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delimeful · 4 years

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pull apart at the seams (3)

continuation of the Shake & Pet prompts, commissioned by kofi fiend anon! all my love 2 thank them for the support!

warnings: keeping a person as a pet, captivity, jerk giants (not too prevalent in this one), bad self care, dehumanizing language

Patton woke to bright sunlight streaming through the window, and took his time rising, stretching his arms out in a move that made his spine pop.

A tiny movement in the corner of his vision caught his eye, and he turned to smile brightly at the human sitting on the soft, spongy floor of his enclosure.

“Good morning, kiddo!”

V blinked at him dazedly for a moment before dipping his head in a nod, making Patton’s smile fade a little. The human was sat slumped in the same spot Patton had left him, as though he hadn’t even shifted position throughout the night. Those bags under his eyes… Had the little guy even slept?

As though reading his thoughts, V got to his feet, moving up towards the bars with that carefully neutral expression plastered on his face like a mask. Patton’s lips twisted to the side slightly, but he didn’t let the feeling linger, lest V see it and panic. For such a little creature, he was certainly quite perceptive.

Popping the cage door open with ease, Patton reached in and curled his fingers around V’s form, marveling as always at the feeling of the tiny heartbeat thudding away under his fingertips. He was careful to avoid touching him with his claws, though they probably couldn’t hurt him. Patton filed them down to keep them dull, his teeth and pack more than enough to protect him.

V did his best to repress it, but Patton could still see the way he shuddered as he was lifted into the air, body tense with the strain of not panicking. He wished he could soothe the little guy, but the human seemed to respond badly to any sort of implication that he wasn’t acting perfect. Patton wanted to reassure him, but V still hadn’t spoken a single word to him, and he didn’t want to risk driving the human to further panic.

He curled the side of his hand against his chest, providing a stable wall behind V. It had taken some trial and error, but he’d found that the human was most relaxed when transported like that. It made sense, really. Humans didn’t have wings like pixies or avians, and they certainly didn’t have magic like sprites. The poor little things were defenseless this high up.

“Okay, let’s go get some breakfast!” Patton announced cheerily.

V tensed against his palm, little chest rising and falling slightly faster, and Patton couldn’t help but feel a twang of sympathy. The human had this reaction to the strangest things, and he could really only blame it on what the shopkeep had told him when he’d bought V.

“You’ve come at just the right time,” the seller had assured him, smiling pleasantly as he waited for the transaction to go through. “This one used to be a handful, real mouthy.”

Patton definitely believed it. The itty bitty glare he’d sent Logan was evidence enough.

“Luckily, he was recently put through a conditioning program, and now he’s mellowed out quite a bit. We have a refund policy of course, but I have a feeling you won’t need it.”

A condition program. Patton had nodded along, smiling mildly, but the thought was enough to make him grimace. He didn’t want a ‘mellowed’ human. He wanted one that would speak to him and be willing to tell him what they really thought, without softening anything for fear of hurting his feelings the way Ro and Lo did.

It was why he’d chosen the tiny human, labeled ‘V’, out of all the rest. His tiny body shook so hard with fear he was practically vibrating, but those mismatched eyes told a different story. He hadn’t given up yet, Patton was sure of it.

Which is why it was such a shock to have him become so… docile, all of the sudden. Patton shot another worried look down at V as he descended the stairs into the commons. Sure, he preferred to not be bitten, but at the cost of V suddenly losing all of his spirit? At this rate, Patton would never hear him talk, conditioning or no.

“Morning, Lo!” he greeted as he walked into the kitchen and saw the other werewolf seated at the counter. He leaned over to brush cheeks with his packmate, and curled his hand over V a bit more to protect him from any accidental squishing in the half-hug. The human went as still as a hunted rabbit, and Patton noticed Logan’s eyes flicker down to him for a moment before returning Patton’s gesture in a more reserved manner.

“Good morning, Patton. I assume you slept well?”

“Like a rock!” Patton assured him, withdrawing a little in hopes of keeping V from being spooked further. “Our favorite Prince Charming still asleep?”

Logan raised an eyebrow wryly. “More like Sleeping Beauty, that one.” He pushed back his stool and stood, taking his coffee with him. “I’ll go wake him. It’s important to maintain a sleep schedule that doesn’t allow sleep deprivation or oversleeping.”

“Make sure you bring a lightbulb with you!” Patton called after him, making him pause on the stairs with an exasperated expression. In his hand, V peered up at him with obvious puzzlement, distracted from his fear.

“Patton, don’t you dare-“

“That way he’ll be a light sleeper!” he interrupted Logan with a mischievous grin. Logan groaned pointedly, stomping slightly as he continued up the stairs.

Delighted with the response, Patton glanced down at the human in his hand to see if he’d enjoyed the pun. V, sensing eyes on him, hurriedly looked up at him with that same neutral expression, but not quite quick enough for Patton to miss the way the mask had slipped for half a second.

He gave V a halfhearted smile and continued on into the kitchen, carefully setting the human atop a railed ledge where he couldn’t get hurt before starting a batch of pancakes.

