#hdm meta: daemons

[lordeasriel]

I had this thought last night but couldn't elaborate on it because it was very late and I had to go to work this morning. HOWEVER--

Truth is: I think Lyra and Pan are better off separated.

Heresy! I know, but listen: I think that even if they had never separated in TAS, I still think TSC events would have happened, with minor changes to account for them not being separated. I think Pan would still have walked away on Lyra, he was quite miserable with their situation and so was she, and we learn throughout TSC that some people are just very unhappy to the point they abandon their daemons and vice-versa. And they were unhappy because, over time, Lyra stops being subjected to Pan's will and starts becoming more independent of him.

If we go back to NL, we can see how much they clash with each other! They rarely agree with each other and when they do, we're talking about very strong core values that they share. And yes, as time goes by, they change places and opinions - Pan becomes more careless and impulsive, while Lyra becomes cautious and fearful and uncertain - and I think this could be because Pan tries really hard to connect with Lyra by becoming more like she used to be (and, obviously, it doesn't work because her wounds run much deeper than just that).

For Pan, it must be very difficult to see Lyra grow more and more detached from him and he tries to fight this inevitable experience. He goes about all the wrong ways of trying to mend their relationship: he puts all the blame on Lyra's shoulders, he refuses to accept any viewpoints other than his own, he doesn't let Lyra process her feelings and he feels attacked whenever she has an attitude he dislikes. Pan is not ready for Lyra to grow up, and because it is such a slow process, and she is so hurt from her past, that for him it is a very slow-motion torture session.

So, while I think separating added to their griefs, I think ultimately Lyra and Pan were bound to have a big fight where one would storm off on the other and sever their bond. They were always quite different from each other and their relationship always suffered from their different views; the difference is that child! Lyra was far more susceptible to Pan, though she argued more often, whereas adult! Lyra is exhausted by her own depression, and therefore she refuses any council he offers, which frustrates him and invalidates him.

Thus, I think their relationship can only grow if they remain separated for a time. Because the severed bond allowed them to actually see each other independently and handle the world in independent ways too, making Lyra see Pan's views as valid as time goes by in her journey during TSC.

[kirjavas]

lyra and her death: on overcoming mental illness

tw: mental illness, depression, suicide mention

after rewatching all of his dark materials, i wanted to touch on something i noticed in the final season that i hadn't picked up on before, and that is how lyra's journey to the land of the dead reflects her mental health.

in the secret commonwealth, lyra is likely dealing with depression as well as recovering from her trauma of separating from pan, which has clearly taken a toll on their relationship. and i think there was a deliberate choice to bring this character arc forward into season three of the show, when it wasn't really there in the books. the amber spyglass highlights the theme of loss of innocence and and moving away from childhood, which was made even more explicit by lyra being an older teenager in the show. this was also depicted by a more obvious change in lyra and pan's relationship that we didn't see in the books until the secret commonwealth. the two of them argue much more than usual in the first few episodes, and they don't seem to be on the same page, particularly when it comes to the land of the dead.

since lyra and pan are one being, this shows us that lyra's mind is divided and she is not at ease with herself as much as she used to be—a feeling that is very natural as she awkwardly transitions from child to teenager. but i also think it goes deeper and may reflect a level of self hatred we haven't seen from lyra before. she's always been sure of herself and this is reflected by how much she loves and cares for pan. but in season three she becomes more dismissive of him and guided by a different part of her that is leading towards roger. there are obvious parallels to be drawn between her and mrs coulter, who in contrast has gone from abusing her dæmon to becoming more allied with him. mrs coulter's treatment of the golden monkey represents her discomfort with herself/her soul, but when both their intentions match that is when their relationship is healthier.

in the land of the dead, pan and will both seem to be afraid/cautious of the idea of death, whereas lyra shows no fear in summoning her own death and making a journey she may never return from (cue an incredible shot of lyra's death standing between her and will... till death do us part anyone?? but i digress).

it's really interesting how this slightly different dynamic kind of sets up their inevitable separation, as the episode foreshadows that there will be a heavy price to pay for bargaining with death. rather than it coming as a complete shock like in the books, it feels like a punch to the gut with the realisation that lyra and pan are no longer on the same path (and haven't been for a while). lyra chooses roger, a symbol of childhood, but ironically she also chooses to grow up in leaving part of herself behind.

i might be reading too much into these scenes but i think there's a strong suggestion that a part of lyra wants to die—perhaps to join roger, perhaps because her guilt makes her feel like she deserves it. later on, lyra's hallucination of pan and the scene with the harpies only emphasises this. the harpies target the thoughts at the back of her mind, telling her that she has ruined the lives of those she loves and she is in the land of the dead only to soothe her own guilt.

i also strongly suspect that upon freeing the ghosts, some part of lyra was healed knowing that she helped roger. she seems to bring a bit more of herself back after she reunites with him, in taming the harpies and telling stories. ultimately i think this accomplishment gives lyra enough strength to make another devastating sacrifice when she is separated from will forever. i honestly don't think she could have done it if she hadn't had the closure and relief of completing her mission to make amends with roger.

like... GOD. lyra is such a tragic character and i both love and loathe the show for introducing some of these elements. bring on the book of dust adaptation.

[hatters-workshop]

How do you reckon theatrical plays work with daemons in Lyra's world? I know they don't have movies in the same way we do, but I would imagine they have some kind of performing arts. Like I imagine characters in stories would have set daemon shapes, do you reckon there are like... daemon costumes for actors whose daemons don't match the character's shape? Or like daemon... make up? Fur dye? For if someone has something close, but say your cat daemon is white but it's mentioned in the narative that Hamlet's is a black cat. I imagine kids whose daemons don't settle til later into puberty would be very popular in acting circles, as their daemons could change to match the characters' for longer. Maybe children performing as older characters is common in a similar way to how men used to perform on the stage in female roles in the past, so that they can match their daemons to the character's. Or maybe media that is written specifically to be a play has character's daemons left a little vague, like generally feline shaped, or canine, or bird, so that it's left a little more to artistic interpretation for casting. Maybe there's much-talked about versions of certain plays bringing new aspects to the roles by casting someone with one daemon shape vs another, like someone playing Lady Macbeth with a grass snake vs a viper etc. Casting calls put out for people who have certain shaped daemons and an interest in performance.

