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His Dark Materials - Blog Posts
I actually got help from a friend to answer some of the questions, like how best to describe me and what my "sin" was. Very fun and accurate!
this was a long undertaking but i’m beyond excited to post what i believe is the most comprehensive daemon-finding quiz to date, featuring 34 categories of animals and over 320 total possible outcomes! from insects to owls to seals to wild cats, you’re sure to find a unique result that fits your personality.
tag or comment what your daemon would be! :) mine’s a cocker spaniel!
EDIT: the quiz has two parts, the category which this post links to (34 options), and then the specific animal within that category (5-15 options) which you’re linked to once you get your result!
hmmm this his dark materials fanmade animated trailer is the most beautiful thing I’ve seen this year… wow
Directed by Louis HOLMES, Agathe LEROUX and Léa REY—MAUZAIZE
cartwebb and their dæmons in his dark materials!AU River - golden retriever James - leucistic snake
I took a quiz to find out what my Daemon would be and this was the result:
I imagine he is a calico bobtail and his name would be Tarin (which I find an ironic name, since when I researched its meaning I discovered that there is a species of bird with the same name. lol.)
His Dark Materials Based on the first book of the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman
Fanmade trailer was directed by Louis Holmes, Agathe Leroux and Léa Rey Mauzaize Original Score: Jean-Loup Didelot Violinists: Dario Herraiz-Sabater, Eugenia Saval-Llorca Sound Design: Théophile Loaec Storyboard: Léa Rey-Mauzaize, Louis Holmes, Gabo Camarillo Gil Art Direction: Agathe Leroux Vis Dev: Agathe Leroux, Louis Holmes, Léa Rey-Mauzaize, Juliette Brocal Animation Leads: Louis Holmes, Léa Rey-Mauzaize Animation: Victoria Gregiry De Millo, Maxime Jouniot, Jade Khoo, Sandy Lachkar, Agathe Leroux Additional animation: Grégoire De Bernouis, Stella Besse
In the world of His Dark Materials, each person is born with a daemon: a manifestation of their soul that appears as an animal best matching who they truly are. Featuring 43 different categories and 800 total possibilities from insects to owls to seals to wild cats, you’re sure to find a unique result that fits your personality. What animal form will your daemon take?
Hello my dear friend 🌟,
My name is Mahmoud Jihad, from Gaza, where all my dreams have shattered. I was studying Information Technology while caring for my sick father and younger siblings, but now, I have nothing but a flimsy tent to protect me from the cold of night. My home, my university, and everything that connected me to life have been completely destroyed, and I feel like everything has come to an end. 😢
We are living amidst indescribable destruction, and our days are fading into the depths of despair. I dream of escaping this hell with my family and returning to continue my studies, but the road ahead is blocked. Our hearts are filled with sorrow, and with each passing moment, we feel the world closing in around us. ❤️
I sincerely ask you, from the depths of my heart, to help save my family. Sharing, liking, commenting, or even a small donation could make a significant difference in our lives. Every contribution could be the glimmer of hope we've been waiting for in the darkness of this war. 😔
My campaign has been verified by @beesandwatermelons ✅ #190.
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GoFundMe link: https://gofund.me/463cbf01
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you offer. Your support could help us survive and seek a better future.🌹
Hello! I can't donate unfortunately so I will share instead. I hope you reach your goal! May Allah protect you and your family! 💖💖
His Dark Materials Marisa Coulter / Golden Monkey
requested by @theirdarkmaterials
If you think about it the plot of His Dark Materials is basically the plot of an anime:
It starts with and young girl setting off on a coming-of-age adventure with a talking animal companion...
And ends with her KILLING GOD
The struggle with hardback books
really interesting concept. I feel like if you grew up in the universe where daemons were commonplace, this wouldn't feel like a big deal though. It would be as natural as saying, "we have to make sure the actor has the same face as well as the same body type of the character/historical figure."
Live theater in the His Dark Materials universe must be wild. Surely an actor's daemon also has lines to recite, so their daemon's form probably also factors into casting decisions. Maybe some plays have vague character descriptions for daemons, but I bet other plays have really specific or central daemon characters. And sure, big-budget theaters can afford to hire a separate actor with a particular daemon to stand backstage while their daemon plays its part onstage, but community theaters don't have those kinds of resources.
Like if you're casting for Julius Caesar, surely the real historical Caesar had a pretty iconic daemon, right? Are you going to cast an actor with a pigeon daemon as Caesar and just have everyone suspend their disbelief that it's Caesar's lioness, ἁμαρτία?
