Your Favorite Characters, But With Critters On 'Em

Hiya folks! I love drawing characters in daemon AUs, so I made this blog! ^w^

[doodlin-daemons]

Hey there, @booksforlions!  I know I promised this one wouldn’t take nearly so long as the last few, but well...I let college and roleplay kinda take over there, so I apologize.  To make up for it, since I’ve recently figured out how to work SketchBook, I decided to try and make your request as interesting as possible!

So yeah, here’s the requester and her mourning dove daemon, Anio (done in artsy-ish color palettes)!  Overall, having this columbid for a daemon suggests that someone is the sensitive type: they don’t like conflict, they don’t like to be around too many people, and they’re overall emotional sorts with high ideals.  But these soft souls are also very loyal and affectionate people, true friends who will be there no matter what, and they are very dedicated to their projects! (Oh, and the green dots all around are supposed to be their Dust!)

So yeah, I hope you really enjoy the direction I took with this piece, and let’s hope my newfound skill at an art program means great things headed y‘all’s way soon!

[doodlin-daemons]

Hullo, @panser-bjorn!  Sorry I took so long on this one; I might use the excuse that I was preparing to move back into my dorm (which is tomorrow), but honestly, much of it was just procrastinating - maybe the fixed schedule wasn’t such a good idea. ^^’ Ah well, have Joel and Marana singing an angsty song about never giving up no matter how hard life gets!

To put it in one word, wolverine people are tough.  They live up in the North American tundra, they frequently bring down prey that’s many times their size, they are territorial and robust and notoriously ferocious; someone with this for a daemon will be much the same way, a no-nonsense survivor who is willing to go to considerable extremes to keep themselves alive for another day (and in a zombie apocalypse, that’s kind of a necessary character trait).  The only exceptions to a wolverine’s “you can go fuck yourself” view of people are a select few loved ones, such as their children - wolverines fathers, in particular, are known to be very dedicated, as they will regularly visit the same two or three females (with whom he mates for life) and play with/help rear their cubs.  From what little I know of Joel here, it sounds like a perfect match!

It took me a long while to come up with exactly what to draw, but I was finally inspired after learning about the live production that was apparently a thing (and that’s kind of what his outfit here was based on).  I would have loved to have him sing a song from that show, but I’m not familiar enough with the source material, so I tried to find a fitting song from our universe; and hey, “Everybody Hurts” was big in the mid-90s, and the theme of it sounded somewhat fitting to The Last of Us’ story (even if just in a very broad way), so!

Hope you like it, and I promise not to take so long on the next request! <3

[doodlin-daemons]

Second request ever, and it’s a “draw me with my daemon” request!  This is for @daemon-not-a-demon and her daemon, Elijah.  While he is unsettled, she told me he often likes to be a panther, and there was no specification on what kind of panther to draw, so I just made him a black leopard; and though I doubt I need to put in much effort describing the traits of what seems to be a comfort form, I can tell you that leopards are very private, calculating people who seem to have a strong undercurrent of passion and drive underneath their cool exterior!

I think I ought to stick to a once-a-Sunday upload schedule, seeing as that’s what’s been going on for the past few doodles.  I really hope you enjoy this, and I wish many good things to come your way in 2018!!! :D

[doodlin-daemons]

Hey anon!  Sorry for this being so much later than what I’d planned, I was caught up in Christmas stuff.  Ah well, I hope this gives you one more present to smile about!

I don’t watch this show, so I don’t know much about Reese directly.  But I do know that German shepherds, in addition to demonstrating the loyalty and eagerness to serve common to all dogs, are notably highly active and extremely protective.  Being the third most intelligent of all breeds (that we know of), they are highly curious and love to be engaged in tasks that work both the body and the mind; and while their trainability and eagerness to learn make them highly obedient working dogs, very suitable for jobs like the police force, they are also known to be rather aggressive and can deliver a bite comparable to that of a pit bull when threatened.

As for Finch, I wouldn’t have a clue as to exact species, but he sounds like a rather private, calculating man who likes to investigate things - I suggest looking into felids and their relatives, like that Malagasy civet I slapped down up there!

