#graylora fic

[terapsina]

A Heart's Tether - graylora fic

-

ao3

-

"You've been having nightmares," Willow says. His voice is soft but Elora's back still freezes in the middle of uncurling her sleeping mat on the ground, her mind overcome with flashes of fire, of Graydon screaming, of-

She suppresses an involuntary shudder.

"It's nothing, I'm fine," her voice edges on a coldness her friend and teacher doesn't deserve. But she needs him to stop talking.

"We all miss him, Elora. He wouldn't want you to bottle it all up like this, you can talk to us, me or Kit, or Airk-"

"I'm fine," she snaps again, this time not trying to hide the shortness.

Willow sighs, tired and sad, and she blinks until the threat of tears passes; waits with her back turned until he goes back to his side of tonight's camp.

Guilt claws at her but she can't afford to tell Willow about her nightmares; can't afford to let herself get convinced that they're not real.

More importantly, Graydon can't afford it.

-

"It's not real," he reminds himself; repeats to himself under his breath. "You're not her, I'm not going to betray her."

The monster wearing Elora's face gently moves a sweaty curl of hair out of Graydon's eyes and he flinches at the way his heart wants him to lean into that caress. He clenches his eyes shut, trying to banish the illusion but her scent strengthens in response to his closed eyelids and he opens them again.

"But the real one doesn't need you, doesn't love you, Graydon. I do, I need you." She smiles sadly at him, red hair surrounding her face like fire.

It hurts looking at her. She's so nearly a perfect imitation. Same face, same scent, same smile, same warmth licking over his skin at her touch. It hurts the way his missing scars once hurt as they were placed - as they were burned into his skin.

But if he looks at her he can at least see the thinly veiled cruelty that has never existed in the eyes of the real Elora. Can see the hollow darkness that wants to swallow the world. When he looks away, there is nothing to remind him that she's only an illusion.

An illusion the Wyrm has conjured for him because it knows how weak Graydon is. How pathetic. How easy to manipulate.

But he can't let himself be.

If he lets himself start believing the illusion he's going to become a monster again, he knows what the Wyrm wants. It failed with Prince Airk so it's moved on to Graydon.

"It's not real," he says again for the innumerable time, this time not daring to look away from the copy of the face he loves most in this world... or rather the world he left behind. "You're not her. I'm not going to betray her."

"Don't think of it as betrayal. Think of it as coming home to me. You do want to come home to me don't you?" her voice turns sweet as she coaxes him, leaning forward, her chest pressing against his closely drawn knees.

Her hand moves lower, grazing her fingers against the stubble on his jaw, her thumb running with torturous slowness over his lower lip.

She feels so real.

But the real Elora would not be doing it. The real Elora loves Airk. Graydon accepts it, he does. He wants Elora to be happy.

And she might not love Graydon, but she is his friend. He cannot hurt her by returning only to help the Wyrm destroy everything she's ever cared about.

He knows how this works. The Wyrm won't have hold of his mind unless he gives into the temptation.

So he can't.

Just this once he needs to be strong enough. Just as long as he remembers that the real Elora-

"-has already forgotten you," the Wyrm finishes for him, plucking the incomplete thought from his head and twisting it to its ends. The imitation of Elora shakes her head in pity. "I mean she moped for a day or two. But then her prince came to give her a shoulder to cry on and you know how these things go, don't you Graydon?"

His breath catches despite himself.

He knows it's a lie.

Elora wouldn't just forget him, just like she would never have forgotten anyone else from their party if it had been someone other than Graydon that were caught. But he also knows that she will move on, and of course, Airk would try to be there for her. That only makes sense. The prince of Tir Asleen loves Elora too. So if she was sad because her friend had... died, it would only be natural for Airk to want to comfort his fiancée.

He tries not to imagine it. Knows it's what the Wyrm wants. But it's already too late, in the blink of an eye there's the picture of the prince she'd gone through so much to save kissing Elora's tears from her cheek.

Or maybe it's not even a lie. Graydon doesn't truly know how long it's been since the Wyrm had caught him. Maybe it's been years for her.

Maybe she's already Airk's wife. Maybe Graydon is already an old memory, a sad story she remembers only occasionally. Someone she might mention in passing as an old friend to small children with beautiful coppery-red hair and unfairly charming grins when they ask her for the story of the time she went to save their father from monsters.

His heart nearly tears in half at the imagined possibility.

"Oh, Graydon," the monster wearing the face of his love whispers, "you are only hurting yourself, just let me give you everything you've been longing for. It will be real for you, I promise. There won't even be a difference."

Of course, there wouldn't be.

Graydon would be allowed to swim inside a delusion where Elora loved him, where those children would still have her blinding smiles but would also take on Graydon's darker complexion, where he'd have everything he'd been too smart to really hope for.

