Chapter 2 Is Up Now!!

no i will not be taking criticism on hunter holding his girlfriend in his arms because they BOTH. carry each other. they BOTH pick each other up and spin each other around. they both want to treat each other like princesses and they both WANT to be treated like princesses. thank you for listening

It's been one year since this AU's journey began 💚🐍💛

Happy Anniversary!

Previous

one day Hunter isn't going to be flustered and tongue-tied around Willow for at least a solid 70% of their interactions like he is now and he's gonna be all comfy and assured in his relationship with her and he's gonna be able to joke and tease and flirt with her without melting into a puddle and he's gonna be like "oh. oh this is REALLY nice, actually."

I have this vision of Hunter and Willow's current dynamic in my head and it revolves around this idea that I find really sweet. And it's like.

Though Hunter still doesn't have the words to articulate how he feels about Willow just yet and he's rendered near mute whenever she flirts with him, he's not exactly beating himself up over it. Hunter doesn't feel pressured to force himself out of his comfort zone and start awkwardly flirting before he's ready to do so. Because Willow never makes him feel like he has to.

She understands that this is all a bit much for Hunter to take in so her flirting is never framed in a way where she's pushing him to respond. If anything, she just does it cuz she likes him. Cuz she likes being sweet to him and she thinks his blush is cute and she genuinely thinks he's so cool and wants to let him know. And it gets him all smiley and giggly and she loves it. It's also gradually building his confidance. But on top of all that, it's just a passive little reminder like "Hey. I'm not going anywhere. Whenever you're ready to say something, I'll be right here." Cuz she knows he likes her too and won't make him feel like she's ever losing interest and he'll miss his chance if he doesn't hurry up.

I dunno. It's so cute to me. Willow doting on him and Hunter unable to utter a single word but they both clearly like it and know the other likes it too. They have an understanding. For the moment, this is just what works for them.

But one day, when the time comes, something is gonna slip out of Hunter's mouth. And once he realizes that if he really puts his mind to it, ohhh he could flirt too!!! He could!!!

I could see it happening after all the Collector stuff is handled. Its been a few months. The dust has settled. Things are beginning to return to some semblance of normalcy. They're not really dating but they're also....not not dating, yknow? It's a slow build. Of course Willow does the flirting and the affectionate little touches and makes it very obvious she's interested. But she's waiting until Hunter is a little more comfortable in their interactions before they progress things any further.

She's walking him home (She's very chivalrous. Makes Hunter swoon.) and they're lingering at his doorstep. Willow is laying the flirting on thick and Hunter is eating it up, as always. Everything is the status quo, until Willow, admiring the way the sunlight catches flecks of gold in his warm brown irises, says:

"I really like your eyes."

And Hunter, whose brain has completely tapped out from the overload of her attention and the hook of her pretty smile, replies, as naturally as a heartbeat.

"Thanks. My eyes really like you too."

And Willow, sweet Willow, has a brief flash where she completely malfunctions. She freezes, eyes blowing wide, only for her lashes to begin fluttering in discombobulation.

Hunter, realizing what he just said, is not any less stunned. However he can't even say anything to do damage control as the impact of his own skin burning mortification sucks the oxygen out of his lungs and all he can manage is a strangled little squeak.

Willow seems too inside her own head to notice.

"Oh!" She exclaims. "Um. Thank you."

Wriggling where she stands, she clasps her fidgety hands together as a slight pinkish hue blossoms on her cheeks. Eyes jump to the ground as her features wrestle to keep her smile moderate but it's impossible. That giddy grin bursts her features apart. She glows.

And Hunter sees every moment of it.

She liked that, he realizes. She liked that a lot.

Willow raises her head, still looking dizzingly happy. But she's far bolder than he is because she looks him dead in the eye and makes a remark, struggling to curb the breathy giggles in her voice "That was...very smooth of you, Hunter."

Smooth.

Smooth like Willow.

He can be smooth like Willow.