As he mixed the batter, he thought about the expression he’d seen on V’s face moments before. It was like a resentful sort of terror, the vicious look of cornered prey that knew they could do nothing but struggled anyways.

Most concerning of all, the look had been directed solely at Logan.

How strange.

#g/t #giant/tiny #sanders sides #ts patton #ts virgil #ts logan #my writing #paats #such a benign acronym for such a sad au #pull apart at the seams #commissioned works #kofi fiend anon #roman has been conspicuously absent lately but hes around i promise

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elmidol · 4 years

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The Shackles of Fate - Four

Dark Faerie Tale AU

Read on AO3

Read Chapter Three

Summary: If one misses curfew it is not only their life that is on the line, but their very soul. You are unlucky enough to encounter the fallen faerie prince when you miss curfew. He decides to claim your soul for himself rather than turn it over to the Master he has been enslaved by. As you are drawn further into his world, you learn more of your own past and how it is connected to the stories of your childhood.

Pairing: Kylo Ren/Reader Ben/Reader

Warning: none for this chapter

The Shackles of Fate

Four

There was a dull throb directly behind your eyes, the first signs that you were developing a headache due to all that had been occurring since the previous night. This final revelation had been the icing on the cake, so to speak. Being in possession of Light magic should not have been an elusive bit of information; had there been no signs? You started to think of your history, your childhood. The sprite rolled over in his sleep, his back facing you. Governess Tico lifted her coffee to her lips though the expression of confusion did not change. She was giving you time to think, and you were grateful that it was in her nature to be patient. There was also the chance that Rose was coming to the conclusion that there truly was a sprite in her presence, or on the opposite side of that spectrum, that you were losing your mind.

It brought to you a new question: even if Rose was unable to see the sprite, did that mean she was incapable of feeling him? You weighed your options in order to decide how to proceed. You locked gazes with the governess.

Rose lowered the cup of coffee and set down the beverage as she tilted her head to the side. The two of you had been working in the same household for a handful of years. Governess Tico had a knack for reading your moods, although she was not always an expert on the reasonings for those emotions. For this occasion, Rose had followed the conversation and went from there. She pointed a lone finger at the palm of your hand, precisely where the slumbering faerie was curled. You nodded a single time. Rose pressed forward, slowly shifting the digit nearer. You could feel your pulse quickening. Fear started to envelop you. You could not allow Ben to be injured. Yet you had to know. Was that selfish?

“Be gentle,” you said, a little more loudly than you had intended. Rather than appearing annoyed or insulted, Rose offered a gentle I will . There was no underlying ‘you’re crazy’ to her tone. You had both lived through the first witching hour and thus were equally aware just how easily seemingly fictitious stories proved themselves to be reality. Rose kept her eyes locked with your face, ever observant to your expression; it was because of this that some of your worry began to fade.

The moment that Governess Tico’s fingertip touched the moth-like wings of the faerie, she jerked her hand away and placed it instead over her mouth. You felt a jolt of elation. The other woman could feel the faerie. That joy quickly dissipated; you would have to be all the more careful when it came to how you handled the sprite. Rose seemed focused on the fact that you had proven yourself capable of Light magic. She asked the question that had run through your mind not long before: what was she?

A second later, Rose continued with another question. “That’s the prince?” There was less skepticism than there was fear. Words began to spill from her so quickly that you were not quite able to follow. You did pick up a handful of terms, which informed you that the governess was swiftly recounting the tales of the faerie prince, his mother, and the demon king. At the mention of the imp king, you lifted your gaze from the sleeping sprite to again watch Rose.

According to what Rose had said, Armitage Hux was rumored to have succeeded his father, Brendol. The younger Hux had always been resentful of the faerie prince due to Snoke’s interest in Ben. Imps believed themselves to be superior to both demons and faeries, namely the latter. While Snoke would have difficulty entering the human realm during the day because of the seal, if so pressed or summoned an imp could complete that task. King Armitage Hux would not hesitate in targeting the entire household if he learned that the cursed prince was present. Rose trailed off, staring blindly at the sprite in your hand.

You had recognized the name of Brendol Hux. If memory served you correctly, that was the imp that, when summoned by rebellious teeangers, had tempted humans with more power. It was he who had paved the way for the demon king.

Governess Tico lowered herself back into the seat that she had previously occupied. “If that really is the faerie prince then the tales are true.” You did not say anything, although you hoped that Rose would elaborate. Rose once more set the tip of her finger lightly against the sprite that she was incapable of seeing. “Do you remember the stories of the faeries that were referred to as walkers of the sky ?” The faerie hero of legend, one known by the name Skywalker, had been a favorite character of yours when you had believed faerie tales were no more than stories. It had been written that he was the one to guard the seals that prevented demons from harming children. “I never believed the tale from my studies. That the legendary hero had failed in his task to train Ben in the art of seals, and that when the blood vow was made and the faerie queen was forced to curse her son… It’s said that the faerie hero vanished after witnessing his nephew’s soul torn in two.”