Or maybe there's daemon swapping (though obviously not touching, though maybe there's ways of faking it, like how we have ways of fake kissing or slapping or stabbing etc in plays in our world, or maybe it's just standard costuming for actors to be covered from the neck down so there's no skin contact) where an actor will be on stage but another person's daemon is performing the role of their character's daemon. Maybe there's a special hidden spot built into theaters, either behind or under the stage for their human to be so that the daemon can move freely around the stage but not tug at their tether, and likewise for the human actor's daemon to hide. But imagine, daemon actors, performing in their own right! Maybe there's a kind of prestige to a play having one or more actors performing with their own daemon as is? Like people celebrating how perfect they are for the role?

[bruisedconscience]

Daemon Test for SHAWN SPENCER

A dæmon (day-mun) is a type of fictional being in the Philip Pullman fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials. Dæmons are the external physical manifestation of a person's "inner-self" that takes the form of an animal. ... Dæmons are usually of the opposite sex to their human, though same-sex dæmons do exist. 

Pinniped

Your daemon would take the form of a pinniped! Those who have pinniped daemons are cheerful and imaginative people who know how to work hard and play hard. They are known for their boundless creativity and often have their head in the clouds, excelling exceptionally at one area of their life.

Sea lion

Your daemon would take the form of a sea lion! You are an imaginative and talkative individual who does best when they have a creative outlet. More so than others with pinniped daemons, those with sea lions are deeply emotional and struggle when bored or isolated. They are open-hearted and enjoy work that feels like play.

When deciding on your daemon's appearance, consider the pattern of your daemon's coat. A darker-colored sea lion may indicate someone more private and reserved, while a lighter-colored sea lion may indicate someone more open and gregarious.

This seems like an immediate great fit!!

Originally, I was hesitant about giving my muse a predominantly water-based animal, but then I read that sea lions can be outside of water for more than 20 days at a time and can run twice as fast as a man can!! So…

This girlie is now perfect!! I haven’t come up with a name for them yet, but if I do, I’ll update this post :)

[oathkeeper-of-tarth]

WIP title ask meme

Prompt: Make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

-

I was poked to do this months ago, twice at least - once by @docholligay and I think the second was @jeejyboard, but I can't find the tag for the life of me. SORRY. I felt like doing something a bit more meta today re:writing and post about The Process, and this was a perfect excuse - thanks for thinking of me. So here's some actual effort! I went and dug deep, trawled through some really old stuff, which was fun. I write and scribble down way, way more than I actually polish and post (which I assume is probably normal, but who knows). 

General info, for whoever is interested: I mostly use Google Docs with offline backups for fic writing, as I shift between computers a ton, and I put fandom tags at the start of my filenames for organisation. I have a ton of prompt/meme/ask/event collection files - for example, the very latest: "[BG3, STRAHD, SM] Fic Prompts 2024". In these I jot down both the prompts people send or that are listed and the ideas/outlines/notes for each, then when I really get going with a certain fic I spin it off into a separate document. 

I hate coming up with titles and usually do that last, so most of my document names are silly references for my own amusement or just a boring old brief description of the main concept. For instance, my latest posted fic Cerimonia Compedum was for most of its WIP-hood known simply as "[BG3] Tadpoled Isobel". Sometimes I keep different versions/revisions/parts of the same WIP in different files, and if that's the case I've grouped them here. Note that for simplicity's sake this post includes my "solo" fic only, no collabs or coauthored stuff, of which there is also a bunch. 

Some of these are ancient and hit me in the face with "12 years ago" timestamps. Some ficlets will never make it out of the mixed prompt plot bunny dumping grounds into their own doc. I think Sailor Moon 10-ish years ago was the one outlier fandom where I actually wrote most of my concepts out fully and posted them. The ol' brain is currently overproducing stuff for the more recent BG3 flavoured moon lesbians (and no, that ship name will never stop throwing my HaruMichi-loving ass for a loop). Note that some of the SU WIPs on the list I've already posted about here, here, here, and here.

Obviously all of these vary wildly in terms of completion level, word count, refinement, and age (and capitalisation, apparently). So yeah, here's the list, roughly sorted by fandom - ask away, if you feel like it!

[BG3] Moon-chosen, Moon-guided | Moon-chosen, Moon-guided - Part III [BG3] Cerimonia Alārum | ISOBEL TO THE RESCUE AU [BG3] Tremulous Cadence followup | The Return of the Moon Daughter [BG3] Wizard Tower AU | Aylin & Rolan stuff [BG3] Karlach/Minthara Act 2 conclusion aka why are paladins Like That [BG3] I'm having something very strong indeed

[STRAHD] The d'Avenir Treatise verse tidbits [STRAHD] Road Trippin' [STRAHD] In-character notes & ficlets

[SU] eeEEeeeeEE BISMUTH | Bismuth ficlets | Like talking to a wall | Muse. Galatea. Suffering. [SU] SU Daemons HDM AU [SU] The Adolescence of Rose Quartz | But I don't think anyone turns into a car  [SU] Freedom To And Freedom From | Pearlrose Fixit | i love suffering!!! [SU] Forge Showdown AU [SU] Pearl Playing the Field TM | All I need in this life of sin is me and my pearlfriend [SU] The Grand Aventurine Heist (Not Really Grand And Only Slightly A Heist) | oh no who let Rose read the Scarlet Pimpernel

[SM] Future Vision blatantly ripped me off THANKS REBECCA | PUU fic [SM] Outers fall of SilMil | michific | The End is the Beginning is the End

[DS9] Kira fic bits

[TLOK] Five Times Kya Healed Lin and One Time She Couldn't | Kyalin fluff [TLOK] R.C. Noire | Lin BAMFong

[WATCHMEN] Silhouette fic bits

-

That's it! I don't think I have a single person that I know writes fic left that hasn't already been tagged in this, so feel free to do it (again) if it strikes your fancy.

