#and I love how she interact with daemon by implying “you are a bad person who does horrible thing to the innocents”

[fierce-little-miana]

I love Alys Rivers so much in HotD, you have no idea.

[pfhwrittes]

okay alright here we go. disclaimer here: i am not an expert on his dark materials. i am just a nerd that read the books at the age of 11 and fell in love with them. i have started to re-read them again as an adult but i can't find my copies of the subtle knife or the amber spyglass. things in this post will be wrong. i'm using the knowledge i have in my head. also, i'm going off the book lore, not the film (we do not speak of the film) or tv show lore.

also, there are spoilers under the cut for his dark materials.

so, for those of you that are unfamiliar with Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, daemons are a sentient animal companion that is a reflection of your soul/personality that appears when you are born. they can talk, have independent thoughts, express emotions, feel pain, and also have a telepathic link with their human counterparts.

pre-pubescent children's daemons can change shape/type at will. at the onset of puberty (or, it's heavily implied that trauma is a factor too) the daemon will "settle" into its adult/mature form and can no longer change shape.

in his dark materials lyra's daemon, pantalaimon, is shown to change forms multiple times during her childhood/adventures before "settling" into the form of a pine marten. pan commonly changes forms to represent a mouse, a small bird (a sparrow i think?), a dolphin when she was travelling via sea voyage, and the book referenced that pan turned into a dragon when playing with other children and their daemons too. daemons can and do express a preference for certain forms throughout childhood.

according to the books (please note the first was published in the 90s), daemons are most commonly the "opposite sex" to their human counterparts. so males would have a female daemon and vice versa, but it was noted in the books that an unnamed character was considered an oddity because his daemon was the same sex as him. so it's not unheard of, just uncommon (or at least, uncommon according to the author - but i digress. i'm not getting into gender stuff on this post. i'm trans. i have Other Thoughts regarding gender stuff and daemons but i'm trying to keep this as short as possible.)

important stuff to know about daemons that could be considered spoilers if you haven't read the books/watched the TV show (sidenote: do not watch the 2008 film. it's bad. it's so so bad.)

social etiquette is that humans do not touch another human's daemon. it's an exceptionally intimate act, usually reserved for familial/romantic relationships or incredibly close friendships.

daemons are usually named by the parent/guardian's daemons.

daemons can and do talk to each other, groom each other, play, cuddle, and otherwise interact with each other. it's not uncommon for children's daemons to get into scuffles with each other.

if you are hurt, your daemon will feel it. if your daemon is hurt, you will feel it. if someone else touches your daemon, you will feel it. (in the books it's described as a kind of paralysing, anxiety inducing sensation if someone with hostile intent touches your daemon.)

if the human dies, the daemon turns into Dust (they turn into a shower of gold sparks and float away). if a daemon turns into Dust before the human does the human may not necessarily die...

there is a finite distance with how far a daemon can travel away from their human. some types of daemons (birds, dolphins) can travel further than terrestrial daemons but that is entirely dependent on the size/motility of the daemon AND on whether or not the pairing have been Separated.

being Separated hurts. it's agonising. it's not something that most people or daemons would willingly choose to do but there are exceptions...

people are very much stereotyped on their type of daemon. for example, in his dark materials soldiers usually have canine-type daemons. "common" folk usually have "common" types of daemons but more wealthy/better educated/higher social classes have "uncommon" daemons. in his dark materials lord asriel's daemon is a snow leopard called stelmaria, marisa coulter's (a wealthy socialite) daemon is a golden monkey (unnamed in the books, but according to the tv show and radio adaptation is named ozymandias) compared to various staff members at jordan college who all have daemons like house sparrows or small dogs or cats.... make of that what you will.

so yeah, consider this a primer on daemons as inspired by his dark materials. hopefully i will be able to weave this lore (and some of my own headcanons) into the au i'm noodling away on for the 141!

[greywoe]

this was for sure an episode (6)

- this series is really progressing slowly esp in regards to team black. i feel excited whenever something happens that will advance the dragonseeds plotline/daemon’s horror house experience/rhaenyra being stuck at dragonstone but man they really like to give us very little at a time

- but yeeeahhh things are happening slowly but surely. i haven’t been that into daemon’s storyline but i liked his scenes with viserys and also the scene with alys where he gets humbled lol. it’s clear all of it’s been getting to him, to the point of asking this bastard woman (who may or may not have made him experience these visions in the first place) for help. it’s a development i rather like. also her being implied to have a hand in grover tully’s death… what are you playing at

- the scene with alicent and gwayne miiiight have been my favourite. how they almost stumble upon each other and alicent’s awkward attempts to reach out and gwayne’s initial terseness that then softens as they talk about their upbringings and daeron, alicent’s son whom she barely even knows (like her brother!). and gwayne almost-insulting her and then reassuring her that she did her best, god i did not expect to care for their relationship but i do! she barely has anyone she can talk to like that, he’s family after all, so in a way they’re close but almost strangers at the same time

- super interested in seeing larys protect and help aegon knowing he’s his chance to get what he wants (as aemond proved to be unyielding). i hope he starts plotting against aemond, it’s the kind of intrigue i live for

- i was impressed by the scene with steffon darklyn and seasmoke in the giant but still cramped-looking chamber, it really provided a sense of how much of a personal risk and sacrifice comes with claiming (or even just interacting with) a dragon. sometimes it’s easy to forget that when you’re watching the fantasy cgi dragon show where most of the riders just do it naturally, but it would be absolutely terrifying even getting near one as an outsider

- on that note it’s… interesting that the meeting between addam and seasmoke is purely accidental? or at least, that addam isn’t actively trying to claim him. we’ll see how this is followed up on. it hasn’t escaped my notice that they characterised addam more of a risk-taker and alyn more cautious, which i thought was leading up to addam being the one claiming a dragon, so it surprised me how it just seems like he stumbles upon seasmoke (or seasmoke choosing him lmao).