I’m not exactly proud of how rough the linework in places (have I become addicted to using the sharpie?), and methinks I miiiight’ve misremembered your request a tad bit while working.  But overall, I’d say this isn’t too shabby (I like the way I drew the pooch!), and I really hope you like it!  Happy winter-themed holiday! =^w^=

[flynnardkuwata]

Hey, it’s a valid question!

I think I should make it a tradition to mark my officially getting into something by doodling Teh Daemons for it.  Leon has a slender mongoose, Mondo has a northern gannet, and Chihiro has some kind of cuttlefish - didn’t put too much thought into the forms, but they all seemed to fit.  Hope y’all enjoy!

[doodlin-daemons]

Currently working on my first request (which I plan to have done tomorrow evening), so in the meanwhile, have this recent doodle from my main concerning what may be the only anime I’ve ever gotten into as of yet!

Closely related to cats in spite of their weaselly appearance, mongooses are sociable, curious, feisty little buggers who regularly hunt venomous snakes (which they go after by CHARGING RIGHT UP AND CHALLENGING THE SNEK TO MORTAL COMBAT) - which is, then again, kinda easy when you have some immunity to venom.  This particular species, though, is also notable for its love of lounging about and the playful demeanor that’s exhibited well into adulthood, meaning it’s likely to match a laid-back type who, despite being bold and determined, loves to goof off and enjoy life to the fullest.

As one would expect from a seabird, gannets are tough, hardy things who, despite their sociability, have no problem getting into scraps with their mates over food and such - the person with such a daemon will, as a general rule, be brash and loud and able to take what they dish out.  Gannets, specifically, are known for their way of fishing, which involves divebombing into the ocean at ridiculous speeds so they can nab their meals much deeper than other birds; these dives require both numerous adaptations (including a lack of external nostrils) and great precision (they fold back their wings the instant before hitting the water, and if that’s done a hair too late, injury can result), which can mean that a gannet person is also a huge planner and very focused on their goals.  Gannets, like many birds, also mate for life, so this fellow is a good choice if you want a steadfast friend.  And did I mention the name “gannet” comes from a word meaning “strong, manly”?

Like the rest of their cephalopod cousins, cuttlefish are highly intelligent and have the ability to change their skin color/texture for things like camouflage purposes.  This latter ability, though, is regarded as the cuttlefish’s area of expertise: no matter what background you stick it in front of, it will be able to copy it as best as it can in a split second, and even in near-total darkness - probably just as well, for this animal is actually color-blind!  And while there are a few exceptions - flamboyant cuttlefish, that thing they sometimes do where they flash rapidly in order to hypnotize prey - this mostly seems to be a tactic for blending in and avoiding detection as they hunt.  There are other examples of deception/evasiveness among the cuttle folk: like other cephalopods, for one, they can escape predation by squirting ink, which is sometimes thick and snotty and acts as a decoy to distract the predator; and when it comes time to mate, smaller males will outwit the competition (because yeah, males are competitive and will very occasionally forsake posturing at each other for good ol’...suckericuffs?) by disguising themselves as females and mating with the ladies right under their rivals’ tentacles. (That specific part wasn’t a major factor in my deciding on this for Chi, I swear) Overall, this tells me that most cuttlefish people, while not being malicious or confrontational, often turn to sneakiness and defensive manipulation to solve problems.  

[doodlin-daemons]

Howdy folks!  Allow me to introduce myself: I’m Vicki, and this is my settled giraffe daemon, Phinnip!

I’ve revamped this blog once before, and now, I’ve decided to do it again.  Why?  So I can draw daemons, just like the title says!

How does it work?  Simple, if you’re familiar with @daemon-souls and similar blogs: just send me headcanons for your favorite characters’ daemons, and not only will I post them, but I’ll include a doodle of them together, as shown above! (The humans won’t all look that shabby, I promise ;P) You can also submit your own drawings, and this blog will also feature various daemon-y arts from other blogs!

And you’ll do this for any fandom?  Any fandom, even the ones I’m not into!  There’s probably a wiki page for everything!

Even fandoms centered around non-human characters?  No problem, although I’ll have to draw them as humans!

Ooh, can you draw me with my daemon? :D I don’t see why not!  Just provide refs and such. ^^

That’s all I got for now, so uh...go crazy, kids!

[ask-a-daemian]

How can you tell if tour daemon is about to settle? Me and the dae think we feel it coming, but we wamt to be sire and we cant wait.