[rose-of-pollux]

AU Roulette, Entry 1/3

My chosen fandom for the AU Roulette challenge was Scooby-Doo.

My first prompt was: Daemon AU. I know nothing about HDM, so this AU was more of a "witches and their familiars" AU. Also, Vincent is Daphne's (and Flim-Flam's) official adopted father in this AU because I'm not missing a chance to use that idea.

Posting this just to tumblr for now; if I ever expand on this, I'll crosspost it to AO3.

Title: Bonds Beyond Time and Space (1/1) Fandom: Scooby-Doo (13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo) Rating: K Summary: [AU] Shaggy introduces Fred and Velma to the Van Ghoul family. And things get Meta.

Fred hesitated, the coyote by his side pausing, as well, as Shaggy and Scooby continued to lead them up the mountain path.

“Like, what’s wrong?” Shaggy asked.

Scooby tilted his head in surprise, barking to the coyote.  The coyote whined in response—a sound that was echoed by the golden jackal following Velma, who had been right behind Fred.

“I just…  I don’t know if this is such a good idea, I mean…  I’m new to this whole sorcery thing, I…” Fred trailed off.

“I agree, I’m pretty new to this, too,” Velma said.  “Why do we have to meet with the Great Mage?”

“Look, Bogel and Weerd have got their eyes on you—there must be something connecting you to the Chest of Demons,” Shaggy said.  “Anything to do with the Chest of Demons falls under Vincent Van Ghoul’s jurisdiction.”

“Rhere they are!” Scooby pointed, glaring at the two troublesome spirits.

Weird snarled and made himself invisible; Bogel stuck his thumbs in his ears and waggled his fingers at them until Weerd briefly rematerialized and smacked him, prompting them both to disappear.

“Like, I know it sounds intimidating, meeting Vincent Van Ghoul,” Shaggy said.  “But my family is pretty close to his!  And his son’s familiar is Scoob’s nephew!”

“Rheah!” Scooby agreed.

“I didn’t think the Great Mage had any family, on account of his ancestor being the Demon King,” Velma recalled.

“Nah, he’s got a daughter and a son—they’re adopted,” Shaggy said.  “I’m pretty good friends with his daughter—her name’s Daphne.  You’ll like her, trust me!”

Fred exchanged a glance with Velma, who shrugged.

“Trust me,” Shaggy said again, sincerely.

Fred let out a nervous exhale, but nodded.

“We’ve got to get to the bottom of this,” he agreed.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Velma sighed.

Scooby turned to the coyote, and then to the jackal.

“Come on, Rube rhand Sally!”

The coyote and jackal both let out quiet barks and followed Scooby as they followed their humans up the path, stopping at the red, wooden doors of the castle.

Shaggy cheerily knocked on the door, and soon, a young redhead in a purple dress and matching purple cape—with an equally red-furred fox at her side—opened the door.  Upon seeing Shaggy there, she grinned and hugged him as the fox gently licked Scooby’s face in greeting.

“Rhi, Scarlet!” Scooby barked, licking her back.  He looked up at Daphne.  “Rhi, Rhaphne!  Is Rhappy around?”

“Scrappy’s with Flim-Flam; I think they’re playing mortal video games again,” Daphne sighed.  She looked surprised as she finally noticed Fred and Velma.  “Oh, hello!  You must be Shaggy’s friends!  Fred and Velma, right?”

They both nodded, slightly thrown off as she eagerly held her hand out for them to shake.

“It’s so nice to meet you both!” she gushed.  She paused, slightly confused at their hesitation.  “What’s wrong?”

“I, uh, think the whole status thing might be a little intimidating for them,” Shaggy said, in an undertone.

“Ah, yeah…” Fred admitted.  “Like I told your friend—our friend, of course—Velma and I are new at this whole thing, and you’re the daughter of the Great Mage—”

Daphne took Fred’s hand first, shaking it warmly.

“You don’t have to be nervous, Freddie—I’m just like anyone else,” she promised.  She glanced at the coyote.  “Is he your familiar?”

“Yeah, that’s Rube!” he said, managing a smile as Scarlet now licked Rube’s snout in greeting, as well.  Rube hesitated, but returned the gesture.

“And that’s Sally,” Velma added, as Scarlet exchanged greetings with Sally now.  “And I’m—”

“Velma,” Daphne finished, taking her hand, too.  “Shaggy’s told me so much about the both of you, it feels as though I know you already!  …But you’re here about something serious, right?  About those two ghosts that have been after my father’s Chest of Demons?”

“Yeah, they’ve been after us—they’ve even slipped through my ghost-catching traps!” Fred exclaimed.

“But we don’t understand why,” Velma said.

“Well, if there’s anyone who can figure it out, it’s my father,” Daphne promised.  “Come on, I’ll introduce you!”

Still somewhat nervous, they followed her to the castle study; inside, a boy and a Great Dane puppy were playing on a handheld video game system, but paused to greet Scooby and Shaggy, who also greeted the elder warlock sitting at a table with a crystal ball—and the old, gray wolf beside him.

“Dad, these are Shaggy’s friends—our friends—Fred and Velma,” she said.  “Guys, this is Vincent Van Ghoul—”

“The most powerful warlock in the world…” Fred said, awed.