And somewhere out there in the cold hard reality, his body would be puppeteered into being the Wyrm's lapdog. Facing the real Elora across battle lines where she'd look at him with the same kind of horror she'd worn after she saw him pushing his brother out of the tree. In the real world he'd be fighting the love of his life, and turning into reality the vision Willow had tried to keep from them all.

He would have a lie. And the Wyrm would kill Elora.

Graydon would rather walk Elora down the aisle toward Airk himself.

"No," he says, making himself have the faith in his own strength that Elora did. "I won't betray her. Even if she forgets me. Even if she never loves me. Even if the Wyrm tears everything I am apart until there's nothing of use to it left. It can hold me here, torture me, but it can't make me give up my soul to its whims."

Elora's stolen face hardens into a rage.

"We'll see," she says and in moments fire consumes Graydon's every last thought as flames engulf his entire body.

For a long time after, he can only scream.

-

Elora dreams of Graydon.

Every night she dreams of him. And it's always the same scene. Graydon with his knees pulled against his chest with Elora herself - or rather something that looks like her even as Elora knows it to be something... other - hovering beside him, caressing his cheeks, whispering into his ear, very nearly kissing him as he pulls away from her, every time with something more haunted in his eyes.

She can't hear him. Or her- it?

Only sees the refusal that eventually blooms across his face. And then... then the fire, the eternity of fire that follows as Elora herself screams herself hoarse trying to get to Graydon. To reach him, punching and clawing against the veil that seems to separate him from Elora.

She can't hear him and yet she feels his agony anyway. Feels the tiny sliver of a tether that's keeping him to sanity, like she's holding the other end.

She's started to suspect that she might be, she always wakes with his flute clenched in her fist, and once she even thought she saw it glimmer with the fading echo of his purple magic instead of the flash of green she's taken on herself.

Elora knows what she's being forced to watch.

The Wyrm is trying to turn him. To seduce him to its side.

And every time that it fails to, it punishes Graydon by burning him alive.

And every time the Wyrm seems to eventually take notice of Elora's presence. Because it turns away from Graydon convulsing on the ground and smiles at Elora. This time though- this time it speaks too.

"He's almost mine, you know," the Wyrm says using Elora's voice.

"Get away from him," she snaps, still clawing against the veil, trying to find a pulled seam; a crack in the glass; something to find purchase against.

"He had no hope to begin with, so it should have been easier, I'll give him that much. But this face makes him weak, he wants me to be you, and he's not going to remember that I'm not for all that much longer."

"He's not weak," she seethes.

"Oh, but he is. You all are. So much potential, all of it wasted because of your hearts. You should really feel relief at my release from this prison, I'm coming to end this suffering you're doomed to."

"I'm going to stop you," she promises to it.

"You won't," the Wyrm shakes its head and drops on its knees reaching within the flames that still cover Graydon to run fingers over his burning scalp. "And if you do... well that would mean that my Harbinger would be staying here too. With me."

"Don't touch him!" Elora feels the same rage that had overtaken her when the Crone had made Graydon vanish in front of her eyes return now.

Green lightning crackles at her fingertips as she smashes her hands against the veil. Again and again. Again. Again. And for the first time, the air in front of her grows hot and she feels a crack.

It's tiny, the size of a grain of sand. But suddenly she can hear Graydon too, and the Wyrm's satisfaction is wiped clean off the face it has stolen from her.

He's screaming and for a moment Elora feels it like a gut punch, - the sound worse than the one he let out when he'd been losing ground to the demon possessing him, - but she doesn't have time for horror or heartbreak. Whatever it is she just did won't last long, she knows that, so instead of letting his agony tear her heart to shreds she screams his name.

"Graydon! Graydon, look at me! Graydon! Please, Graydon!"

It takes an eternity but he does- he does, she feels the tears that had momentarily halted during her rage at the Wyrm begin running down her face again. But she smiles anyway, exhilaration at getting through overtaking everything else just for a moment.

"Elora, " she sees his lips form her name as light flickers to life in his eyes.

She sobs, clawing against the invisible wall separating them, her eyes pinned in place by the agonized awe in his, ignoring the way her palms burn upon contact with the veil she's trying to pierce to get to Graydon.

"I'm going to get you out of here. I will, I promise. I know you're alive. I'm going to get you out. Just remember she's not me. Just for a little longer, remember she's not me."

His lips begin to form the syllables making up her name again when she feels the waking world trying to assert itself.

'Elora, wake up, you're having a nightmare,' comes Willow's voice echoing around her as Graydon begins to be encircled in mist.

"No!" she screams, she almost had him, she was nearly there.

"No," she gasps again as the cool night air replaces the heat from the flames. And then she swallows a pained whimper as her palms graze against the rough-spun material of her blanket.

