Critical Daemons

Whatever else we may be, you and I, we are still one and the same.

[notjustdrwhoboards]

Also, unrelated to pride, but I've made (yet another) new blog for more daemon AU stuff. So go check it out if that's the sort of thing you vibe with it's @daem0nisms.

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Mighty Nein

Expositor Dairon & Themis

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Vox Machina

Lyra & Phoebus

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Kima having a Honey Badger is so fitting it's almost scary. And now I'm reminded of the "Animal Planet documentary narrated by a gay man" video, and it's wonderful lol.

In all honesty, she nearly didn't have one! I'd chosen honey badger and then realised that I'd actually given it to someone else...so I had to make the executive decision that Kima deserved it more! But yeah, I feel its super fitting for her and I wanted something that would entirely contrast with Allura's and I feel I managed that!

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Vox Machina

Lady Kima of Vord & Garrick

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Vox Machina

Allura Vysoren & Cadmus

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So a thought crossed my mind regarding the au. What do the daemons of druids do while in combat? Like Turion. Does he follow Keyleth into the fray? Does he try to stay out of it? Could he be hurt by her if she's in a fire elemental form? I'm curious.

Sorry it took a while to reply to this one, it's another one of those super interesting questions that I needed to put a load of thought into before answering.

For the most part, druid daemons are no different than anyone else's, so yes, Turion tends to follow Keyleth into the fray, to an extent, out of all the Vox Machina daemons, he's the one that enjoys fighting the least. So he tries more to stay out of it for those reasons. As for the elemental forms, a daemon is a part of you, the physicality of your own form doesn't matter so much. So if a druid became a fire elemental, their daemon would take on certain traits, like a resistance to fire. So your own daemon wouldn't be injured by it, but you could still hurt someone else's.

The most interesting thing for a druid's daemon is its ability to wildshape as you do; if Keyleth becomes Minxie, Turion also becomes a sabre-tooth in order to be able to keep up with her. It's the one way that he can still change forms. It also comes in handy when she wildshapes into a giant eagle, as he can become one and carry the other members of Vox Machina's daemons without the risk of Keyleth touching them.

This is different from polymorph, where a person's daemon disappears entirely, because you're no longer yourself and don't have the same soul.

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Kaylie and Harper look great! And it's ironic that Kaylie would have a daemon settle in a form that shares a family with Meerkats of all animals.

It is extremely ironic, and definitely something that Kaylie herself resents when she meets Scanlan. Though, she does also like the fact that Harper is bigger than Fifer. And in a way, it's just a testament to how similar Kaylie actually is to her father, even without meaning to be.

Scanlan, once he gets over the realisation, is actually a little touched that their daemons share a family. He finds it cute, though he'd never tell her so.

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Yeah, that's understandable. Animal stereotyping is rough. Like if you aren't going in-depth with Random Background Character 67 then sure go nuts. But there should be more thought into it for major and minor pro/antagonists then just going on base value of the animal chosen. Put the work into it or else you'll have a basic premise. But that's just me.

No I get that. Its like if you're going to go through all of the effort of trying to make an entire AU for something, then you kinda need to be prepared to do more than the bare minimum! But then maybe that's just me being a perfectionist. Idk!

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Vox Machina

Kaylie Shorthalt & Harper

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Can I ask why you made Kingsley's a raccoon? I'm curious what your analysis of raccoon daemons and also of Kingsley's personality is because personally I just cannot see it, I'm also someone with 0 exposure to raccoons outside of like. Memes and stuff though so I'm willing to be wrong about this lol

Of course you can! I'll adnit Kingsley was a little harder to do than the other members of the Nein simply because he appears so briefly comparatively. Most of his characterisation comes from the reunion and the little bits of info Taliesin gave us prior to that.

But, people with raccoon souls tend to be very inquisitive and adventurous, raccoons are actually really smart animals no matter how memes make them seem. They're very adaptable and willing to try new things. They're also very independent, not overly attached to the people in their lives but still amicable enough to get along with them regardless. But not unwilling to go against them. They can also be a little egocentric at times too. They're efficient, and not overly impulsive, though not particularly prone to planning either. If a made plan fails, they just move on and try the next thing. Raccoon souls can sometimes struggle to work with people who's ideals don't match their own, but also value team work and are excellent team players.