- are…. they giving rhaena sheepstealer? is this what’s happening? as much as i love that they’re actually doing something with her i am not exactly pleased lol. rhaena is a targaryen princess, everyone expects her to claim a dragon. it’s nothing like a common girl from nowhere who uses her understanding and cleverness to bond with a dragon in spite of what everyone else would expect (especially important since the other two lowborn dragonseeds turn traitors - though it seems they are setting them up to be more sympathetic and relatable instead of just reducing them to bad guys)

- rhaenyra and mysaria’s pr trick is working and what a way to celebrate! i can’t deny that a small part of me wanted it to happen lmao, but a larger part of me is quite cynical, so… i guess we’ll see what happens. i want to take it at face value and see it as a intimate moment between two people who have forged an understanding deep enough for them to be vulnerable with one another. and then it feels pretty sweet. (which was btw immediately ruined by my mum, who recently borrowed the book from me, exclaiming “but they’ve got that wrong, haven’t they? weren’t there some other lady who preferred women? not rhaenyra?!” like it’s the first inconsistency in the show lmfao)

some thoughts on that first episode bc i might as well

- that first scene in the north did not make me very happy… maybe it’s just me who likes negotiations but i was looking forward to Jace’s World Tour of North/Eastern Westeros and his talks and bargains with the different houses (especially lady jeyne! i guess i can understand why they cut it out but i think when it comes to her there’s material to build an interesting character from, but whatever. another arryn L i guess :(), but what did we get but one (1) scene at the wall for some reason. i mean i like the night’s watch as much as the next person but this just felt like straight up GoT fanservice… like what does the threat beyond the wall have to do with this conflict? they could at least have given us some parley but there was barely anything of that either. cregan stark’s going to be important later so i thought they’d do more to establish him as a character now. but literally the next scene we see jace in he’s back at dragonstone….. ok (tho i guess they could return to the north later? idk we’ll see) (also, i care less for the sara snow subplot but i was sure they would do something with it since they love to go with the juicy stuff like forbidden love and whatnot)

- on that note i expect they’re going the singers’ route with erryk and arryk which i don’t really care for (they need to make me care more for those characters first) but it makes sense

- i’m ashamed of the fact that the alyn reveal made me go “ahh” aloud and my mum (who hasn’t read f&b) went “what???” and i just vaguely waved it off because it’s so annoying when people do that and i try not to but… i was surprised they introduced him so early

- aegon ii keeps being the most entertaining character on the show and he was the highlight to me. thank you for bringing a tinge of comedy. i’d say keep it up, but… well

- this is old discourse but i don’t have much of a problem with them showing alicent being groomed and manipulated in the show which probably makes her seem more sympathetic to viewers (and i can’t help but fall for every instance the lingering and complex feelings between her and rhaenyra that still clearly affect her come up) but now i’d like to see her being more active. i liked her confronting otto but (so far) for the most part she seemed a bit uninvolved and inactive (except for the sex scenes with criston… -_- which i guess are intended to bite them in the ass later which is why it’s continuously brought up, but so far i do not care for it). i just want to see her contributing more of her own i guess. but there’s plenty of time for that in the upcoming episodes, especially now after the death of another child 😔

- i sure hope we get to see more of baela and rhaena. this was only the first episode, i will have hope in my heart

- helaena’s line about being scared of the rats felt like clever foreshadowing when i heard it, except that the blood & cheese thing happened just a few scenes later……. suddenly it didn’t feel so clever anymore, nobody will have forgotten it at that point (the best foreshadowing imo is stuff that you maybe don’t notice at first and only catch on your rewatch)

- and about that, as relieved as i am about the violence being toned down, reading the book the whole “damning one child to die but the other one is slain, so now you and your child have to live with the fact that you named him to be killed” business was very impactful so i’m a bit disappointed nonetheless. for a show that so clearly opts for emotional impact, i mean… though i suppose cutting a kid or two out is understandable. but the way they made a whole deal about not knowing the sex of the twins (and the assassins being surprisingly gentlemanly about it lol) made me wonder if they mean to do a big plot twist where helaena was lying about it and actually rescued jaehaerys, but also that (unnecessarily) changes some things and what would be the point of that. 🤔 i did really like helaena’s acting during the scene though, opting for pure shock and dissociation rather than making it a dramatic tearfest. i like helaena as a character too, from what little we have seen of her anyway, and i wish she’d had more moments previously in the show so that we as viewers would be even more emotionally connected to her, but she gets pretty sidelined in comparison to her brothers. we don’t get to know much about her in the book so i feel like that’s what the show is for! expanding upon the book!

[lordeasriel]

I really care about your opinion, how do you feel about the bbc show and the way it's going?

I feel like before I give my take, I need to say that I understand the show is its own thing, and while I do wish they did a better job adapting certain things, I understand that sometimes there is a need for radical change or cut, especially when your budget is not super high (which HDM does have a lot of money into it, still is not a super big budget production, so they have to worry about these things). And I do enjoy many things about the show, but my overall vibe is mixed, to be honest. I’m stating this now because people often question whether I like the show or not, becaus I do criticise it a lot, and I simply have a critic view of the things I like, which is why I discuss them a lot and it can be overwhelming.

My main issues with the show are these 3 things: (which I’ll put under the cut because this got a bit longer than I wanted to lmao sorry)

Lack of worldbuilding and loose lore: I’ve been talking about this since day one, and this mostly applies to season 1 because I can’t judge season 2 yet because it’s not fully aired yet, but the show suffers from lack of worldbuilding, especially in Lyra’s world, which is the world that sets everything in motion. I still dislike the fact they introduced Will mid-NL, I don’t think he needed all those episodes to establish something that easily could’ve been done in S2 and because they gave TSK a lot of time, other parts of Lyra’s world suffered considerably, mainly the witches and the Magisterium.

The show doesn’t really expand on those two groups, especially, and I think that’s not good, especially the Magisterium (which they have over simplified by making it one big baddie, or so it seems at least, not to mention that implying a single leader for them practically ruins Marcel Delamare’s arc in TBOD and I’m very mad about that lmao). A lot of the Magisterium plot has that infighting aspect, which creates tension on their side as well as against their enemies, but the show doesn’t really explore that or the nuances of the Church, and they also don’t explore how varied the witches are, and I feel like this is a serious mistake. (The portrayal of the witches is by far my least favourite thing in the show, if I’m being honest).

Dull parallel world (and lack of daemons): this ties a bit with the worldbuilding aspect, but this is mainly about design choices. I think the show doesn’t make Lyra’s world as unique as it should be. On its own the world looks pretty and the outfits of most of the cast are great, but when you realise that Will’s world is intertwined with that, you don’t really feel like these two worlds are vastly different.