“I see my reputation precedes me,” Vincent mused.  “But the two of you—and your familiars—are just as welcome here as Shaggy and Scooby are.  And friends of my daughter are friends of mine.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Velma said, looking much less nervous now.  “But we’re still confused as to why those two ghosts are after us when, up until now, all we had in common were mutual friends in Shaggy and Scooby.

“Yes, I’ve been looking into that since Shaggy first brought it to my attention,” Vincent replied, turning to the crystal.  “The answer is an intriguing one—one that I don’t think even those two ghosts are aware of!”

“What is it?” Flim-Flam called from the couch, he and Scrappy paying attention now.

“Time and space are both infinite, and where they converge and diverge, we enter realms where so many things as we know them are both infinitely same and infinitely different,” the warlock revealed.  “I can’t explain how, but one constant in all of these infinite possibilities is the fact that we are all inseparably connected to each other.”

The crystal glowed, and a network of thin, green lights emerged from it, connecting Vincent, Daphne, Shaggy, Fred, Velma, Flim-Flam, Scooby, and Scrappy.

“But, not all of us,” Scrappy noted, seeing that Rube, Sally, Scarlet, and Vincent’s wolf were not connected.  “…And they’re the only dogs here that can’t talk like humans can.  I wonder if that has something to do with it.”

“Perhaps it does.  Perhaps it doesn’t,” Vincent said.  “We must still find out the answers—but now, we will find those answers together.”

“Together,” Fred echoed, with a nod.

It was still nerve-wracking, not knowing what was going on.  But it was a great comfort to know that he wouldn’t have to be adrift and confused alone.

[rowanthestrange]

#dhawan!master’s unsettled daemon#being this at least once#it’s cute small and will mess you up#but mostly#it’s a 13 likes tits joke

😂 thanks for this great image but also now im curious about your daemon thoughts. what do you mean unsettled? do you think daemons take a new shape after every regeneration or is this just a him thing that it's unsettled bc i can see that. does it settle eventually and if so when?

I think the Doctor and the Master’s daemons are permanently unsettled, though they may pretend to be so in public for obvious reasons. We believe this is a link to their regeneration abilities, but actually when we meet other Time Lords, it becomes clear that this is just them.

Instead they have different ‘main’ forms with occasional brief flits to something else if necessary. Sometimes these main forms shift over the series, Twelve being the best example.

Twelve’s daemon is most probably male, but its voice is fairly androgynous and as with the Master’s daemon, it doesn’t reveal a name to us though is called different things over the show when society calls for it (including Basil and Clarence) with no explanation given for the discrepancies, beyond probably being a pseudonym.

In his beginning days with Clara it starts as a Melanistic Barn Owl. As he chills at the university we see a glimpse of an Emperor Penguin. And during some of Bill’s time we have a magician-esque Albino Hare (with typical albino sight-problems). Niche forms that pop up include a Sea Otter when talking about or with River (which calls back to the same with Eleven), Corn Snake when being tricksy or ‘training’ Clara, and a Kingfisher when he’s in an…intellectually stimulated *cough* mood.

Missy’s daemon is also question-mark-male and rotates around forms that play to type - a black Cat mainly but also a Fancy Rat, Toad, black Goat, Bat, a Money Spider she whispers to in the beginning and when she has to pretend to be an android, but basically whatever else feels fitting to her aesthetic. Once a regular Barn Owl to perch alongside Twelve’s.

Very rarely for someone without significant disability (or at least society pretends so), we discover late in the day - literally during Eleven’s regeneration, that Clara’s is still actually unsettled, when it shifts from Bush Baby to Copperhead Snake. We very rarely see it shift again, and Clara has to make up a traumatic experience, which is usually the only other reason a daemon would shift later in life, and it’s implied she has lied like this before. When she’s brought back to life between heartbeats, her daemon remarks that she feels like instead of being pulled into a million pieces, she feels like a million pieces being held together. However, this feeling surprisingly seems to reflect the both of them in a way Clara is actually comfortable with, and her daemon finally settles permanently, in the form of a Raven.

(Now Thirteen’s era, that’s a whole different story)

[expectedbehavior]

This one time, my father hit me so hard with his shoe, my leg swelled up. I couldn’t sit, I couldn't stand... I couldn’t do anything. He says to me, “Don’t you even think about running away!” Run away? I couldn’t reach down to put on my shoes...

So I have thoughts about this backstory revelation.

Lee’s daemon settled as an arctic hare: a prey animal, one who can live in adverse conditions, who is swift and built to escape or hide. For a boy being continually beat on by his father, that must have been an appealing talent: the ability to run away at any moment, to escape from the pain and fear and find a safe place to just be. As an aeronaut, Lee has spent his entire adult life running -- though if you asked him about it, he'd never admit that was what he was doing.

His father obviously saw the rabbit streak in his son far sooner than Lee himself did. “Don’t you even think of running away!” — I would wager Lee hadn’t even considered the possibility that he COULD run until his father put the idea of freedom in his head. I think that was when the rabbit in him started to wake up.

[hard-times-paramore]

I had those sitting in my notes app for a while, so get ready for a The Crow headcanon dump. Part 3/ expanding on my HDM crossover.