There is literally nothing stopping him.

They bid eachother a bit of clumsy but thoroughly smitten goodbye and Hunter rushes upstairs, leaps face down into his bed and nearly breaks the thing apart from the manic kicking of his legs. The muffled noises he makes into his pillow got dogs the next realm over going bananas.

He tries to call Gus because he's got to tell somebody but once he's like "You'll never guess what just happened!! You'll never guess what I just did!!!!" he realizes that now he's gotten this far, he actually has to recount what just happened. With words. So instead he's like "actuallynevermindgottago!!" and hangs up.

But anyway. ANYWAY. That was my little origin story of Hunter realizing that he is capable of opening his mouth and unleashing some magic that he thought just Willow could do. Sure, she's a lot better at it. But he'll learn.

He does learn.

It takes a little time but once he's found his footing in this whole "taking initiative" thing, it turns out that Hunter can be a relentless flirt. If the mood strikes him. There was apparently a lot of flirty potential just gathering dust in that whole Golden Guard persona and now he finally has somewhere to channel it.

There's a girlfriend to be a nuisance to.

"Quit it!!" Willow attempts to sound vexed but she's utterly transparent to Hunter. She lunges around the flyer derby field, making another failed grab for him, but he's a bastard who can scramble his molecules.

"Cmon, Captain...." He teases with an antagonistic cackle. "If you really like me, you'd try a little harder to keep me in place."

Through burst after burst of glitchy jumps, Hunter is snapping all around Willow. He's at her side, he's behind her, he's flicking her hair, he's poking her cheeks, he's blowing in her ear, he's tweaking her hips, he's chanting teases at her. He's being a general menace and Willow wants to say she can't stand it.

She wants to.

"What's that smile for, huh~?" His voice softly singsongs, the swell of his lip just barely brushing against her ear and Willow seizes up. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you liked this."

Glitch.

He's at her other ear now. "Is it because of all the touching?"

Glitch.

He's directly in front of her. "Is that why--uMPH!!"

Willow dives forward and snatches him in her arms.

"Gotcha!!" She announces, grinning victoriously.

The unpredictability of his less than solid body left her having to grab him suddenly with little thought for the means to go about it. As a result, Willow is currently squeezing Hunter around the waist.

It works out though. As Willow is well aware, he really likes it when she holds his waist.

Hunter laughs at the intensity of her triumphant expression. "Well done." He relents. "You got me."

There's an infamous smugness that contorts his smile into a challenging smirk. "But now that you got me...what will you do with me?"

Willow's own smile twists evilly. Her grip tightens slightly. "Maybe I'll squeeze you like my life depended on it. Pop ya like a balloon."

Hunter snorts at the threat. "I guess you could...." He croons.

"Or I could haul you over my head and fling you across the field." Willow suggests. "See how far I can send ya."

He hums, delighted by the audacity. "You could..."

Willow's evil smile borders on maniacal. Her grip on him loosens, hands sliding to place themselves gently against his hips. She then digs her thumbs into them slightly, like a warning.

Hunter goes rigid, his lips visibly twitching.

"I could tickle ya."

A threat like that makes him crack a little and the dorkiness softens the edges of his sharp smile.

"You could..." He says slowly. Cautiously. His hands have ventured over hers, a feathery brush of fingers against her backhand first, before he captures them firmly and holds them in place before she can do anything evil.

Willow pouts, which makes Hunter laugh again. His attempts to be lofty fail spectacularly, as it's not his teasing laugh. Sincerity bleeds from the sound, all crinkled eyes and adorable snorts.

"I could kiss you~" Says Willow as her final threat, doing an excellent impersonation of his musically lilting teasing voice.

Hunter's eyebrows lift, pleasantly surprised. And if that's not enough of an indicator that she's got this smooch in the bag, she pushes her palms against his hips and reels him in a little closer.

His step stutters as he's pulled into her chest. This should secure the deal. He loves hands on his hips. He loves being manhandled just a little.