"You're hurt," Willow exclaims and cups the back of her palms to pull them closer to the light from the campfire to inspect the damage.

She stares at the burns on her skin and begins to cry the way she hasn't let herself cry in anything but her dreams since they left the Immemorial City. She burned her hands trying to break through the veil. It was real.

"He's alive," she sobs and then laughs as relief and terror fall across her shoulders in synch. "The Wyrm has him. But Graydon's alive."

[alexanaraxadel]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Willow (TV 2022) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Elora Danan/Graydon Hastur, Jade Claymore & Graydon Hastur, Thraxus Boorman & Graydon Hastur, Kit Tanthalos & Graydon Hastur, Willow Ufgood & Graydon Hastur Characters: Graydon Hastur, Elora Danan (Willow), Kit Tanthalos, Jade Claymore, Willow Ufgood, Thraxus Boorman, Kenneth cameo Additional Tags: Angst, lots of angst :), Grief/Mourning, featuring zivian hastur being the worst father ever, Eventual Plot, Angry Elora, a graydon tribute from every character's perspective, elora's section is longer than everyone else's combined because, #graylora Summary:

Growing up, Graydon Hastur had always been told that he would be forgotten. He heard it first from his father, over and over and over again, and as a child raised on stories of legends and heroes, he’d been despondent.

So is it any wonder that now, an adult trapped in hell, unable to return to Galladoorn and for all intents and purposes dead to the living, he felt like a self-fulfilling prophecy?

...and all the ways they prove him wrong.

Or: 5 times his questmates mourn Graydon, and the 1 time it's Elora.

[allthefakepeople]

(credit to @sorshatanthalos for the cover mock-up)

Those Rumors They Have Big Teeth

by: isabrella, falsenine, melsj98, and resurrecho

Summary:

For as long as they’ve shared a dream of making great music, Kit always figured it would just be Jade-and-Kit, best friends for life, a package deal. When their manager Thraxus “Relaxus” Boorman politely suggests (demands) that they add some new talent to their band, suddenly that dream includes Graydon Hastur and Muffin Girl Elora Danan.

After their lesbian cover of “You Belong With Me” goes viral, it feels like the whole world is invested in Kit and Jade’s personal lives, identities, and the definitely-fictional romance between them (and between the rest of the band, too). And despite the near-constant scrutiny and endless fan theorizing, it feels like no one sees what’s really going on with Kit anymore. 

Not even Jade.

Or: the band AU that turned into a multimedia behemoth inspired by 2014 band mega-fandoms, Kristen Stewart groupies, the notion of Kit in leather pants, and the question, “How can we make this whole situation even worse for Kit Tanthalos?”

Or: what happened after someone jokingly said “Kit and the Situations would be an iconic band name”.

Read Chapter Two: this is how we get notorious

thanks to my incredible co-writers @isabrella @sorshatanthalos (or kitstanthalos on twitter) and @resurrecho

we hope you love this second monster of a chapter, if you thought the first one was long... this one is twice the length!

[guzzlingplastic]

Those Rumors They Have Big Teeth

by: isabrella, falsenine, resurrecho, and melsj98

Read Chapter Three: you and i walk a fragile line

Summary:

For as long as they’ve shared a dream of making great music, Kit always figured it would just be Jade-and-Kit, best friends for life, a package deal. When their manager Thraxus “Relaxus” Boorman politely suggests (demands) that they add some new talent to their band, suddenly that dream includes Graydon Hastur and Muffin Girl Elora Danan.

After their lesbian cover of “You Belong With Me” goes viral, it feels like the whole world is invested in Kit and Jade’s personal lives, identities, and the definitely-fictional romance between them (and between the rest of the band, too). And despite the near-constant scrutiny and endless fan theorizing, it feels like no one sees what’s really going on with Kit anymore.

Not even Jade.

Or: the band AU that turned into a multimedia behemoth inspired by 2014 band mega-fandoms, Kristen Stewart groupies, the notion of Kit in leather pants, and the question, “How can we make this whole situation even worse for Kit Tanthalos?”

Or: what happened after someone jokingly said “Kit and the Situations would be an iconic band name”.

thank you so much to the incredible @isabrella, @resurrecho, and @allthefakepeople

we hope you love the chapter!!!

[liminal-zone]

lead the world into my light 

fic link: Conviction

fandom: Willow (2022) | ship: Graydon/Elora, Graydon/The Wyrm

rated: M | tagged: dark, id fic

summary: “I possessed you once,” the wyrm with her face says. “Let me possess you again.”

The misadventures of a strange enchanted boy and an eternal hungry wyrm, and the empress they both covet.

Written as a Yuletide 2023 treat for Desdemon

Excerpt:

It’s a terrible battlefield, heat radiating from every direction and smoke filling his nose and mouth and lungs. Horrors beyond imagining fill his vision.

