#in fact its just her overcoming horrors of the warp and getting back what was already hers

[bnbc]

Personal Case: Isabella von Valancius

"…you are given access to very sensitive information. As a new Master of Whispers you are the first to ensure it will never end up in the wrong hands. Do we have an understanding here, mistress von Gellman?"

Name: Isabella Lenner Place of Birth: 'Isabella of Llorn', Astra Telepathica Mother: Sirsha Lenner (deceased) Father: Unknown Psy-level Prognosis: Epsilon Assignment: Training Facility 'Awakening', Grade 2, Astra Telepathica

They say, people born in the void possess a strange gift of luck. Born in the warp, on board a Black ship, Isabella was lucky to keep her life, indeed, even though not a single drop of a true voidborn was in her veins.

A group of people inside Astra Telepathica was collecting children whose parents were confirmed psykers for a long-term experiment. The desired outcome was a program that would allow to control the moment of the first manifestation and and level of psy-abilities.

The children were provided with access to psykana practices intended to prepare them for future manifestation along with special medication. Needless to say, a fair amount of Imperium loyalty indoctrination was a part of the training.

But, luckily to some 'students,' not every trainer in the facility saw them a nothing more but future tools. Adept Mossmore became the first person in Isabella's life who divided from the letter of the law to better serve its spirit, but not the last. She made Isabella's days tolerable, at least, before the sanctioning.

"…Lord Captain insisted on erasing some… details."

Name: Isabella Lenner Psy-level: Iota Assignment: Training Facility 'Awakening', Grade 3, Astra Telepathica

During the sanctioning, Isabella's luck turned away, leaving her alone against the horrors of warp for what seemed to her like days. Isabella found her way back, but the experience she survived damaged her psyche, blocking out a major part of her potential.

Even broken, she still had a decent psy-level to work with. Equipped with a set of transducer implants and a psy-amplifier, she started her training as a future battle psyker. Alas, a psychological block didn't allow her to produce a single decent attack. Her implants were recalibrated and Isabella was transferred to the Telepathic training group.

One of the adepts observing her suspected that with time psychological block might be healed and insisted on replacing the amplifier with the inhibitor system in case of such events, but was ignored.

"..some people we had a chance to interview mentioned, that during her 3rd Grade training years, Isabella was trying to find any tracks of some young man who went through the sanctioning two years before her but she was unsuccessful."

Name: Specialist Lenner Psy-level: Iota Assignment: 'Penitent Halo', Navis Imperialis

The speculations about future assignments were a major part of 3rd graders' talks. The most popular version was they were trained to be future Inquisition acolytes.

Isabella's first assignment turned out to be far from this. Assigned into the supervision of the fleet Commissar of 'Penitent Halo', she was used as a mental wire to find the focuses of disloyalty at their very birth.

"…it took me years — and my personal connection to a certain member of the Holy Ordoses — to confirm the fact my first assignment was nothing more than a payment. One of 'Awakening' wards was in debt to the 'Halo's captain, so he gifted me to her as a toy. It explains why she felt so sure about herself parading me at her 'parties'. Good thing, a person of Captain Reynolds' caliber happend to be among the usual trash of her 'friends'."

Name: Bosun Lenner Assignment: 'Blood of Phlebas', Navis Imperialis

The second assignment left Isabella in confusion. As soon as she reported her arrival for duty, she was told that her services to a ship disciplinary division is not required. And moreover, from now and on she was forbidden to use her abilities onboard of 'Blood of Phlebas' by a special dercee of captain Reynolds.

Assigned to the ship supplies division, she spent months trying not to draw any more extra attention than her shaved head with a full set of psyker implants already did.

One day she was asked by her superior officer to read the mind of the person he suspected of stealing. Isabella resisted, remembering the captain's order, but her superior told her that the captain also ordered to finish this situation by the end of the shift. After all, the captain doesn't have to know how this problem was solved.

Isabella agreed to help and this was the first step for her to become a part of the crew.

"…when I met her last year and we talked Lord Captain to Lord Captain she told me why she saved me from 'Halo' just to send me away. Lord Captain Miranda Reynolds lost a sister to a Black Ship and never heard from her again."

Name: Midshipman Lenner Assignment: 'Blood of Phlebas', Navis Imperialis

Celebration of Isabella's promotion was spoiled by the news: their fleet group was assigned to escorting some piligrim ships. The captain's… displeasement with a new mission was palpable in the air, since everybody know what it was: someone stole her glory, leading the strike force to a pirate nest 'Blood of Phlebas' and its group found.

Hovewer, someone had to make sure piligrim's ships are in no need of anything, and checking their decks, Isabella sensed some psy-active cargo. The presence was growing and all Isabella had time to do was to send other people away before something happened.

She never done this before and, happily, never had a chance to try it again, but somehow by her bare will itself she managed to collapse an opening warp manifestation. The news of this event spread fast among the starts and soon Lenner's name was known across the sector.

It sounded a lot alike surname of von Valancius side branch, de le Nier, whose trails got lost somewhere in the hives of Gheisthaven. After the confirmation, she was requested to be re-assigned to von Valancius dynasty flagship.

"…we share your concern, but we are aware of the situation. The fact that information about psyker abilities of Midshipman Lenner was not spread widely was the result of a certain decision. The legend of a brave naval officer saving pilgrims is more needed at the moment than improving of the general image of imperial psykers."

Name: Isabella von Valancius de le Nier af Cadian Psy-level: Theta Assignment: 'Lightness of Being', von Valancius dinasty

Isabella von Valancius (nee Lenner) reported her arrival to von Valancius's flagship. The materials of the following events are stored in different files.

"…she jumped from Iota to high Theta? Interesting."

#rogue trader crpg #Rogue Trader #Rogue Trader OC #oc: Isabella von Valancius #my girlie is very special so what #also Im sure i fucked up with ranks #and psy levels too but the main thing is the idea #she gets to Zeta in the dark city btw the famous commorragh speedrun #everyone who knows about this power grow freak out iza freaks out the first cuz she thinks its the archenemy doing #in fact its just her overcoming horrors of the warp and getting back what was already hers #teehee #gigiltrader

[ex-vengeancedemon]

Averting Disasters and Other Ways to Avoid Your Problems

Chapter 6

Characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mentions of things that occurred in Angel: The Series season 5.

Main Pairing: Buffy x Spike

Characters: Buffy, Spike, Giles, Willow, Xander, Andrew, Faith, Dawn

Summary: Set in 2008, five years after Spike’s resurrection at Wolfram & Hart. Buffy is living in Cleveland guarding the hellmouth. Spike has left Angel and company and is hiding out in Chicago. The Scoobies are scattered. When something starts going wrong with the slayers around the world, it’s time to get the gang back together.

Masterlist & Chapter 1

Chapter 6

Buffy blinked. What else was she supposed to do?

In front of her was Faith, still bristling at Spike like he was some kind of hell-spawn. And to her left was Spike, who looked just as he had the last time she’d seen him, not dusty at all. Maybe Faith was misremembering things, like she was.

Then a thought struck her. A nauseating, bone-chilling thought. What if this was The First after all? What if this wasn't Spike? What if this was all some sort of sick game? All that talk about having won the battle lies?

Buffy took a few steps away from Spike, who now looked thoroughly distressed, and moved to stand next to Faith. Buffy stood on the balls of her feet in a holding position, ready to spring at a moment's notice. In whichever direction that springing might need to occur.

"Now hold on," the thing that looked like Spike said, holding up its hands in surrender. "There's an explanation for all that."

He sounded so much like Spike, and Buffy hesitated.

Wait. He couldn't be The First. Her racing brain was finally gaining some clarity. She had touched him. He was solid. The First couldn't feel. So... what was going on?

"Nah, I don't think so," Faith growled, her stake at the ready. "And I'm thinking ‘stake first, ask questions later’ sounds like a pretty solid motto right about now."

The three stood in a tense standoff. Spike still hadn't moved, his hands held up in an non-threatening manner. But Buffy knew it wouldn't stay motionless for long. And she was freezing. God, she was really freezing.

"Look I-" he started, before cutting off abruptly. He shook his head, glancing down at the ground. When he looked back up he snapped his hands down and scowled. He ignored Faith completely, despite the fact that she had a weapon aimed directly at his heart, instead focusing on Buffy. "No. Know what? You're right. I don't have an explanation. All I've got are some bleedin' excuses, 'cause I'm not a better man, Buffy. You were wrong."

