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witchycrossing · 4 years ago

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Whumptober #20

Villain turned the corner flanked by two of their henchmen, their henchmen were chatting quietly between each other, mostly ignoring their boss–which was fine with Villain, there wasn’t any real threat of danger this time of night anyway. Plus the soft voices made the villain relax, reminded them of the more mundane parts of life, they sighed contentedly as they came within a few feet of the door to their base, ruffling for keys in their pocket–home again, home aga–!

Something hit the Villain from behind and tackled them to the sidewalk, they could taste the metal of blood in their mouth as their face connected with the concrete, the weight of a body on their back pinning them down making it hard to breathe.

“Where are they!” an voice raged in their ear, “Tell me where you’ve put them you monster!”

But then the weight was lifted, scuffling and scratching as it went, “Get off! I’ll kill you, I swear to god I’ll kill you!”

Villain turned over to see hero fighting frantically with their henchmen, their usual fighting style and shining exterior long gone, they were fighting like a madman, but without any of their usual strategy or skill, their hits were random and weak. They were not even in their suit, just jeans and an over sized sweatshirt, they had managed to land a few hits but Villain was glad to see that their henchmen looked more bewildered than injured. They had the hero restrained in a few moments, struggling until they realized that they weren’t going to break their hold on them. So they let their head droop against their chest, breathing hard.

Villain went over to them, wiping the blood off of their chin with their sleeve from the sudden attack, “Can’t say I’m impressed,” Villain stated blandly, “aren’t you a little young for a midlife crisis?” They lifted hero’s head with a hand on their jaw, what they saw stagged them. There were tears in their enemies hallow bloodshot eyes, and circles dark as the rest of the bruises on their face under them. There were some shallow cuts and deep mottled bruises in various stages of healing all over their face, like they’d been beaten several times recently, and they were so much thinner than the villain had seen them last, the state of them shocked villain into silence for a moment. Hero grit their teeth in defiance against the kindness and worry that they saw in the villain’s eyes, even as hot tears ran down their face.

“What is going on?” Villain asked, their voice gentler this time, almost as if they were asking themselves the question instead of hero.

“Don’t play that with me!” Hero spat, “You’re the last one left! I searched all of the others! Now where is sidekick?”

Villain looked confused, shaking their head, “I don’t have sidekick, I’m not even working on anything really right now.” One of the henchmen holding hero nodded in agreement, villain shot them a look, “What?”

The henchman hesitated for a moment, “If you need a plan my nephew has this thing with bridges, it’s pretty fantastic and–”

Villain smiled down at hero, “See, I don’t even have any ideas, that are good right now, certainly not in the eyes of my employees.”

The henchman stopped talking about his nephew’s bridge plans, the other henchman elbowed him, “Not the time man,” they whispered sharply.

They were surprised when hero went limp in their henchman’s arms, sobbing and pulling at their hair as they collapsed to the sidewalk, “They’re dead! It’s my fault they’re dead!” They kept repeating to themselves as they rocked back and forth coming undone in front of them.

Villain handed the keys to one of their henchman mutely, motioning for them to open the door. They leaned closer to the moaning hero, putting a steadying hand on their shoulder, “When was the last time you ate anything or slept?” They asked gently.

“C-can’t find them,” hero whimpered, “I d-don’t know–”

“Hey, hero look at me,” Villain commanded firmly, hero’s eyes met theirs, villain swallowed at the dull despair and panic they read there, they sighed, this wasn’t on the agenda for tonight, “C’mon,” Villain motioned to hero, “Lets get you inside.”

“I-I gotta–” The hero tried to stand on badly shaking legs but stumbled and would have fallen if the villain hadn’t caught them, picking them up without much effort, hero didn’t have the strength to protest, they murmured sidekick’s name as their head landed limply on the villain’s chest, they were shaking so badly that their teeth were chattering. Villain carried them through the door and set them down on an overstuffed couch, giving an order to the henchman with a nephew to get the hero some blankets and something warm to eat.

“Now, what happened?” They asked for the second time, hero looked even less lucid than before, they blinked blearily at the villain as trembles rattled through them.

“S-sidekick call-called me th-three we-weeks ago, panicking, th-they needed h-help, I-I di-didn’ get wh-where they were I-I tried–!” Hero’s voice broke as they started to sob again, “I’ve b-been l-looking for them s-since, b-but I-I can’t–!” They buried their face in their hands as their body shook with sobs.

“Hey,” Villain took their cold hands in their own warm ones, “I’ll help you find them okay? But tonight you need to eat something, get a little rest,” they got the hero a bottle of water, hero gulped it down frantically.

“Can’t,” hero breathed, their eyes already starting to sink closed as the exhaustion took it’s toll, “They’re st-still out th-there, I’ll n-never forgive myself if–”

Villain cut them off, “None of that, I’ll get my people on it right now, we’ll know where they are in a few hours, but stay awake for a minute for me okay?”

