#willow 1x06

[sculien]

It’s like, the harder I try to control it the more I just...I feel like it’s slipping away. And then I’m...spinning. No. It’s not you, okay? Okay. It’s this place. Yeah. No. Definitely...it’s me.

[emisirrelevant]

Saw that nobody ever did a gifset/still photo set of this Jade and Elora moment from Willow 1x06, so I took it upon myself. Enjoy.

[masoncarr2244]

[mycatismyfriend]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer | 1x06 → 2x18

[senoraconstelacionesdeinvierno]

Blackthorne and Mariko both spent every moment of this episode (1.06: "Ladies of the Willow World") looking like they were on the verge of crying. The *look* after he thanked Kiku for the previous night is not the look of a man who just had a relaxing night with a top courtesan, but someone who just is empty and going through the motions -- the word I kept thinking was haggard. And Mariko's eight fold fence must be so vast that it can be seen from space, her trauma is that great, I have no idea how she can function.

Excellent writing, acting, and cinematography, costuming, kudos to all involved.

I'm going to go have myself a good cry now.

[theoverlookedoneedits1997]

The Pack Fashion Part One

Buffy’s ‘it was fishes’ outfit: 8/10

When I was younger, I thought this outfit was ugly. Now I know that I was obviously stupid. The coat is amazing and it's one of the few times that I can get behind the neck scarf. I also like how the bag matches to the top.

Willow’s 'we saw the zebra’s mating’ outfit: 7/10

It's fine. She looks cute and I do really like the skirt.

Xander’s ‘heimlich with stripes’ outfit: 6/10

Just another basic outfit. The shirt is only okay.

Xander’s ‘weird behaviour award’ outfit: 7/10

Dark colours suit him. I like that this outfit isn't totally out of the ordinary for Xander but still signifies a shift.

The Pack’s ‘hyena makeover’ outfits: 7/10

The same thing goes for the whole pack. We first see all of them, including Xander, in brighter clothes. It's a not-subtle way of saying something has changed.

Buffy's 'training look' outfit: 7/10

It's cute. I think this is the same top as the one she wears to fight Luke in The Harvest but in blue. Also, that jump is just amazing.

[jomiddlemarch]

Willow, weep for me

He’d survived pirates, plague, shipwreck. Abandonment by his captain. Abandoning his own children.

Starvation, capture, eluding the executioner’s sword in the nearest of ways. 

He could survive this.

John followed Lady Kiku into her private chamber, keeping his eyes fixed on the embroidered hem of her scarlet robe.

That it was supposed to be every man’s most extravagant fantasy, intended as a boon from his liege lord, did not ease the weight in his chest, the sick feeling in his stomach. He heard Mariko’s voice, the pauses between her words, the devastating candor with which she imbued the courtesan’s disquisition, and his wavering faith was shored up, as for certes, it could only be his soul which ached so terribly, which longed to answer her.

She had gone away, demurring when Lady Kiku had invited her to come inside, and it was not that he wished she had agreed but rather than he wanted, most dearly, to have turned and followed in her wake, even if the night would yield nothing more than dreams or another recitation of the Lord’s Prayer. She would say he ought to grow accustomed to being denied his heart’s desire. She would say he ought not have a heart’s desire, but only faith and duty and the ability to retreat to a hold so deep within it could never be breached.

He thought she would have said that, before Lady Kiku spoke and gave utterance to the devastating truth of Mariko’s soul.

Now, he had no idea what she would say. She had gone and, in his mind, she was silent, her face turned away. If he had called after her, she would not have come. Lady Kiku had led him into her room, a most elegant environment for debauchery, and he must needs allow her to make free with him, for he was still being watched and it would not do to have questions raised about his virility or allegiance.

There was some jest to be gleaned from it, he whoring himself with the whore his lord had secured for his satisfaction, but he could not find even the darkest amusement in it. He had broken his vows to Mary and perhaps to Fuji, but he cared only for what Mariko wanted; she would likely not see his coupling with Kiku as worth remarking upon or would only consider it the sin the priests warned of.

He must lie with the most exquisite doxy in the Japans and he felt only that he wanted to vomit.