Faith was unimpressed by the declaration and lunged again. But Buffy broke through her stupor in time to stop the other woman once more as Spike flinched away from the attempted death blow. Right now wasn’t the time to stake first and ask questions later. Right now was the time to ask questions first, come up with a plan, and then stake later... if necessary. Because right now, all Buffy had to work with was Faith’s story, Spike’s story, and her own.

"Don't," Buffy told her counterpart numbly. "Just... don't."

Faith balked, about to retaliate, but one look from Buffy and she backed down. "Yeah. Alright, B. Whatever you say."

In a daze, Buffy moved back to the living room window, careful not to put too much pressure on her injured calf, and pulled the curtain aside a couple inches. It was dark out now. That middle of the night darkness; the kind you could drown in if you weren’t careful. And she could feel her head slipping under. If she couldn't fight The First, who was she supposed to be fighting? Nothing was familiar here. Nothing made sense. And she couldn’t fight herself.

Spike and Faith followed her tentatively into the living room. It was almost funny. Spike had died and Faith was in just as much trouble as she was, and yet all the two of them seemed to be able to do was shuffle their feet and worry about her. She didn’t need their worry. She needed answers.

"Could you give us a minute, Faith," Buffy asked without looking at them.

Faith hesitated, then said, "Yeah. Sure. I'll just... be in the kitchen."

She retreated to the other room, leaving Spike and Buffy alone again.

Buffy no longer had any doubt this was Spike. He knew the particulars of their conversations. How she had told him he could be a better man. And he was solid, not some ghost or manifestation of The First. Finally, she turned to face him. He looked... scared. It was a look she had seen on him more often lately - no, not lately - but only when it concerned her welfare. To his own, he was indifferent.

"Do you remember asking me if I was there with you?" she asked flatly. "That night."

"'Course," he replied, looking down at the ground.

"You asked me what that meant," Buffy continued, her voice quiet. "What did it mean?"

His head snapped up, his brows knit together in confusion. "What?"

"What did it mean?" she repeated.

"Not sure I follow."

She walked up to stand in front of him, searching his face for answers his tongue seemed to trip over. "You're lying."

"You heard trigger-happy over there," he replied, jerking his head toward the kitchen. His voice sounded nonchalant and almost derisive. But he wouldn't look her in the eyes. "Went out with a bang. Fittin' innit?"

Before she could stop herself, she slapped him hard across the face. His head snapped to the side and he rubbed at his jaw, but he didn't reprimand her or fight back. He didn't even ask why.

She thought she would have time. There was supposed to be more time. After. Time to work out what it meant. And now he was telling her she wouldn't have a say in the matter because he wouldn't be there to find out. That last night, the one she didn't remember, that would be his last night. No more chances, no more apologies, no more redos, no more anything. And he was being glib about it.

But no. It wouldn't be his last night, because he was here, standing in front of her. Why was everything so damn confusing?

"How are you here? How- how did it happen?" she demanded, the words coming out in a jumbled rush. "What is going on?"

She dropped onto the couch, holding her head in her hands. Just hoping to block it all out. This had to be some kind of nightmare.

He sat down beside her, moving to take her hand, and she immediately jumped up. "Stay away from me! Just- stop!" She paced off toward the window again. "What happened? Explain. Right now. Or I'm letting Faith do this her way."

"Likin' that plan!" Faith called from the kitchen.

Buffy grimaced. She wasn't thrilled to have an audience. But she needed to know.

Spike appeared to collect his thoughts, his face cycling through a range of emotions, few of which Buffy could place.

Finally, he spoke. "Happened like I said. You and the pack of newbie slayers fought off a hoard of beasties down beneath the high school." He paused. Why wouldn't he look at her? "Just left a few things out is all." He shrugged, eliciting another wave of anger from her. "That amulet? The sparkly rock lover boy gave you? Turned me into a regular atom bomb. Front row seat to the razin’ of Sunnyhell."

She fought back the nausea that threatened to overcome her. Oh god. Oh god. She killed him. She had become his judge, jury, and executioner. She didn't know. She couldn't have known. But was that the truth? Couldn't she have suspected? You never get something for nothing.

Angel had said the amulet was dangerous, that they didn’t know the risks. Using it would’ve been like testing the world’s first airplane by jumping it from Mt. Everest.

Maybe you knew, a little voice in her head whispered wickedly. Maybe you just didn’t care.

"But... how?" she asked weakly.

He huffed as he stood up, immediately beginning an agitated pacing back and forth. "What do you want to know? Huh? Wanna hear all the grisly details?” He scowled at her bitterly. “I put the trinket on. It lit up all bright-like. Blasted through the bad guys, fucked up whatever supports were holdin' that damnable place together. The ceiling started crashin' down. Then, poof, dust. Don’t remember much after that."

***

Spike regretted the words almost as soon as they had left his mouth. Or maybe he didn't regret the words exactly, just how he had chosen to say them. He had no right to be angry with her for asking, another notch on the bedpost of things he had no right to. Fuck, why'd she have to look at him like that?

This wasn't how he'd wanted seeing her again to go.

Alright, so he hadn't known exactly how he had wanted seeing her again to go, but he knew it wasn't this. A selfish part of him had hoped she might look at least a little happy to see him alive - undead anyway - again. Instead, Buffy looked downright mortified. And he watched in real time as that horror turned to pain turned to anger.

"What is wrong with you?" she snapped.

What the bloody hell was wrong with him? Here she was, clearly fightin' off some devil or another of her own, meanwhile here he was, sneering about the decimation of her home and his own death. Words felt like acid on his tongue. They got so jumbled together and warped beyond recognition, scarring and burning on their way out. He meant to say one thing and, by the time the air reached his lips, a completely different sentence had materialized.

"I'm sorry," he said finally.

It was like putting duct tape on a dam and hoping the thing wouldn't blow.

Only she didn't blow.

"Get out," she hissed, her voice hard.

"Buffy-"

"Leave, Spike," she reiterated, maintaining the same coolness. "Faith and I will be fine. Willow, Xander, and Giles are on the case. They'll figure it out. We don't need your help. I don't need your help."

If she noticed him flinch, she didn't let on.

"Go home. Back to LA or whatever hole you crawled out of," she continued. "Just... leave. It's what you're good at."

If he had breath, she would've stolen it. It felt like she had just kicked him in the gut and spat on him for good measure. He felt his own hurt turn to anger.

"You can't seriously be blamin' me for dustin'!" he retorted. "We don't exactly get to pick 'n choose our time, love!'

She didn't respond to that. Instead, she crossed her arms, refusing to look at him.

Spike wasn't sure how long they stood there at an impasse. Neither of them seemed willing to break the silence. But at least she wasn't telling him to leave again.

He didn't even notice when Faith re-entered the living room. She moved with a cat-like grace and he was lost in his own world of reeling thoughts, trying desperately to remind himself of the real reason he was supposed to be here in the first place.

When Buffy looked up again, her gaze passed right through him without really seeing him, like the ghost he was. He didn't think this could possibly be going any worse.

He was wrong, of course.

He realized that the second the sword seared its way through his back. He felt the biting metal grind against his spine, watched as the blade extruded from his abdomen in front of him. He wanted to crumple to the ground, but the sword in his gut forced him to remain on his feet. He understood then - too late as usual - that Buffy hadn't been looking through him. She had been looking behind him. At Faith.

He felt a pressure against his back above where his heart rested. There was no doubt in his mind that it was a stake. So this would be the end. For real this time. No miraculous resurrection. It was poetic really. Buffy would get to watch him die again. It'd even be about the same time for her as he'd died the last time. Fitting. Karmic. The fates righting the wrongs and all that.

But hell, why'd it always have to hurt?

This time when Buffy looked at him, there was no pride. There was only fear and panic. There would be no consolation "I love you's" or grand gestures. There would just be... His face paled. Oh god, he wished there would just be nothing. He wasn't ready. He needed to-

"Faith, what are you doing?" Buffy asked, holding up a hand to the slayer Spike couldn't see.

He couldn't see her, but he could feel the stake dig harder into his back, feel her breath behind him, hear her blood race. His vision was starting to blur around the edges and he groaned in pain as his knees threatened to give out, causing the sword to bite harder into his flesh. He felt the blood enter one of his punctured lungs, creating a sickly sound as he gasped like a fish on a hook.

"Put the stake down," Buffy ordered, her voice struggling to stay calm. "It's only Spike. You don't need to hurt him."