Save one – there is a horror worse still.

The figure of Elora Danan is standing before him, having made her cursed proposal. Her pale hand reaches for him, her mouth in a pert pout. She’s so beautiful, so alluring, so hungry for him. Her clothes an oil slick and her hair flame.

“Take my hand.” Her voice is an angelic sound contrary to the havoc around him.

Graydon is no simpleton. He is a sorcerer in his own right. And he is a man besotted. He knows this is a ruse. He knows this isn’t her, the Last Blood of Kymeria, the Daughter of the Sun and Moon, Semprum Sorceress and High Priestess, her Royal Highness the Sacred Princess Elora Danan. She who will be Empress of the Nine Realms. The woman of many dreams, of very specific nightmares.

He sees through it, sees the great maw of desire and greed. A primal force dressed up like a lamb, begging for its throat to be cut. This ancient creature would eat the world in one bite if it could and still ache for more.

But he also sees her face, her eyes, her chin, her neck. When she takes in a deep breath, the oh so visible curves of her move and he longs to trace each one with his fingers. In chaos, in hell, she’s focused on him, she wants him. She has made herself perfectly clear.

In that moment, he sees there is a choice. And there is certainty in what would happen should he refuse.

His soul is already damned. His hand meets hers in a firm grip.

*

She fucks him at once; there’s no preamble or words spoken or scenery shift. Just her lithe facsimile of a woman’s body getting into position over him and maneuvering his dick inside her. He’s hard, of course, no issue in impaling her on the battlefield. She’s so soft, so very soft, and warm and wet and willing for him. There’s the softest little moan she makes when he’s balls deep, and then she claims him on the ash and the blood and the dirt. Unfamiliar slattern behavior and delicious in the taboo.

He plays the part convincingly and does not flinch as her eyes turn black.

*

“You’re not her,” he says.

“Everything that is Elora Danan is me. You’ll learn,” the wyrm says, her long fingers deep inside him, coaxing out his pleasure again.

[littleblackraincloudofcourse]

FIRST & LAST

share your favorite lines from your first and last fic

tagged by @lowkeyed1

Only started writing fics about a year ago, just ten so far, but I think I've improved

This Darkness is the Light

He knew they were all worried about him now. Knew they believed he was thinking of the crone, of Lili, but he wasn't. He was thinking of the dark haired, kind eyed prince who had stolen his heart then lost his life.

Wilder Than the Wind

The sweet shy prince was apparently the walking embodiment of lust and desire. The Reavers might not kill him, but pretending to be in love with Graydon and not giving in to rapidly growing need for him just might.

tagging @veronae-buddie @t3acupz @eclecticwrites and open tag for anyone who wants to share

[madnessiseverything]

chekov's "i don't like other people seeing me naked"

got impatient so you get a screenshot parallel instead (side note the tone in his voice when he says "yes, it is" never fails to make me go crazy go stupid)

[Image ID: five screenshots of the disney+ series willow. the first two show a group of people riding horses through a green landscape, while the subtitles show Graydon Hastur saying "I wish someone told me. I'm really scared of dying. That and communal bathing." the third screenshot shows Graydon lying on his back with his chest exposed, showing a large scar sprawling out from the centre of his torso up to his shoulders and down to his navel. the subtitles say "just something bad (groans)". the fourth screenshot shows Elora looking down on Graydon as the subtitles say "(groaning): it's shameful". the final screenshot is a close-up of graydon's face staring up. the subtitles show Elora saying "no, it isn't" and Graydon responds "yes, it is." End ID]

[storyspinner91]

Chapter 16: You Were the Song

Realized I never actually shared this to tumblr, even though I posted it a week ago! Chapter 16 of Like Constellations is now live. The battle for Port Joy continues as Kit faces her brother, faces her past, and takes a plunge. Meanwhile, Elora fights Lilith in the deep web and the rest of the crew fights Tanthalos in the city's streets.

This chapter means that Book 2 is now finished! If you were waiting to jump in until it was "done," I'll offer that that won't be for a while, and this is a pretty clear end-of-an-arc. There will be a time-jump (both in-story and IRL, as I need to outline) between this and Graydon's book, and the Tanthamore arc in particular has tied itself up pretty well. This isn't to say that Kit and Jade won't be in the rest of the work (of course they will) but the push-pull of their romance won't be quite as central.

Also in this chapter: bullet train Jade! Mystical gnostic AIs! Possessed Kit (kinda)! My favorite interaction between Kit and Scorpia yet!

[re-bee-key]

They should bring a unicorn in as a test or a guide in Season 2. Maybe near the end, when Graydon is reunited with the party.

I have this wonderful scene in my head, where Graydon is suddenly introduced to the unicorn. And he is scared because he knows they can sense purity and abhor evil.