To Willow's delight, she even makes him blush a bit. He doesn't do that often anymore but she can still stain his skin red every once in a while if she's dedicated enough.

"You could..." Hunter murmurs and he's already stooped his upper body to her level, only to find Willow was standing on her tiptoes.

They meet halfway.

Once the warmth settles on her mouth, Willow closes her eyes and she likes the long, lanky hand that spreads itself on her cheek, fingers stroking affectionately across her skin.

This is nice, she decides, and she knows he's been thinking the same thing for quite a while.

The "A" Stands For Aro-Ace.

Happy Ace Awareness Week! I actually made these about a month ago as a project for my social design class, but I decided to wait until now to post it.

The last slide may be a bit confusing because...there is no link in my bio. At least on Tumblr. This was made to be an instagram carousel.

BUT, I will post the link right here! It has the sources I used to make this, as well as some others that have more information than I could get into in 10 slides (instagram limits you to 10 images per post). Feel free to check those out!

Enjoy!

O hello!! Thank you for the tag, @daydreams-and-honeybees !

Last Song: Daydreaming by Radiohead

Favorite Color: Emerald green!!

Currently watching: Delicious in Dungeon!! I love it so much

Sweet/savory/spicy: Honestly, no clue, but I do love spicy foods! (Even if my spice tolerance is mid)

Current obsession: I don’t think I will ever truly be over The Owl House, so that, and Makoto Shinkai films because I’m on a kick after rewatching Your Name

Relationship status: In the third year of a wonderful relationship 💚🌻

Tags! Oh boy. @immortalmint @avatarmerida @avariantflaire @angelcloves @rebecca-artsy @captainmera @lollytea uhhhh I guarantee I’ll think of more later 😅

Love you all!

Nine people i'd like to get to know better:

Tagged by: @bell-of-indecision, thank you so much for tagging me <3

Last Song: Gmfu by Odetari,6arelyhuman

Favourite colour: Dark red, violet, pink

Currently watching: Death note, ep6

Spicy/Savoury/Sweet: Spicy

Relationship status: Single

Current Obsession: Mbti types and cognitive functions.

Tagging: @somin-yin @a-cloud-for-dreams @axepen @hinsaa-paramo-dharma @basic-bitch-alkali @rhysaka @blackknight-100 @squishywizardd @reykalot

Whoooooaaa I have a Ko-Fi now!!

If you enjoy my writing, you can tip a dollar, but if not, that is also completely fine. I make no money off of it anyway, I’m just a college student

Anyway, love you all! I promise to update A Way With Words soon I am so so sorry I haven’t done that already oh my god

mmm okay opinion (☕ emoji I guess if this counts for that game) on huntlow and pda/physical displays of affection. Are they big on it? Do they not like to do it in front of people? My personal hc is hunters too flustered to do anything other than a hand-hold/pinky-link in public but when it's just him and willow he's touch starved and even a bit clingy. But I want to hear your thoughts boy 👁️👁️

YEAH YEAH YEAH This is also my hc about it!! And it's not even just Hunter who has reservations about being overly affectionate in front of people, but Willow too. It's the vibe I'm getting from little details like her waiting until everybody else leaves the room to flirt with him in TTT or not initiating the finger link in FTF until everybody was distracted by Stringbean. Like. She is shy. She feels weird about being so open about it when people are watching.

But I also feel like, though they aren't sickeningly sentimental in front of others, they are usually touching in some capacity. So yeah. Linked fingers. Or holding hands. Willow idly resting her weight against Hunter. Subtle stuff like that. And if they're not touching, they're likely standing very close together.

I dont think they're completely devoid of PDA. Like I definitely think they do shit like this while they're out walking.