"No," Faith growled. "It's not a person, it's a demon. What the hell is your problem? We're slayers. We kill vampires. We don't socialize with them!"

Buffy's eyes narrowed. "You know Spike. He has a soul."

"So?" Faith snapped. "He's not human, B. He's a vampire. A killer."

When Buffy didn't immediately agree, Faith dug her boot into Spike's back and kicked him off the sword onto the ground. He heard the metal grate against his spine on the way out and he bit back a scream, his teeth slamming together. It felt like his insides had started on fire, leaking gasoline and petrol. He struggled to his hands and knees only to have the hard heel of the boot slam him back down, sending blinding flashes of white light flitting through his vision. His eyes made out a small pool of blood sitting next to his mouth and he felt momentary guilt at having ruined the carpet.

"What kind of slayer are you?" Faith snapped at Buffy. "This is our duty, our responsibility! You would let him, what, just walk away?!"

"He's not a threat to anyone," Buffy replied.

Spike struggled to maintain consciousness through their conversation. He could no longer see them with his face pressed to the floor and his vision hazy, all he could do was listen as they argued over his fate.

In the land of gods and monsters… What was the difference really? The gods decided the monsters’ fates, of course.

"Faith this isn't you!" Buffy insisted.

Faith scoffed. "I'm exactly what I'm supposed to be. I'm doing exactly what I was meant to do. What are you, B? Cause, right now? You sure as hell aren't a slayer."

"I'm your friend. And I'm asking you not to do this." Buffy's voice had taken on a pleading tone.

How many times had she had to ask someone to spare his miserable ass? Once was already too many, but never seemed to be enough.

"If you're a friend of mine, you'll stake him. If not, then you're no friend of mine. What's it gonna be?"

#btvs #buffy the vampire slayer #buffy the vampire slayer fanfiction #btvs fanfiction #spuffy fanfiction #spuffy #buffy x spike #averting disasters and other ways to avoid your problems #chapter 6

[whumprincess]

World of Pain: Ch. 2 - Juliet Takes the Stage

Word Count: 2352 words

CW: Creepy/Intimate/Possessive Whumper, Lady Whumpee, broken bones, torture, body control/human marionette, dehumanization, death threat, begging, mild horror, True Fae

Summary: Clara learns the misfortune that falls upon anyone unlucky enough to attract the attention of a True Fae obsessed with theatre.

Related Content: Intro, Chapter 1

Clara’s wakefulness came as erratically as a skipping record. There was an unsettling tune playing in her mind, one that was both familiar and unknowable. It steadily grew louder and more intrusive with every passing second.

“Rise and shine, Juliet!”

Their speech was nothing more than a mess of music notes escaping into the air and yet she understood all the same. Her vision was blurry as her eyes fluttered open.

“My, my, how precious.”

She felt woozy and captivated with every… word. However, even amidst her haziness, it was abundantly clear that something was wrong. Horror sank deep into her body when her eyes focused on thin, translucent wires wound taut around her flesh. Instinctively, she fought against her bonds only to be interrupted by an aggravating pitch she just knew was a laugh.

“And such fun too!”

“FUN?!” Her voice pierced the air, addressing the presence that seemed to be simultaneously everywhere and nowhere. “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!”

“About you, Juliet!” The strings entangling her shifted to prop her up onto her feet and then concentrated around her elbows and knees. “Most of them don’t notice until…”

The sound of snapping harp strings accompanied the sensation of snapping bones. In an instant Clara lamented every object she had ever broken. The screech that left her lips was impossibly loud and pathetically quiet.

“Ah, such a beautiful song.”

Her joints gave way, but she remain standing. A delicate thread slowly creeped its way under her chin.

”Now… let’s take a look at your pretty face.”

Gently, her anguished expression was directed upwards. She nearly drowned in her own tears as she came face to faces with an abomination of reality.

“Perfection.”

This wasn’t happening… it couldn’t be happening! What she was looking at wasn’t even possible. The only way she could interpret it was as three large masks that didn’t fit in her field of vision, made up of an ever-shifting number of eyes. Their eyes conveyed emotion by warping smaller ones into crescent brows. Each face was connected to a large smile that resembled a harp… or perhaps it was the other way around? The “teeth” were the very same wires that were holding her up. She had wanted to refute its existence, to tell it to burn in hell, but every time she opened her mouth her voice was replaced by cries.

“Still conscious and singing? You must be trying to impress us!”

Clara’s anger overrode her pain and fear, “I-!”

“Oh?”

The eldritch horror reeled her in, eagerly awaiting her response. She was lost in their presence, but made found by the countless amount of eyes that gazed upon her. The need to breakdown was immense, but she fought it with the entirety of her will.

“PUT ME DOWN!”

Their screeching laughter nearly made her pass-out, “Now why would we do that? You can’t even move without us!”

“I DON’T CARE!”

“Now don’t be cruel.” They let out a sorrowful note.

“CRUEL!?” Surely even in this godforsaken place irony must exist.

“We went through all this trouble to welcome you home. You should be grateful to be ours.”

The mere insinuation made her blood boil, “I AM NOT YOURS!”

“Of course you are!”

“I DIDN’T AGREE TO THIS!”

“Agree? You say the cutest things!” Their smile extended beyond their faces. “Surely you understand a plaything has no say over who owns them.”

The weight of their words sat heavy on her broken bones. She was preparing to retort, when they abruptly gave each of their cords a twist. Agony once again robbed her of her words and forced screams out of her throat.  

“We knew you’d understand, Juliet! Now, let’s get you ready!”

Clara must’ve succumbed to her overwhelming torment because the next thing she knew she was in what appeared to be an extravagant dressing room. Her earlier memories started to trickle back in causing her to panic. She jolted forward, attempting to escape, only to be met with the harsh reminder that her limbs were no longer hers to control.

The melody of her wail put them at ease, “Good, you’re finally awake! We were worried you’d be late for the show.”

The pounding of her aching body was ear-splitting; she shouldn’t have been able to hear that monstrosity as clearly as she did… there truly was little mercy in the world. Obstinately, she endured the rush of queasiness that threatened to send her back to sleep. She had to collect herself, she had to show them she would not be toyed with!

“What the hell do you mean: show?”

“Come now, Juliet, don’t be silly! It’s the reason you’re here.”

She was confused for merely a moment, before she caught a glimpse of herself in a nearby mirror. In the glass she saw reflected her fragile frame strung up and decorated like some hapless marionette. Her heart plummeted as she fought the invading realization, “No!”

“Yes!” They responded, all their eyes lighting up with joy.

“I won’t do it!”

“Oh, Juliet,” they sighed. “You’re so eager to make things difficult.” They puppeted her towards the mirror, ensuring they were visible right behind her. “You’re forgetting…” Their tone was low and accompanied by strings coiling around her neck, “we’re the ones who run the show.”

Her heart was beating like a hammer, she couldn’t run even if she wanted to. As her mortified eyes stared into their soulless ones she recognized death was as close as she wanted it to be. “I-“ She considered her next words more carefully than her outfits, “I don’t know the script.”

Their amusement echoed throughout the space, “Of course you do!” They spun her around and waltzed her across the room to where a script lie on a table. “Go ahead, pick it up!”

They extended her arm towards Romeo and Juliet. For whatever bizarre reason, whenever this thing moved her around there was no pain; in fact it was almost soothing. With a scowl, she took the paper in her hands and flipped through it. Surely there must be some sort of demented twist. It came as a complete shock when, not only did this appear to be an ordinary telling of the story, but she also did indeed know all of Juliet’s lines flawlessly.

“How?” her question was halfway amongst demanding and disbelief.

“I’ve known you a long time, Juliet…” They moved a string to rest on her shoulder. They delighted in the vibrations of her shudder, “You were made for this role.”

She felt lightheaded. She was stuck between wanting to pry for further answers and wishing she had never asked in the first place. However, one thing was for certain: All this stress would not be good for her performance.

“When is the show?”

“Whenever we want it to be.”

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at their smug attitude, “Well then, could I persuade you to postpone indefinitely?”

They gave a deep chuckle as they caressed either side of her face with their cords, “Careful, Juliet.” They ominously inched closer to her pupils, “It would be a shame if we had to hold your pretty eyes in place too.”

Reflexively, she shut her eyes tight. She wanted this villain to touch her as little as possible, which was already a challenge considering they hadn’t let go of her since she arrived at this horrid place. “Right, well…” she cleared her throat, “What time suits you?”

Pleased with her change in demeanour, they rearranged their strings to maneuver her towards an ornate door. “Immediately.”