Hes not so much scared of the unicorn killing him, as he is of the confirmation that hes truely gone and corrupted. That he cannot be redeemed. And hes as evil and bad as his father always accused him of being. Even Elora fearing him when she saw what he had done.

But, as he stands there frozen. Cowering in on himself. Trying to avoid eye contact. The unicorn slowly and purposely approaches him. When it comes close enough to impale him and lowers its head, he flinches and closes his eyes. But instead of pain he hears the most melodic and angelic voice speak to him.

"I sense much conflict and darkness in your heart, Grayond Hastur. But," its voice goes soft and gentle, "it is not in the way you think. The darkness comes from fear and self loathing. There is so much goodness in you. And its being held back. Let go of the shackles youve put around your heart, and then you will find peace."

He sinks to his knees, tears streaming down his face. And as he looks up at her, eyes big and full of doubt and hope. She leans down and kisses his forhead. A flash of pinkish light shines and when she pulls back, there is a purple star on his forhead.

Elora and the others had watched it all. Silence and awe thick in the air. Graydon looked over to her, and face lit up in a smile as he sees her for the first time in months. The morning sun rising behind her, her hair glowing like a halo.

And she looked at him as the sun light illuminated his smile and felt whole for the first time in so long. She had found Arik and had already started uniting the armies behind her. But her heart has been clouded ever since Graydon died. She felt guilty at not realizing before what she now knew to be true.

She ran to him and before he could react tackled him into a big hug. And after a few quiet sniffles only he could hear she whispered into his neck

"I love you too."

[robbiedaymonds]

Atop the Shattered Sea by theredhoodie a deep dive into episode 7 and the moments we missed graydon/elora g rating - one shot - 3136 words canon compliant, missing scenes, fluff, angst, introspection

She half-smiled, half-frowned. Everything felt so messed up. The Skellin mine had churned up their little group and she wasn’t sure if it was to be for better or worse. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and tried not to shudder as the Crone’s vision, sent through the Doom, replayed in her mind.

[storyspinner91]

Lmao this is spoilers but guess who has this talent? 😉

thinking very much about the description for the technophile talent in lancer

like. the sheer amount of gender here is insane. i need an nhp shawty so bad

[terapsina]

A King’s Mistake - graylora fic

- ao3 -

Grief was a funny thing. There was an ebb and flow in it, the push and pull of a moon adding gravity to the water, burying that pain in one moment and exposing it to the scalding sunlight the next.

Elora’s pain had bled into the air around her when she’d killed the Crone for snatching Graydon from her before she’d had a chance to truly acknowledge all that he’d come to mean to her. And it had felt the searing touch of saltwater as Boorman had given her Graydon’s flute.

The sting had eased - just a touch - as they traveled back, as every new responsibility had taken precedence over the cracks forming over the beating organ in her chest; as every small struggle took attention away from the memory of the last look he’d sent to her before he’d taken her place in the fight and was blasted into dust - full of love and conviction and the heart that she knew was so much stronger than he thought it was. She forced herself to feel every bruise she’d received in the fight, every new blister on the heel of her foot. Because when she made herself focus on the physical, it granted moments of relief from the emotional.

It carried her over the Shattered Sea all the way to Tir Asleen.

Right up until they stood in front of King Hastur and gave him the news of his younger son’s death.

“I’m sorry for your loss, Your Majesty,” Kit announced in the room that held their group, Queen Sorsha, and Graydon’s stone-faced father.

There was a beat of silence as the king of Galladoorn took in the news and Elora did her best to look somewhere over the man’s shoulder so that she wouldn’t have to see her own grief echo back. 

“So the quivering failure of a son couldn’t even manage to live long enough to give me the heir he promised,” the king said, voice as empty as the eyes Elora was now staring at “how disappointing.”

She felt the blow from the cruelty of those words like a slice across the veil she’d constructed between herself and the tearing sensation she’d felt a heartbeat before she had realized the Crone was about to murder Graydon in front of her powerless eyes. And like then, the moment was followed by the roar of magic burning through her veins, hissing through her soul until all that remained was the blood-thirsty haze of power just waiting at her fingertips.

It had felt good back then. Had woken a part of her that had been sleeping for years, content with the little sparks of intuition that had made her cooking phenomenal and kept her otherwise utterly below notice. Brought her alive with rage and agony and something that she knew Graydon would have found beautiful.

If he'd been alive to see it. 

“Elora,” she heard Willow caution her somewhere just past her notice.

“Shit!” came from Kit who suddenly appeared in front of her, cutting Elora’s eye line off from the man it would be so easy to tear into pieces just now. She twisted her wrist, green lightning throwing Kit aside and into Jade’s arms. She knew she’d feel bad about that later, but just now all that mattered was to clear the way between her and the monster who didn’t deserve to call himself a father.

