#following willow

[allgirlsareprincesses]

But Queen Sorcha accidentally added an extra ingredient to the concoction:

Generational Trauma!

Thus, Team Willow was born!

~~~~~~

Kit Tanthalos, Jade Claymore, and Elora Danan as The PowerPuff Girls

🎨 by me with love to Craig McCracken

[whattheforce]

Following Willow - Versary

Happy First Anniversary Questies! It's time for #willow - Versary with a special #followingwillow episode & a State of the Realm 🌱🎂💜 with @allgirlsareprincesses

Youtube:

Itunes:

Spotify:

All other Links:

[kenneth-the-mudmander]

Willow and Fairytales: Graydon and the Lindworm

Another very long rambly theory about Graydon

I've been listening to the Following Willow episodes on the What the Force podcast

For episode 4, when they are talking about Graydon, they mention how he mirrors fairy tale lore where someone is in a beastial form and must have their skin shed by another.

Its symbolic of returning to their humanity and often has romantic connotations. (They give the example of Belle's kiss transforming the Beast.)

Elora sheds Graydon's "skin" of possession, and he is magically transformed back into his true self.

Except, and this now starts my theory, Graydon is not fully turned to his true potential. He still wears the shadow skins of guilt, doubt, and expectations. She did not shed all his skins.

Which reminded me, specifically, of the mythology of the Lindworm.

In the story, a queen is trying to have children and goes to a witch for help. The witch tells her to do some stuff and then eat an onion. She does, but she also eats the onion skin, and her son is born a Lindworm.

Lindworms are often depicted as serpents or wingless dragons. Also, a lot of times are cursed princes. (The usage of the word worm I think is significant for my theory.)

The Queen hides her son away, but when he comes of age, he becomes hostile and demands a bride so that he may become king and claim his birthright.

It should be noted that in many versions of the tale, the worm has a brother who is already set to be married.

Many maidens are brought to the lindworm, but he either turns away or devours all of them.

Until the final maiden, a humble shepherdess, in her cleverness, puts on multiple layers of clothes and asks to play a stripping game with the lindworm. Telling him he must shed a layer of skin for every layer of clothes she sheds.

They take turns shedding skins, usually 7, until they are both at their final layers. At which point, the maiden takes a whip and beats the now pink worm until the final layer is gone and the true form of the prince is revealed.

Now, what this could mean for Graydon.

I think he is still in his lindworm form. He still has these shadow layers hanging over him, and if my theory about him being the Harbinger is true, then Elora needs to shed him of his final skin, or he will fully become the lindworm. Fully become the dragon. The Wyrm.

I've been really scratching my head on where Graydon's arc is going to go. Mostly for writing my fanfic reasons. But also, out of all the characters in the party, his is the hardest for me to place on the Hero's Journey.

One of my biggest theories is that he is a Dark Chosen One. He is the Harbinger. But! He's obviously a good person. So where does that lead him?

Well! There is a sub trope in the dark chosen one category called the Apocalypse Maiden. A character, usually friend or lover to the hero, finds out they are a key to the apocalypse. And either dies or is saved by the power of love to join the forces of light.

It fits Graydon's arc so well! Also, it pairs with the show subverting tropes. Where the princesses are the Heroes and the princes are the damsels to be rescued.

Now! Pairing this with the lindworm myth

I think for Graydon to turn away from his destiny, turn away from the darkness; he will need Elora. She will have to battle him to remove his final skin and finally have him be his true self. A sorcerer. A king. A friend and a lover.

Secondary thought:

Lindworm skin is believed to increase a persons knowledge of nature and medicine.

After Elora takes the curse from Graydon, shedding him of his skin, she leaves with a greater understanding of magic and alchemy.

Anyways, these are just some thoughts. Might be completely looking more into than I should. But some of y'all seem to like my rambles, so I'll just keep rambling, I guess. ^___^ Also, I may try to look at everyone's Hero's Journeys and Fairytale parallels if there's interest.

But, of course, I wouldn't have these theories without the What the Force Podcast, so please check them out if you haven't already.

[bodgei]

Because I am sad about Willow I broke my "no new things" resolution

[wishing-well-art]

I miss them

[Image description by @anistarrose: digital art in a simple cartoony artstyle of Owl House characters in their Season 3 designs.

The first image shows Eda in harpy form, Luz in Titan form, and King hovering in the air. They're pressed shoulder to shoulder, grinning and holding hands. The background is gray and full of stars.