She had a sinking feeling that’s what they would say.

The stage was hotter than hell and the audience looked like they belonged there. Beings appearing even more sinister than her captor were among the crowd, fervently awaiting to witness a show, where she could only assume, no one was a willing participant. She felt sick considering she could be connected to all the other actors on stage via that thing. Her vindictive urge to ruin this damned play boiled to the surface, but before she could indulge it, its voice filled the auditorium.

“Fair folk and accompanying unfair folk, we thank you for coming to the greatest show in Arcadia!”

Cheering erupted from the crowd and in an instant Clara was reminded of home; her real home up on stage, where she was revered and she could do no wrong. A home where the applause harmonized so perfectly with the rhythm of her heart, she knew it belonged solely to her. Her instincts as an actress took over; she was determined to get her praise.

And she did.

Her performance was immaculate. Every line spoken from her soft, tantalising lips was angelic; every movement she was forced to complete was made her own by the flourishes of her fingertips and fluttering of her eyelashes; every minute she spent in the spotlight was blessed by her poise and passion. By the end of the show, she had undoubtedly earned the standing ovation offered by the cursed spectators. She fell so deep into the sound, the fame, the adoration that it was all she could remember, all she could dream of until…

They could never possibly tire of the sweet refrain of Juliet’s cries. As much as they loved seeing her be their perfect little puppet they were overcome with fondness whenever she writhed for them. They had waited with anticipation for the inevitable reminder that their kindness was a gift they had graciously given to her; one that could be easily taken away.

She didn’t even believe she was the one making those mangled shrieks until the unrelenting pain tore her from her dreams. All too vividly, she felt the twisting and turning of her bones as they attempted to fuse with something that was not her own. When she clamped her eyes shut, an intense image of thorny vines drilling deep into her flesh filled her mind. She watched as it scraped the length of her bones and spread out to contort around her broken parts.

“What’s the matter, Juliet?” They asked, teeming with glee.

As its sound danced its way inside her head, she attempted to close them out- to pretend she couldn’t hear them, but it was impossible to ignore the feeling of infinite eyes leering at her; making a spectacle of her suffering. She felt exposed. Exploited. Violated.

Overindulging their enjoyment, they pried her dripping eyes open, “Let us see those pretty eyes!”

She was utterly helpless as her last semblance of control was ripped away. Gawking at her nightmare, reality set in like cement: there was no escape. The violent convulsions of her healing body were the only means of protest she had left.

“Aw,” they cooed with mocking sympathy, “Is it too much for our plaything to take?”

Defiance mixed in with all the other hellish sensations housed within her. Her weak voice was dragged out of hiding, “N-o…”

“Hm, what was that? We couldn’t quite hear you.”

With all the energy she had left she shouted, “NO!”

“BRAVO! SPLENDID!” They played a congratulatory tune as they lifted her off the ground. “You can still sing!” They twirled and tossed her around from string to string until she was chaotically ensnared. “That means we can hear what we want.”

Being thrown around like some ragdoll should have aggravated her wounds, but it didn’t. Just like when she was performing, being connected to their cords brought her peace. Betraying her desire to flee from her tormentor, she let out a pleasant sigh of relief.

“There’s our Juliet.” They mused softly.

Although she was undeniably in less pain, she was sick to her stomach. The thought that it had any claim over her was revolting. She was seconds away from ordering it to unhand her before fear told her to hold her breath.

“Is there something you want to say?” They urged deviously.

She bit her tongue until it bled, maintaining a hateful glare. It was excruciatingly obvious they wanted her to lash out, to expel curses that would be used against her, so she practiced a new form of rebellion: silence.

“No? Just as well. It’s important you listen to what we have to say.” They intentionally began to rub their wires over her tender joints. “We have spoiled you, Juliet; Chosen to show you kindness without so much as asking for a please or thank you, however…” Without warning, they applied pressure, “We think it’s time you begged for our mercy.”

Unable to restrain herself, she spat blood and vitriol, “OVER MY DEAD BODY!”

Euphoric at her response, they cackled while jostling her around. Eventually, nothing but a single strand of string remained, precariously wrapped around her slender ankle. “That can be arranged!”

Vertigo set in as she faced the threat of plummeting to her death. Unfortunately, it wasn’t strong enough to overshadow the pain that impatiently returned to occupy its natural place in her body.

“So what will be?” They asked with a tightly strung note, “Would you rather beg or die?”

Just when she thought she might accept death, a pining voice resounded inside her mind:

“I’ll miss you, Doll.”

Why? In this world, where she was reduced to nothing more than an object; where she was certain to be subject to more misery; where there was no hope of escape; did she hear her? And why, oh why, did it fill her with such melancholy resolve?

With a heart torn more viciously than any part of her she sobbed, “Please…”

She remembered the brightness of her hair.

“I’ll do anything…”

The inviting hue of her eyes.

“Anything for you…”

The allure of her smile.

“So please…”

The warmth of her hands.

“Let me live!” Her desperation came to a crescendo. By the end of her pleading, she found herself enveloped in the villain’s embrace.

“Oh, Juliet.” They played with the red locks of her hair, “We didn’t know you loved us so.” They gently squeezed every cord surrounding her, “How could we ever let you go?”

#creepy whumper #intimate whumper #possessive whumper #fem whump #female whumpee #lady whump #lady whumpee #broken bones #torture #body control #human marionette #dehumanization #death threat #begging #mild horror #true fae #fae #World Of Darkness #wod #World of pain #maple #clara #wlw #harp fae #Keeper #clara brooks

[malevolent-spirit]

ok this has been in my drafts for well over a year and im sick of seeing it so im just gonna post it. first lore post yeehaw

Deep in the Viridian Labyrinth, a clan tells its hatchlings stories of old gods, older than the first dragons. Direct descendants of The Eleven, with powers unparalleled by modern dragonkind.

This story is about a young god of wealth, known for his charm. With his quick wit and charismatic personality, he talked his way into getting what he wanted as often as he did to get out of trouble. He would woo god and goddess alike, having many lovers at any given moment. Not a single one truly captured his heart, though, and he was left with an emptiness that he couldn't fill. He thought that perhaps what he sought was a companion with whom he could share everything with. Yet, despite his best efforts, he never met anyone who rose to his standards. He decided to visit an old witch to ask for help. He tried to coax a solution to his loneliness out of her for free, giving many compliments and promises he didn't intend to keep. She, like so many others, fell to his charms and agreed, but warned that the price was great. The god waved her warning off, and she began her work on the spell needed. The witch needed rare ingredients, sending him off to find them all while she made the necessary preparations. After many long moons of hunting the items down, he returned, eager to find purpose in his life. The witch took the ingredients from the god and dropped them in a cauldron, murmuring ancient words from a worn tome. The room darkened, the air grew stagnant and thick. Shadows danced in the edges of his vision. The space in the cottage warped as colors not seen on that plane in a millennia glittered in and out of existence. Once she finished her chant, she paused to stir the pot. She dipped a claw in the brew, then traced symbols on his face, arms, and wings. The witch’s irises darkened as she said the final word, activating the spell. The runes glowed white, burning into his skin. He screamed in agony, clawing frantically at the runes, trying to stop the pain. He tore long slashes along his face in his desperation. The spell began its work. His skull was the first thing that changed. It hardened into wood, saving only his eyes from the grotesque transformation. Two thorn-covered horns sprouted from his scalp, reaching all the way down to his tail. His screams turned to harsh coughing as smoke pooled in his lungs. Unable to breathe, he writhed on the ground, clawing at the air. The witch peered down at him. In a gravelly voice, she spoke over him, "I warned you the cost was great. What this spell revealed to me was that your heart is incapable of loving another. My magic has given you what you deserve; any love or passion you once were able to feel is now gone. You will be a specter, wandering aimlessly and lost in the pain your greed caused. "But, I made a deal with you, and I will keep it. You will meet your perfect companion,“ She hissed, “but in your current state, they won’t adore you. At the sight of your monstrous form, they will run in fear. Your only chance to heal your heart will be ruined. This is your curse, your fate." Blood trickled into his eyes, blinding him, but not before he saw her blow thick smoke around him. He felt the ground beneath his claws shift as his vision failed. He fell for what felt like an hour, consumed by searing pain and fear, before crashing into water. Intense pain overwhelmed his senses. He thrashed uselessly as he tried in vain to swim towards the surface. He opened his eyes to better see which direction was up, but found that he couldn't see. He sank, his lungs burning, with no way of knowing how to get out. He couldn't breathe. Couldn’t think. He made one more kick before succumbing to darkness. When the god next awoke, he was still underwater, his lungs still burning, his scales still bleeding where it hadn't transformed into wood. He tried to scream, to cry, to swim. His nerves begin to numb after what felt like an eternity, his grip on reality slowly fading. Despite his lack of oxygen, the spell wouldn't let him die. Each time he passed out, he would wake once more in greater pain. Many moons passed, and the magic slowly started to change his body. He grew gills and small fins, and his eyes became adjusted to the darkness of the water. The slashes had turned into scars. His burns were soothed by the cold water, the runes solidifying into what appeared to be gold that melded with his scales. He adjusted, accepting his state. He floated for what seemed like an eternity, pondering his future and his curse, while becoming numb to the pain. One day, he was pulled out of his state by a feeling, a need. With his new mutations, he swam in the direction of the distant surface. He broke out of the water, coughing and spluttering at the sudden change to air. The sun blinded him, making him squint blearily around for any sign of land. He spotted a jungle in the distance, and, ducking his head underwater, swam quickly towards it. By the time he reached the shore, the sun had reached a little past midday, now bearing down harshly. The god stumbled to the edge of the jungle, seeking relief from the light. He laid down beneath a large tree, exhausted and struggling to breathe. The lack of air his gills were receiving finally caused darkness to crawl at the edge of his vision. Several days passed before he woke under the full moon. The curse had made his fins and gills vanish while he was unconscious. There was a pleasant coolness in the air, now rid of the glare of the sun.