I actually have art of this AU, I'll link it in the reblog

[mego42]

tagged by @bethsuglywigs, @pynkhues, @joeyjoeylee and maybe @foxmagpie? she tagged me but also thought i’d done this already. ty all v much, you have questionable taste in people. 

rules: answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to know better.

name/nickname: megan/meg. for a memorable period, that meg girl. one summer mandy for reasons i cannot explain. 

gender: cis lady

star sign: sagittarius

height: 5’5’’

time: 19:12

birthday: 11/24

favorite bands: of monsters and men, the national, glass animals, tow’rs, chvrches, the naked and famous, lo-ghost, purity ring

favorite solo artists: amy shark, dermot kennedy, nicki minaj, celine dion, ani difranco, avicii, whitney houston, bishop briggs

song stuck in my head: i’ve been singing someone great to myself for two and a half weeks now so idk how much it’s stuck in my head and how much it’s become a habit  

last movie: the royal tenenbaums

last show: good girls, the umbrella academy. i’m waiting for hdm and the expanse to drop all their eps so i can binge

when did I create this blog: idk i’d go check but i’m lazy. 2015?

what I post: whatever i want

last thing googled: can two people count as a band

other blogs: bold of you to assume this masterpiece is replicatable

do I get asks: not really. i used to do a lot more anon meta stuff but i'm p flaky about answering them.

why I chose my url: i feel like i shouldn’t need to explain this one

following: more than i should

followers: more than y’all should

average hours of sleep: 4-11

lucky number: if i tell you it isn’t lucky anymore

instruments: i took flute lessons for something like four or five years before my teacher bounced to wander around japan and then become an early youtube viral sensation. i had a passing fancy to learn guitar but my fingers are too short to make all the chords. 

what am I wearing: the same thing i wear every day pinky: sweat pants, a t-shirt that looks professional enough on zoom and an oversized cardigan that looks like something my grandpa would wear

dream job: music!!!!! supervisor!!!!!!!!!!!!

dream trip: ireland

favorite food: cheese

nationality: american

favorite song: am currently v much enjoying swaying evergreens by tow’rs which is wild bc normally christmas albums make me want to peel all of my skin off and fling myself into a vat of acid 

last book read: i did it! i finished a book! it was a reread but it still counts! sapphire flames by ilona andrews

top three fictional universes I’d like to live in: his dark materials 'verse for daemons, how to train your dragon 'verse for reasons that should be obvious and good girls bc men never die

tagging @nickmillerscaulk @missmaxime @magneticflower @carry-the-sky @aadmelioraa @wakeupflawless @mamey2422 @blainesebastian @delicatelingon @lucia-lu87 @juuuunaaaaoooo @candice127 @pearls-and-unsaid-words @lilliloves @kenrune 

[moustache-bonnet]

HIS DARK MATERIALS & THE BOOK OF DUST FanFiction writing resources

Ours is a little fandom and except the books (which, let's be completely honest, sometimes lack continuity and extended lore), there is a serious lack of resources to which a HDM fanfiction writer can turn while creating: either for fact checking or just inspiration. This is why I've taken the liberty of compiling this list. Anyone who does have their own recommendations and inspirations, do not hesitate to reblog and add whatever you consider helpful.

Basic Reading / Primary sources

For those new in the fandom, who have discovered or re-discovered it due to the BBC/HBO show, welcome! As basic reading I'd recommend the original trilogy, His Dark Materials: Northern Lights (The Golden Compass), The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. Try and check out the different editions for some of the Anniversary-related ones have extended lore added, such as Asriel's diaries and John Parry's letters (haven't seen these yet, so correct me if I'm wrong about them).

The trilogy has two companion books, The Little Red Book: Lyra's Oxford, and The Little Blue Book: Once Upon a Time in The North, which is a story from Lee Scoresby's youth. Except for being fun novellas, the companion books contain snippets of lore, which are very useful for writing.

The newest addition to the Lyraverse is The Book of Dust, from which two books had been published as of yet and the third is (hopefully!) in on its way. These are the La Belle Sauvage (a prequel to HDM) and The Secret Commonwealth (a sequel to HDM).

There's also The Collectors, a story about Marisa Coulter, which is an audiobook only and due some continuity issues is not considered much of a canon, but is definitely worth your time.

Secondary Sources

His Dark Materials Wiki Bridge To The Stars.net Cittàgazze (in French) His Dark Materials on Fanlore, with an essential explanation of the difference between HDM fanfiction and the Daemon AU (if you write Daemons AUs, remember not to tag His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman on AO3, please!) Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials: a reader's guide by Claire Squires (requires Internet Archive account)

Worldbuilding & Headcanon

Lyra's world maps, canon and headcanon, descriptions often contain links to great resources: Semi-Canon (The Golden Compass movie) World Map Headcanon Verbal World Map and World Map by AMCAlmaron on Deviantart Headcanon World Map by OneHellofaBird on Deviantart, with notes on politics

Effie's @lordeasriel HDM Meta you can also find some interesting headcanon, thoughts, and meta if you search through @his-dark-memerials HDM tag

and a list of my favourite worldbuilding fics on AO3 (including alternate/fake science, poetry, folklore, art history etc.)! On Daemons in Royal Portraiture by La Reine Noire 1835. A Daemon's neither borne by HopefulNebula The Fair Woman by tansypool Of Daemonic Disorders by Chatarou A Comparative Analysis of Those with Finch Daemons: Minute Differences in Personality by finch Dinosaurs in the Architecture by lilacsigil The Heirs of Bolvangar by Poetry Another Side, Another Story series by vivial (lordeasriel)

Extended Reading & Inspiration

List of alternate history fiction on Wikipedia

from which I can personally and strongly recommend The Alteration by Kingsley Amis (expanded thoughts on the theme of ecclesiastical dominance)

Daemon Voices by Philip Pullman (Philman on story-telling and some of his favourite authors) Daemoncast: His Dark Materials Podcast by Chris Feakes The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies by Robert Kirk, with introduction by Andrew Lang (the original 17th-century study of British folklore; Philman's own inspiration) Paradise Lost by John Milton (Philman's own inspiration) Dark Matter: shedding light on Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials by Tony Watkins (requires Internet Archive account) Exploring Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials: an unauthorized adventure through The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass by Lois H. Gresh (requires Internet Archive account) The science of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials by Mary and John Gribbin (requires Internet Archive account)

Writing Oakley Street? Here's a resource list for writing espionage! or a collection of meta / headcanon and other inspiring Oakley Street stuff on Effie's Tumblr!