The second image shows the kids in their Halloween costumes, all smiling as they sit down on the ground to rest. Gus, Amity, and Willow are laughing as Luz sits with an arm around Amity, eyes closed and mouth open in relief.

Willow has her feet over one of Luz's legs, and Hunter sits next to her with eyes closed and a calm smile. The background is a desaturated red, with the phases of the moon appearing in yellow over the kids. End description.]

[missjessefantastico]

my biggest btvs pet peeve is when people act as if willow doing questionable stuff is out of character... besties, one of the first things we learn about her is that she "accidentally" decripted the city council's security system before she even met buffy, girly will do anything as long as she has built a good enough excuse in her head and thinks she won't get caught!

[flower-boi16]

It's absolutely hillarious to me how huntlow antis will always go around saying "umm, Huntlow isn't canon actwually!" and use it as some kind of gotcha to huntlow shippers. Like, putting aside how none of these people apply this same logic to other ships (ie. Lunter & Gustholumule) what makes it funnier is the fact that Huntlow IS canon.

The two show strong feelings towards each other throughtout the whole show, Dana and the crew DIRECTLY SAID THAT THEY SEE THEM AS A COUPLE, there is OFFICIAL CREW ART SHIPPING THEM

And also this.

Huntlow is practically canon mfs.

[zerogutzz]

tension...

[whattheforce]

AHHHHH

I gif'd the whole clip because some people wanted that.

Posting it here because twitter turns gifs into mp4 and fuck that noise.

[falling-skyzz]

PRIDE ICON REQUESTS FROM TWITTER!!! GOD THESE TOOK ME SO LONG

[allgirlsareprincesses]

Mythical Husbands in Willow (2022)

(Adapted from my Twitter thread)

Ok, time for a stream-of-consciousness thread about mythical husbands in #Willow: lost husbands, enchanted husbands, false husbands, mortal husbands, and demon lovers. #Graylora

After Ep4 of #Willow, I count at least 4 mythical husbands: Airk, Graydon, the Lich (stay with me), and... Madmartigan. I'm not including Willow himself in this, at least until we find out what happened to Kiaya.

False husbands and false brides are very common in folk tales, but usually the FIRST bride is the True Bride, while the SECOND husband is the True Husband. A True Bride has to master trials in order to prove herself, while a True Husband must humble himself to recover his bride.

There are many variations of the false husband, including the Demon Lover (sometimes the literal devil), a Revenant (undead lover), Incubus (avatar of the bride's sexual fantasies), the prince's beastly form, or a mortal man whose mundanity leads him to abandon his bride.

Thus far, #Willow seems to be blending these a lot, which is great in that it gives these husbands a lot of complexity. First, Airk: as @whattheforce has suggested, he's likely a false husband, most obviously the mundane mortal who fails to appreciate his extraordinary bride.

One example of this type of husband from myth is Theseus, who relies on Princess Ariadne to defeat the Minotaur and escape the Labyrinth, but then abandons her on an island. She wakes to find the god Dionysus, who makes her his consort.

Airk's immature love of "Dove" is a sort of emotional abandonment, showing that he is an inadequate partner for Elora even if she rescues him. Further, if the Crone manages to corrupt Airk, he will be a demon lover, who is sometimes (but not always) a false husband.

We see some other aspects of the Ariadne myth in #Willow, especially with how Elora is "tied" to Airk by the bracelet he gave her, and then tied to Graydon by the binding he tried to release in Ep3 and the belt she tied around him in Ep4.

Airk could also be classified as Elora's Incubus, given how sexually aggressive she is with him. This will be especially true if the Crone attempts to use her attraction to Airk to lure or corrupt her. Important note though: an Incubus is not necessarily a false husband (Kylo)!

The Lich qualifies as a demon lover when he uses Graydon as a vessel to pursue Elora. Specifically, the Lich is a Revenant or undead lover who tries to lure the bride into the underworld. Sometimes the Revenant can take the form of a lost lover, like Graydon using Airk's voice.

When possessed by the Lich and his past brush with dark magic, Graydon is also HIMSELF a demon lover or beastly husband, particularly demonstrated by his scarring and later facial deformity, the beastly skin which Elora must burn or consume to reveal the true husband underneath.

My favorite example of a Revenant tale is The Blood-Drawing Ghost, in which Kate finds a blackthorn wand atop a fresh grave. When she grasps it, the corpse demands she carry him to a manor where he drains and eats the blood of three young men. When she returns him to his grave, he tries to drag her in, but Kate outwits him and escapes, returning to the manor to feed the young men their own blood (which she cleverly refused to eat), reviving them. She then chooses one as a husband, discovers the dead man's hidden treasure, and lives happily ever after.