On the other side of her, she briefly caught the sight of Boorman grabbing Airk by his shoulder and hauling him back from interfering. And that was the last thing to happen before she was in front of King Hastur with her hand around his throat and her nails cutting into his skin.

“How dare you-”

She cut him off mid-word with a snarl. 

“How dare I? How dare you speak of him as if you deserve to breathe the air he no longer can, I could burn you alive for those words.” Rage was coursing through her veins as she brought to mind the way Graydon had flinched when she’d questioned him about his brother, the way resignation had swallowed the light that always rested in his eyes when he’d looked at her. As if that had been an often-trodden over blame he’d become used to listening to, and for the first time, Elora wondered from whom he’d been hearing it.

“Who do you think you are to-”

She smiled, something vicious overtaking her as she ran her eyes over the face that held elements of Graydon in it, - something in the shape and color of the eyes and line of the nose - but lacked the purity of the soul and the bravery of the heart she'd found in his son.

She knew his like; he was a worm who used his luck of birth to get away with any number of atrocities. Elora wondered how many of them had been against the youngest son who'd gotten possessed as a child and had lived with the terrible consequences of it for years since those unfixable moments in the tree. 

“I’m Elora Danan, and if I were you I’d stop talking for a minute,” she said, verdant sparks running over her skin all across her body as she hovered over the abyss. 

There was the careful touch of another hand coming to rest over Elora's, and making her aware of the room around her once more. 

"You know he wouldn't want you to do this, Elora," Kit told her as Elora reluctantly took her eyes away from King Hastur, and the blood draining from his face at the revelation of her identity. 

"You don't know that." Her mind was conjuring pictures of that younger Graydon she'd seen in the vision, imagining him dwarfed by this man who would have been so much larger than him, with the eyes filled with the darkness Elora could see in them. Just a boy who hadn't been able to fight off a demon.

"Yes, I do. And so do you." Kit's voice was kind, so different from the way she'd spoken to Elora at the beginning of their quest before they'd reached the point of friendship and something very near to sisterhood. Before they'd taken a leap of faith off the edge of a cliff. 

"He doesn't get to speak of Graydon like he wasn't- like he wasn't important to- to-"

"To you?"

"Like he wasn't priceless. Like he wasn't his son. Like he didn't give his life to save the world, to save me." Elora felt something break anew inside her. He'd died for her. And he wouldn't have had to if only Elora had been able to touch the power that was only a thought away now before she'd seen him scatter like ash in the wind. 

She didn't want to let go - wanted to go through with her threat - but she let Kit pull her back with a sob.

For a moment hatred flashed over King Hastur's face and it looked like he was about to backhand either Elora or Kit for this slight against his person, but he froze back in place as Elora's hand was at once replaced by the edged blade of Jade's sword. 

"That's a bad idea, Your Majesty," Jade told him, coldly. 

But Elora only barely took notice of it, instead pulling her hand to press it against the center of her stomach, trying to push the gushing agony back into place, where it couldn't quite touch her. She failed. Instead, falling to her knees, she began to sob like it was only now that her heart was getting torn out of her chest. Kit's arms wound around her and she cried harder because despite their warmth, - despite the comfort Kit was offering - they weren't the hold Elora wanted to feel soothing her. 

She wanted it to be Graydon.

He'd be uncertain and awkward, and he'd ask her if she wanted him to hug her or to go get someone else. And he'd be able to read her answer even if she wasn't able to get it past her lips. He'd be so very perfectly Graydon about it. 

And Elora wanted him to be alive for that comfort more than she'd ever wanted anything else. 

But bringing the dead to life seemed to be the one thing that was out of her power. Not even the great Elora Danan, Semprum Sorceress of the Nine Realms, Daughter of the Sun and Moon, and Last Blood of Kymeria could cross that final barrier. 

[kenneth-the-mudmander]

Hey Questies!

Lowkeyed1 pointed out that Willow just reached 900 fics on Ao3. Which is awesome!

I'd love for us to get to 1000 before 2024. And so, Im taking prompt requests!

Im more of a Graylora shipper. But I'll try my best at any prompt asked.

(Sometimes i am so lost for what to write without a prompt.)

You can put a request comment here or through a message or even anon.

Please and thank you!

Love this Fandom! We are standing strong!

[allthefakepeople]

those rumors they have big teeth

by: falsenine, isabrella, and melsj98

Summary:

For as long as they’ve shared a dream of making great music, Kit always figured it would just be Jade-and-Kit, best friends for life, a package deal. When their manager Thraxus “Relaxus” Boorman politely suggests (demands) that they add some new talent to their band, suddenly that dream includes Graydon Hastur and Muffin Girl Elora Danan.