Thinking about how a lot of the cultural-political worldbuilding in His Dark Materials might not even be true because it's filtered through the perspectives of biased characters. Things like, do the Northern Tartars actually form a distinct group, or is it just an abstract term the European characters use for a collection of peoples they don't fully understand? It doesn't seem like the Yenisei Pakhtars are connected at all to the Tartars attacking Muscovy. I feel the same way about the description of the insect automata as "Afric." The worldbuilding is full of ironic exoticism and we are never given a 100% objective look at how things work
I know what I'm getting soon.
This short book of little squibs from the HDM universe came out a few months ago, but I just got a copy. Note there’s still no title or pub date for book 3 of TBOD
his dark materials and harry potter would make the best au ever.
like how cool would that be and it literally makes so much sense.
Some time after
She remembered that excruciating feeling, that devastating day in the mulefa world when Xaphania told them about their fate.
It felt as if the universe collapsed around and into her, merciless and suffocating.
They were to live their whole lives without each other, long and supposed-to-be-meaningful lives without the only person in the universe who could understand them fully.
It felt like being gutted.
Lyra smiled distractedly, caressing the old bench she lounged on.
When she was fourteen, she didn't understand that the universe had robbed Will and her of much more than loving each other openly, or kisses, or romance.
She didn't know then that loving an idea of a person was quite easy.
She couldn't imagine that she would mourn extremely mundane things.
Something everyone else got to experience every day with their loved ones.
Lyra longed to know if Will snored. Or, if he did, whether she would complain about it to him every morning. She wanted to burn his coffee at least once, to do renovations and bicker about wallpaper colours. She wanted to buy things together, read together, steal food from his plate and sip from his cup. To fight about... about something, anything, and then make up, and kiss his brow. To not be forced to replay his every touch from memory, because there wouldn't be need for that. Lyra wanted to whisper Will's name to wake him up, to warm up her feet against his scorching skin. To never let him work, to parade him around and sneak away to dark hallways to kiss, giggling.
She longed to have a life with him. Just this domestic life, so sweet your teeth start rotting at a mere thought of it.
But no, of course not.
They would never have that with each other. The fate made sure of that.
Lyra gripped the edge of the bench tighter and felt, with a grim satisfaction, a splinter lodging itself deep in her palm.
Her eyes burned. She bit her lip so hard she could taste blood, and exhaled shakily.
Envy, anger and pain were swirling in her chest like poisoned water.
Why her? Why Will?
They gave everything, why did they have to give up each other?
That Midsummer Day the loss of him hurt different.
Perhaps, the deepest.
Because she didn't lose his love. Lyra knew she couldn't possibly lose it.
She lost all the ordinary days she could have spent by his side.
Somehow it was even worse.
Songs that remind me of Rain:
1. Chinese New Year, by SALES
2. The Path, by Lorde
3. She’s Electric, by Oasis
Put your favourite songs, or songs that remind you of your dæmian in the comments!
someone should introduce Einaudi to the directors and producers of His Dark Materials
Live theater in the His Dark Materials universe must be wild. Surely an actor's daemon also has lines to recite, so their daemon's form probably also factors into casting decisions. Maybe some plays have vague character descriptions for daemons, but I bet other plays have really specific or central daemon characters. And sure, big-budget theaters can afford to hire a separate actor with a particular daemon to stand backstage while their daemon plays its part onstage, but community theaters don't have those kinds of resources.
Like if you're casting for Julius Caesar, surely the real historical Caesar had a pretty iconic daemon, right? Are you going to cast an actor with a pigeon daemon as Caesar and just have everyone suspend their disbelief that it's Caesar's lioness, ἁμαρτία?
I am so glad that they changed the person who mary falls in love with into a woman. it fits her character and the story so well<3
“And I thought, will anyone be better off if I just go back to the hotel and say my prayers and promise never to fall into temptation again? And the answer came back. No. No one will. And I realised there was no one there to reward me for being a good girl or no one there to punish me for being wicked. There was no one. And it was… it was liberating. And it was… It was a bit lonely. But I just knew I wanted to experience everything the world had to offer. I wanted to experience love.” MARY MALONE in HIS DARK MATERIALS 3.08
What's Tony Costa age in canon? I vaguely remember from my first read he being a teen but now on my re-reading of NL Lyra says he's a grown man and I'm really confused. Maybe I messed up because of the tv show or confused him with another character?? But I remember something about his daemon settling recently so I assumed he was young...