You drew your hand closer to your body. You had nearly missed when realization dawned upon Rose, who uttered out the words you missed curfew so quietly that one may have mistaken the sentence for a simple exhalation. A part of you did not want to believe in the tales of Skywalker, not if it meant accepting that he had abandoned the task of protecting the human and fae realms. You wanted to rewind time and erase the last decade. With every passing minute there were more questions than there were answers. Stories proving to hold truths, albeit only in fractions.

“The children won’t be safe here. Not with the prince, and not with a marked soul.” Rose was not being callous; you could hear the worry in your friend’s voice. You used the lull in the conversation to listen for Daen. There were no cries, not yet. You decided to utilize this time to tell Rose of your current predicament, and as you wrapped up your story, you asked if Rose would be opposed to ensuring the children were safe at night. “Of course! But you… you need to be careful. Do you remember the warnings?”

Governess Tico did not wait for you to reply, opting to recite the nursery rhyme that Tolan and Tara would learn the following year when they reached the age of five.

Though Skywalker’s seal protects the day,

These are the threats to come our way:

With demons and imps, they come at night;

Beware those armored black and white.

Of the prince, that darkened fae,

Tempted by light yet cursed to stay.

What once was whole, now in two;

The faerie prince may spare you.

Yet if from Snoke that prince does stray,

These then shall take your soul away:

The demon servants that all shall dread

Are those in armor dyed blood red.

As you listened, you came to realize that you had forgotten it was said that the faerie prince could choose to defy Snoke, although the specifics had never been revealed. Did this apply only to those who had Light magic? Another question: had he ever chosen to spare a life before yours? Eyeing the slumbering Ben, you began to doubt that he had previously been successful in protecting those he did not wish to kill.

“Those in red can only come at night, but the imps… If they have allies who discover your soul is marked, this entire household will be put in jeopardy.” Rose reached forward, this time setting her hand on your wrist. “I will read through the texts tonight after the children are asleep. You need to try to get answers from the fae, including what you are.”

You silently wished that you had all of the stories memorized as your friend did. The issue with that came with the contradictions that existed among them. It had been reported by surviving family members that they helplessly watched their loved ones mistake fact and fiction then lose their souls. You had dutifully studied the stories that had been proven factual. Now you would have the advantage of speaking with the fae, both the prince and those who worked for him, when you were taken to their realm come the witching hour. There would be no such conversations for you with anyone in the human realm aside from Rose. Even there, you had to be careful. What Rose had said was correct; if someone learned that your soul was marked, it would serve to paint a larger target on the children.

You would have discussed the situation more with Rose, along with delving more into your mysterious origins, had Governess Tico not been on a set schedule with the older children. The teenagers would be returning, which meant that they would be in earshot. That was not a risk you were willing to take, and you doubted that it was one Rose wanted to take either.

Though there had been no cries from Daen, you decided to check on the infant after tucking Ben safely inside your pocket. You quietly entered the room, pushing open the door and peeking around before fully going inside. The light coos that came your way brought a smile to your face. You lifted him out of the crib, changed his diaper, and carried him down the stairs for a light lunch. Daen released a squeal of delight when you set the cut up banana pieces in front of him. He held the spoon in one hand, though he used the other to feed himself the fruit. You shook your head as you laughed. It had only been recently that Daen had taken to holding the utensil throughout his entire meal. You had noticed on more than a single occasion that he attempted to scoop up pieces. Given that they more often than not fell off the spoon before he could take a bite, Daen’s patience was easily used up.

When it came time for him to eat the protein portion of his meal, Daen was content with you assisting him in going through the motions of scooping up the pieces and bringing them to his mouth. So as to not allow Daen to become frustrated, you did not discourage him when he grabbed for bites with his other hand. He was less receptive to the small lessons and exercises when grumpy. Of course, that was typical for infants.

You lifted Daen into your arms as he held onto a sippy cup filled with milk when he had finished eating. It was time for him to have some fresh air. You grabbed the diaper bag that was prepared for these outings; inside were diapers, wipes, a handful of toys, and a blanket on which you would place him. Where Tara and Tolan loved the feeling of grass between their toes, their younger brother fussed at such contact. He did enjoy playing in sand and mud though, which amused the you.

You read to the baby as he played with stacking cups. Those were his favorite toys along with similar puzzles that were age appropriate. Only when you heard a familiar bark did you set aside the ABC book illustrated with animals whose names began with each letter of the alphabet. BeeBee the Eighth, or BB-8 for short, loped into the yard. He chased after a ball that one of the twins had thrown. You were not certain which, as both Tara and Tolan were running after the dog. The canine’s owner was a short distance behind them. Poe flashed a grin while walking over to you.

“Good afternoon,” the man said, and you returned the greeting before inquiring on the children’s behavior. “They were little angels, of course.” You chuckled at the hint of playfulness. The twins adored their cousin. They behaved more for him than they did their own father, although according to their late mother, that was normal for children to do. “Tara is enamored with faerie tales.”

Poe lowered himself onto the ground beside you. You looked to the children as they played with the dog in the yard. “I try not to read those books to them. She enjoys looking at the pictures though.”