There is an odd situation in which Marisa’s fashion feels 30s/40s, but most of the men from her social circle (not fair to compare with the gyptians) just wear plain suits and they look much more modern. And while I get that they went for a timeless vibes, with different eras and styles, Lyra’s world feels like a caricature and it doesn’t feel believable. The colour palette is mostly the same for both worlds (even in s2, it’s hard to tell much of the difference because either the scenes are indoors or at night.) This, paired with the lack of daemons (which has been discussed many times in the fandom) kinda bums me out.

Marisa’s oversimplification: I’m mentioning Marisa, specifically, because she is the one that suffers the most due to this writing issues, but other characters like Lord Asriel, MacPhail, the general collective of the Witches, they all suffer from the writing trying to take away the nuances of them and make them flatter than in the book. Marisa is the worst because without her complexity and her flaws, she simply gets dull and boring and flavourless, and it’s kinda what has been happening in the show in my opinion. All she does is weep and she has no strength that doesn’t rely on a random fit of rage that dies out and she gets upset. There’s some great moments, like when she mimics the Monkey, but most of the time she’s just a shadow of who she is supposed to be.

The show tries really hard to make her a Scorned Mother - right from the get go, they try to makes us see how she wants Lyra, how she struggles with her “bad nature” and how that affects their relationship. There is this lingering implication that Lyra was taken from her against her wishes; they make it seem like being a mother to Lyra is her driving force, the only reason why she seeks power and influence. And that is the opposite of Book! Marisa, who is a force of nature, ruthless and ambitious, with not an ounce of maternal instinct.

She does eventually decide to help Lyra, instead of harming her, but even that action comes from a narcisistic place: Lyra is to her a possession, something that belongs to her, and that she wants to preserve. The show just handles her badly, falling into overused, boring tropes that struck far from the book version.

These are usually my main complaints about the show, and they upset me every episode to the point I’m practically ignoring them now lmao The show does a lot of good things too, making Will less of a prick, restoring Lyra’s personality from the first book into S2 Lyra (so far, please keep it that way), Mary is looking great too. They have mostly a great cast, and they did improve the daemons this season (except uh, there are far less daemons to show because of the other worlds - and the Ruta Skadi daemon change pisses me off tbh).

They do have a lot of interest in the show, but the writing (the main issue to me) feels clunky and childish, with the show toning down most of the themes that make His Dark Materials so special, especially to me (which frankly I expected them to do, but it still stings a bit). They make the Magisterium a single bad entity that feels more Authoritarian-Fascist, than a theocracy (even if they sneak in the religious symbols and rituals and garments, it’s just not a good portrayal, it’s very tame and shy); and they try to justify Marisa’s actions (especially in current interviews, there’s lots of talk about how her background will play in the show to “explain why she is the way she is”). The fact the Magisterium is portrayed as pure evil makes it looks less familiar than it should be, and therefore they don’t look scary, they seem like a caricature, a joke.

A lot of the essence of the characters get lost, and the core message of the story too, like when Iorek and the Gyptians tell Lyra she can be one of them, to support her lack of “proper family”, when that is the opposite of the books message. It doesn’t make sense for them to change that, other than maybe Jack Thorne wanted to because it makes the story feels less hopeless, but it’s why he fails to adapt these character - he doesn’t capture the essence, he tries to write these character with gaps in them.

However, the thing that annoys me the most is how they portray Asriel. It’s just... it’s bad. Really bad, which is a shame cause James is talented as fuck, but he had little time to film for season 1, and then they portrayed him very poorly. That scene when he addresses Roger in episode 7 is ridiculous, Asriel would never behave that way; there was relief in him finding Roger was there too, yes, but not to that extent and not in such a cringe way. Asriel is not deranged or irrational, he is a man on a mission, and Roger was a tool (there is no pleasure in Asriel taking his life and no excuses - it needed to be done and he did it); they just needed him to sound creepy in the show for whatever reason.

I hated how they handled the bridge scene for Asriel, Lyra and Marisa, but that’s long and complicated for me to explain here. In S2, there has been some mentions of him so far, including the implication he might have ruined Cittàgazze himself and I frankly don’t understand where did they get that idea. But the cherry on the top was Thorold telling Marisa that Asriel was gonna kill Lyra and that’s just-- that’s so dumb. That’s genuinely dumb writing, because Thorold knows Lyra followed Asriel to the mountain, and while I do believe Asriel would have killed Lyra if Roger wasn’t there, there is no way Thorold should know or consider that Asriel was gonna hurt Lyra, because Roger was there. In fact, Thorold’s interactions with Asriel in episode 8 already disprove this, so either Thorold was lying in S2 for the sake of, I don’t know, chaos or whatever, or the person who wrote this was a five-star, solid gold, fucking moron.

I’m not gonna mention the lost episode because that was no one’s fault, but the fact that they discarded an episode that all information we have on imply that it was important to set up the backstory of the angels and the city, it’s... concerning. It means they wrote something parallel that should’ve been woven into the season.

The truth is, I still watch the show on Sundays, and I still like some stuff they do (especially Mary’s stuff, so far), and despite me slandering the show per your request anon lol (cause unfortunately my honest opinion is mixed, I just don’t try to overfocus on the negative on Tumblr, I mostly talk about it on discord or private), I do think anyone who has read the books should watch the show.

For me, personally, everything I love about HDM is barely on the show - complex characters, the philosophy, the oppression by religion, the interesting world - and the vibe I get is that they’re adapting a coming-of-age love story, which is the last and - being fully honest - the least important message these books give us, but unfortunately they were set to making a family show from the start, and my expectations were high and unmatched, and a family is what we’re getting: toned down, cute, pretty visuals and soulless (heh, pun intended), philosophically speaking. I expect a certain pattern going into S3, but I always like to hold out hope that they will hire better writers (apparently Jack Thorne already wrote 4 scripts, so there you go lmao), and try to give HDM the adaptation it deserves. The truth is, if you’re a picky, canon reliant person like I am, the show might be a struggle, but if you just like the story for the teen romance, or if you don’t care about overthinking a show/book, then most people can have a good time with it.

[death-burst]

My thoughts about His Dark Materials

I’ve finished volume 3 last week, and I wanted to come back to the earlier discussion now that I have a fresh memory of the conclusion.