In #Willow Elora discovers her magic (making her the rightful owner of Cherlindrea's wand) and then is pursued by the agents of death. The Crone tries to use the blood of Airk, Kit, and Graydon to revive herself, and Elora fights back by cooking for or feeding others.

Graydon, though a prince and therefore a fitting partner for a goddess by fairy tale logic, can also be considered a mortal husband. The goddess of the dawn Eos or Aurora was known to take mortal lovers, notably a Trojan prince whom she gifted immortality.

Elora too is a goddess of light with a name that sounds very similar to Aurora and whose story includes many references to Sleeping Beauty variations like Brunhild. This Valkyrie was cursed to sleep under her shield and surrounded by a ring of fire until a hero could revive her.

Sleeping princesses are typically revived by the appearance of their true husband, and sometimes by that husband calling her by her true name. Immediately after Willow reveals Elora's identity, Graydon is the first to address her as such, awakening her from her disbelief.

In some tales, a sleeping princess is awakened first, and then her husband is cursed and must be healed. This is exactly the pattern followed by Elora and Graydon so far. Further, a ring will often play into the lovers' reunion, so I would expect Graydon's ring to be significant.

Lastly, a prominent lost husband in #Willow is Madmartigan, and I feel it is extremely likely that he, or at least his unreslved loss, will play a role in this season's conclusion. Because Sorcha chose to retreat behind the Barrier to protect her children, she never sought him the way that heroic brides typically do. As a Snow Queen archetype, Sorcha's role is to let her children go, and given Kit and Airk's unresolved issues with their father's disappearance, they may complete the quest she should have taken (Elora too).

Furthermore, Madmartigan could himself have become a demon husband in his time away - he might be dead (in the underworld) or transformed in some way, in which case he would need to be healed or integrated in some way by a power associated with Sorcha (likely through Kit).

Lastly, just in case anyone is wondering why Elora NEEDS a husband at all, it's the same reason that Kit needs a bride: alchemical union is the path to wholeness and the healing of the world which as #Willow said is out of balance!

/end (for now!)

Sources:

In Search of the Swan Maiden: A Narrative on Folklore and Gender by Barbara Fass Leavy

Sleeping Beauties: Sleeping Beauty & Snow White Tales From Around the World by Heidi Anne Heiner

https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfgw/tfgw33.htm

[whattheforce]

I had the Opportunity to write about Life Death Life and why Willow is so Mythically important

[willowcrowned]

starting this new food analysis where instead of counting macros or micros or calories we rate food by how enriching it is to eat. tiger meat pumpkin style

[hazelcallahan]

Tell us something only the real Boorman would know.

[crimeronan]

i've gotten one ao3 comment wondering about why AU lumiter didn't talk much in this fic about what hunter would do if he fell in love with someone else, since he's currently queerplatonic with luz (and arguably amity as well).... which is an excellent question!

the answer is pretty simple: hunter just straight-up does not expect this to happen.

i've Also been asked if he's aroace in this AU, and i do not think he is -- whenever i drag willow in here, she is going to make life Big Complicated for him. but him being on the borderline aroacespec side of bi that's like "wow, all of you people are literally so stupid and insane. i'm so glad i'm normal" is like. Real As Hell.

hunter has never given deep thought to falling in love outside of luz bc as far as he's concerned right now, he already IS in love. and tbh, he will continue to be! whatever he feels for willow will be complex and unfamiliar and Very Different from what he feels for luz, but luz is still like.... his life partner. and that's always going to be a priority for him.

tldr: polyamory sure is weird!

[aingeal98]

The methods of dealing with the big bads in Buffy are so funny and get increasingly more unhinged like s1 and 2 are vampires and we killed them. s3 a giant snake monster and we blew it the hell up. s4 a frankenstein monster robot that we killed by melding all of our souls together and using magic to give Buffy superpowers so she can rip out his heart. s5 an invincible god so Giles just straight up murdered its innocent human host to kill it. s6 our good friend Willow who we asked very nicely to please stop murdering people and destroying the world and now she continues to hang out with us and occasionally do ridiculously powerful feats of magic but it's OK she's not quite as depressed and suicidal anymore so she probably won't kill us all. And s7 was just the ultimate evil so we went back to the classic tactic of blowing it's army the hell up.