“Easier times,” the Dameron male intoned. He had lost his mother the night of the first witching hour. “So many deaths. So many renditions of what happened… She believes the story that the faerie hero abandoned his nephew when the prince was tempted by the demon king.” You winced before you could stop yourself. That specific tale was your least favorite version of what had happened that night. Poe waved his hand in the air. “The one I found interesting was where Skywalker battled the transformed prince after he became the Master of the Knights of Ren.”

You bit down on the insides of your cheeks. You were not particularly fond of that version either, namely due to its inclusion of Ben murdering his own father to create the blood vow.

“It’s a strange one, though,” Poe continued. “Skywalker escaping with the last of Ben’s Light while the faerie queen protected the fae not bound to Ben from becoming involved in the vow. Do you think that means Skywalker took Ben’s power?”

You shook your head as you uttered out that you did not know. A lie, one you felt a little guilty for telling. Your thoughts fell to the sprite in your pocket. Was he a separate entity from the dark faerie that had appeared before you? Had he been with the legendary Skywalker before that morning? Governess Tico was correct in saying that you needed to get some answers from Kylo. It was not a matter of saving only your own soul, but of protecting these children as well.

That train of thought reminded you that it would be best if you did not discuss faeries with anyone for the time being. There was the chance that you would allow something to slip. While you believed that Poe would not do anything to endanger his cousins, it was not worth the risk of him accidentally revealing information. Things tended to spiral when it came to revealed secrets.

Poe Dameron left along with BB-8 shortly before dinner was scheduled to be served. From there, things ran their usual course with the exception of Governess Tico tucking the youngest three into bed after their older siblings had retired for the night. If there was one morbidly positive aspect of the witching hour, it was that crime rates had lowered amongst the teenage population. They had little desire to miss curfew, namely if they had witnessed the aftermath of doing so. You listened to Rose speaking with Tara and Tolan, who were requesting that miss come up to ‘properly say goodnight’.

It was nice to feel wanted and loved, however you were more concerned with one or both of them leaving their beds during witching hour. That worry faded when you heard your friend inform the twins that she would remain in the children’s room until the witching hour had passed.

Your attention moved to other worries that you had temporarily pushed aside. Namely what you may have been descended from. The beings of the upper realm had been a passing interest. They had, to you as a child, been too benevolent to be real. The fae in stories had possessed both light and dark qualities, something that had made sense to you given that you lived with the Plutt family. To imagine that there were beings from the upper realm that were pure Light magic who refused to help those in need? It was painful for you. More painful now that you were aware one of your parents had come from that realm.

You had pretended that your parents were important, that they had not chosen to abandon you. If what Rose said was true in regards to how magic had entered the human realm, it meant that at least one of them had . They had not found you worthy enough to bring back to the upper realm.

You stared at the tiny faerie that you had placed on your pillow in the exact spot you had found him that morning. One of the answers you wanted was to know if Kylo and Ben were two separate entities now or if one transformed into the other. Another thing, you thought as a scowl formed on your face, was why Kylo had seen it fit to knock you unconscious before taking you through the portal.

You gently stroked the tip of her finger along the top of Ben’s head, ruffling his hair. “You had better give me some answers.” Though phrased as a demand, your tone was one of pleading. On your nightstand, the clock that had failed you the previous evening ticked and tocked in working order. You glanced at it periodically to keep track of the time. At nine he would arrive, you told yourself.

Which is why you stifled a yelp of surprise at a quarter to the hour when a shadow moved in your peripheral. Your head whipped in the direction of the dark creature that rose from a crouch. Kylo was dressed in black robes as he had been the previous time, and his helmet blocked your view of his face. This was unfortunate, as you had hoped to utilize his facial expressions to offer you further information when you began asking the questions. The tiny faerie on your pillow did not fade, and thus arrived the first answer. The dark winged prince had literally had his soul torn into two when his mother had cursed him as a means of preserving that last of his light. Which, of course, meant that Kylo was not able to see the sprite.

“I...packed a bag,” you said whilst gesturing to the aforementioned item. The helmet shifted, its visor pointed in the direction you had indicated. You utilized this time wisely, tucking the slumbering sprite into the pocket of your trousers; you did not often wear the clothing, as many considered such attire to be unladylike. Aside from aiding you in maintaining possession of Ben, the trousers would be easier to explore in once you reached the realm of fae. “I have a few questions.”

“There is no time for that,” Kylo said in a bored tone.

“Because of those armored in red?” The visor promptly left the packed bag to land on your face. You rose to your feet as you spoke, reciting the lines from the warning Rose had repeated earlier. “The demon servants that all shall dread/ are those in armor dyed blood red.”

The dark faerie snorted in derision. “The upper realm is pretentious with their rhymes.” You felt your shoulders droop. You wanted to argue that the rhymes may have come from humans, however you were under the impression that this would hardly have made a difference in Kylo’s opinion. “The demon king’s praetorian guards—yes, they are the reason it would not be safe to leave you in a realm with a weaker seal.”