Hero nodded but their eyes were already closed, they hadn’t stopped shaking, they didn’t stop even when henchman returned and villain wrapped them in blankets.

“Here,” Villain gave them a warm bowl of oatmeal, they didn’t want to give them too much and make them sick. Hero managed a few bites, but they could barely keep their eyes open anymore. Villain took the bowl, they helped hero lay down on the couch, tucking a pillow under their head, “get some rest, I’ll get you when we find them.”

Hero was dead to the world the moment that their eyes closed, when sleep claimed them they were finally able to stop trembling, melting into the softness and warmth of the blankets.

Villain sat back, they’d already sent out several of their men to search for sidekick, but hero was too weak to be left on their own. They sighed, and sat heavily in a chair that henchman pulled out for them, “So,” villain started after a long pause glancing over at their henchman, “How good is your nephew’s bridge plan?”

Henchman’s face lit up as they began to relate their nephew’s scheme.

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witchycrossing · 5 years ago

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Welcome to part five of our Monthly Guide to Monsters! My dear sweet @quills-and-golden-ink and I have put together some quick and easy guides to some of the world’s most infamous creatures!

The guide will include: basic background, historical information, abilities, how to defeat them, and portrayals in media. My sets will also always come with Prompts!

For the Month of October, we will be posting two a week! I’m so sorry that I am so late for this one. Life has been a bit hectic. But no matter the date it is posted on, we promise it will be 2 a week for the rest of October, and two a month for the rest of the year.

*Warning for graphic or gruesome depictions and retelling of violence*

Without further ado, we present to you all, the Monthly Guide To Monsters #5:

Witches

Definition: One who practices the art of witchcraft. Can be good, evil or neutral.

Definition of Witchcraft: There are many meanings or definitions given to witchcraft throughout the world and through many different cultures. In some beliefs, it’s a practice usually used for healing, in others, it’s a magical ability to do mystical things far beyond normal human capacity. In cultural anthropology, Witchcraft is usually defined as the innate ability to cause harm.

Description: Just like the definition, the description of witches changes across cultures. Many legends depict them as being physically indistinguishable from humans. They are often depicted as females in folklore, but more modern media has broken that line. In some (older)media, Witches were depicted as being rather grotesque humanoids, with large noses, warts and straw like hair. (*Disclaimer Edit*: I didnt add this before, because I found it unnecessary, but apparently it is needed. This old depiction of witches comes form anti-semetic propaganda. This description is extremely racist, but is no longer seen in modern media, so I did not think I had to advice people against doing it.)

Abilities: Depending on where you are looking, the abilities of a witch can change drastically. In some cultures, Witchcraft is purely a practice that requires hard work, education, potions or special ingredients, mystical objects and sacred words/spells/incantations. In other cultures, Witches have innate magical abilities where they need only to think of something in order for it to be done. Other cultures, and most forms of media, like to mix these two ideas. So usually Witches have or use the following:

Spells are a kind of incantation with strong magical power(Older spells are often in a foreign or ancient language rather then English, so it’s not uncommon to see a witch portrayed as speaking multiple languages)

Potions made from magical or mystical ingredients and can be used for a large number of things.

Witches are often shown possessing a large amount of knowledge about other magical creatures.

Levitation and flying

Witches are sometimes said to be able to disguise themselves through transformation magic, though the extent of the transformation depends on the lore. Some are just to look ‘more human’, others can fully transform into animals.

Opening of portals to teleport

Some witches are said to control or communicate with certain aspects of nature, like animals, elements or the weather.

Necromancy is usually more of a specialized practice, but it is said that some witches can raise the dead.

Demonology is a darker idea behind witches, it’s the idea that witches can and often summon demons from hell or trade their souls with demons in exchange for magic.

Healing. This is a magical art usually given to ‘white witches’, in which a witch is able to use their own or the life force of the wounded to heal some injuries or illnesses.

They are usually immune to human illnesses, diseases, and deaths. They have a stronger immune system and usually a prolonged life.

Witches usually have a familiar, a magical helper usually in the form of an animal.Familiars help witches with spells, potions, collecting ingredients, and even help protect their witch. Familiars are usually voluntary, but sometimes they are humans that have been cursed to live as an animal and serve the witch. Familiars are usually seen as cats, owls/birds, spiders, and rats.

Testing, curing and killing witches: As many know, Witches have a very long and dark history when it comes to their treatment. So many people who were more than likely to be innocent were tortured and killed in extremely gruesome ways.

Testing:

The ‘swim’ test. The victim was often tied with a heavy rope and weight tied around their waist and then tossed into a river or lake. It’s said that an innocent person would sink, but a with would float and bob a long around the surface. Almost every person subjected to this trial drowned to death.

The Prayer test. It’s said that witches were incapable of reciting the holy scripture. A witch on trial might have been expected to recite a line or two, but were expected to do it perfectly without any hesitation or mess ups. If someone failed at this test, it’s most likely because they were either illiterate, or too nervous to talk. It’s said that some people even managed to do it without problem, only to have their success be waved off a ‘a trick of the devil’ and for them to be executed anyway.