And ooh boy, I don’t like that conclusion, but not for the reasons mentioned by star-anise that started this discussion. I’ll start with my own criticism, and go back to that after.

[Obviously, SPOILER WARNING, proceed at your own risk.]

So, in the last 30 pages or so, we get:

a reiteration in even clearer terms of that “servants have dog daemons” point, that a daemon represents a person “true” nature. We already had a branch of the previous discussion on that topic, and we all agreed it was bad. Some where doubting that it was what Pullman actually meant, or whether it was only some unreliable narrator’s opinion. Well, for me there’s no doubt anymore. At least, there’s a vague suggestion that it isn’t definitely fixed and that people could, theoretically, change, they just choose not to, so you know, silver lining and all that....

Lyra coming into her prophesied role as the “new Eve” and somehow preventing all the Dust from exiting the universe through the huge gap in reality caused by the Church’s bomb, without any explanation of what made her special or even how it works at all, and without any real story need for that, since the (good) Angels would close it soon after anyway. It’s just that, looping back to the foreshadowed prophecy, only for the sake of meeting expectations, but I find that it actually weakens the story a lot.

a confirmation that Angels are dumb-asses, and have been so for the last 300 years. For real, if it was so important, why did they need to ask Will specifically, and not any of the previous knife holder, how to close the portals?

and not only are they dumb, they are also mean for no reason to the kids that JUST FRICKING SAVED THE UNIVERSE, no big deal. Seriously, I’m not opposed to bad/sad endings when they are credible, but this one, gosh, I’m so angry, there was probably a dozen workarounds to have a happy ending instead, based on the books own premises. Just to name a few:

They are closing dozens of portals that have stayed open for hundred of years, but really, the universe can only withstand A SINGLE portal, strict limit, I promise. No way you can keep two portals open, no way. Yeah, I don’t believe you...

OK, OK, let’s admit we can’t keep two portals open. But we can open the second one briefly every 5 years or so to visit each other’s world, right? No? It will create a specter? AND HOW IS THAT A PROBLEM EXACTLY?!! You just fricking dealt with thousands of specters that accumulated and grew over a couple centuries. One specter every five years is peanuts. Just send a couple Angels to get rid of it as soon as it is spawned, and voilà! Or a squad of volunteer ghosts. With the number of people dying over 5 years over the whole multiverse, I’m sure you’ll get more than enough volunteers. You bunch of ungrateful pricks, you owe this two kids at least that much, and probably a thousand times more.

And what about the “natural” portals, those not created by the knife that do not leak Dust? Oh, you will close them to make sure I don’t waste my life looking for them? WHAT THE HECK!! Alternate proposition: I promise I won’t look for them myself, YOU look for them, AS YOU INTENDED TO ANYWAY, and instead of closing them, you map them, and if you finally find a route from my world to hers, you come back and tell me? Yeah, you know, try to find a solution instead of squashing hope and all that? I think someone needs to read Pandora’s myth again, the importance of hope and all that...

(sorry for all the caps. i’m REALLY *that* angry)

Also, in the grand explanation of everything at the end, we get told that the big fight between “good” and “evil” is actually a fight between wisdom and ignorance, with a flat affirmation that half the universe, including all organized religions, was fighting on the side of ignorance, to keep people dumb. I’m more or less an atheist myself, and even me, I feel so offended by such a rash statement. That’s such a narrow understanding of the origin and role of religion, how can you write a whole three books about it and come to such a broad and coarse conclusion? Get some nuance, dammit.

..... Probably the worst ending I’ve read to a series that I enjoyed.

Because yes, I enjoyed most of the series, it’s just the conclusion that is so awfully terrible, but the vast majority of the story is interesting and entertaining.

Despite all that, I still disagree with star-anise original post, at least as far as the books are concerned (she was watching the recent TV series). For reference, it’s here: https://star-anise.tumblr.com/post/190192181909/im-trying-to-watch-his-dark-materials-but

If I understood the gist of her argument correctly, she’s annoyed by Dust’s sudden change of behavior during adolescence, the claim "that puberty is the most pivotal time for a child developmentally”, to quote a later post in the thread. But in my interpretation, the books are NOT claiming that. I don’t know what the TV series did with that topic, but numerous points in the books point to a more continuous transition:

Lyra is always able to interact with Dust, through the alethiometer or Dr. Malone’s devices, even before she meets Will and fall in love or has sex.

The kids become gradually more aware of the Specters, it’s not a sudden shift. And they become fully vulnerable to them before their Daemons take a fixed form, showing that even before that they already have accumulated a lot of Dust.

There are various remarks that Dust accumulates slowly overtime. It says that young children have very little Dust (compared to adult), but not none at all. And it also says that old and wise persons have much more Dust than the average adult, evidence that Dust keeps accumulating over the whole life, it’s not just one change happening at puberty and/or with the discovery of sex/love.

Daemons do go through a sudden change of behavior at puberty, but a) it doesn’t seem related to Dust directly, and b) it’s implied they can still change, they just don’t want to. This sudden change is not “encoded into the physics of the universe”, it’s just a statistical trend, not an absolute truth.

On the other hand, supporting star-anise argument, there is one such change, but it’s about the mulefa, not the humans, so I’m not really sure what to make of it. The mulefa physically cannot accumulate Dust unless/until they absorb oil from the wheel trees, and so their youngsters do get through an abrupt transition when they get big enough to start using wheels, which is the closest equivalent for them of puberty. But once again, no link with love or sex.

At no point whatsoever is Dust presented as related to Sin, except by Miss Coulter and Lyra’s world’s Church, which are obviously bad guys and misguided.

So personally, I don’t fault the books on that topic, and I find that they present, on that topic specifically, a nuanced and interesting take. I think a more legitimate criticism in that direction is about the “special nature” of humans compared to animals, as if humans aren’t just another kind of animal, as if animals are not conscious at all. They are, and we should respect that more, and treat animals with more compassion in general. Animals should attract Dust too, even if at a slower rate.

(Also, I’m still annoyed by that “Daemon as true nature” bit...)

[hornedwyvern]

Chapter 3 ✵ A Dance Among Birds

This in a fiction which stars you as the reader (F!Reader) in a love triangle with Ardyn Izunia and Gladiolus Amicitia. Please enjoy! This one is particularly long. 