Well it really just comes down to if you:A) Are at a mature enough ageB) have found or researched a form that fits you.It’s not automatic and you don’t settle because a form “feels right”. If it feels right, you can keep projecting it. Projecting other forms doesn’t stop at settledom. But you should be informed before announcing your settlement. I’ve answered an ask similar to this before, and as soon as I’m off of mobile I’ll reblog this with those links.

[jollysunflora]

Abnormal Daemon Forms

There are many daemon forms that are unusual or rare. Take the blue whale for instance. There’s maybe 4 or 5 people in the entire world that have a blue whale daemon, but each time they settled it made international news. Then you have people with insect daemons. Even though insects make 95% of Earth’s wildlife, only one in ten people will settle as one.

However, settling as an insect is normal. So is settling as a whale, however rare it may be.

What is not normal, however, is an adult having a daemon that’s in a juvenile state. A mythical daemon. A human shaped daemon. An extinct daemon. Multiple “daemons”.

An adult with a daemon in a juvenile state-say, a wolf cub-is a phenomenon that has to do with mental illness. It doesn’t suggest that the adult has the mind/soul of a child, despite common belief. No, what this means is that they likely experienced some kind of trauma during childhood, and the daemon being juvenile in looks is their way of compensating for what they’ve missed. This won’t last forever though-with proper psychiatric care and therapy, the daemon will eventually settle into an adult form.

A mythical daemon-like a unicorn or a dragon-is also almost always a sign of mental illness. If seen with anyone other than a child-which is a normal sign of childhood development-then one can assume that the person is not completely “here”. They may have some form of dissociative disorder, or perhaps be exceptional in some character trait. Vlad the Impaler is the one recorded example we have of this; his manticore daemon struck fear into the man’s many victims. The Dalai Lama, on the other hand, is said to have had the same “snow lion” daemon across reincarnations. However, science has proven that Jinpa is simply a lion that happens to be white. 

Human shaped daemons are only ever seen in psychopaths. They’re usually hidden on the person somewhere, while the human wears a (usually opaque) insect daemon lanyard. If a child settles as a human shaped daemon, they’re taken into psychiatric care immediately.

Extinct daemons are extremely rare. Sure, there’s maybe a dozen in one century but most of the time they’re mistaken for regular animals. The last known recorded extinct daemon was an unknown farm woman in 900s rural India who had a mastodon daemon. 

Finally there’s the issue of multiple “daemons”. Instead of having a honeybee, for instance, the person would have a swarm of them. This is always a sign of extreme trauma. Be gentle with these people and their daemons!

[doodlin-daemons]

Really neat headcanons here!  This person has a ton of cool ideas about daemon AUs, so I suggest you go follow zir. :3

[daemonstuck]

Daemonstuck recap!

Okay, wow. The enthusiastic reaction to daemonstuck has been pretty astonishing, considering we haven’t actually posted anything yet! Some of you may be here because you’ve been following the verse’s progress on James’ and my personal blogs, but there are also quite a few people following daemonstuck who are new to it. With this in mind, we thought it might be wise to do a little recap before we start answering questions. That way we don’t have to repeat ourselves so much, and you don’t have to flounder around in confusion.

(HERE THERE BE SPOILERS)

First of all: the DAEMONSTUCK TAG on my personal blog catalogs most existing canon. Unfortunately, it’s also messy and inconvenient and cluttered with drabbles and keysmashing about Oxford library makeouts and the like. I also don’t bother correcting outdated posts there, so we’ve come up with a backup solution: namely, the DAEMONSTUCK GOOGLE DOC, which is… similarly disordered (and partially in skype conversation format?) right now, but which is at least kept up to date. It’s kept to bare bones plot information. When we get around to actually writing this monstrosity, that’s where fic updates will go.

At this point you’re probably eyeing the links warily and thinking about how much you don’t want to have to wade through a dozen pages of semi-coherent rambling to understand what’s going on. That’s fine! That’s what this recap is for.

(/SPOILERS)

Daemonstuck is a little esoteric, I won’t lie. What you need to know right now is that it’s set in a rough approximation of Lyra’s world from the His Dark Materials books. The events concerned take place a few years pre-series and ultimately veer miles off-course from HDM proper, but that comes with the whole “alternate universe” territory.

