautiful. Their binary view is perfectly reflective of nature - as is their vengeance. A forest spirit is basically the ultimate parent. All of nature is their child. On a technical level, I absolutely love the voiceover when the forest spirit is speaking. The distortion works perfectly. I’m pretty sure at least 100 of these views are me. That number will keep going up. You hit my hyperfixation button.😅

I have been mentally/psychologically abused my entire teenage years, so I must admit that this song hits hard. I wish I had an Eerie Bright Eyed friend to protect me, but no one ever came

This is beautiful and profound. I already loved your music (and finally became a patron once I realized I was listening basically every day :) ) - but as someone who has experienced multiple forms of violence in my life, and who has worked in the antiviolence sector for years, I am truly grateful for Children of the Moon. Thank you.

I'm in absolute love with this forest spirit, it bring me to tears. Fantastic, fantastic song

Often my father used to come home angry and yelling as soon as he returned from work. I ran to the woods to get away even if only for a few hours… only after living a while I learned and realized he was suffering too . I brought him to the woods when he asked me where I was, I scared momma and him. “Dad I know you hurt , you got injured on the job but you still go, I love you, get help, you don’t have to yell to get your point across. He got help and I got my daddy back, your song hits harder than you can ever know.

I burst into tears as I listened to this. It seems my inner child still has a lot left to heal. Thanks for offering me solace under the moon, next to the monsters I've come to know and trust more than the fiends who hide in plain sight.

Apparently Spotify recommended me your song. I was not ready for how much the lyrics resonate in me once i saw this vid... Some people nowadays see druids and rangers as hippies or rogues with extra steps, but this song would be a wonderful source of inspiration for making a druid and ranger character. If a forest and its inhabitants (both magical and mundane) can provide sanctuary to all in plight, then its likely that these tended souls will follow the path that ensues that not only is this sanctuary kept safe but even help others needing refuge like this out of empathy.

I can’t stop listening to this song. It’s just too good for words!

I’ve been listening to you for 6 years, you’re great as always, thank you

This video is simply stunning! From the music to the animation and the themes, everything here is great. Outstanding performance, Ian!

Iam so glad we finally got another Ian Fontova song with your Singing, I really missed it. ALso the music video Oh God.

The worst part is that back then, he could have had his wife thrown in an insane asylum for hysteria and his daughter too for daydreaming or for wanting to run away into the woods. To get away was considered insane.

The forest is or prairie is a excellent place to hide and think and go through your thoughts and peice things together what’s better is haveing a friend to talk to about where thoughts should go

My friend, I have no words to express the amount of emotions that your art has awakened in me. The final part almost brought me to tears of joy because of all that power that the chorus provokes. I am a sensitive soul for this style of art and I marvel at how you have been able to capture the essence of the songs of yesteryear and the power of myth. All that remains is to say thank you, thank you very much and I hope to continue discovering your songs like these.

That's for sure perfection ❤. The time spent for the animation is totally worth it. Appreciate the hard work you put for us in your musics. You honestly deserve much more. Time to put it on repeat haha.

The instrument is definitely a bard tavern music, i throw 5 gold coin to your pouch 🍻🎉

And here I sit, speechless, shedding a tear. This is a masterpiece, Ian. ❤‍🔥The lyrics! The music! The marvelous artwork! Your words about this sensible, important topic. ❣ I'm beyond words. Thank you. Thank you so much for your wonderful art! 🥰 (jamming along on my hurdy gurdy to this 😘)

Adrian von Ziegler, BrunuhVille, Ivan Torrent, Phil Rey Gibbons, Tony Gram, Two Steps From Hell. Now we also got Peter Crowley and YOU too!

I've experienced the perspective of both the child of the moon and the forest's guardian. Neither is a comfortable place to be, but the forest's guardian at least has the power- and the willingness- to do something about it. I've often had the will, but not the power. And the music itself! Beautiful, eerie, like it comes from another world, a land of fae and gods. The voice of the forest guardian, like an ancient thing echoing in the bones of the earth itself, but soft and compassionate. And your own voice, rich and vibrant and full of all the emotion of the piece. It's perfect. I love this song, gives me chills. I've had it on repeat for five hours now since it landed in my recommendations!

I worked while listening to this, my tiredness slowly disappeared. Thank you, great job 👏

The entirety of a beautiful piece of art

This is a MASTERPIECE! 👏👏👏 A tale of glorious vindication for a frightened child. I'm grateful to you for sharing this. You've found another fan in me!

My home seemed perfect when I was little, but at ten it all fell apart when my parents divorced. I was lucky that I never had to deal with abuse, but I did suffer emotionally for years. When I met my husband, I didn't think I would want to marry so young, but I learned that I couldn't live without him, and now we're nearing our ninth anniversary and have two beautiful children. I'm being sure to give them love so that their images of a "perfect" family will never shatter as mine did.

This was amazing! You are a talent that I hope to see more of one day. Thank you for your gift of music, and storytelling.