There was the obvious question of why do you want me safe that existed on the tip of your tongue. You discarded it in favor of protesting being put to sleep when the faerie moved to gather dust from his wings. The leather-clad hand paused, and there emerged a strangled sound through the helmet’s vocoder. If not asleep, he informed you, then blinded in another way. You did not relish the fact that you were made to tie a thick cloth around your eyes. If you had not been growing more worried that your presence would endanger the children as witching hour approached, you may have argued. Blindfolded and clutching your bag in a manner that it did not press against the sprite in your pocket, you suffered the indignation of being lifted bridal style into Kylo’s arms even though you would have been able to walk just fine, thank you.

In hindsight, you should have expected that a being of darkness was capable of small deceits even to those he vowed to protect. You mentally swore when you regained consciousness. Your hand instantly went to the blindfold, which you tore from your face. Your teeth were clenched together. A moment later, your jaw relaxed as you noticed Kylo crouching mere inches away with his hand extended towards your face.

“Portals can be painful for those with human blood,” he said, his voice gentle. You were not certain if you completely believed him, however you were willing to be grateful if his deceit had been based on being merciful.

You sat up, searching your surroundings and discovering that you had been laid across a bench in the garden that you had visited the previous night. Your bag was on the ground beside one of the legs. Heart stuttering in your chest, you surreptitiously slipped a hand into the pocket that held the sprite. Your finger caressed Ben’s cheek, which in turn caused Kylo to pull away the hand that had been near you to touch the side of his helmet. The same cheek you had touched on the sprite.

They really are connected, you thought with a renewed sense of awe.

Kylo yanked his limb away from the helmet in unison with rising to his full height. “As I stated, you may play here while I fulfill my duties for the witching hour.” You opened your mouth to request that he wait. You tried to remember what questions would help you as well as Rose learn more of the situation. Before you could ask the first one, regarding what you were, Kylo took a step backwards. “I will return in time for you to ask those questions. Know this: I may refuse to answer them.”

He was as vexing as you remembered him being. You started to shift your finger away from the slumbering sprite in order to withdraw your hand, however Ben rolled. From this new position you could feel a tiny hand touching your fingertip. Across from you, Kylo closed his hand into a fist before relaxing. The visor of his helmet pointed towards the ground. You waggled your finger gently to see if Ben would release it. He did not. Instead your actions served to brush along his chest. Kylo shuddered and took a step backwards in retreat. You idly wondered if he was ticklish. Debated whether or not he could sense that other half of his soul in your pocket. You meanwhile enjoyed the feeling of his warm touch on your finger.

What Kylo had done to you the previous night, the memories that had heat seeping not only into your cheeks but throughout the rest of your body as well, coiling in the pit of your stomach, those touches had been different. It had been carnal. Enjoyable, yet less personable. In your pocket, Ben once more changed position in his sleep. His hand fell away from your finger and his wing brushed along the digit prior to wrapping around him like a cocoon. You took your hand out of your pocket and took a step in Kylo’s direction. He had shuddered again, his wings visibly twitching.

“Will you answer just one question before you leave?”

“Yes.” He took a step backwards in retreat. You could hear the smile on his lips when he had uttered that single response, and you instantly understood that he had counted that as the promised reply.

Your nostrils flared when you huffed in frustration. The chuckle that left the dark faerie made your stomach flutter. It was deep and rich. It made you hope that Poe Dameron was wrong, that the story that said Ben had killed his father as a part of becoming Kylo hadn’t happened. You again reached into your pocket while watching the Master of the Knights of Ren walk away. His wings twitched and he shuddered when you gently stroked the sprite. His light was not destroyed. Just as he, for reasons yet unknown, had vowed to protect you, you found that you had the strong urge to protect his light.

You had always done what you could to see the good in people despite unpleasant circumstances. Did that have anything to do with your parentage? Only once the dark faerie had completely left your line of sight did you withdraw the sprite from your pocket.

“Well, little faerie, let’s see what answers we can find in the meantime.” You pulled the strap of your bag over your shoulder then set off down the garden path.

#kylo ren x reader #kylo x reader #kylo ren smut #faerie kylo #elmidolfanfic #theshacklesoffate #kylo ren imagine

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fuckyeahamberbenson · 7 years