These are the resources most used by me personally, so as I've mentioned, if anyone knows about more, do add them!

[lordeasriel]

TSC Analysis: Talbot vs Brande

Or “Why philosophy is so powerful in a world filled with fear and ignorance?”

I have been meaning to write this piece for a long, long time; both concepts are among the things I have enjoyed the most from TSC and the new dæmon lore. Brande is certainly my favourite aspect of them both, so know that this will be harsh on Talbot’s opinion in general, though I shall try my best to be as impartial as humanly possible.

Spoilers for The Secret Commonwealth and, just to be safe, anything prior to that book.

We start TSC and right at the beginning we get slapped in the face with Brande’s The Hyperchorasmians, followed closely by a very succinct description of Simon Talbot's The Constant Deceiver. These two books shape, not only Lyra’s early adulthood and her plights through the plot, but the lore of the world and they are responsible for a considerable intellectual shift in the youngest generation of scholars. They are responsible for the devastating presence of dreary philosophy as Lyra struggles with her melancholy, Delamare reshapes the Magisterium and Olivier Bonneville delves deeper into the mystery of the new method of reading the Alethiometer.

These three represent the core of the greater plot, and should (theoretically) be followed and concluded. But we are here today to question the haunting presence of these philosophies in a world that is facing enormous and intrinsic change.

What made me decide to finally write this was a moment in TSC when Pan is talking to Sebastian Makepeace, and they are discussing Brande.

“If he’s a philosopher, why did he write a novel? Does he think the novel is a good form for philosophy?”

“He’s written various other books, but this is the only one he’s famous for. We haven’t—Lyra hasn’t read any of the others.” (TSC, ch. 10)

Makepeace has a good point. Why choose the novel as the medium for his philosophy? Is it really the best way to pass on your thoughts? Pan’s answer is equally interesting: The Hyperchorasmians are the most popular book of Brande's, but there were others he didn't know about. We see, when Pan is with Brande, that he is dictating his new work and his speech sounds very technical instead of literary prose. So why did he choose to use a novel?

Who is Brande and what do we know about him? He is a philosopher of some renown, his work is popular among the youth, his main ideia is that nothing is more than what it is. The Hyperchorasmians are not fully described but we see the main ideia of the book, which is a young man setting off to kill God, an action he does out of reason.

It told the story of a young man who set out to kill God, and succeeded. But the unusual thing about it, the quality that had set it apart from anything else Lyra had ever read, was that in the world Brande described, human beings had no dæmons. They were totally alone.

(...) At the end of the novel, as the hero looked out from the mountains at a sunrise, which in the hands of another writer might have represented the dawn of a new age of enlightenment, free of superstition and darkness, the narrator turned away from commonplace symbolism of that kind with scorn. The final sentence read, “It was nothing more than what it was.” (TSC, ch 6)

Artistic characters are written as useless and reason is exalted, the ending being the main character successful in his task, defeating God and watching the sunset, knowing that no hidden meaning existed anymore, that nothing was more than what it was. More importantly - and in truth, perhaps the most important thing - is that the story has no daemons. It's not a world with missing daemons, but a world where having no daemon is the innate Truth.

You've read TSC, you know where this is going.

How ironic that a man whose daemon is not his own, a man who probably was abandoned by his daemon, should write a story about a world where people have no daemons!

While we don't understand how he lost his daemon, it's easy to think that the abandonment was a blow to him. He struggles with the Fake Cosima, he is haunted and in suffering, Pan's compassion signals that quite clearly. And I think this is where the reason behind The Hyperchorasmians being a novel lies; it's an idealised vision, an idea of a universe where Brande can belong to. The people in his world “were totally alone”, just like Brande, but unlike him, they were in their natural state and content.

Talbot's work, on the other hand, is more tangible in the real world and has greater influence because it's not seen only as enjoyment literature, but an active form of study.While Brande creates a world devoid of daemons - a concept that it’s virtually inconceivable realistically for people in Lyra’s world - Talbot takes advantage of the existence of daemons and twists and creates a different understanding around them.

This is where Brande and Talbot diverge.

You see, Brande's popular novel is certainly a powerful way to create a movement, and it has affected a great deal of people because of its choice to be written in novel form. Novels are more commonly read than academic theses, anyway. That aspect allows Brande to reach a greater number of people, but it forces his work to be scrutinised by the academic community, who prefers a much more solid (and somewhat elitist) approach. His work is also very arid, even if it's quite powerful (he is a man of strong convictions), which makes it a hard read, given it's a 900-page manifesto on why reason and logic supersede anything else. Which is bullshit, but the man is in denial.

Talbot's work is meticulous, charismatic; unlike Brande, who shuns his creative or intuitive side as a whole, Talbot is a sort of charlatan. He half-lives his Truth, bound by convention, by ambition, by a desire to belong just as much. His book is rooted in scientific jargon, but in a way that is approachable, even reasonable. He is often described as a clever and charismatic man; ultimately, he is a hypocrite, but that doesn't change the fact The Constant Deceiver has a great and powerful impact on society at that crucial moment.

His book is a scientific article on the nature of daemons, but not just that. Talbot's main belief is that nothing means anything and that society is entirely made out of pre-conceptions, including the most ingrained things, such as daemons. Therefore, since everything is imagined or just a delusion, nothing has any meaning at all and so, actions have no consequences.

From what we see or hear of Talbot, however, it's clear he is not as feverish about his beliefs. Nowhere near as much as Brande seems to be. Not only does he seem to function appropriately with his daemon, but he is very much aware that actions do have consequences; he sees that very clearly when he talks to Marcel about Malcolm's presence in Geneva and he fails to deliver accurate information because he is biased towards Mal’s simple manners.