They're a mess of contradictions and I think a lot of the traits mentioned fit Kingsley as we saw him in the reunion. Especially in regard to his relationship with Fjord versus how he is with the crew.

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Aww, hope I made your gf's day! And yeah, I do the same! If I don't have any stakes in a Fandom I like to see what people come up with because most of the time they're so varied. Seeing a character be assigned a cat in one, and then a dog in another, is wild to me. But it's fun too because one person picked up on their independence more then their devotion/loyalty, and vice-versa. And it's super intriguing!

I do love that; like seeing how people pick daemons is really interesting to me. Because in a weird way it says a lot on how people view varying people, you know? Though I'm not gonna say that I never get annoyed by some choices. Animal stereotyping bugs me a lot. I've said before that that was my daemon pet peeve!

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Sometimes I go an re-read The Mighty Daemons on Ao3 because it's a good one, and there are other fanfics with the same au idea so of course I read those too. And this is absolutely not a slight at any of their interpretations, but when I read one my first thought is, 'That's not right, their daemon should be this one instead,' because I really like your version and the process that goes into each character. Again, not a slight against anyone because everyone has their own way to tell a story.

Hi! Sorry I took so long to answer this, I just had to wait to show it my gf because she's the author of Mighty Daemons and this is a really sweet comment! And she really appreciates that you go back and re-read it sometimes!

But yeah, I get that! I've inadvertently turned myself into a daemon snob hy making this AU! Like I love reading other people's interpretations of daemons, moreso in other fandoms bc I'm really attached to my CR ones, and I'm always left thinking about how differently I'd do them. But torn between that and really enjoying their ideas!

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Okay, good to know! I'm glad I didn't sound mean asking either, cuz tone is hard to do in text message. But yeah, I thought about checking just in case, and I'm glad I did!

Tone is the worst via message! I'm always scared I'm misreading something. But no, always feel free to check things like that! I really don't mind. And I'm willing to add more tags and stuff if people need it.

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So insects can be daemons, as well as spiders. Are there any characters with one? Don't need to know who, but wanted to know if you will be tagging those ones if you do so that no one gets freaked out/upset by having a bug or spider suddenly on their screen. As someone with arachnephobia, the last time one popped on my screen without warning it nearly gave me a panic attack, and now I am cautious perusing that creator's content. Hope I don't come off as a jerk.

No, no you're not at all coming off as a jerk don't worry! I'm also an arachnophobe, even seeing small spiders is enough to freak me out. So far none of the characters I've done have spider daemons; the only insect ones are a butterfly and a bumblebee. Those are tagged with bumblebee and butterfly, as well as by the specific species. Though if those are ones you might have trouble with seeing too, I don't mind putting more general tags. But 100% I will tag things like that; all the daemons are tagged by species. But for Spiders I'll also just tag them as spider too.

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Honestly seeing how many you have currently worked on, or are working on, is super exciting! Can't wait for them to come out whenever they do, no rush!

Thanks!! The Google doc I have for the daemon au is such a mess but it's worth it! I do tend to do more random characters than anything else, and I'll admit my knowledge of Campaign 2 is much better than that of 1 or 3. But I can't wait for you to see the ones I've been doing! Honestly all these asks have really been so good for productivity! It's nice knowing other people like your stuff.

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Since you completed campaign 2 guest pcs, are you going to do campaign 1 ones next, or get started on campaign 3? Or just go with the next character that comes to mind?

I think for the next little bit it's mostly going to be characters on a whim; as far as daemons to create up next I've got Essek, Verin, Eshteross, Gilmore and Kaylie's. I've got half the Darrington Brigade's daemons named so those might be up once I've figured out names for Damian and Macaroni's. Otherwise Cree and Dairon have daemons but no names. And I've got moodboards to make for the older Clays ones. So overall it's a little eclectic...but hopefully I'll get all of those done soon.