Quote

My first example of this is an announcement made by Joss Whedon himself on June 18, 2002 at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in which he explained that Buffy would be getting a new job in the upcoming season. The reason? 'Doublemeat Palace was the only thing we ever did to make advertisers pull out,' Whedon said. 'They did not like us making fun of fast food.' My second example is the following statement made by veteran Buffy actor James Marsters who played Spike in October, 1999 to Horror On-Line: 'Although the characters of Spike and Drusilla have become an integral part of the show, Whedon’s initial concept differed slightly James' role being a bit more disposable. He was supposed to die three to four episodes after being introduced,' James explained. 'Supposedly Angel was going to go bad and Juliet (Landau) was going to be his girlfriend, and Angel was going to kill me as his first bad-boy thing to do.' And as for Angel himself? Consider the following statement which had appeared in the February 25, 2000 issue of The Hollywood Reporter: 'Whedon went on to explain that they originally thought of Angel as a guardian for other characters but soon realized that the show’s audience wanted to know more about the mysterious good vampire.' My fourth and final example is a statement made by Joss Whedon during his interview with IGN.com in June of 2001 regarding the original plan to make Tara part-demon, as well as what led him to change his mind about that aspect of the story: 'Wood sprite family fell by the wayside,' Whedon said. 'It was like a bolt from the blue: Wait a minute, we’re doing this wrong! And that’s why when we lay things in, we keep ourselves open, to a sudden change or a better idea. We’ve often had ideas that we were like, “Oh, we could pursue this,” and then something much cooler came along, and we’re like, “OK, never mind.”' So, the above statements illustrate how the story can change directions based on the reactions of the sponsors, the writers themselves, or the audience. Mutant Enemy’s claims that the confines of the story had locked them into killing Tara simply do not hold up. Both Robert Black and The lesbian Cliché FAQ both point out that the Mutant Enemy writers had plenty of chances to send Willow down the path to Black Magic during the entire course of Season Six before Seeing Red was aired. (Plans were made for Willow to go evil as early as Season 3.) There was a whole variety of options open to Mutant Enemy, but it chose not to use them. For example, Willow could have been pulled into darkness by her own insecurity, or pride, or quite possibly both. As the FAQ states, 'Willow was clearly headed down this path early in Season Six when she raised Buffy from the dead, threatened Giles and fought with Tara. But the writers chose to change directions and occupy her with a physical magical addiction until May sweeps when they could kill Tara and send her on a quest for vengeance. Mutant Enemy deliberately chose the cliché when plenty of other possibilities were available to them.' The Lesbian Cliché FAQ goes on to say how Willow's Black Magic storyline is 'merely an extreme retread of Willow’s actions in Season Five’s Tough Love, 'in which she attacked Glory for brain-sucking Tara.' And they call this advancing Willow’s storyline? I don’t think so. The reason I feel this way is because this same scenario has been used once before on Buffy, but only with better results when Giles goes after Angel with a vengeance in Season Two’s Passion, in retaliation for Angel snapping Jennifer Calendar’s neck. Also, the FAQ argues that keeping a character alive and not evil is not the same thing as saying that a character is completely immune to problems or trouble. This fact has been demonstrated on Buffy several times.

(Continued)

Robert Black also talks about the choice made by Mutant Enemy to change the nature of Willow’s magic use into a metaphor for drug addiction in his essays.

Black notes how that in the first nine episodes of Season Six Willow was growing largely dependent on her magic use, changing things to her liking, forcing her will onto other people, as well as making life simpler for herself. For instance, when Willow had an argument with Tara she cast a spell over Tara to make her forget about the fight. When Willow went with Tara to look for Buffy’s sister Dawn at The Bronze, she wanted to project everybody but Dawn into an alternate dimension to make the search easier. The temptations of how Willow could wield that power were exposing darker sides of her personality. In other words, the temptation of how to use that power proved to be intoxicating enough to the point where Willow thought she could do anything she wanted to with that power. The power gave her an adrenaline rush. And they say that with time having too much power can corrupt the individual using it.

Black says that if this storyline had been pursued further, Willow could have emerged as a villain all on her own and Tara wouldn’t have had to die or necessarily have been present at all. What had essentially been a story about the temptation of power all of a sudden was transformed into a story about addiction and recovery.

It is important to note that up until the tenth episode Wrecked there had been no references of any kind used to disguise the magic as a metaphor for drug addiction. Black goes on to state that, “Willow went through a long recovery process, during which time Buffy had to take away Willow’s ‘magic weed’ and get rid of all the candles in the house, because ‘to witches, candles are like bongs.’” Black also notes that by the time Seeing Red rolled around, Willow was close to a complete recovery and that since she was essentially free of magic, it did require Tara’s death to send her back into black magic. But we can also see that the decision to kill Tara was brought about due to the fact that Mutant Enemy had made the choice to change the nature of Willow’s problem into a metaphor for drug addiction.

The only reason that Mutant Enemy destroyed the Willow/Tara relationship in the first place, Black argues, was not because the writers couldn’t avoid it, but rather that Mutant Enemy wouldn’t avoid it.

It is also important to note that Robert Black has suggested a different way of approaching the goal of having Willow become The Dark Phoenix without needing to sacrifice Tara. Black points out that if Mutant Enemy had chosen to continue with the depiction of Willow’s magic dependency as a metaphor for power and how wielding too much of that power can sometimes corrupt the individual using it over a long period of time, the season could have turned out differently.

Remember how Willow had taken over the leadership role of The Scooby Gang at the beginning of Season Six? Well, this is how Robert Black described his alternate version of Season Six in his essay, “The Executive producers New Clothes.” "Willow had been in charge of the Scooby Gang for months, and there was Buffy mopping around instead of taking the leadership role back," Black argues. Perhaps Willow would have tried to step in-- just to help until Buffy was back on her feet, of course. Perhaps she would have used magic to make up for the fact that she didn’t have Slayer strength. The forget—spell on Tara would still have occurred. Tara still would have left in Tabula Rasa. Buffy and Willow may have even started to clash over which best course of action really was worth taking when battling the forces of evil.