Warning: This story will have eventually smut, non con, gore, slime, implied character death. Lots of angst, possessiveness and jealousy. This one for bullying or mostly Gladio just being a teenage douche-bag.

Word Count: 3,184

To tempt the devil was to tempt fate but what if it was the other way around? You're in the thralls of love and hate, lips like honey each direction you turn. To the left; the Imperial Chancellor, he can both offer the desires you crave and the gift you seek. To the right your found love of so many years; The Shield of the King. A man who offer you a life you could never imagine and a love never unending. You seek the strength to choose as voices berate you from all around like fire and you the tinder. Praise the gods as a solemn will guides you towards with your hand out reached; whom will you choose? What will happen?

Chapter 1 ✵ 

Chapter 2 ✵ 

“Wistful girl!” A familiar voice shot at you. You had been staring out your window.

You turned to reply; it was your mother holding a burlap bag with a most judging look. She stood in the door way of your bedroom, keen on your figure who lazily sought the blue skies over that clear Insomnia day. A few planes in sight, maybe some birds -- and the always resonating, pulsating borealis glow of the crystal’s power which protected your city. It’s textile pattern fading in and out as more energy was pumped into the sky. Maybe someone who had never lived there could have found the shield alarming; you found it as a security. 

Some times you would stare at it for hours. It blocked the noises inside your head. 

‘Sinner!’ ‘Daemon!’ You shook to clean of the voices away. Narely remembering how they came to be inside of you.

“Y/N!” You were reminded once more. A bleak look in your tired eyes. 

“Yes?” Quietly responding.

You’d grown up 3 years. A ripe age of fifteenth. 

Your hair was longer, reaching the edges of your shoulders; it carried a bounce when you blow dried it. As well your body had developed slow; you were a woman but still looked like a flat board when you dressed in your high school uniform. You wish it fit better but that was the only size that contoured you the best. It would have to make due! Plus you planned to be covered in scrubs and a doctor’s coat for the rest of your life. So what if you weren’t the most fashionable person out there.

You had on a long sweater and printed leggings as well wrapped in one of your favorite blankets. You’d spent a good chunk of the night studying a medical book your mother had given you. Even in the summer you dedicated your self to  becoming a doctor. It was your pride in not only your self but in your family. Your love for your mother and her practice were important so it would be to you. The worst thing you could think would to have your family disappointed in you. You shuttered at the thought.

“I've been calling your name for the last five minutes.” Your mother stated, inviting her self into your room.”What have you been doing?”

Had she really?

“I was just thinking about how I’m excited for school to start. What teachers I will have this year.” You lied. You couldn’t remember what you were thinking about. When you tried to recall all you could think was the color blue. Maybe you had been staring at the sky for too long. The brisk April air was getting to you.

Your room wasn’t the most interesting but to you it was a safe haven. Your bed was low to the ground with a tapestry behind it. Several book cases full of comics, novels or medical books of both human, daemon and animal anatomy. To the furthest side was a white desk littered with papers, a laptop and cans of empty soda or energy drinks (Even the occasional empty cup of tea with it’s tea bag still inside.) As your mother walked through she sighed in disgust. How could she have raised such a cluttered child?

You didn’t mind. You were more interested in what she brought you. 

“Like you asked. I brought some books on Daemon studies and uses. As well some books I thought you would enjoy.” She sat on a bean bag chair not too far from your perch by the window. Promptly dumping the books out without a single disregard. You understood when you saw the condition they were in. Likely old books in a library donated to the Citadel or to your mother. You shifted to face her better; grasping one of the books that fell near you.

It was a lore and humane studies of Daemons, the pages looked aged and yellow. The course texture of the pages against your thumbs felt gratifying. As you flipped through it’s fine pages you sought the information inside; skimming the notes of Daemon behavior and the reasoning behind their existence. A particular page entangled your fixation as it relayed that some daemon can exhibit almost human nature and how they interact while in groups. Some caring for one another of their own and even that of other daemons in nature. It really baffled you that these creatures were so human-like yet aggressive in nature. 

Your attention drew to the mannerisms in Arachne and their hierarchy. Beside the lengths of printed text you saw a crude drawing of a feminine arachnid woman sporting a vivid tail coat and grotesque legs. What caught you the most was how human-like she looked - you drew your index finger around the lines of her chin and cheeks. Amidst this you were completely ignoring your mother again and what ever she was saying. 

‘You seek the devil inside you -- Oh how you crave it. You lowly worm.’ A forgotten voice hissed at you. 

‘Yes, nothing more than dirt’ A second chimed. Their laughter like needles on nape of your neck. You toted the pain silently aside the panicked look stated in your watering orbitals. 

“Y/N, I swear you’re out of it.” your mother waved her hand by you. This startled you actually but at least made you focus on something else.

“I-I’m sorry I’m just tired.” Continuing to lie, you felt bad for doing it.

“Are you sure?” Her head leaned into a tilt, some of her hair -- the same color as yours -- falling off her shoulder. “You can always come talk to me, you know? I’m never to busy.”

That was a lie from her, you internally chuckled. She was always busy or berating you to help or finish a task. Your childhood innocent and duties were long gone, she no longer let you slack or have a moment’s rest. This didn’t diminish any love you had for you it was just you had a different relationship now. It was a just a change and no one really likes change -- well that’s how you thought some times. 

“I appreciate that.” You said with a benign smile, closing up your book. Your mother had collected most of them stacking them infront of her.  

“I don’t understand where you find interest in these books. It’s not what you’re planning to major in any way. Seems like a waste of shelf space but I guess we all have our interest, When I was your age I enjoyed reading mystery novels. That could be considered as the same.” 

You didn’t really pay attention to her common, you had shuffled down to your knees as you gazed based the other titles. 

“I got your schedule by the way for tomorrow. I left it on the main table in the dining room.” This piqued your interest. Once she had left you organized your new books on a small shelf space you had in a large deep purple book case near your computer before exiting to seek your newest schedule for the beginning school year. 

It seemed like the same; home room, P.E., Lucian Studies, Global Studies, Home Economics and even a list of different after school activities along with with what days you had to stay and clean your home room. From how your morning started this gave you a bit of a perk -- or could have been the cinnamon spice tea you had. Either way you experience a warm excitement inside your chest. It riveted your heart beat, you placed your hand over the spot on your body to calm it’s commotion.