Lady Kiku perceived nothing of this or perhaps all. She bade him sit, so he sat, and she moved about the room in a way that might have been the most irritating fussing, save that she was so graceful he could have gladly watched her for hours, if that was all that was he required of him. She was exaggerating for him, he knew, for he’d not noticed anything when she’d poured out the tea and now he saw how she could make herself appear as a blossom floating on breeze, a swan gliding across a lake. He wished he could tell her he appreciated her skill, her beauty elevated and refined, and that if she intended it to arouse him, she was wasting her time.

It might have been soothing, except that he knew what was expected of him. Appetite, rutting, a great beastly noise to signal his climax, confirmation of the hairy animal they found him to be, albeit one canny and worth training to the lead. Lady Kiku would report on his response, how base he was, how malleable, and he must let her believe it so, must make her believe it so, or risk not only himself, his men, still imprisoned and beyond his succor, but also Mariko, whose honor he understood would be impugned if he refused the courtesan’s attentions or failed to display the ready cockstand her tutelage had ensured she could command.

He would have prayed, except he couldn’t construe that even a Protestant God would be very sympathetic to his plight.

Lady Kiku knelt in front of him, regarding him steadily. Her skirts were spread around her, too vivid to remind him of blood. There would not be laces or knots to contend with, he might muddle his way through to her skin without much effort, and she should take that as evidence of his hunger. He began to reach out, hoping his reluctance looked like appreciation or wonder, the daring of a young boy incredulous at his luck.

She took hold of his wrist in her hand and stopped him. With her other hand, she touched his cheek and then the skin beneath his eyes, indicating her interest with the slightest dip of her chin, a parting of her lips.

“They’re blue, that’s how we say it,” he offered. She’d not understand a word. Mariko had learned some English already, her Portuguese fluent, her Latin as good. She’d known azul, learnt blue the first time he said it, unable to entirely restrain the delight she took in the knowledge, a smile curving her lips as if she tasted a sweetmeat.

Kiku sidled closer, her hand moving back down to alight on his shoulder. She pushed him gently, meaning for him to lie back upon the wadded up silk coverlets that must serve as bedding and he let himself fall back clumsily. She rose above him, straddling his hips, and leaned over, her face very near his own. One hand braced on his shoulder and she used the forefinger of the other to lightly touch his eyelids, the gesture telling him to shut his eyes.

He didn’t want to see her. It was his only joy to be able to acquiesce and know that he’d pleased both of them. He could only achieve that in this one way.

He would have to trust she could rouse his cock to congress, her training sufficient to her needs.

“I am Mariko,” she said slowly, enunciating the words with immense care. 

He would have understood them if she’d rushed, but she was cautious. 

She brushed her lips very softly against his own, almost chaste. She pulled back and spoke again.

“I am Mariko,” she repeated and then kissed him again, the hand she’d used to close his eyes now stroking his temple and then cradling his head. With the caress, she licked at his lower lip, sucked at it like it was a rare and tempting fruit. Startled, he opened his mouth and she swooped in, kissing him deeply, with a consummate confidence and a curious tenderness. 

If he had not ever kissed Mariko, if he had not held her tightly in his arms and felt her taste him, tentative and then eager, taking from him as she gave herself, he might have been persuaded by Kiku’s assertion.

He was a fool, yes, but he could not be fooled.

Kiku continued to kiss him, her hands moving deftly to draw his robes from his body, her touch on his bare skin appreciative, coaxing. He let her do what she would without interfering, his eyes still closed; he would not have to see her revealed in the amber lamplight as Mariko had been. He would try to pretend, as she urged him to; he’d choose to find it a kindness and not a snare that would tighten around him every moment after he left the Willow World.

His flesh was more willing than his mind. With every caress, he recalled Mariko in his arms. The way her hair had tickled his chest, how she had been ardent and also unexpectedly tentative, how his every response had emboldened her. She had made of him the man he liked best, strong and not brutal, thoughtful, accomplished, inquisitive. She had been quiet, her gasps and sighs guiding him, but he’d begun to prattle the giddiest lovesick nonsense in English; she had told him not to speak but he meant for her not to understand.