All witches were said to have a unique mark somewhere on their body that could be in any shape, form or color. Examiners rarely didn’t find a ‘witches mark’ because birthmarks, moles, scars, tattoos and sores could all be seen as being the mark of a witch.

The scratch and poke test. So, witches marks were said to be incapable of pain and bleeding. If an examiner could not find a witches mark, they would produce this test, using specialized or dull needles to poke around the accused bodies until they found a spot that produced the painless, bloodless results they desired.

Pressed. The accused would be lied down, and a wooden board would be put over them, then heavy stones would be placed over it repeatedly until either they confessed to being a witch or they were crushed to death. Either way, they died.

The perfect Weight test. This one wasn’t as common as some, but it still existed. Some accused would be weighed against a stack of bibles. If they weighed more than the bible’s, they were a witch. If they weighed less than the bible’s, they were killed. They had to weigh the exact same amount of the bibles. It was an impossible test to pass.

There was also many tests involving the accused victims, which were always faked as their victims would lie just to have the accused prosecuted.Witch trials were designed to always work in the favor of the ‘victims’, and the ‘Witch’ was almost always killed.

Killing of Witches: Because yeah, those were just the ways that accused were tested for being a witch. If that test didn’t kill them, there were many other ways to do it. The most popular ways to kill a witch were:

Hanging

Burned at the staked

Real Life Witches:

Now witchcraft isn’t just an old folktale. It’s considered a very real thing in many different cultures. Witchcraft was a real thing that many people actually did study and practice, many people still do. A more modern, well known descendant of witchcraft is the practice or pagan religion of Wicca

Wicca: A more modern pagan religion that while it draws on witchcraft, and has a good deal in common with it, is entirely separate. Many who practice Wicca do not consider themselves a witch, and vice versa.

Wicca is a belief system, and a way of life that focus on peace, harmony and balance with oneself, humanity, and nature.

Wicca is nothing like the old tales of witchcraft. The most stark difference being that old witchcraft was said to be to harm others, while Wicca not only avoids harming others, but strictly forbids the harming of innocent beings.

Wicca is often rather specialized, and changes little features here and there depending on the individual coven or practitioner.

Studying and becoming a Wiccan is not quite as simple as many believe

To find more about the faith(and other sects of witchcraft) I highly suggest browsing around the web, in books, and through any willing Wiccan/witch consultant. Go with multiple sources, not just one or two in order to get the best and most in depth understand of the practice. To be clear, I myself spent many years studying witchcraft and I myself am wiccan.

Witches in Media: Now over the years there have been a lot, and I mean a lot of media that focuses on witches. I’ve tried to arrange for you all a good range of some of the most popular witches in media.

The Craft(Movie, 1996)

Hocus Pocus(Movie, 1993)

The Harry Potter Series(Books and Movies)

The Blair Witch Project(Movie, 1999)

Practical Magic(Movie,1998)

Halloweentown(1998)

The Crucible(Play by Arthur Miller, Movie; 1996)

Kiki’s Delivery Service(1989)

Bewitched(Movie;2005, TV show 1964-1972)

The Witches of Eastwick(1987)

The Wizard of Oz(Movie:1939)

Wicked(Book1995, Musical 2003)

Charmed(TV show 1998-2006)

Charmed(TV show 2018 reboot airing)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer(TV show, 1990s. Now I included this because although it’s not primarily about Witches, one of the main Charcters: Willow, is one of the most famous witches in modern media)

American Horror Story: Coven (TV show)

The Secret Circle(2011)

Sabrina The Teenage Witch(TV show 1996-2003, and there are rumors of a new,darker retake of sabrina coming soon to netflix)

Prompts:

“What are you gonna do, huh? Curse me again? I’ve spent the last three centuries with you, there’s nothing left for you to threaten me with”

“Okay so, I think you gave me the wrong shopping list,?I don’t think the local grocery store carries dragons scales or fairy tears? They might have the pigs tongue though…”

“You love that cat more then you love me” “This cat has been with me, helping and protecting me for the last four hundred and twenty seven years. Of course I love him more then you.”

“We arent all bad you know. Look at me. You know me. I would never, ever hurt you. My magic isnt evil. It doesn’t come from anywhere bad or dark. My magic is a gift. It comes from the earth. My magic can help you. Please just trust me about this.”

“You turn one person into a toad one time by accident over six hundred years ago and nobody ever lets you live it down!”

“I’ve been crushed, hung, stabbed, drowned in freezing rivers, crucified and burned alive. So go ahead, try me. Read all the weak, half-assed incantations you want. Call every priest in the state Torture me all you want. You don’t scare me in the slightest. There’s nothing you can do to break me, I have endured worse for centuries.”

Hope you enjoy, and find it useful :)

and if you like my work and would like to support me, consider buying me a coffee?

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