The god felt it again, that need, and was drawn further into the forest. He came to a small pond, the surface smooth as glass. He was about to drink from it when he noticed his disfigured reflection. He drew back in horror, claws touching his mask-like face and tracing the gold. He wept, overcome with the loss of his beautiful body, now gazing at his scales, his elongated claws, his maw in disgust. Too soon, he acknowledged his monstrous visage and his fate: someone cursed with the torture of loneliness with no respite. Something in him snapped. His horror dulled to apathy, his fear turned to glee at his immortality. He wanted to test his power out. A rustle behind him made him whip his head around. There was a pack of white wolves, drawn by his scent of salt and old blood. He grinned viciously. He leaped at the nearest one, ripping his teeth into its neck. The rest sprinted away from the god, surprised and terrified at the sudden show of violence. He dropped the wolf from his jaws, looking down in satisfaction. He watched as dark blood dripped from his mouth and claws before returning to the pond to wash it off. Looking at his reflection once more, he noted instead how his old clothes had become torn and ragged, the color washed out. With a sneer, he knew that he was now every bit a monster that the witch had intended him to be- and he loved it. His old love for life and abundance withered, replaced with a desire to kill. His steps were lighter, quieter, making hunting easy. It wasn't long until he discovered clans of longneck and centaurs. Stories were told of a monster in the woods, stalking individuals through many nights before eventually striking. They spoke of the torture the misty specter put its victims through, of its laugh and how it echoed and enveloped anyone who heard it. Nights of the new moon were in particular dangerous, the lack of natural light made for perfect hunting conditions. The tales eventually reached nearby dragon clans, and after some went missing without a trace in the forests, they turned to horror stories told to hatchlings. The god became a legend, a feeling of unease on dark nights. Centuries later, he came across a mysterious dragon, alone in the woods. Curiously, she wasn't weary or anxious as all others were; she appeared to be at peace. She was sitting underneath an old willow tree, her head tilted up to the moon. She had white cloths wrapped around her, a pair of old root-like horns with birds resting on them, and ornate jewelry decorating her body. He knew immediately that this was the companion he was fated to meet, and to inevitably scare away. He no longer felt sadness or loss, however, and treated her as any other creature to cross his path. The mist around him swirled, thickening with malicious delight, crawling towards the hooded dragon. She turned to look at him as he laughed darkly. She didn't cower or scream at the spirit in front of her. In fact, the only sign that she was staring at him was a prickling sensation on the back of his neck that one gets when being watched. He sneered as he realized she was not afraid of him. Well, not yet. Grinning at the thought of her fear, he became determined to draw out her terror and get a reaction before killing her. He didn't expect her to speak. "Why is such a sad creature like you wandering the woods so late at night?" She whispered in a voice young and unimaginably old at the same time, and tilted her head. He was taken aback at the pity, but didn't show it. Instead, his grin widened to reveal sharp, bloody teeth, and replied, "I am afraid I don't see how I am the sad one, when I am not the one trying to talk to the monster in front of me as if it would spare me." He tapped his claw on his chin in mock thoughtfulness before rasping out, "Unless you don't see me as a threat? Oh, that would be very naive of you, my dear. Do you know how many beings have crossed my path, only for them to die in horrific, delightful agony?" He chuckled before answering, not waiting for an answer, "All of them. So, tell me, why are you so calm?" He had come close enough to make out the faint lines of her face, noting her neutral expression with distaste. She was silent, considering the specter in front of her. She was old enough to be able to read the gold runes from under his rags and fur, and knew that he was cursed long ago. She could guess at his torment, at his loneliness and his current mental state. The goddess came to a decision and, before he could act, tackled him to the ground. Thick roots shot out of the earth and tied him down. He snarled, struggling under the grip of the cloaked dragon. "I do not think you know who I am, lost one. Have you heard of Spring? Summer? Of the goddesses of life?" The roots tightened. "Do you have any idea who you were planning on trying to torture for your amusement?" Her voice changed from a whisper to deep and powerful, the trees shaking with her words. He drew back from her piercing gaze, and grew fearful of the goddess in front of him. He was angry at his fear, at his weakness, and scowled, but grew still. She recognized his submission, releasing him. The roots retreated, freeing his body. He drew up cautiously, bowing his head slightly in defeat. "Why not try to kill me if you know what I am? I'm sure you've heard the stories of what I've done, who I am." He growled. She tilted her head again, "I know of your curse." He peered at her before she continued. "I can read the runes on your skin. They tell me of your selfishness, and what it cost you. I assume you were drawn to me tonight because I am the companion in the spell, yes?" She studied his expression, and seeing his eyebrows knit together she continued, "You are fated to yearn for my companionship, but while you assume I will run from you, I will merely distance myself. You will follow me wherever I go, but never have the fulfillment that a close bond would give. Thus, you will continue to be alone in your heart, no matter how hard you try or what you do. The curse will be followed in this way. However, because you won't be able to will yourself away from my side, you will never be left to your own devices. I will watch you and make sure you don't harm anyone else." He knew as she said these words that she was right. He would never be able to leave her side. In that moment, he turned bitterly cold. The ground at his feet grew cold as ice, frost spreading out around his claws. Antheia noticed, and was amused that there was now a new god of winter, but even more so at the fact that he was chained to her, a goddess of spring and summer.

#flight rising #fr lore #my dragons #boreas #antheia #im p happy with the first half #my lore

[recommendedlisten]

It’s been awhile since Recommended Listen has done one of these, but back by popular (content) demand, the weekly Best of the Rest column has returned to highlight the rest of the week’s great music you should know. Leading into it, Massachusetts DIY scene favs Future Teens and Dump Him both tried to figure out ways to move forward while Big Thief are proving to be unstoppable with their creative genius. The return of Vivian Girls is arguably being enjoyed more so the second time around, Chelsea Wolfe’s natural instincts are giving us even more reasons to appreciate her dark art, and NYC post-punks Bodega continue to live up to the promise of being shiny new models. Meanwhile, Field Mouse succeeded at finding meaning in everything as modern punk scene cult hero Chris Faren searched for his within a screen. There’s a lot more to cover here, so let's get down to the music business.

Here’s the best of the rest from the week of August 11th, 2019…

Antagonize - Slip Death EP [Triple B Records]

The last time I saw Aaron Bedard, he was being showered in balloons and kids walking all over each others’ heads as part of the final bow of Bane, the seminal melodic hardcore band who very much helped make the New England hardcore scene what it is today. Bedard returned to the stage a year ago with a new band called Antagonize, and after throwing down some demos and promos, they’ve released their debut EP Slip Death on the great Boston hardcore label Triple B Records this past week (label leader Sam Yarmuth designed its cover art much like he did for the vinyl reissue of the 2001 Bane classic Give Blood.) Bedard’s intensity has not slowed down with the passing of time either. In fact, it’s become exponentially more confrontational as he and the band thrash through fast, visceral existentialist dread. Throw them on a bill with the likes of Fury, Fiddlehead, Turnstile, or any of the countless names coming out of the Triple B roster right now, and Antagonize -- and Bedard -- know exactly what the scene needs at this moment.