After their lesbian cover of “You Belong With Me” goes viral, it feels like the whole world is invested in Kit and Jade’s personal lives, identities, and the definitely-fictional romance between them (and between the rest of the band, too). And despite the near-constant scrutiny and endless fan theorizing, it feels like no one sees what’s really going on with Kit anymore. 

Not even Jade.

Or: the band AU that turned into a multimedia behemoth inspired by 2014 band mega-fandoms, Kristen Stewart groupies, the notion of Kit in leather pants, and the question, “How can we make this whole situation even worse for Kit Tanthalos?”

Or: what happened after someone jokingly said “Kit and the Situations would be an iconic band name”

Read Chapter One: all these lights that lead us there are blinding

shoutout to my incredible co-writers: @sorshatanthalos (or kitstandthalos on twitter) and @isabrella

also our live-saver of a beta: @resurrecho

also all the support from our discord friends specifically @spybrarian

we hope you enjoy the first chapter of this behemoth

[evodevo-geekmonkey]

Tanthamore ⚔❤🍑 Fic Recs

I’ve seen people in the tags looking for fic recs so here’s a list of my personal favourtie Tanthamore fics. (I’m going to link in my bio so people can go to it) I’ll be adding to this as I read more ^_^

Oneshot Fics

NOTHING SAFE IS WORTH THE DRIVE

leonhart_17

This is probably one of my favourites ever. Defeating the Wyrm, fighting together, getting married on the battlefield. It’s a comfort fic I’ve read it like a dozen times. (oneshot)

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LIFE IS A BAD DREAM

isabrella

Oneshot where Kit comforts Jade after Ballentine at Nockmaar. So lovely and tender <3 

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LAY DOWN YOUR ARMOR (COME LIE BARE WITH ME)

saintbot

Super sweet moment between Kit and Jade after the end of season 1. Kit taking off the Cuirass but mostly just them being together and cute and a bit of sexy stuff too haha. also one I go back to a lot.

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LET'S TAKE A KNIFE AND CUT THE WORLD IN TWO

spybrarian

Super creepy exorcism fic that does a cool job weaving Willow lore into the demonic apocalypse

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SOFT BLAZING CROWNS

Jade and Elora friendship fic in Elora helps Jade with a photoshoot in the fall leaves for Kit. Elora and Jade are adorable and you can really feel the love between Jade and Kit even though she's not in the fic.

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Completed multichapter Fics

FULFILLING FATE

overkill_max

Another alternate universe where Kit ran away. I love this one, it’s so pretty? Kit has a bit of a different personality (a bit more mature I think… or just self destructive) but it’s so good (this is the sequel to escaping fate) (But I haven’t read that one haha)

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IT'S THE EYE OF THE DRAGON, IT'S THE THRILL OF THE FIGHT

AlderaanTourismAgency

Holy shit this one’s COOL. The gang fights a dragon and it’s badass and gory and there’s romance and angst and fun and glass everywhere. Very good action and character writing and a really good description of the gore (plus it’s hilarious, the humour is Willow 2022 to the max). 

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RETURN TO TIR ASLEEN

DianeLS

I am not done this one yet but I’m enjoying it soooooo much. It’s fluff and smut and everyone being good to each other and Tanthamore being the awesome couple we know they are. Title says it all, the go back home and deal with the aftermath of season 1. 

Also check out the prequel here for some great Shattered Sea in between the scenes fanfic :D

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A LITTLE LESS HARD TIME (A LITTLE MORE BLISS)

Geek_and_Nina

Kit is a stressed out business woman, Jade is a lonely farmer. They meet and farm life ensues. It’s adorable. It’s cozy. It is giving me romantic fantasies about farm life and I want chickens now.

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CULT CAPITAL OF CASHMERE

AlderaanTourismAgency

Prequel to Eye of the Dragon. We all go to Cashmere and there are cults and Boorman’s mom and it’s just a lot of fun. I’m really curious to see them fight these cults. (And also it’s hilarious and the Tanthamore romance is the sweetest)

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LIKE CONSTELLATIONS, A MILLION YEARS AWAY

StorySpinner_91

This one is SO cool. Its set in a universe where Kit and Jade (and the whole crew) get to pilot giant robots. And Kit is the heir to this huge (planet sized) company and they go on adventures in space. Also the characters are SO well written and the dynamics between all of them are so good (plus the Tanthamore and the Graylora in this is the best). 

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THE ARCHITECT OF CATASTROPHE

Silver85

This one’s pretty dark. What if Kit took Airks place and trained with the crone? Lot’s of angst, angry Kit and some cool magic. 

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Ongoing multichapter fics

I'LL BE THE SWEETEST THING TO EVER SCARE YOU

spybrarian

Jade gets possessed to save Kit and it gets creepy af. Also there’s a scary horse named gravy. 