Nothing says ‘mummy issues’ like a huge crush on Marisa Coulter.
:333 I'm super happy you liked my lil ramblings ! As for daemon choices, I read all your posts ! A swan for my darling Angeline is just spot on. I was dead set on a butterfly for years (for all the reasons you listed), and more recently on moths, for their association with silk (elegant, soft, expensive) and light (always chasing it, often at their own expanse). Some moths are also specifically associated with change, which I feel fits her intense emotional lability quite well. Some species are also considered pests, some as bad omens. It's a vibe that fits how she can sometimes become a danger not only to herself but others. I was specifically thinking of moths like the Luna or the White Witch ; and the Madagascan sunset because it's so pretty. But the idea of a swan for her ? *chef's kiss*. I love it. Tim, I agree with you, is tough. I like all your ideas, but my favoured one is the snake. Butler, if his daemon is female, I'd love it to be a bear. It would be terribly impractical in daily life, but this dude is the most mama bear ever and they would make an absolutely deadly duo. But as you develop in your tags, I'm also very partial to queer Butler, and love the idea of him having a male daemon. Livestock guardian dog is perfect for him <3 (and now I have an immense urge to draw Butler's daemon carrying baby Artemis' daemon around scruffing her neck é.è) Juliet, it's funny but she's the one I've always envisioned with a lemur or a lil monkey. She's a smart fun-loving daredevil and I feel like it fits her the most. But I agree that a nod to the vivid green and overall bright colours would be so cool ! Why not a grasshopper ?
And now, Artemis. I have a special theory for him : I think his daemon would not settle and always keep her shifting abilities. I know it sounds a bit Mary Sue-esque, but if you consider it, doesn't it fit him perfectly ? Artemis to me is most characterised by his funambulist dynamic - he's always, always walking a tightrope between two extremes : innocence and dangerousness, good and evil, fairies and humans, empathy and ruthlessness, justice and criminality... and childhood and adulthood. One of the most striking thing he says in the first book is how he's still just enough of a child to believe in magic, but enough of an adult to exploit them. It's his greatest strength, but it also isolates him so much. That's why he's such a lonely character, to me ; he never belongs quite anywhere, because he's always toeing the line between one thing and its complete opposite. At his core, Artemis is unique and a trailblazer, a changeling never quite a human, never quite a fairy, never quite a child, never quite an adult.
How to better express that than a daemon that forever keeps shifting like a child's ? I also love this idea because it doesn't have to be obvious. Artemis and his daemon are both smart ; they know how to take best advantage of that. I feel like by the time they know most daemons settle, they'd pick a shape they like (a silky silfaka lemur, or my two favourites - a raven, or a rat) and pretend to be settled. I believe of his close ones, only Butler and maybe Holly would know the truth. Artemis' daemon would only shift when it's necessary - to complete a plan (like turning into a smaller animal, a fish, an insect to sneak stealthily somewhere) or to scare an enemy to death (WHAT THE HELL THIS GROWN MAN'S DAEMON IS SHIFTING WHAAAA...). Now combine that with the TLG idea of the daemon now being capable of roaming around miles away from Artemis... He's as powerful, and as othered as can be. And that's just so him.
also the idea of AF plot with daemons is kind of upsetting, like wtf happens during butler and artemis' respective deaths. does butler's daemon fade away for that time butler is dead?? or does her body remain because artemis kept his brain on ice???
and for artemis' death.... if his soul was torn from his body but remained tied to earth, what does that mean for his daemon? his body dies but his daemon remains alive and conscious??? that would be so fucked up within the lore of daemons. my fucking god. like she's a symbol of hope and certainty that artemis can be brought back, but it's also horrifying and upsetting to see her walking around like a ghost, like something reanimated and fundamentally against nature.
how do these deaths affect their relationships with their daemons? or the invisible strings between them? like, would artemis' daemon be able to travel freely apart from him after his resurrection- oh my god i just remembered the cloning thing, what are even the repercussions and implications of that
Been LOVING these AF daemons post by OP <3 I've been thinking about this particular post lately, here are some of my personal thoughts on deaths in the AF books with daemons attached. For TLG, I actually believe Artemis' daemon would disappear at first ; because I love this scene from The Amber Spyglass, where Lyra has to abandon Pan so she can go to the Underworld - and I feel like in this case, it would be the opposite - Artemis' daemon refuses to go with him. Just imagine Artemis, actually terrified of dying, begging his daemon to not leave him alone, and her firmly reassuring him - "remember. we will come back, we decided and promised to. so I have to stay." That would be absolutely heartwrenching (as the original scene is), but also I feel a good depiction of Artemis' resolve being stronger than death. And then, imagine all the others (Butler, Holly, the parents, everyone else) suddenly see Artemis' daemon coming back, roaming around the grave. Refusing to talk for now, but being there - alone.