Slip Death by ANTAGONIZE

Charli XCX feat. Sky Ferreira - “Cross You Out” [Atlantic Records]

On September 13th, Charli XCX will release her long awaited “proper” third studio effort Charli. Between years of experimental EPs and one-off singles, it’s been awhile since we heard her target her vision for mass consumption with major label approal, and she’s bringing some of music’s most intriguing voices into the fold with her to get that across. We already heard her team with Lizzo on “Blame It On Your Love” and Christine and the Queens for “Gone”. Its latest preview “When You’re Not Around” is one for Twitter pop fandom, however, as it sees Charli XCX joining forces with Sky Ferreira on the A.G. Cook-produced track. The two artists have been heralded as pop music’s most underrated creators for the better part of this decade, so to hear Charli and Ferreira’s paths cross seamlessly into this digital slowburn as they put the collective shit they’ve dealt with personally over the years behind them is a fitting way for it to happen.

Code Orange - “Let Me In” [WWE Music]

At least weekend’s WWE Summerslam, rebooted horror heel Bray Wyatt returned after months of being kept off screen in action with a brand new character persona called the Fiend that saw him evolving from the creepy bayou cult leader of previous and into a psychotic children’s program host who turns into a deranged monster wearing a mask designed by horror film makeup legend Tom Savini. In helping get this new terrifying character’s image over with the crowd and viewers watching was Code Orange, one of the most exciting bands in hardcore and metal going right now, who reinterpreted Wyatt’s old theme “Live In Fear”, a sinister, swampy piece of occult rock originally recorded by Mark Crozier, under its new name “Let Me In” and making it into their own heavy pummeling likeness, adding layers of deeper darkness to Wyatt’s Fiend character in the process. This isn’t Code Orange Kids first foray in soundtracking WWE superstars' themes, as they backed Incendiary’s Brendan Gorrone live as goth anti-hero Aleister Black made his way to ring during NXT Takeover Brooklyn III. Now that Black is on the main roster, inevitably he will cross paths with the Fiend at some point, making you wonder where Code Orange's loyalty will lie...

The Highwomen - “Highwomen” [Low Country Sound / Elektra Records]

The Highwomen -- a.k.a. the country songwriting supergroup of Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, Amanda Shires, and Natalie Hemby -- are one of the most exciting things to happen to country music this year. On September 6th, they will release their eponymous debut album, and to date, the foursome have proven themselves quickly to be working flawlessly as a well-woven collective where nothing remotely resembling an ego outshine the other in its first coupling of singles “Redesigning Women” and “Crowded Table”. It’s latest is a goosebump-inducing sunset song that hears each member sharing a piece of the narrative that tell a greater story about their ability to overcome all and any hurdle. “We are the daughters of the silent generations / You send our hearts to die alone in foreign nations,” their voices collect in its final moments. “They may return to us as tiny drops of rain / But we will still remain/ And we’ll come back again and again and again.

Miranda Lambert - “Bluebird” [RCA Nashville / Vanner Records]

Beyond the Highwomen, Miranda Lambert is now joining the highly anticipated of new Nashville releases with her seventh studio effort Wildcard, due out on November 1st. Her last effort was the excellently crafted post-divorce catharsis The Weight of These Wings, but judging by the sounds of WIldcard’s first single “Bluebird”, Lambert is getting back to her old high jinks of sorry not sorry whip-smart lyricism and folding them into cool, flawless country-pop. “And if the house just keeps on winning / I got a wildcard up on my sleeve / And  if love keeps giving me lemons / I'll just mix 'em in my drink,” goes its chorus. Lambert’s undefeated streak will likely continue with this as well as her tour behind the LP, which sees her bringing along her Pistol Annies sisters, Maren Morris, and Ashley McBridge along for the ride on select dates for her Roadside Guitars and Pink Guitars tour, kicking off in September.

Octo Octa - “Can You See Me?” [T4T LUV NRG]

Back in July, Octo Octa, the electronic dance outlet of Maya Bouldry-Morrison, dropped “Spin Girl, Let’s Activate”, the leadoff single from her forthcoming third album Resonant Body, set for release on September 6th. The listen was fully in motion with a bright luminosity radiating from with Bouldry-Morrison she says was inspired after a year of tremendous change and personal growth. That expanded energy extends even further in its subsequent listen “Can You See Me?” in which she allows emotions to overflow onto the soundboard through an empath in samples vocals and a cosmic tidal of synth arpeggios running through whichever cracks in its constant break beats they can find. It’s invigorating, and both as a measure of her art and being, there’s really no avoiding Octa Octa’s presence being made known here.

(Sandy) Alex G - “Southern Sky” / “Near” [Domino Records]

Rocket was a very special album in the prolific catalog of (Sandy) Alex G, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if the experimental indie pop wunderkind’s new album House of Sugar, set for release on September 13th, bests it in its own way. So far, we’ve heard the warped and rickety storytale standout “Gretel” and the earnest ode to a friend and place passed on “Hope”, and this past week, he introduced two more in “Southern Sky” and “Near”. The former, which includes an animated video by frequent visual collaborator Elliot Bech, is a country-stained sigh featuring Emily Yacina that hits a similar backwoods bliss that “Bobby” did two years ago, while the latter retreats to pinbacked repetition, wonky loops and samples that warp the canvas with Alex Giannascoli’s signature smeared fingerprints. (Sandy) Alex G will also be touring extensively behind the effort starting this October, with dates featuring the likes of Tomberlin, ARTHUR and Corey Flood.

Taylor Swift - “Lover” [Republic Records]

The last we heard of Taylor Swift was her divisive post-pop call-out Reputation, and with its tinge of industrial bangers and stadium-translating success, it’s safe to say it aged better than what anyone expected upon release. Her new album Lover is on the way next week, and so far, two of its early singles have been absolute dogshit while the other was just so-so. In the streaming era, it comes no surprise that there will be 18 tracks total on the album, which means there’s bound to be some duds. Hopefully they’re more like it’s title track, though. Jack Antonoff seems to be one of the few people who knows what to do with making Swift sound like a breath of fresh air in spite of her missteps in this lash-batting late night bar crawler that is the Jekyll to Swifty’s drunken Hyde. She really could have reverted full-on back to country-pop and easily gotten away with it...

Queen of Jeans - “Only Obvious to You” [Topshelf Records]

The surprises within Queen of Jeans’ sound are unraveling themselves quickly, but in subtle gestures leading up to the dreamy Philly indie-pop band’s release next week of their sophomore effort If you’re not afraid, I’m not afraid. So far, they’ve delivered a devastating blow to the ego in doo-wop form with "U R My Guy” and searched for a way out of a dead end relationship on “All the Same”. “Only Obvious to You” steps away from pastel lights and balloon grandeur, leaving plenty of room fordark space in between two warm bodies for the distance to hit hard. “Love will fuck you over hard,” Miriam Devora repeatedly reminds herself in the listen’s closing moments, and in the listen’s video shot at Philly Pride, they want to do their community a solid by letting it be known that no matter how you love, pain is pain, and your feelings are valid, too. This autumn, they’ll be mending broken hearts on the road alongside tourmates From Indian Lakes.

Whitney - “Used to Be Lonely” [Secretly Canadian]

Someone in Whitney’s camp had to have intentionally planned to have the Chicago country soul duo’s sophomore effort Forever Turned Around be released at the final breaths of summer and the cusp of autumn’s cupping season on August 30th, because “Used to Be Lonely” is the kind of listen that tugs at the heartstrings of both the, uh, lonely and not so lonely, in a way that will make those with someone feel warm gratitude to have someone by their side, and those who don’t romanticize about the day it happens to them. Its accompanying visuals, directed by Austin Vesely, are on point just as well, as it captures a budding romance developing at the kind of midwestern country fair in a small town you’d hit up some weekend in September when you could use a slice of simplicity in your life of how even the most humble moments can feel extraordinary if you’re sharing them with the right person. If not, Whitney will bring it to you when they roll through your city this autumn.

#the best of the rest #songs #antagonize #charli xcx #sky ferreira #code orange #the highwomen #miranda lambert #octo octa #(sandy) alex g #taylor swift #queen of jeans #whitney #new music & videos

[theultimateegghead-blog]

My top 10 least favorite bosses.