Willow likes to have his arm. She is a gentleman. 😊

OH and while they don't dare kiss as shamelessly as Luz and Amity do...Hunter occasionally gives Willow goodbye smooches. Even if they're hanging out with the others. It be like this

It's always her forehead he kisses cuz her forehead so perfectly aligns with where his mouth is. She is the ideal height for it. And this is calculated too. He'd be embarrassed to do this and stick around for the others to make fun of him so it's always right before he has to leave. He plants that smooch and immediately teleports off the scene. He refuses to face the repercussions of being mushy with his girlfriend!!!! It drives Willow insane because hello??? She doesn't get to leave just yet. She has to just stand here with the others and be blushy and giggly about it. Do you even care, Hunter??? Do you even care about your girlfriend??? And she hates it cuz she likes it and no matter how embarrassing it is, she doesn't not want goodbye smooches, so she just has to put up with it. Fuck this guy!!!

But yeah!!! YEAH!!! If nobody else is around, Hunter is actually really touchy. He was very hesitant at first during intimate moments and Willow had to manually guide his hands to her face, her waist, wherever she wanted his hands to be. But as he got more comfortable with the fact that he was given permission to touch her, he gradually shifted into this fervent eagerness whenever they're alone. It kinda flusters Willow actually. She wasn't entirely prepared for it. Even after she gets used to it, he still has the ability to mentally trip her up.

Like he'll usually show up at her place after a long, soul draining kind of day. And they'll barely get their "hellos" in before he's suddenly bundled her up in his arms, squeezing her tight against his chest (Willow's like "Okay...okay...this is happening...be cool, this is happening....") and pressing a light kiss against her lips. It's a nonverbal question. Like "I feel like doing a lot of kissing? Can we do that right now??" And Willow rarely says no. She can't always manage a yes either. Just a little nod because WOW!!! OKAY!!! YOURE JUST GONNA BARGE INTO HER ROOM AND SWEEP HER OFF HER FEET???? NO CONSIDERATION FOR THE FACT THAT SHE WAS DOING HER HOMEWORK AND NOW SHE CAN'T FOCUS ON ANYTHING ELSE BUT YOUR STUPID MOUTH!!!! DO YOU EVEN CARE?????

Anyway, yeah. Very subtle acts of PDA. But Hunter is an absolute menace once he gets the hang of this whole "having a girlfriend" thing. Hands all over her. He has the audacity to make her feel loved to the point of idiocy. Disgusting.

It is with profound disappointment that we report the industry CEOs have walked away from the bargaining table after refusing to counter our latest offer. (1/11)

We have negotiated with them in good faith, despite the fact that last week they presented an offer that was, shockingly, worth less than they proposed before the strike began.

These companies refuse to protect performers from being replaced by AI, they refuse to increase your wages to keep up with inflation, and they refuse to share a tiny portion of the immense revenue YOUR work generates for them.

We have made big, meaningful counters on our end, including completely transforming our revenue share proposal, which would cost the companies less than 57¢ per subscriber each year. They have rejected our proposals and refused to counter.

Instead they use bully tactics. Just tonight, they intentionally misrepresented to the press the cost of the above proposal – overstating it by 60%.

They have done the same with A.I., claiming to protect performer consent, but continuing to demand “consent” on the first day of employment for use of a performer’s digital replica for an entire cinematic universe (or any franchise project).

The companies are using the same failed strategy they tried to inflict on the WGA – putting out misleading information in an attempt to fool our members into abandoning our solidarity and putting pressure on our negotiators.

But, just like the writers, our members are smarter than that and will not be fooled.

We feel the pain these companies have inflicted on our members, our strike captains, IATSE, Teamsters and Basic Crafts union members, and everyone in this industry. We have sacrificed too much to capitulate to their stonewalling and greed.

We stand united and ready to negotiate today, tomorrow, and every day.

Our resolve is unwavering. Join us on picket lines and at solidarity events around the country and let your voices be heard.

One day longer. One day stronger. As long as it takes.

- Your TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee

[Oct 12, 2023]

I made a huntlow animatic !!! yay!!!