Capes and Godwin’s daemon also say that, if Talbot meant his philosophy, he shouldn’t have anything to do with the Magisterium because they wouldn’t have common ground. Which is quite shown when we learn that, not only he is involved with the Magisterium, he does specific and quite illegal schemes for Marcel. which i would also do frankly but u know, not the point at all

“Do we know of any connection between him and Geneva?” asked Malcolm.

“No,” said the whisper of Godwin’s dæmon. “There could hardly be any common ground, if he means what he says.”

“I think the point is that he says nothing means anything very much,” said Capes. “It might be quite easy for him to play at supporting the Magisterium. I’m not sure they’d trust him, though.” (TSC, ch 13)

The book - through Narrative, through Pan, through Lyra sometimes - tries to tell us that Brande and Talbot are two sides of the same coin. And while I think they do share some common ground, I wholeheartedly disagree that they represent the same thing.

Here's the thing: both men use reason to unravel their theories.

Talbot is meticulous, charming, explaining every detail that needs explaining, answering all the questions that need answering in order to prove his point. He has acquired a following because his scientific thesis vibes make him quite popular and together with his bonhomie nature, he has a considerable reach. He is said to be a sterling lecturer, he has the character traits to succeed publicly and socially. Mild, witty, a “flashy writer”.

Brande, on the other hand, is less concerned about his reach and following. His novel is, despite its fictional nature, a depiction of a place that features things from his reality. When we take the themes of TSC into consideration, we can see that he is a man trying to assimilate Truth, not develop it. By writing The Hyperchorasmians, Brande speaks of a world where people like him can fit in, without shame, without being treated like second-rate citizens in a society bound by superstition.

So much of daemon lore is superstition, created and developed by society as it evolved. In LBS, Malcolm thinks that the touching taboo was perhaps learned not innate. He is, perhaps, correct; in a world shaped by the Magisterium, how much of daemon conduct wouldn't be dictated by religious bias?

So, how do the three main plots connect with these philosophers? How do they affect the world around them?

Well, Lyra is the most obvious one. She represents our understanding of Talbot and Brande, their ideas shaping her relationship with Pan and the world. She has become narrow-minded, following reason too closely, incapable of projecting another view on subjects because she shuts down the things around her that bring memories of a life she should let go of.

On the other hand, because Lyra is so blindsided most of the time, she can't really see The Hyperchorasmians or The Constant Deceiver for the potential they bring to her world. The more I read TSC, the more I realise how much Pan and Lyra would benefit from independence from each other. Much of their misery comes from the preconception that they should love each other, that they should share each other’s views, that they should be happy together. These Truths about daemons create a schism in her world, it's why so many people exist that have lost their daemons.

As opposed to Lyra, who clings to reason in order to survive her melancholy, Olivier escapes these novels’ ideas. Instead of bowing to their shallow principles of reason and logic and dryness, he finds his way around the new method by experimentation, renewing his perception in order to master the new method. I think this is why Olivier is such a strong contrast against Lyra; you never even see him think about the philosophers, he is simply not interested. He cares only about improving his reading method, and about his Alethiometer.

And then we have Marcel, by far the most engaged with the philosophies, which is rather ironic, given who he is. He warrants a separate analysis because a lot of his character ties both scholars into his actions in TSC, but the main idea is that Marcel is a combination of Lyra and Olivier’s resolve. He is willing to experiment and try new perspectives to achieve his goals; he proposes heresy to his mother regarding the roses, he believes Truth is malleable - not only that, but he believes it is possible to shatter a previous concept of Truth and teach a new one.

Marcel, however, always acts through reason, but because he is not - so far - blinded by his ambition, by a lack of perception (which is how they talk about imagination), he is able to navigate the world more successfully and share the strongest points of both current philosophies.

He doesn’t shun the roses and the oil as mere superstition; he tries to reckon with it and that’s why he can do things so easily.

Do I have a point with all this? Maybe not, but I wanted to organised my thoughts and this is, well, close enough lol

[kirjavas]

analysis of pantalaimon’s forms in series one

ermine

appears to be one of his preferred forms, so he takes this shape a lot without much of a pattern. but i think it’s also when lyra is trying to hide, or feels small. this was subtly done in episodes 2 & 3 when lyra was around mrs coulter and the gyptians. also in asriel’s lab and when she walks into the portal

pine marten

this is the shape pan chooses to settle as, and i think he has taken this form in the moments that define lyra and when she is behaving like her true self, for example when she sneaks into mrs coulter’s study, when pan is attacked by the golden monkey (suggesting mrs coulter’s attempts to control lyra) and on the rooftops of jordan college

bird

when lyra is running, up high, or is moving fast. in these cases (escaping mrs coulter’s flat, running all over jordan and also the airship scene with asriel), i think her movement and energy are reflected in pan’s form rather than her emotional state. he used this form to see what asriel was doing with roger in ep8 so it’s also a useful form for getting up high

moth

this form is common in scenes where lyra is in a small space or is scared, like in the wardrobe and hiding from the magisterium on the boat. i also think this form, and similar ones like insects, are used to create a sense of danger or fear in general. adele starminster’s butterfly gave me this sense in the car with boreal, as did pan when lyra arrives in bolvangar, and all the magisterium men with insect dæmons are creepy as heck so

wildcat

pan took this form very briefly in the altercation with the golden monkey, suggesting it’s a defensive or attacking form. i saw a post that points out that as a cat pan is like a smaller version of stelmaria and this was the moment pan had an advantage in the fight, which is also interesting

arctic fox

i don’t know if this was intended but i think pan’s fox form is his arctic version of the pine marten - as in he takes this form when lyra is most like herself, except just in the north because he fits in with the surroundings in this form. i would have liked pan to be a pine marten in the intercision scene to emphasise lyra being torn away from herself, but if the arctic fox also represents her it’s interesting that he took that form in the cage. other scenes of note are when she finds billy, exploring trollesund and just generally being the kid we know as lyra who loves the north

mouse

i caught the tiniest hint of a mouse at the beginning of ep7 when pan and lyra wake up having fallen from the balloon. pan sneaks into her coat and you can just see him become a mouse, which i think is supposedly his form in those scenes where we don’t see him like when lyra is riding iorek and in the balloon. this form is most likely used when pan is trying to keep warm, but i also assume he was a mouse in lyra’s coat when she was at svalbard like in the book. it’s another of his small forms, and i think it also shows lyra trying to hide in certain situations