Dearest love, you’re like a fragrant posy, sweet as May, my tender dove, you’ve my heart entire, he’d murmured, his hands seeking her joy, learning her pleasure. There had been nothing practiced about her reaction. Indeed, she’d seemed new to carnal delights though she’d been a wife over a decade before she’d been widowed. He knew now Buntaro had never been able to stir her, had likely been rough and quick if the wounds he’d given her were any indication of his temper, his frustration with her withdrawal. For John, she’d allowed herself to move beyond the poised bedmate who’d come to him in silence into the woman newly roused. She had trusted him to know when she needed gentleness and when she wanted his vigor, his fervent thirst for her unslaked.

“I am Mariko,” Kiku said, now a warning, their bodies bare, her thighs spread above his hips. She’d worked him well enough, his lance raised, and settled herself down upon him with ease, riding him without urgency. The scent of their sex was heavy in the air, inescapable. There must be worse ways to be possessed, he was well aware, but still he wished to turn his face away and hoped she would make him spend quickly. She didn’t fondle him or try to kiss where she might, as he and Mariko had done together, their closeness desirous of an even more compleat union, love superseding lust, putting the flesh in service of the heart.

He hoped Kiku did not understand, but she must, to say what she did and how, in a tongue she knew he struggled to master. She was giving whoever watched the performance that was expected, a set piece of theater, and John could not be sure what he would owe her for it. It was a debt doubled, one part Kiku’s, one to his heart, for putting his life and the honor he gave to Toranaga above his affection for Mariko.

John was not certain he would ever have the proper coin to pay it.

He felt the tear that slipped from the corner of his eye to his temple. Kiku might not notice. Anyone watching was likely to think it sweat engendered by the coupling. It should not be a risk.

“Anjin-san,” Kiku called out as she tensed her quim around his cock. Her hand on the crest of his hip tightened and she’d mastered him. He let himself grunt with the peak, a sound audible to any listeners. 

He might yet have betrayed himself but he hadn’t made it easy for anyone to spread filthy rumors about perversion or weakness. What Kiku would do was much as a storm cloud on the horizon, something he could see yet do nothing about. The wind might lash him, the ship might founder, or the ominous darkness might dissipate, a clear dawn painted with gold and crimson beckoning him onwards.

He opened his eyes.

Kiku moved to his side, balanced on her hip and elbow. She was beautiful, her skin gleaming like pearl. He had never felt more alone. She touched the tearstain on his skin and then his lips. He lay still, the male animal in repose. She pulled the bedclothes around him, and began to withdraw.

“Arigato, Kiku-sama,” he said. Something flickered in her gaze, something she must keep hidden.

“Blue,” she replied, looking at him keenly, nodding in the slightest acknowledgement.

He closed his eyes again and slept.

“Please tell Lady Kiku I don’t have words to thank her,” he said the next morning. It was a grey morning and he’d slept poorly, dreaming dreams he dare not recall when he woke.

Mariko translated. She did not say what he had said and she did not tell him what Kiku’s reply was. It was a relief, to hide within her deception, to feel himself concealed by her, when last she had walked away, his fingers grazing her hand.

“I did not shame you,” he said, after the exchange was done and they were making their way back to his home. 

“I did not think you would,” she said. They had not looked at each other direct and her tone was measured, without any of the previous night’s poignancy, nor the warmth of the night they’d spent together. There was not even a hint of the woman who’d recited the Lord’s Prayer and then laid her palm upon the paper pane like a petal alighting. He felt the fatigue of the night upon him, a coldness in his marrow, at the base of his skull.

“I had a bath arranged for you,” Mariko said. “In your rooms. The maids will have seen to it and they will leave you to your own devices.”

“You are required elsewhere?” he asked. He could not ask her to stay and Lord Toranaga might have need of her.

“No,” she said. “I shall be there when you finish, Anjin-san.”

[lilcathsmith]

Greg Sanders in CSI season 1 - Greatest Hits

[aro-of-artemis]

Willow | 1x06

(with great love created for @allthefakepeople)

[caricature-of-fic]

double drabble of 200 words for btvs 1x06 The Pack

Buffy & Willow/gen/general audiences

---

“I know he remembers.” Buffy pursed her lips, but Willow barreled on, heedless. “Nowhere does it say that animal possession causes memory loss. And Giles was all weird and reluctant about giving me the right books, so I bet he knows too and is just keeping Xander’s secret! For some reason!”