I love boss battles, they are a great way to challenge the player and to wrap up a level or a game. Not all bosses are made equal though, for every great boss there is a mediocre one as well. These bosses got on my bad side due to various reasons. Now, this list is subjective and my opinion, not every boss on this list is terrible from a design standpoint, and there may even be some on this list you may not agree with. This is fine, your free to have your favorites or least favorites. In fact, I would love to see your least favorite bosses in the comments if you would please. Secondly, no bosses from my top 50 list will be on this list. This is to avoid redundancy. Lets take a look at some of my least favorite bosses.

NUMBER 10 - Xande (Final Fantasy 3)

This just goes to show that not every boss on this list is bad. On a purely technical note, Xande is a perfectly fine boss, however to describe this foe in one word would be “disappointment”. Xande is built up as the ultimate bad guy in Final Fantasy III. His magic literally tearing the world apart and just causing havoc. He is so strong that approaching his tower before it is time results in a game over. He seems to be almighty, or so you would believe. After conquering one of the longest and most difficult dungeons in one of the hardest numbered Final Fantasy games, Xande is just lackluster. He is an incredibly basic magic oriented boss with lukewarm stats, he is barely threatening. His death introduces the true final boss so he just serves as a Segway to the cloud of darkness. Despite being the primary antagonist of Final Fantasy III, he isn’t even given a spot in the dissidia roster. Talk about a let down.

How this boss could have been better – Beef him up to final boss status and just get rid of the could of darkness.

**********

NUMBER 9 - Ghost of Lady Comstock (Bioshock Infinite)

This boss is an infamous one for sure. I am one of those people who was disappointed by Bioshock Infinite. It was a great game but it just lacked the special atmosphere that made Bioshock 1 great for me. Enemies felt more bland and uninspired, and the ghost of lady Comstock is a boring boss to take down. The battle drags on forever with the ghost just teleporting around and constantly reviving fallen enemies to fight alongside her. She is fought several times and each time she is just annoying. She can take a lot of punishment and it is hard to break her out of reviving everyone you just defeated. Whats worse is that my game crashed the first time I beat her, causing me to have to fight her twice, then the second time my power went out! I fought this boss more times than necessary…and I didn’t like it at all.

How this boss could have been better – If it weren’t so long…

**********

NUMBER 8 – Final boss (Ninja Gaiden II)

There are a number of bad NES era bosses. Though I cannot necessarily say its totally unforgivable, because of the era there was no norm, no bar that was set when it came to boss quality. Though, what is bad is when you take a pre-existing boss that was fine and make it worse. The final boss of Ninja Gaiden II for the NES is a three part endurance test. The first form is a humanoid enemy that floats around shooting tons of fireballs and is a general nuisance to hit. The second form is a large room with a ceiling that drips dangerous liquid and a giant head that shoots lasers, this part is tough and can drain health fast. Stage three is essentially a repeat of the final boss of the first game, now with hands. After destroying its head, you must destroy its core while it shoots attacks everywhere. What makes this so bad? YOU NEED TO DO THIS WITH ONLY ONE HEALTH BAR! If you die, you need to redo the final stage, its unnecessarily punishing.

How this boss could have been better – If it either restored health between stages or allowed you to restart from the beginning of the fight.

**********

NUMBER 7 - Krauser QTE fight (Resident Evil 4)

Ill keep this one brief because most gamers know about this fight. Resident Evil 4 is an action horror game with occasional quick time events. Up until this point these events were for either outrunning boulders or avoiding enemy attacks during fights. This fight occurs during a cutscene and comes out of virtually nowhere. The window of time to react is very small and a single error will cause you to have to restart the cutscene. Its just so out of place and unnecessary…

How this boss could have been better – It could have been an actual fight…

**********

NUMBER 6 - Alpha 152 (Dead or Alive 4)

Fighting game bosses can be some of the most unfair and frustrating things a gamer has to overcome. While the majority of final bosses from fighting games could make this list, I decided to pick Alpha 152 from DOA4. Alpha is a clone of Hitmone, but her moveset is unique. She can turn the battle on its head at any moment and cut your health down to nothing in one massive combo. She is fast, she is aggressive, she can counter most attacks and she can teleport. The combos I mentioned are insanely long and hard to avoid. She serves as the final boss for most characters story mode, in story mode she isn’t as bad. In arcade mode however, she is a nightmare, her aggression is through the roof and she must be defeated twice in order to win! This boss is frustrating to fight and can be downright unfair at times. Nothing stings worse in DOA4 than having her down at 10% health while you have high health, only to be destroyed by her.

How this boss could have been better – If her combos were toned down just a bit.

**********

NUMBER 5 - Doc Robot (Mega Man 3)

Doc robot is perhaps the most unnecessary boss of all time. This dude is a cheap gimmick made to try to expand the run time of Mega Man 3. You have to fight him 8 times, 8 times! Each time he gets a new gimmick stolen from the Mega Man 2 robot masters and uses them in a far more annoying way. He tends to just hover over you to deal continuous damage, which is something I really do not like. This boss is just pointless padding and gives no reward to be beaten. I don’t like this boss because he is annoying and overstays his welcome.

How this boss could have been better – If he were encountered once, but used multiple boss attacks, it would have been much more memorable and tolerable.

**********

NUMBER 4 - Gyorg (Majora's Mask)

This is referring to the N64 version of Gyorg, because the 3DS version is substantially better. Gyorg is the worst boss of the worst temple in Majora’s Mask. A giant shark like monster that swims around a platform that Link is standing one. While on the platform, the beast will try to knock Link into the water, so they can eat him. In order to beat Gyorg, you have to use the Zora mask and fight it underwater, occasionally stunning it to hit it. Here lies the problem, your underwater so your dealing with those kind of controls. The second problem is that Gyorg recovers to quickly and the camera tends to shift away from them when you try to escape, often meaning you get eaten. So basically the camera ruins this boss and makes it a total chore to fight. I had to restart the great bay temple at least 3 times because I ran out of time trying to beat this thing on my first run of Majora’s Mask oh so many years ago…

How this boss could have been better – It actually is better in the 3DS remake, Nintendo learned from their mistakes.

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NUMBER 3 -Elana The squalid Queen (Dark Souls 2)

This boss was perhaps the most sour point of the Crown of the Sunken king dlc. To make a long story short, shes a shard of a great evil named Manus and is probably responsible for the downfall of her kingdom. Shes essentially the main antagonist of the DLC even though she is overshadowed by the Dragon. The first gripe with her is the fact that, unless you know where a secret bonfire is, dieing to her will send you back far. She fights similar to the final boss, but has a knack for teleporting around and using magic attacks when your not looking. This isn’t so bad, but she has a lot of health, does a lot of damage and summons help. The summoning is why I hate this boss, she summons enemies that can inflict toxic. She can summon skeletons, which is not so bad, but she can also summon another boss that can tear you apart. This boss is badly designed and is one of the bosses that made me legit angry. I was extremely relieved when I finally bested her, only to meet a dragon face to face literally a minute after.

How this boss could have been better – Just get rid of her summoning ability, its just not fair having her summon another boss.

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NUMBER 2 - Sir Arthur (Sonic and the Black Knight)

King Arthur is the primary antagonist for the majority of the mediocre Sonic and the Black Knight. His presence is virtually none-existent until the boss fight. He fights you on horseback and spends most of the fight running away and pestering you with magic and warping swords. If he gets enough distance he will turn around and charge.  All of his attacks are annoying but not very hard to dodge or avoid. So why is he this high on the list? Three words… Quick Time Event. In order to damage him you have to swing the wii mote to parry him. The timing is almost inhumanly precise and more often than not it doesn’t matter if you do is spot on, you will fail. If you beat the game you know which QTE in particular makes this boss horrible. If you don’t, watch the game grumps play through, because it shows this boss’ absurdity at its greatest. This boss is for me the worst sonic boss yet.

How this boss could have been better – If the quick time event was removed, this boss would be off the list. Though even then it would still be a very mediocre boss.

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NUMBER 1 - Clyde's Machine (Pac Man World 2)

This is a boss I despise. Clyde’s machine is the third ghost robot boss and the fourth boss of Pac-Man World 2. These bosses can only be damaged by jumping on their heads, usually this isn’t to hard of a task, but Clyde ups the difficulty to 11. On an uneven platform surrounded by lava, a single misstep will result in a dead Pac-Man. And boy oh boy, how often that happens. Pac Man seems to just want to take a lava bath! You stand still, you die because one of his attacks pushed you in the lava. You move? You die because you fell into the lava. You stay in the middle of the platform? Isnt it wonderful how all his attacks just hit you head on when you do that? You try to rev roll? Hello Lava my old friend… The worst part is that even attacking him might send you flying into the pit for no reason. The only saving grace is that this boss has checkpoints…

How this boss could have been better – If it didn’t exist.