Black goes on to state that by the time Smashed or Wrecked rolled around, instead of seeing Willow become a “crackhead,” we may have seen the conflict which had been raging between Buffy and Willow during the past several months start to escalate. Willow could have felt that magic was the best and only way to get the job done quickly and easily. Black also argues that instead of helping Buffy out, Willow might have begun to feel like she could replace Buffy as the leader of the pack. When Willow saw the attempts by her friends to reduce her use of magic, she could have perceived this course of action as a threat to her authority as well as a ploy to remove her from being in charge of the Scooby Gang. Willow would not have wanted to give up the leadership role because she would feel that her methods of using magic really had been the best way to combat the forces of darkness.

Black points out that by the time February sweeps would come around the conflict between Willow and the gang could have reached a breaking point. A crises probably would have emerged that might have involved the three nerds. Willow would think the only way to get anything done was to delve deeper into black magic. Buffy would object, but Willow probably would do it anyway out of spite or anger. At that moment, something would have gone terribly wrong with the spell that Willow was performing. Hence, it would have been a situation that might have brought about the transformation of Willow from good into evil.

Think of it, Black says. Black Magic Willow emerges during February sweeps. Not with only three episodes remaining in the season, but with roughly one third of the season still to go. Imagine what Mutant Enemy could have done with a storyline like that?

Willow might have killed all the nerds or even could have made them her henchmen. Imagine Warren the male chauvinist on his knees bowing before Willow. Warren could still have ended up dead either way, the victim of his own resentment over having been controlled by a woman. Willow would have also kept fellow witch Amy around, too. Willow could have made “adjustments” to Amy, changing her hair color or her personality to resemble Tara. In other words Amy could been viewed by Willow as a replacement for the woman she loved and missed. And what about Buffy? Black says that she would have been forced to deal with the task of figuring out what to do: Fight Willow? Join her? Bring her back into the fold? Buffy would have been forced to come out of her depression in order to meet the challenge.

And Spike? Black argues that Buffy could have still been sleeping with him. Spike’s attempts to have Buffy join him as “a creature of the night” could have prompted Spike to have a debate with Buffy over what she should do. Maybe Spike would have tried to make Buffy consider whether or not Willow had been right all along. In other words, there would have been more to the relationship between Buffy and Spike rather then just the endless cycles of violent sex that we kept seeing on screen.

And Tara? Black argues that sooner or later Buffy would have required the services of a magic expert to counter what Willow was doing. Plus, when you add the fact that Tara wasn’t nearly as powerful as Willow, it probably would have made the story more suspenseful and think of the drama that would have unfolded. Imagine what Amber Benson, being the talented actress that she is, could have accomplished by having Tara go through this endless roller—coaster ride of emotions and inner conflicts of trying to figure out what to do in which she would have been facing the most difficult challenge of her life: The possibility of having to do battle with the woman she loved. After all, you have to consider that Willow was someone to whom Tara had given her heart, body, and soul to. Someone whom Tara loved wholly and completely with all her heart. Perhaps Tara would have even thought that maybe she would have to kill Willow for The Greater Good if the circumstances were necessary. Perhaps Tara would have gone to Buffy for advice on how to deal with the situation. When you consider the fact that had Willow actually turned on Tara it would have probably added even more suspense and drama to the story.

Black points out that none of that would have required Tara to die. Black even argues that Tara could have been a vital component in Willow’s recovery from Black Magic, and would have aided her in her eventual return to the Scooby Gang.

“So there you have it,” Black argues. “A way to achieve Dark Magic Willow without killing Tara.” A way to give Joss Whedon the “cool” Dark Phoenix imitation he wanted while being socially responsible at the same time.

Black then raises two important questions: “Would it have been better than what we saw? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But aren’t you at least a little sorry that we’ll never get to find out?”

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Did Joss Whedon learn from his mistakes?

In his interview with The Advocate in the August 20, 2002 issue, at first it sure sounded like he did. “When you kill a character like Tara, statistically speaking, (lesbians) are underrepresented and so people have a legitimate reason to say, ‘It’s not the same.’”

However, appearances can be deceiving.

Read the following article that had appeared in an issue of Buffy Magazine regarding Amber Benson’s decision not to return for Season Seven:

“Despite promises from Joss Whedon and Marti Noxon, Amber Benson will not return to Buffy this season. Joss announced they were unable to reach an agreement over terms for future appearances. It was a question of negotiations, as it is sometimes is,” Joss told TV Guide Online. “It’s sad, because I love Amber, but that’s between her and Fox.” “She’s very proud of her work on the show, but ultimately, we couldn’t work out the right deal,” Amber’s representative announced.

Amber told E! Online, “I miss Buffy. It was an amazing group of people and a lot of fun. I mean, I had a really good go.”