The first day is always the most exciting. You geared your tote of your supplies and -- much to your exhaustion; dawned your uniform and clipped your bangs to the side with a statement hair clip. It wasn’t out of dress code but it was just a small blue flower that complimented the color of your hair. Your mother thought it was just right to make a good impression as well to make you approachable. You checked yourself in the mirror for any flaws or any improvements. 

There was some perse, almost bruised shaded bags under your eyes. This made you sigh but was easily fixed by a few dabs of cover up and powder. Your mind was ablaze last night which made hard for sleeping, you’d one day find a way to fix what ever you were experiencing but for now it was your first day of high school and you were not going to let this ruin it. You demanded so in the first step you took outside and marched your way to school with a extreme false confidence. 

“Aiela.” “Here” “Aeiliame” “Present.” “Aetos”

You heard your surname. It drew your attention to the male teacher dressed in slacks and a button up looking for you behind thick, wide frame glasses. 

“Right here.” Meekly lifting your hand.

He acknowledged you until he started to list the rest of the names. It didn’t phase you until a certain name brought forth a surge of memories and fixation. 

“Amicitia.” The name caused a stir for the whole class room. Most of the heads looking for where they sat.

“Right here.” Gladiolus replied with a lacking tone. His cheek resting on his hand and elbow. 

He sat kiddie corner from you behind you. Your turned your head to examine the situation. The stretched position making a piece of your hair fall from your clip and into your face. Unknowingly you shot him a disgruntled and judging stare which he found funny or something as he replied it with a toothy smirk. His jacket was unkempt, the first few buttons undone as well hair shadowing on his chin and cheek bones. What a mess for his first day. This didn’t please you at all, it was very unbecoming. You had your child hood stirs when you still stayed at the Citadel with your mother but now you had to share a home room with him? All because you were born a month too early and validated you to bump up into the further grade class. You would try your best to ignore him.

You remedied your hair. It was time to pay attention anyway. 

Your first day wasn’t that bad. It was simple stuff you’d retained and relayed over from the previous year. Most were also introductions and what the year would pertain along what was expected of you. At lunch you got to meet a few of your class mates who were all very nice, they shared your common interests. You all bickered over your school bought snacks and treats. You nibbled on a few cookies your mom had packed inside your tote. You hoped that maybe this year you would have a real best friend and do what ever friends really go do. You felt a overwhelming sense of Love and hope throb inside your gut. 

All good students helped clean after class, it was only on accident the first day was one of the days you were scheduled to help. You happily obliged, your goal was to present yourself as a exemplary student. That is until you were taking out the trash to the dumpster. Gladiolus had been helping as well too -- not too much. He was speeding through things to do something. Perhaps late for a game, maybe a date? A voice in your head mocked you. 

In your daze, the plastic tin in your arms was launched out of your arms and spilled on the ground. Your luck it was just only wadded papers and useless office supplies; you stared at the mess before apprehending the source of your new found problem.

“Oops.” A callous voice established beside you. “Stop dropping things, Y/N. It will just keep you here longer.”

It was Gladiolus. He’d jolted the trash can from out of your arm with his free hand as the other was clasped around a broom. You stared at him from beside you with a leer.

You had your tufts and squabbles back at the Citadel. Teasing each other when the moment was right or you just happen to see each other; frankly part of it is why you stopped going with your mom. You’d gotten a bit too rough when Gladiolus insulted your socks and you decided to rip a patch off his uniform. A more than playful altercation insured. From then you only remembered going back a few more times. 

Since then he’d shot up like a bamboo stalk. He was taller than you, face had filled out and started even sporting facial hair. Gladiolus was no longer the grumpy child you remembered years ago; now he was a man. Though this improved Gladiolus was something to be adored you desired to be a far away from him as you could. You ignored his remark and started to collect the pieces of paper from the ground.

Gladiolus kicked one further from you.

“Stop slacking.” Gladiolus said in a churlish tone. 

“Maybe if you were helpful once in your life we might be done.” Your witty tone lashing back him serenely. 

“I’ve got practice with my teacher, you know? Too busy to help you. Once I bring back this I’m taking off but don’t have too much fun without me.” He left with a laugh, jogging back to the school yard entrance. 

You breathed a sigh as you wrapped up cleaning the trash amidst hissing insults under your breath; promptly throwing it away in the nearby dumpster. You’d get him back.

At home economics the next day your class started on a light tone. The teacher said you would be making Swiss Rolls to take home and eat with your family. That seemed pretty easy, your father loved the taste of strawberries. You were sure he’d enjoy to come home from work and have a slice with you. As you read over the ingredients and recipes you observed you were missing a single and key item. You question your partner who stated he had gotten it from the group behind them. Guess you were all sharing the jar.

“Ah--!” Turning to the table behind you. “May I borrow some of the sugar?” 

It was Gladiolus and one of your female class mates. He stared at you with a bleak expression for a moment or so. You expected him to insult you though that wasn’t the case. He alternatively took the measuring cup you had and filled it from the jar of pure white granulated crystals. Just enough for your recipe.

“Here you go.” Gladiolus quietly replied, handing back it to you.

“T-Thank you.” That was oddly nice of him, maybe he was just being civil because others were around? 

You mixed your ingredients pleasantly. Your sheet of sponge cake came out nicely; a fluffy, cherry color - You used a light pink dye and strawberry extract to give it that sweet fruity taste; beating a cream cheese strawberry filling to go with it. You added bits of chopped fruit to compliment the cream. Spreading it thick over the it with a frosting tool; you attempted your best to roll it up into a neat shape. Thus creating the signature dish you’d been told to make. Finishing it off with presenting it on a nice floral plate you’d found in the cupboard.

“Here we go.” Setting it down infront of your teacher. You’d been one of the final students to show off their work. You wanted to make sure it came out just right. 

“Looks good.” He said, taking a sliced piece for him self. Because it hadn’t had a chance to chill the cream slipped out when grasped.

He took a moderate bite, giving it a few chews until stopping completely. He irked before swallowing. Not a good swallow either, it made you worrisome.

“Is it not good?--” You were cut off. 

“No-- I mean yes!! Your cream is good -- the only thing that was sweet. You sure you used Sugar? I think you used salt for your cake.” Your teacher chuckled, setting down the rest of what he had left. 