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Thank you for reading my list! What bosses got under your skin? Feel free to share in the comments! Next time we will be taking a more positive turn to look at my top 10 favorite grass type Pokemon, see you then, ciao!

#final fantasy #bioshock #ninja gaiden #resident evil #dead or alive #doa #mega man #the legend of zelda #majora's mask #Dark Souls #top 10 #list #boss battle #boss #gaming #video games #sonic #sonic and the black knight #pac man

[hexarcana-archived]

Here’s that fucked up AU I mentioned.

Ok so this is like... More of an alternate dimension?  Like, this is a situation that I would LOVE to write and it would mean that your muses could easily exist in it in a dimension hopping sense?  Like, I have a set up reality, but just because i have an idea for say... idk Gideon, doesnt mean that another Gideon couldnt visit this dimension.  So, here we go.

So, this dimension it literally situated on the egde of the nightmare realm.  During this reality’s version of Weirdmageddon, after Bill couldnt break out of gravity falls, he essentially dragged Gravity Falls into a horrible middle ground between the nightmare realm.  This made it impossible for the people within Gravity Falls to leave.  Slowly, more towns and communities were added simply because so many people in GF perished or... Switched sides, so to speak.

When I say switched sides, I mean they underwent a sort of horrible transformation.  When Bill took the falls out of actual reality, something in him snapped (even more then he already snapped) and he made a game out of taking the mortals and warping them into more demon buddies and accomplices, as well as taking an eye out of every person he comes across so everyone has one eye.  Very few people embrace the triangular overloard, most rebel and fight back.  Many are captured and are mutilated by lesser demons, or are turned to demons themselves by the greater zodiac demons.

There are the more common demons and there are zodiac demons, which line up with the zodiac that could have ended it all (plus some extras that bill and co. deemed... important.)

If anybody entered this dimension you’d be met wit ha very small unit of people.  Most everyone in the main cast of the show are gone, so it opens the world up for interaction and adds to the ANGST of the ordeal.  What follows is what happened to our main cast, but before that I have to tell you the fate of my beloved matriarch oc, Aggie.

Aggie was one of the first people to be turned to a Zodiac demon.  True to her protective nature, she essentially sacrificed herself to protect Olive and the kids (who were with her at the time) with the combined power of Bill as well as Hex Arcana, the demon who effectively owns Aggie, our sweet loving witch lady is turned to nothing short of a monster.  She shifts shape between a terrifying dog-beast with white fur and six eyes, to a semblance of her formal self but covered in bloody hexagons, and with no ounce of humanity behind.  Zodiac demon known as The Mongrel and she mostly stays around her old house.

Dipper and Mabel survived weirdmageddon and for some time after, the got by with the help of their uncles.  Devastated by the fact they’d likely never see their parents again, they were determined to do all they could to defeat Bill.  This proved to be impossible for them.  During a raid, Mabel was taken by Bill himself, and she was warped from sweet girl to a firey demon with a sadistic streak.  Mabel no more, she became a zodiac demon; Shooting Star.  

After the loss of Mabel, Dipper became even more determined.  Together with Ford, they developed as much technology and protective measures their two brilliant minds could manage.  Ford wanted to do more tests, but Dipper wanted to stop the madness and save everyone who’d been lost.  He went out (followed by Olive, Wendy and Gideon) and was taken by his sister.  He became the zodiac demon, Pine Tree and instantly turned on the others.  Dipper attacked Olive and fulfilled Bil’s order for each person alive to only have one eye, leaving her bleeding on the ground as Wendy tried to fight back and Gideon tried to get her back to camp.  Wendy was nearly turned to a Zodiac, but she managed to get away by ‘killing’ Pine Tree, but not before one of her arms warped into a sort of ice claw, showing what she’d become if she wasn’t careful.  To her horror, Pine Tree regenerated and continued the chase.  The twins were pushed back thanks to some magic measures Aggie put on the town before she died.  

Wendy returned and essentially ascended rather quickly to the roll of leader, along with her family.  Her father was taken within the first year, so Wendy really did take charge.  To this day she still is considered to be the leader.  She, like the rest of the population, only have one eye.

Gideon managed to get Olive back to the shack, which was a base of operations.  Ford and Stan desperately try to find out where Dipper is, but Gideon explains that Dipper was gone, like Mabel was.  This effectively breaks the older twins.  They argue, blame is tossed around, rage mounts.  Ford breaks down, he runs out of the shack.  By now, Olive has come to and witnessed all of this, and she pleads with Stan to go find Ford and get him back, he could be hurt and they need him.  Stan says nothing, clearly he’s a bit overcome with grief.  Olive wearily gets up and goes ater Ford.  She’s injured and half blind, but she manages to track him down.  He’s shouting to no on out in the woods that he wont be like the rest, he wont let Bill use him to hurt anyone.  He is shoutign about how its all his fault, and before Olive can run out and stop him, he took his gun and turns it on himself.

The loss of Ford breaks the community.  He was their greatest hope to defeat the evil.  After he died it became more a matter of survival rather than victory.  After his funeral, Stan left.  Without much of a word, he was gone.  Olive tried to stop him but she was too weak, and he vanished into the woods, never to be seen again.  It is unknown currently if he’s live, met a fate like Fords, or is in the woods somewhere lurking as a zodiac demon.

With the Pines family gone, things just got worse.  Mind you, all of this happened over the span of about a year.  More people either followed Ford or were taken and transformed.  Just to make this easy, here is the Zodiac +Bonus Characters and their fates, currently.

Dipper: Zodiac Demon Pine Tree A great spiked beast that has the ability to enter trees and control them to attack. Mabel: Zodiac Demon Shooting Star  A violent firey demon who leaps into the air and comes crashing down like a comet to obliterate her enemies. Stan: Unknown Ford: Deceased Soos:  Alive, handyman of the apocolypse.  He tried to go after Stan, but Stan begged him to stay back, that he couldnt stand the thought ofl osing anyone else, especially not Soos. Gideon: Alive, living al ot like he did in Weirdmageddon.  A sort of Mad Max big rig guy who aids in going out of the town in the events of compromises of the barrier.

Wendy: Alive, but part of her body has been turned to ice reflecting her Zodiac, Ice Robbie: Zodiac Demon The Bleeding Heart Working in tandem with his demonized parents, Robbie unleases hoards of regenerating undead to plague the town for Bills amusement. Pacifica: Alive, she’s become somewhat of a medic.  She still has two eyes, but keeps one covered. Fiddleford: Zodiac Demon Spectacles A large, mechanized demon with shards of glass protruding from it.  He’s essentially the shaktron but evil.

Aggie Yearling: Zodiac Demon The Mongrel A giant six eyed wolf beast that shifts shape into a semblance of Aggie to mess with anyone who crosses her. Olive Yearling: Alive, works directly under Wendy and often works with Gideon. Steven Yearling:  Zodiac Demon Fangs Hangs around the caves he once lived in.  Murderous, violent and hungry.  He resembles a bat.

Surviving townsfolk:  Wendy’s brothers, Ma Gleeful, Durland, Tate McGucket, Priscilla Northwest, Mayor Tyler, Waddles, Grenda, Candy’s parents, Grenda’s parents, all of Sev’ral Timez except Deep Chris, Gompers, Jeff the Gnome, Celestabelleabethabelle, Thompson, Toby Determined, any remaining side characters.

Demi-demons:  The Valentinos, Manly Dan, Lazy Susan, Ghost Eyes, Candy, Tambry, Lee, Deep Chris, Blubbs, Abuelita, Bud Gleeful, most of the remaining gnomes, the Multibear, nearly all of the manotaurs, Blendin Blandin, Poolcheck, Shandra Jimenez, Free Pizza Guy, Tad Strange,  and the Shapeshifter.

Bill’s squad is still running around too.

The present in the dimension is in present day for us, 2017.  Five years ahead of 2012.

I might just write this into a fucking fic???  I came up with all of this during a CAR RIDE today.  ALL OF IT.

#;;Verse: Zodiac Demons #I WROTE SO MUC H #suicide mention #gore mention #trigger warning #WHO WANTS TO DO SOME APOCOLYPSE THREADInG