But next consider the following statements Joss Whedon had given during his interview with FilmForce on June 23, 2003 about why Willow got a new girlfriend in Season Seven as well as the Willow/Tara reunion he originally had in mind. “Kennedy (Willow’s new girlfriend) is, as she herself said, ‘a bit of a brat.’ What I wanted was an anti-Tara. I wanted somebody who was as different from Tara as possible. Tara was very reticent, and she was somebody that Willow caused to blossom. What I wanted was somebody who was further on down in dealing with her sexuality than Willow ever was. Somebody who was totally confident, who was totally not earthy-crunchy, who was a completely different person. What I wanted to explore was the concept of Willow moving on. We did that with the first kiss, that turned her into Warren. The first time they had sex, the things Willow had to deal with emotionally, her fear of her power and stuff, and Kennedy’s kind of involvement in that. That was Kennedy was for.”

Also Whedon talks in the same interview about how Kennedy was a Plan B and that bringing back Tara was Plan A. When the interviewer had told him about the failed discussions about the plan to bring back Tara, this is how Joss responded: “Amber didn’t want to do it. She wanted to do other things. I had a whole–– I used to tell people about it. We’re going to have her in a couple flashbacks, keep her alive, and then in the end... I had a whole show figured out that ended with the return of Tara. I used to cry every time I pitched it. It was going to be Tara’s her one true love, people are going to be totally blown away, they’ll never see it coming––except on the internet––and it’s going to be the biggest thing. Quite frankly, Amber just didn’t want to do it––which is her decision. I was like, 'Okay, the thing where I cried, and we all cried, and I told you about? That’s gone. So, instead we’re going to go and find somebody really hot, and we’re going to make this about moving on, because that’s the only option we have. I don’t want Willow stuck in gay celibacy on TV. I’m interested in where her heart will go once she’s lost her true love, so let’s do that instead.’ So you know, hence Kennedy.”

In fact, according to information that I found in the current June/July, 2005 issue of Buffy Magazine: “Joss Whedon’s original plan for bringing the character of Tara back involved Buffy being given the chance to play a mystical ‘get of jail free’ card— “One completely reality-altering thing that she could have––she could bring Angel back to her, she could have anything she wanted,” noted Joss at a recent convention appearance. “At the end of the episode she basically comes to Willow and says, ‘Look at these shoes I got!’ and Willow’s like, ’What?’ ‘I got these really awesome new shoes. I wanted them, and now I have them!’ and Willow’s like, ’You... used... the wish... for shoes?’ and Buffy says, ‘Of course not, you idiot,’ and walks out of the room and Willow turns around and Tara’s standing behind her.”

So, it would seem at first that it would have been a solution that would have been beneficial to the fans, Joss Whedon, and Amber Benson alike.

So what happened? Why didn’t Amber Benson return for what possibly would have provided real closure to this controversial issue?

According to both Joss Whedon and a representative for Amber, it was a matter of negotiations between the actress and 20th Century Fox and that they couldn’t work out the right deal. However, information provided by Amber Benson during her appearance at the FedCon in Germany last year would reveal that she also had personal reasons for not returning to the show.

She openly spoke at the convention about how Joss Whedon had approached her about bringing Willow and Tara back together again. But she didn’t feel like she could trust him enough not to mess around with the storyline at the last minute. “Joss never meant to hurt anyone,” Benson said, “but he did. He hurt a lot of people and I didn’t want to be part of this anymore. Sometimes you just have to do what your heart tells you and it just didn’t feel right.”

In fact, Benson would also reveal in several interviews that Joss had another completely different agenda in mind altogether. At the Moonlight Rising Convention back in 2003, Amber had this to say about one of the other personal reasons that had prevented her from returning to Season Seven: “I didn’t really watch much of the final season,” Benson confessed. “I knew what was going to happen, Joss told me the whole story, I knew all the plot twists, and I didn’t want to get sad and cry. It’s the reason I didn’t want to come back as Tara on Season Seven. I’d really debated, though. I knew that they were having the story with The First, (Buffy’s main villain for Season Seven) and Tara would only come back as The First in disguise and I thought it would be upsetting, for me and the fans. (Tara’s death) was so upsetting, I didn’t want to go through that, or put people through that. I was miserable after Tara died. People really cared about this character. So in the end, it was it was mutually decided that it would be easier to let her rest in peace. Bringing her back is still an option–– though I don’t think Tara would work well on Angel. I think she’d get really annoyed by everybody.”

(In fact it is now believed that there was no such plan to bring Tara back at all and that the reunion storyline was merely a cover story concocted by Joss in order to deflect the fierce criticism he was taking for killing Tara in the first place. It is also important to note that many fans have rejected this “Reunion Storyline” because it didn’t seem to exist prior to this point. And no other Buffy writers have confirmed this. Plus, Amber herself seemed to have been unaware that such a storyline even existed.)

–– The Strange And Incredible Saga Of Willow and Tara On "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Part 3. An Editorial by Erick R. Voshel, August 23, 2006.

#amber benson #willow and tara #joss whedon #buffy the vampire slayer #bury your gays #lgbtq representation #articles #this is a very long post #but this is easier to read in full #than it is in that link #trust me

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