[hatters-workshop]

One mistake that I think the creators of His Dark Materials made, while is interesting to see, is the same as they made with the movie, which is putting Mrs Coulter and her daemon at odds with each other. And I think both version did it in different ways, in that the movie had them clashing over Lyra and had the monkey trying to pull her away from Lyra and Marisa lashing out, while the TV show has him as almost a cowering lackey that is occasionally violent and nasty but most often a kind of sympathetic pitiful creature. I genuinely think part of that comes from the type of monkey they "cast" him as, as the golden snub-nosed monkey is a lot more soft looking. Like his face is that soft blue and rounded muzzle and over all looks very loveable. I think, whether intentional or not, the writers ended up making him more sympathetic because of the look of him.

In the books, the monkey and Marisa are always in step with each other. They support each other and they are different sides of the same coin. They are both cruel, hers frosty and distant, her curiosity showing through watching children being separated "for science/the church" through a window, while the monkey is hot anger, his curiosity is actively pulling a wing off a bat inch by inch to see how it works. She is distant and he is immediate, but when he is violent it's never as if she's giving an order and the monkey following it like an attack dog. He is her rage and her desire to experiment, he acts on her feelings in a way she's trained out of herself, he doesn't hide his cruelty like she has to, and he follows her impulses while she has to appear distant from them. They're both beautiful but she maintains her composure by him acting on her impulses. She is the mind and he is her hands to get dirty.

Marisa struggles with her feelings for Lyra and I understand that visually having her fight with the monkey about it works, but I feel like it makes him seem like her whipping boy. In the book the closest to violent she is with him is gripping his fur tightly which i always took less as harming him and more like when someone is trying to stay calm and accidentally hold a fist so tight they cut their hand with their nails, or grit their teeth so tight their jaw hurts. They're trying so hard to hold their reactions back that it hurts, but it's not like a punishment to him. She's trying to stay calm so holds on to the monkey, but ends up gripping him tightly, maybe as an instinctual way of holding him back in case he lashes out because she's feeling so intensely about the conversation, but not because she's intentionally harming him/them.

If anything I would rather see them both together lashing out at something else (like how they mistreated the Sister in Bolvangar) in unison, rather than infighting and making them seem disconnected.

[bruisedconscience]

Daemon Test for JAMIE TARTT

A dæmon (day-mun) is a type of fictional being in the Philip Pullman fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials. Dæmons are the external physical manifestation of a person's "inner-self" that takes the form of an animal. ... Dæmons are usually of the opposite sex to their human, though same-sex dæmons do exist. 

Cavitave

Your daemon would take the form of a cavitave! Those who have cavitave daemons are proud and talkative people who are natural showoffs. They thrive in the spotlight and are naturally charismatic and admirable people, though they aren't known for particularly particularly patient or sincere.

Toucan

Your daemon would take the form of a toucan! You are a gregarious and dominating individual who is focused on your image. More so than others with cavitave daemons, those with toucans are blunt and impulsive people, optimistic souls who don't care much what others think. They are devoted to their passions and successes, and they have a fiery temper when pushed.

When deciding on your daemon's appearance, consider your toucan's coloring and species. Typically the more bright a daemon's plumage, the more flamboyant and intense the individual. Most toucans have bright coloring, indicative of their person's stereotype of being talkative and confident, but duller-colored species like toucanets may be more subdued and thoughtful.

OH she is PERFECT for Jamie, full stop! Her name is Prinscilla or ‘Princess’ as a nickname.

[acaciapines]

Man that's beautiful the daemon is the part of the self that loves you unconditionally. The part of you that still comforts you when you think all hope is lost or kicks you in the pants if that's more your style. The part of you that wants to stay alive even if you feel like dying. The daemon is like the survival instinct.

Man exploring the mind of someone with a daemon who hates themselves is so interesting to me. You can't get rid of your self it's always with you whether it's formless or not. Sometimes they hate their own thoughts so much they think it would be easier if they sever themselves but they can't.

"How do you deal with not having a daemon, always being alone all the time?" "How do you deal with having your soul out all the time, always vulnerable?"

Man I love the ending to Hope Etc with Deisha and the daemon didn't disappear just went inside of him. And we live like this normally but to them it's messed up. And it finally answers my question to what would happen in that scenario.

im glad you enjoyed my daemonfic posts, and im VERY glad you went on to read hope etc! if my posts only make people do that i am very happy. its so very good. and yes the ending makes me SO HAPPY its so fucking funny. bc you know what? yeah it IS fucked up that the daemons live inside of us! what the fuck? what the fuck? you mean to tell me that my soul is--is--that its inside? hows that supposed to work? who does that?

our world is so fucked up to people with daemons and i love that fact dearly. its so fun to think about on a meta level--how like, concepts we have here, are going to be seen very differently in a world with daemons, because fundamentally they understand personhood very differently. im getting to explore this in a undertale daemon au i started on an impulse and let me say. very fun. 10/10 would recommend.

and to address a point you mentioned in a different ask, yeah, all my daemonfics are under the tag 'alternate universe - daemons.' while i do steal daemons and concepts like dust and witches from hdm, i dont have any interest in exploring the world of hdm, so i don't put my fics under the hdm tags, because they aren't hdm fics, yknow? don't want to clog up their tag with unrelated fics.

thanks for sending in all these asks! always fun to go on a journey with the ask-er.