In case you haven’t read the books (James, I’m looking at you) or are in need of a refresher, this means that there’s a whole lot of ambiguous steampunk going on, as well as some UNFAMILIAR TERMINOLOGY. There will literally and figuratively be a shippy bent to it, considering the verse is focused on the adventures of several teams of polar explorers/researchers. Like I said, it takes place pre-alternate-universe-HDM, in a hypothetical era in which Dust has just been discovered in the loosest sense of the term but isn’t quite so monopolized by the Magisterium. Cue the race among scientific - or more accurately political - circles to be the first to understand it.

There are several political powers interacting in this verse. You might want to get comfortable for this bit. First of all, there’s the Magisterium, which is a loose analog to the Catholic church and something of a puppeteer to… pretty much everyone else. Next, there are the Amporas (also known as Team WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WEARING), a ruling family currently backed by the Magisterium. At least in the public eye, they’re the ones running things around Anglia. Think of the Amporas as cleaner fish clinging desperately to the Magisterium’s belly. They get to stick around so long as they provide a useful service, which in this case means keeping knowledge about Dust to an easily-manipulable minimum. Eridan has been assigned this task, as an ambassador for the Dust Is Bad And We’re Going To Show You Why side of things. His goal is to secure the Magisterium’s exclusive rights to knowledge surrounding Dust.

Enter the Peixes. The Peixes are political rivals to the Amporas, and are in this race basically in an attempt to unseat them from their lofty place of public favor. Or the Magisterium’s favor, more accurately. The point is, Feferi is implicated in this whole shebang out of political duty, and also because she thinks the Amporas are a great big bag of dicks with dangerous ideas.

Enter captains Maryam (financed by the Peixes and under the supervision of one Rose Lalonde), Serket (financed by the Amporas), and Pyrope (self-appointed). Also starring Karkat as Terezi’s childhood friend/occasional conquest and Sollux as their engineer/boy toy.

Whew.

I’ll leave you with the list of already established daemons, and that’ll be it, I promise. We’ll get to actually answering questions now.

ESTABLISHED DAEMONS:

Aradia: Tomer, male siberian ibex

Eridan: Kambyses, male blue-lipped sea krait

Dave: ???, genderqueer crow

Equius: ???, female rabbit

Feferi: Xabier, male river otter

Jade: Becquerel, gender-all-over-the-place black-tufted marmoset (uses xe/hir)

John: Casey, female albatross

Kanaya: Zaida, female gyrfalcon

Karkat: Madhu, neutrois pine marten (uses xe/hir)

Nepeta: Isak, male mountain lion

Rose: Olympe, genderqueer housecat (uses she/her)

Sollux: Cecil, bigender spotted eagle owl (uses various pronouns)

Terezi: Sargol, female komodo dragon

Vriska: Renenet, female black widow

– Haley

[doodlin-daemons]

This AU is pretty much dead, I believe - quite a shame - but it’s still got plenty of cool ideas for those of you who like Homestuck!  Maybe somebody might bring it back someday...

[flynnardkuwata]

Ask Me About My Daemon!

Anfang: What gender is your daemon? (Daemons can be the opposite gender, the same gender, or outside the binary altogether)

Belisaria: How talkative is your daemon?  What does their voice sound like?

Cerebaton: Do you think your daemon is smarter than you?

Golden Monkey: Are there any unscrupulous traits that you find your daemon possesses?  Would you say they are your dark side?

Hester: How would adventures with your daemon be like?

Kaisa: Does your daemon notice things before you do?  Are they more aware than you?

Karossa: What mood is your daemon usually in?  Do you even feel their emotions?

Kirjava: What form do you think your daemon will settle as?  What do you want them to settle as?  If you are settled, do you particularly like their form?    

Kulang: Do you know your daemon’s personality types?  Would you say their personality is the opposite of yours?

Kyrillion: How do you think your daemon would interact with the daemons of others?  What about with other humans?

Matapan: Does your daemon comfort you/cheer you up when you are down?

Musca: What do you think your parents’ daemons would have named your daemon?  Do you think it would have been a fitting name?

Pantalaimon: Does your daemon argue with you a lot?  About what?  Who’s right?