[agatharioscoven]

As anyone else in this fandom, I'm just so fucking done with all of this shit happening. It makes us feel unseen and unimportant in the society and well fuck that.

But I've been thinking about something and especially why a good amount of questies keep on saying fanfics are ours and we can keep the story alive. In a way you are totally right! But I think it's more than that. Sure it stays in the intimacy of a pretty small fandom on a website somewhere but it's bigger than that.

When Warrior Nun was cancelled I talked about it with a friend and he said to me "don't worry we're gonna be the one making those representations." And man, that's exactly what it is. What matters. Fanfics keep on doing those representations! But also if you write a fic, it can turn into a script, a graphic novel, a scenario, anything! And we have the power to make it important. Because that's it, I'm tried of waiting on white cis privileged rich male to decide if what matters to me has value. We are valuable :) and what I can see is that I never loved my community so much. The latest representation are getting bolder even if they get cancelled and well I guess that's something. But yeah I love seeing everyone, and I respect everyone and I think everyone is beautiful. And that inspire us to do things. We are the artistic ones, we are the one calling the shots, in the end. So I encourage everyone to go write their own Kit and Jade, to find their own writing style, be it funny or serious we don't care. We unite in the creation of a better place for our community <3

It know we're tired but you know what? What unites us as a community is love. And what motivates the people cancelling us is money. I think it's pretty clear that we have the power. It's gonna be alright. And thank you btw for being so positive about it all yet still sharing your emotions. I think we all need that

It does make us feel unseen and unimportant you're right. It hurts. It sucks that there is a handful of rich white cis men that decide what is acceptable to show and what's not.

It hurts so so much that our stories are deemed unacceptable to be told for more than one season, or if they are told longer, we don't get a happy ending.

Those men decide for us if we get our rep and it hurts so much.

For me? Saying we take control of the narrative is more to do with being a little selfish.

I don't want to just move on. I don't want this fandom to die because I am sick and tired of losing a show then losing the fandom where I found friends and comfort.

Take inspiration from those that came before us.

Yes we're writing fics at the moment for our favourite characters and ships but as you say, develop your own stories and styles.

We shouldn't have to become the representation we want to see, we should be allowed to turn on a show and see ourselves and our stories told in their entirety, but that's not happening.

So we take control.

It starts today with us writing Tanthamore or graylora or rougereaver fics.

It turns into us developing our own stories to tell, our own characters to bring to life.

And yeah those stories at first might just be stuck to this website or a fanfic site but they don't have to.

If someone can publish a fanfic of a series and people can own a physical copy of that fanfic, then we can publish our own stories.

Love is the greatest power in the universe.

Love unites us.

Love and understanding is what brings us together.

Love for these characters and this world bought so many people together.

Understanding that we deserve this rep and shouldn't have to fight tooth and nail bought us together.

I'm trying to stay positive because I am tired of feeling like I'll never be able to see my story told completely.

I'm trying to stay positive because I don't want to lose these characters and this universe and I know if I react negatively then I'll abandon ship.

I'm heartbroken. I'm sad. I'm tired. I've cried over the loss of the visual representation.

But I'm not going down the rabbit hole of ending up hating the content we got just because we didn't get more.

Disney took something from us and their not the first company to do so and they won't be the last.

Willow won't be the last show with good queer rep and good black/brown rep to be cancelled.

But like with Warrior Nun, we can try to make it impactful.

I don't mean we should go out and buy a billboard, I don't think that would work.

I mean we keep loving the characters. We keep loving the universe. We continue to let the cast and crew know how much we love what they created.

We keep our voices loud.

Maybe that will be the change that's needed.

Bury your gays became less used after the aftermath of Lexa and how the fans rose up.

But they just moved on to cancelling the shows instead of killing us.

So we stay loud. We stay proud. We stay happy to have these characters. We stay happy to have this universe.

We make noise. We rewatch. We create.

We show Disney that we coulda been the greatest thing that ever happened to that company.

Because yeah, Disney did what they did for money, the company is greedy.

Greed drove them to cancel Willow.

Love will drive us to show them how much this show was and is loved.

It might take another 34 years for us to get more content.

I hope it doesn't. I'll be 62 by then!

The fact that the cast wanted to do more, that Johnathan wanted to do more says something to me.

They care about these characters. They love these characters as much as we do.

Maybe there's a sliver of hope that maybe Disney will let Willow go and Johnathan can take it to a different network, even if for just one season.

I'm not holding out much hope for that to happen. But it could.

I'm not ready to say goodbye to these characters, to this universe.

So I won't say goodbye.

This isn't a goodbye.

It's a may we meet again.

It's an in this life or the next.

There's still so much of this story to be told and if the creators can't write that story. We get to write it.