You reached for a untouched slice and bit a chunk off your self. You immediately you regret that decision as you held all you could to hold back the spongy, salty yet fruit cake in your mouth. None of the flavors mixed delicately like you expected. It hurt your tongue to keep it remaining inside your mouth any longer. You choked back the cake and swallowed it so not to make a scene or embarrass your self by spitting out your own creation. 

That jerk! He’d given you salt instead of sugar! You should have known to taste the batter before mixing it. 

“You did good on the cream.. Might need to watch what you’re mixing in. No worries, Ill give you a passing grade since I can see you put in effort.” Your teacher said to alleviate the situation. At least you had that to make you feel a bit better. You walked back to your table with a cloud of shame over your head. 

Gladiolus was cleaning up his station. He’d made a simple chocolate and cream roll. There was nothing creative about it, just enough to get a passing grade. The little shit had known what he’d done as he smirked from you while wiping off some loose powder sugar that he’d spilled. You could do nothing more than glower at him from you station. Making sure he watched as you dumped the remaining cake into a trash pale. 

“Did you mess up that bad?” Gladiolus mocked you. It was a shame, you were excited to bring that home. 

“I guess I used the wrong ingredients. I wonder what happened.” There was a pinch of sass in your voice.

“Hmmm..” He hummed. “Pay better attention.” 

“Oh I will, I’ll pay lots of attention next time.” Acknowledging him, you packed away the pink food dye into your tote after cleaning your station. 

[obikinbigbang]

Summaries!

(I’m so sorry these are late.) Artists take a peek at these summaries and have in mind which you would like to work with. Please remember that if you are under 18, you will be paired with a SFW fic. I don’t know which ones fully are which, but there are some clearly NSFW ones, so don’t cling to those. It’s not gonna happen. (I don’t mean to be mean, but this is just how it is.) Anyways, love the ideas folks! 

These are the ones that were submitted. Still need to submit a summary, or would like to post an updated/longer version? 

Please do so here! 

Also if you know there will be NSFW, please let me know, so we can help plan ahead of time. 

★ by @anibun-skywalker [NSFW]

Anakin was a freshman at Coruscant Republic University with a full ride basketball scholarship. His skills had been rumored to have been the best in the area, but of course, only by high school standards. Anakin quickly discovered that the head coach, Obi-Wan Kenobi, was the most attractive man he had ever seen in his life. He only intended his coach to remain just that; his coach. Too bad that didn’t work out like he planned.

★ by @prideandprejudiceandkittens [NSFW]

Anakin and Obi-Wan crash-land on the Planet of the Living Force. And, Anakin being Anakin, finds a glowing cave and walks straight into it. When he comes out, he's not alone. A creature of pure Force-dust and soul, his daemon, walks beside him, powerful enough to manifest daemons in those around her. Now back at the Jedi temple, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Padme, and even Mace and Yoda find their lives destabilized by the presence of their soul, palpable and alive, next to them. (To artists: daemons are animals, an idea taken from His Dark Materials.

★ by @darthvders [NSFW]

So my fic is a professor!Obi-Wan and TA/GA!Anakin au where Anakin has just leaving an abusive relationship with the help of Padmé. Obi-Wan is a Philosophy/Ethics professor and Anakin is his GA /TA who is in graduate school to get his masters in both philosophy and psychology (he's a double major). Obi-Wan doesn't feel like he's ready to take on a GA/TA and comes off as standoffish which leads Anakin to think he hates him. It's a slow burn friends to lovers with Anakin going to therapy and realizing that yes he does deserve to be happy. The abusive relationship is more implied and is only in the first chapter, with the occasional flashbacks. This fic will be nsfw but the nsfw will only be between Anakin and Obi-Wan.

★ by @blumyosotis [SFW~]

Ben was born in a distant Moon where the inhabitants worship and are descended from the Starbird, a great flaming bird that is the personification of the Force. He was sent to the Jedi when he was young and apprenticed under Yoda. Years later, in a mission with Qui-gon Jinn to save the Naboo Queen, they emergency land in the planet Tatooine and there he meets a young boy called Anakin who holds the galaxy in his eyes... and apparently can see his wings. He brings(in a manner of speaking) the child back with him to the Temple. Anakin chooses to become a Jedi to help people and becomes an unofficial padawan of Ben. When he is older, the two goes on missions to help a torn kingdom, rescue royalties, topple a dicatorship, and help incite a slave rebellion. Anakin totally loves his master.

★ by @ninadown [NSFW]

Just smut, and lots of it. #Master kink #daddy kink Obi Wan, Anakin and Padme live in New York in a poly relationship. Obi Wan comes from money and can be a bit arrogant at times. He is a New York Times reader and he also works as a negotiator for the UN, and as such, is a Very Important Person. He has the ear of the president on occasion. Anakin is a bit flighty, and is a very high in demand male model. Not that this has gone to his head…When he’s not obsessing about working out, he’s obsessing about his Master. He has somewhat of a rivalry with Padme when it comes to his Master’s attentions. Padme is a hard working chef at a posh restaurant. She is very competitive and sometimes her work tends to occupy all her time. In fact, she may be a bit of a workaholic. Until she gets distracted by the boys…. Padme loves when her daddy spoils her with attention, it really takes her mind of her stressful job. She may have a competition with Anakin, but at the end of the day when Obi Wan isn’t home they definitely know how to distract each other….

★ by @cuddlykoalas​ [NSFW]

Anakin gets taken in by Sidious when he's still a boy on Tatooine. As a young Sith Lord trying to survive in a galaxy quickly descending into war, he meets Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight, tea provider and all around mother hen. That's not exactly improving his life expectancy, though.

★ by @grayjedii [NSFW]

Recently knighted Anakin Skywalker is assigned a simple transport mission at the Council’s insistence. Upon arriving on Dantooine, Anakin discovers that his “cargo” is a dangerous prisoner whom he must escort to Coruscant where the man will be safely contained in the Jedi Detention Center. However, not all goes as planned, and as Anakin finds out, not everything is quite as it seems concerning the prisoner. Additionally, fresh in the young Jedi’s mind is the death of his master, Qui-Gon Jinn. As he attempts to come to terms with the loss, Anakin is drawn into doubting his past, his beliefs, and the Order itself. Complicating things further, Anakin is unable to resist his fascination with the prisoner, Obi-Wan, and develops a strange attachment to him. It should be unsettling—the extent to which Anakin connects with this man—instead, Anakin finds it all too natural, like stoking a fire that had always been there, lingering between them in long-forgotten dimness. Whispers of the Sith’s return do nothing to quell the situation, and somehow, Anakin finds himself falling not to the darkness, but for Obi-Wan.