The cloning I think doesn't have particular implications ; it's only a mere corporeal form for the soul to inhabit, so as long as the daemon is still there, it's okay. The scene could even be quite touching... They'd bring the clone to the daemon, she's inspect it carefully, then after a few minutes, she'd just curl up into a little furry ball on the clone's chest and wait. And he'd wake up. Afterwards, Artemis would probably be able to be separated from his daemon like the witches. Maybe the clone and the daemon would have difficulties bonding at first, but at least she'd be able to help him with his memories. As for Butler's death in TEC, it would mean twisting a tiny bit how the daemons work in HDM, but I can imagine that the daemon has a few more moments after Butler dies before completely disappearing (as if his soul tried to cling to Artemis for as long as he could before fading away). Knowing that, Artemis manages to bring him to the freezer just in time for the daemon to join Butler in the freezer and sleep with him until Holly revives them both. I wonder if it would be interesting and meaningful to have Butler's daemon, by the time Artemis manages to put him to safety, be too exhausted from clinging on the world to crawl into the freezer with his human, so Artemis has to lift her up himself. As touching another's daemon is super taboo and forbidden, maybe it would be an interesting way, similar to Butler telling his first name to Artemis before dying, to show how strenghtened their bond is now that death has threatened to tear them apart and they would not have it. Also, Butler being the vulnerable one for once, and Artemis taking care and charge of him, whatever it takes and whatever rules of the universe he has to break in the process. I don't know because in HDM it's implied that touching another's daemon has a more mature connotation, and I wouldn't want this idea to be interpreted that way. I still think it would be sweet to see Artemis caring for Butler's daemon tho.
Well, these were my ramblings x') (as for what daemon would everyone have, that's another conversation and this post is long enough, but I might expand another time)
also the idea of AF plot with daemons is kind of upsetting, like wtf happens during butler and artemis' respective deaths. does butler's daemon fade away for that time butler is dead?? or does her body remain because artemis kept his brain on ice???
and for artemis' death.... if his soul was torn from his body but remained tied to earth, what does that mean for his daemon? his body dies but his daemon remains alive and conscious??? that would be so fucked up within the lore of daemons. my fucking god. like she's a symbol of hope and certainty that artemis can be brought back, but it's also horrifying and upsetting to see her walking around like a ghost, like something reanimated and fundamentally against nature.
how do these deaths affect their relationships with their daemons? or the invisible strings between them? like, would artemis' daemon be able to travel freely apart from him after his resurrection- oh my god i just remembered the cloning thing, what are even the repercussions and implications of that
His Dark Materials is a franchise that tackles so many branches of physics and even creates a universe where the main course of study is experimental theology which is all about identifying and explaining dark matter while also adding dimensions to string theory, the multiverse theory, and the very concept of the human soul. At the same time, it aggressively calls out the problem with the state being controlled by the church, how people are condemned for being different and religious fearmongering stops the chance at growth both on an individual and a societal scale. It’s a franchise where the heroes of the story are two children who aren’t allowed to know the prophecy they’re a part of, who save the world unwittingly simply by doing what they believe to be right. Meanwhile, the person who thought he was the hero all along, the person who rallied an army from multiple universes to FIGHT. GOD. HIMSELF. is ultimately consumed by his own ego and forced to take a back seat when he realises he’s just one tiny piece of a much larger story that’s true heart is his own daugher. The child he abandoned, the child he didn’t know or care to know how to look after. It’s a franchise about finding love even when your biological family abandon you, it’s about looking evil in the eye and seeing your own mother, it’s about good and evil not being black and white but instead a complex and cruel mixture of both. It’s about the two worst people you know banding together at the last second to save their daughter with their final breaths. It’s about exploration and learning how to grow through experience, it’s about kindness being shared across the multiverse, exchanging stories with strangers and saving the whole world by doing something perfectly ordinary and receiving no reward.
Oh, and it’s also a franchise rich with fantasy, with giant talking polar bears, witches and ghosts, angels and daemons, and a mammal-like species from another world that travels exclusively on roller skates.
And it fucking. rocks.
Literally part of the plot of His Dark Materials season 2