“I’m not saying you’re not right, Willow, I trust you… but maybe we should leave it alone.”

“He was being a jerk! To, to us—“, to me, Buffy heard, and winced, “—and now he’s lying to us about it, it’s not fair!”

“He’s probably too embarrassed to tell the truth. I mean, I would be. Imagine you remember… you know. Poor Herbert.”

At that, Willow shuddered. “Poor little piggy… also, eurgh.”

“Yeah. And he’s probably not feeling so great about how he was acting overall. Especially to you.” And if she was honest, Buffy would prefer to just forget how he’d acted with her, too.

“So, what, he’s just too much of a coward to apologize?”

Buffy sighed. “Yeah, I guess. But hey!”

“Hmm?”

“You can still keep it in mind. You know, if you ever need blackmail material…”

Willow hesitated, but her grin gave her away.

[lighthouselesbian]

okok i havent finished the episode yet but can I just say that 1x06 is definitely my fave so far. the humor is SO on point (airk hoping away from the Crone, jade's exhaustion at boorman, graydon and elora talking while the actual fighters take out the guards, kit's backtalk as she's literally about to be tortured). and the plot is really rolling forward too!!! i was worried that this episode would be too sideplotty (they don't have the clearest direction towards their quest) but the new lore with Airk, Allagash, Madmartigan was all SOOO good. and more Scorpia too!!! I'm glad they arent just leaving the bone reavers as a one-off thing. anyway just really glad to see how much better the show is getting with each new episode

[emisirrelevant]

Willow 2022 1x06: MY REACTIONS

-Christian Slater somehow being like JD even as Allagash lol. Same character different font? (Ex- throwing a tray?? Kit saying this guy is insane?)

-Willow acting like such a dad with Elora "you are in such big trouble young lady" "I know"

-ELORA AND JADE HAVING A MOMENT

-"I'm spinning out, J" HAD ME ROLLING THO HAHAHAHA

-Boorman and Allagash fighting each other like dudebros and everyone else not even bothering to stop them (I was chanting FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT)

-ELORAS HAIR TURNING RED????

-ELORA AND JADE RIDDLE SOLVING BESTIES

-KIT HAVING AN EXCALIBUR MOMENT

-AHHHHH KIT HEARING HER DAD IS SO SAD BUT JADE AND ELORA SAVING HER AHHHH IS SO GAY BUT SAD OMG THIS EPISODE AHHHHHH ASJDFKJGKGLGL "Are you going to stop me?" "We both are"

SCREAMING CRYING SHAKING

-IT'S THE WAY THEY COULD ALL CARE LESS ABOUT THE MEN FIGHTING FOR THE ARMOR FOR ME

-Graydon "hey guys" LOL

-YESS BUT THEY CAN ALL STILL COME TOGETHER TO FIGHT SOME TROLL ASS

-OMGGG KIT KILLING THE MAIN TROLL OMG THE PARALLEL TO JADE KILLING BALLANTINE OMG PARALLELS

"What matters most?" "Elora Danan" OHHHHHHHHHHH MY GODDDDDD

NOOOOO KIT AND ELORA FIGHTINF OMG IM SOBBING AGAIN

KIT SAID THE WORDS THAT ELORA HEARD SHE SAID THE WORDS OH MY GOD I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THIS GAY ANGST?!?!?

OH MY GOD KIT AHHHHHHH NOOO SHE FELL IN OMG OMG

ELORA USE THE WAND!!!!!!

WHATT???

AND THAT'S HOW IT ENDS????

WHAT????

WHO? WHAT??

[lostinaflashforward]

SHŌGUN - Recensione 1x06 "Ladies of the Willow World"

Shōgun prosegue con un episodio denso di contenuto, che porta la storia verso un inevitabile conflitto e mostra abilmente il punto di vista delle donne nell'antico Giappone.

RECENSIONE 1x06

[masoncarr2244]

[jlmichigan]

Yesss, need more tender Tanthamore moments next season! So beautiful

I think we moved too fast from the lake thing 🥲

[dailyflicks]

SHŌGUN — 1x06: "Ladies of the Willow World" (2024)