I love how the morning light comes after the father is gone, like the child can finally breathe again and won't have to fear the shadows anymore ❤‍🩹❤

This video just showed up in my feed. Loved the song! I had minor verbal and emotional abuse, not enough to cause major damage, but still enough to leave small scars. My heart goes out to those who experienced the worst possible. ❤❤❤

I got major chills all over when I first heard this song, and even after four or five times I still get chills.

Love the song, just discovered it. I really like this mystical, karmic, primal even justice the forest spirit represents. He really reminds me of ents in lotr. Imho it's a personification of nature and the natural order of thing. I'd like to point towards 2 occurrences that strike me most. 1 4:41 "and spread a rotten blight". The peak of righteous fury of nature against human evil and perversion of nature. Well done mate. 2. 1:54 "how can that be possible?" A stark and clear yet unfathomable realization for the force of nature. For can it be true that a parent wishes harm onto their offspring? An unnatural thing, abominable and abhorrent. Again well done and thank you.

I can say I was able to go to my parents for help. I was tortured in school before I was homeschooled and I do mean I have multiple surgeries ahead of me to try and mend my body so I can keep living life. Love this song

I had the exact same issue with my mother rather than my father. Regardless of the horrible things she did or said to me, everyone would just make excuses for her. "Shes your mother, she loves you." Is what theyd say in response to me trying to get help. My dad was the only reason i made it to adult hood, he did his best to make up for my mothers controlling nature. I managed to move out eventually and with her favorite target gone she started going after eveyone else even more to make up for it, and my dad finally divorced her. My dad and my siblings are all doing much better now that we've all cut her off.

This song is amazing on it’s own but the artwork and lyrics together are astonishing. I am truly blown away by this masterpiece.

My dude, your voice gives me chills. And this song had me wanting both to comfort and seek vengeance all at once. I'll be watching this over and over, I already know ❤

Oh boy, I was not ready for how amazing everything is in these short 6 minutes. Kudos and many thanks for producing this.

As someone who had no one to turn to with a narcissistic home and family i tend to enjoy wondering in the woods and exploring, i find my home in walks along the lake while it rains nowdays, the forest will always be my safe place

oh my god i have the perfect place to put something like this in my campaign! Even an amazing homebrew monster type, a druid lich. I'll just have to make then lawful good aligned but maybe spread rumors about then not being the best of person. Not looked at the stat block in a bit but i'm guessing that i probably don't want my party to be allies with em right away as i renember em being strong enough to at least a boss for an arc.

Amazing both visuals and music! 🌙🌳

Ah, wonderful. Just wonderful, no words to express that feeling.

wow just wow lost for words i saw this and though oh looks interesting i check it out and i was so glad i did i loved it made me cry i got the story straight away this is a beautiful way of showing how cruel the world can be and there is others out there that do care about it you got your self a new subscriber loved the music and words so cant wait to check out your other work well done on this video 👏👏👏👍👍❤❤❤❤

Now THIS is a gem. Thank you for sharing with us!♥️🎵

so grateful to have found this wondrous gem 💜

No words express how amazing this song is Ian! Just subscribed. Amazing!

Algorythm strikes again to the prettiest surprises man. It's like all of my favourite tropes and vocals in one song!!! HOW?????

Holy smoke! This is actually pretty impressive. Well done, Ian! That's a wonderful job :)

As someone who's trans this song hits home on a community though luckily not individual level.

Such a beautiful song accompanied by gorgeous animation. Im obsessed.

I felt this so much and it made me cry. Thank you for composing this.

You've been one of my main inspo these past years and i'm always so hyped when a new song comes out ! As always: great work !!

This song is my inspiration for an RPG character, Leshy druid, that protects a forest, so anybody needing help can go there.

beautiful song, very emotional with a strong message. Loving it. Greetings from crazy krautland!

I got goosebumps from this!

Man I don’t know why this song hits me so hard. All I do know is that hearing this always gets me misty eyed.

Goddess how I wish I could give more than one like. I'll try and share it with as many people as I can 🙏 this song is so so amazing at so many levels

This song is valiant service to a deep deep cause

Man that is just atonshing how beautiful that was.

Surprisingly, unbelievably, incredibly good!!! 😍

This. This is art.

Coming back to this masterpiece after 4 months and still loving it. ❤

Whoa 🥺❤️

Brilliant story telling in music, just love it, my hands and feet won't stay still❤❤❤❤

Incredible composition there🙏💯🙏

I've been having this on repeat almost not too long after you released this but I'm commenting something now because I just wanna say how much I appreciate this. The characters, the music and the storyline is phenomenal I get goosebumps everytime you sing the chorus. This is like one of the safe spaces on youtube for me lol

Wow! Amazing, help those being abused, and care for all of those in need!

Beautiful, captured the mystery without breaking it. Thank you

This really reminded me of the movie “Nimona”. Very inclusive and supportive

Muy buen temazo, si señor!!!!

Qué canción más maravillosa y qué hermosa (y dura) la temática que has elegido para ella. Mis más sinceras felicitaciones. Ya tienes nuevo miembro de tu Patreon. Muchas gracias por tu música