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thistlechaserCurrently trending with my circle of RP folks is making a post asking questions of your IC character. Feel free to leave a comment no matter where you RP! And if you don't RP, feel free to answer for your RL self if you like. It's all good! There's no stupid questions answers!
My question is based on the His Dark Materials world, a series of books and one movie (The Golden Compass). The basic idea is your soul is an animal (called a daemon), something outside your body that can be seen by others. Your soul reflects the essential you: Someone in the army might have a German Shepherd dog. A maid might have a lapdog. Someone who loves flying above all else would have a bird. A pirate might have a seal or fish. It could also reflect some non-job part of you: an introvert might have a turtle, for example.
So the question is: What would your character's daemon be? Why?
Unfortunately my characters are easy and unsurprising... though... Thistle's would lead to a question about the basics of theme. When people are children, their daemons are fluid, they change from animal to animal. It's only when someone grows up that their daemon takes one shape. So my question is: If something radical and life-changing happened to an adult character, something that changed them to the core forever, would their daemon change? Thistle's would now be a dog, a scruffy happy mutt, but it wouldn't have always been.
So that's the bonus question: If you're familiar enough with the His Dark Material world, what do you think about an adult's daemon changing? (Though just asking that question makes me feel like I'm risking being a Special Snowflake...)
Reed's dog daemon has gone rabid. :/
My question is based on the His Dark Materials world, a series of books and one movie (The Golden Compass). The basic idea is your soul is an animal (called a daemon), something outside your body that can be seen by others. Your soul reflects the essential you: Someone in the army might have a German Shepherd dog. A maid might have a lapdog. Someone who loves flying above all else would have a bird. A pirate might have a seal or fish. It could also reflect some non-job part of you: an introvert might have a turtle, for example.
So the question is: What would your character's daemon be? Why?
Unfortunately my characters are easy and unsurprising... though... Thistle's would lead to a question about the basics of theme. When people are children, their daemons are fluid, they change from animal to animal. It's only when someone grows up that their daemon takes one shape. So my question is: If something radical and life-changing happened to an adult character, something that changed them to the core forever, would their daemon change? Thistle's would now be a dog, a scruffy happy mutt, but it wouldn't have always been.
So that's the bonus question: If you're familiar enough with the His Dark Material world, what do you think about an adult's daemon changing? (Though just asking that question makes me feel like I'm risking being a Special Snowflake...)
Reed's dog daemon has gone rabid. :/
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Date: 2012-02-01 11:28 pm (UTC)As to the idea of Thistle's daemon changing, I'm not certain if it would according to Pullman's laws (and the fact that their daemons are corporeal in the books) but within the definition of the psychological/philosophical belief of daemonism, he would be classified as a changeling. In the books, it was all very dumbed down. :/ Not every military man would have the soul of a guard dog and not every servant would be.. any other kind of dog. :) Though to be clear, I know that you were just using those as examples here for those who are not intimately familiar with the books because that makes sense! It was just one of my little pet peeves with the books itself because it didn't make sense to me. BUT ANYWAY.
At the end of this, I'll have to refer you over to my LJ for the answers because I posted the analyses for my how's and why's and it would have gotten QUITE long in comments. XD
Post is here (http://prettyredeyes.livejournal.com/12863.html)!
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Date: 2012-02-01 11:58 pm (UTC)Anyway, the concept of having a daemon change is interesting, and part of me thinks it almost makes sense. But at the same time, I feel as though it just wouldn't happen. It seemed to me that the final form the daemon took represented that person's true self, their very core nature. It's like when Lyra is on the boat and she frets over Pan settling on a dolphin and tying her to the sea forever. I think that, while people can definitely change and maybe go against their nature (and the daemon would likely try to talk them out of it, or prevent them from doing it, sort of playing their conscious) their daemon wouldn't change. They would be forced to obey, still remain a part of that person, perhaps a remnant of what they once were, but I just... have trouble seeing them actually changing, once they've settled. But that's just my take on it!
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Date: 2012-02-02 04:52 am (UTC)But I can see that happening. If the event changed them dramatically? I imagine there would be backlash as the daemon changed to fit their personality. I imagine the change would happen, if physical, while they were unconscious. If due to mental trauma? I can easily see it changing too. Injuries and trauma can drastically change someone's personality, and a daemon is supposed to be your /soul/.
To Felix's daemon!
I've always been torn about animal is best for him- it's either a European Magpie, or a Rook. I lean towards Magpie, because of several reasons.
One, the intelligence factor. Felix is /smart/, in both originalverse and Warcraft. He may be unstable, but he knows a lot, and has advanced capabilities with logic
when he sits down to /think/, which is rarer in originalverse than WarcraftThe other reason has to do with how the Magpie is perceived. It's got more than its fair share of folklore, rhymes, and pop culture stuff around it, a lot of which I feel reflects on Felix and his story. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Magpie)
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Date: 2012-02-02 09:49 am (UTC)I picked this one because it's opportunistic about its prey, not usually taking risks to get what it wants. It knows that if it waits, and it's a good little spider, then another unsuspecting soul will ambled by and BAM! lunch.
And despite not being a fan of the creepies I really can't get the image of Jad with a spider on his shoulder out of my head. It would skitter up and down him and probably launch itself at the face of anyone who came too close. ._.
As for changing daemons, I think it's plausible. Pullman wrote a compelling story but the he definitely avoided some details that could have been useful. If a daemon is the reflection of its master's nature, and a man's nature can change, then a daemon can change as well.
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Date: 2012-02-02 04:00 pm (UTC)The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of his daemon staying the same, so he's kind of acting against his true nature now. It'd make for an interesting struggle, I think.
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Date: 2012-02-02 04:03 pm (UTC)He collects shiny things like Jad, after all!And I like your idea about them changing, too. Hmmm.
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Date: 2012-02-02 04:05 pm (UTC)And yes, I could totally picture one running up and down him, too.
On one hand, I wish that he had written more details about this stuff, but on the other, it's fun to think about it and come up with answers on our own.
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Date: 2012-02-02 04:08 pm (UTC)I liked the ones you found for your alts! Though the idea of a hippo following someone around all the time made me snicker. :D Best Daemon Ever!
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Date: 2012-02-06 06:10 am (UTC)That said, Greyspell's daemon is a funnel-web spider.
... that, or a vampire squid.
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Date: 2012-02-06 08:08 pm (UTC)It's been a long while since I read the books, but I do remember that.