★ by @ice-mint​ [NSFW BY DEFAULT]

Anakin lives a boring life in his mother's farm near the dessert Town of Tatooine and works in a minumun wage job. All of that is going to change when he witneses an ongoing mission and picks up the dashing J.E.D.I knight Obi Wan Kenobi. In a world in the verge of war Anakin Skywalker may have what it takes to become part of a shady organisation and stop a tyrant from gaining ultimate power. (I dont know yet if there will be smut, but count on lewd jokes and make out sessions,)

★ by @selcier​ [NSFW BY DEFAULT]

Anakin decides that in order fulfill his prophecy of the Chosen One, he needs to take up the Father’s demand to stay on Mortis. Anakin believes that this will enable the War to end quickly. Obi-wan supports his decision with the caveat that he be allowed communication with Anakin. He is proud of Anakin for putting aside his worldly wants in order to follow the guidance of the Force. However, over the course of Anakin’s stay on Mortis, he begins to lose less and less of himself while become immersed the Force. He lacks initiative and is distant from the events in the rest of the galaxy. Obi-wan finds this change disturbing and eventually realizes his attachment to Anakin after the parts of his personality are lost to lethargy. Also, Anakin’s actions do not seem to affecting the War in the Republic’s favor. More and more systems are falling under Separatist control, the Senate bogged down in committees and inaction and the Jedi are decreasing in numbers. On a mission to Onderon with Ahsoka (whose training Obi-wan has taken over), Obi-wan feels the lack of motion in the War and chooses to aid the rebel group in guerrilla tactics. His methods are beyond the scope of self-defense and the Council deems them Terroristic in nature. He is ordered to return to Coruscant. Instead, Obi-wan finishes his task and decides to liberate Anakin from Mortis. Anakin wakes up in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to find that he has missed two years of the War. He is frustrated that his actions were in vain and angry at the Force for its deception. He finds out that Obi-wan has been Court Martialed for his actions and is being held in a GAR military prison. Eventually, they have words about their goals and expectations while Obi-wan is awaiting trial. (This story will probably play out in a nonlinear fashion with hints to past Obikin interactions. Clearly there’s no ending yet!) 

★ by @stopaskingme​ [NSFW BY DEFAULT]

[AU] Obi-Wan is a hermit, herding shaak on the grassy dunes of Osten, Stewjon. He had no intention of attending the Skywalker clan's annual gathering of Force-users. Until the Prime Minister of Stewjon came begging at his door.

★ by @thishereanakinguy [NSFW BY DEFAULT]

Post-ROTS AU. Anakin makes the right decision in Palpatine's office, but ends up suffering the consequences. Effects of the Force Lightning has damaged his health, and Padme has still died, the twins with her. In mourning, Anakin struggles to piece his life back together. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan is tasked by the Council to keep an eye on their Chosen One: he made the right choice once, but could they trust him to do it again? Could they trust him not to cause himself harm? Short answer is no. Long answer is Obi-Wan and Anakin dance around each other and their feelings until they can't anymore.

★ by @askgrelf​ [NSFW BY DEFAULT]

In the wake of his premature death, Anakin is left trapped in the physical realm as a Ghost. Confused and troubled, with pieces of his past left unfixed and broken, he struggles to come to terms with what was his reality as truths, lies and corruption are revealed in a twisted puzzle between the Jedi and Sith. All the while watching helpless as Obi-Wan begins to succumb to the fate that should have been his. All while slowly fading away out of existence - and the Force - eternally as he and his master both remain lost afoot. (Heavy angst, inspired by the song "Dear Agony").

★ by @imaginaryanon​ [SFW~]

Modern day London; Anakin Skywalker, a young man who's accidentaly always in trouble with the law, is in bigger trouble than usual. He's about to get his ass locked up when a fancy, suit-wearing stranger arranges for him to be discharged. The stranger introduces himself as Obi-Wan Kenobi and leaves Anakin with more questions than answers as well as an address of a tailor shop in Savile Row. But not before he takes Anakin for a drink at a local pub and, after they're rudely interrupted, proceeds to beat up four grown men into unconsciousness without so much as breaking a sweat. "Well fuck me," Anakin whispers in shocked awe. "At least buy me dinner first," Obi-Wan replies, grinning. [basically a Kingsman AU but, like, even gayer]

★ by @musicandfandomtrash​ [SFW]

Anakin goes missing in the outer rim and it's up to Obi-Wan to find him. But after almost a year of searching, he's beginning to lose hope. With Satine dead and Ahsoka gone, he's isolated and lonely. He never had the chance to tell Anakin what he truly meant to him. And now he's afraid he never will. When Obi-Wan is sent a planet in the outer rim, he meets a very young girl who may have the information he's been so desperately searching for. Will this be what leads Obi-Wan to his love? Or will this supposed lead turn into a trap?

★ by @skywalkerssassyginger​ [NSFW BY DEFAULT]

As far as he knew, Obi-Wan hadn't signed up to be the exclusive, pioneering member of the Anakin Skywalking Disaster clean-up crew. However, when Padme Amidala shows up on his doorstep, neck bruised and heavily pregnant, of course he couldn't turn her away. Anakin's gotten involved in the Sith. You'd be a fool not to know the name of the gang, or speak of it in anything higher than a whisper. Of course Anakin had been getting into nothing but trouble since they had last spoken, just short of a year ago. Soon after, Padme dies in childbirth. Her eyes drift away with a pen in hand, Luke and Leia Kenobi drawn out in soft cursive. 

★ by @autisticanakin [NSFW]

Anakin Skywalker is a cloaked force-sensitive working in the Senate as the new Coruscant representative under Palpatine's guidance. Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Senator shortly returned from a leave of absence, can't stand him, with Senator Skywalker's reputation being that of a morally grey, pleasure seeking, bribe taking scoundrel. When the threat of the Sith becomes evident in the galaxy, Senator Kenobi sets to researching. He soon finds himself put on senatorial assignments with Anakin Skywalker.