Ragi: Is your daemon more mature than you?

Ratter: What forms did your daemon take before you were settled?

Salcilia: Would you give up your daemon for anything?  What would life be like without them?

Sandling: What is your daemon’s outlook on life?  What are their opinions on various philosophical topics (the afterlife, the nature of morality, etc.)

Sayan Kötör: What would your daemon be like if they existed in corporeal form?  Do you wish corporeal daemons existed?

Sergi: Would you have liked to undergo separation (a la the witches) from your daemon?

Stelmaria: Has your daemon ever fallen in love?  What do they think of your past datemates/crushes?

Sophonax: How well would your daemon’s form have matched your physical appearance?

Zohariel: What is your daemon’s name, and what does it mean?

[doodlin-daemons]

Here’s an ask meme I came up with for both daemians and just people who like to imagine what their daemon might be.  You guys can ask me some of these if you’d like!

[flynnardkuwata]

What is your daemon?

Sorry i just read your about page

I’ve been waiting for someone to give me the opportunity to explain this!  Alright, so here I go:

The best way I can think to describe a daemon is that it’s a personification of one’s animus/anima (Carl Jung’s word for the half of your mind which opposes your surface thoughts/personality), visualized as an animal which describes your personality the best.  If you’ve read The Golden Compass, you’ll be able to tell that we’re just taking the concept of those shape-shifty spirit animal things and trying to apply it to our own lives. XD

Trust me, we’re not crazy or anything.  I don’t legitimately believe there’s a spirit butterfly which follows me around and grumbles in my ear all the time.  It’s…well, it’s a bit hard to explain.  For me, it’s mostly just a fun thing to do when I’m bored.  I mean, you’ve got to agree that daemons are one cool-ass concept.  Just imagine living in a world where everyone had an animal companion of their own who doubled as an indicator of their true personalities!  Imagine how societies would look, how people would interact, what kinds of stereotypes about certain daemon forms would abound, how celebrities would act if they had daemons, who around you would have which forms…the possibilities are endless, and all so interesting!  I guarantee, if you’re into musing about stuff like this, you may very well find the cure for your boredom here. 

But while my daemon is not a necessary part of my life at all, I find that creating a daemon for myself does have practical applications as well.  For one, creating Phin has allowed me to be more conscious of and attentive to my animus, and that’s always useful; when you can pay attention to that part of your mind which disagrees with your opinions and tells you not to do stupid things and overall tries to give you a perspective different from what you usually prefer, you can think things through better and become a bit wiser.  If you look into the daemian community (for that is what we generally call ourselves), you might see someone claim that there is some reality to this whole fantasy, and I can attest to that; while Phin is purely my conscious creation and I could discard him if ever I wished to, his personality is based off a real part of my mind which has thoughts like “You know, you’re not necessarily right about this issue” and “I wouldn’t advise doing that reckless thing you’re about to do,” and translating that part into a form I can have mental conversations with does help me to make better choices.  And in addition, the whole form-finding part of it has given me more insight into what my personality is like: since daemons aren’t physical beings in this world, the forms we assign to them have to be found through both research of animal behavior and introspection into your own personality, and through that process, I’ve come to realize quite a few things about myself (that I like to avoid problems such as interpersonal conflicts, that I like having a lot of control over the decisions I make (though I can be adaptable and spontaneous otherwise), what some of my main personality types are, etc.); I’m still unclear on a few things, but I know I’m much more aware of myself, and that’s always a good thing!

So yeah, that’s what my daemon is to me: an imaginary friend (based off thoughts in the back of my head) who looks like an animal in my mind and whom I use as a tool for self-discovery.  Other daemians will probably tell you the same thing, albeit described in different ways.  I suppose I could tell you a bit about my own daemon before I post this ask: his name is Phinnip (I was playing around with sounds and that was what stuck with me), he’s male (because that’s what feels right), and I most often imagine him as an Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly (because according to this analysis over on the Daemon Forum, its overall character fits me almost perfectly).  Personality-wise, he is a rather serious and austere being, balancing out my feelings with logic and facts and reminding me of the responsibilities I need to keep up with; what he has to say to me may be harsh at times, but I know it is often needed, and I do appreciate the wisdom he has to offer.

And there’s your introduction to daemonism!  Thank you very much for asking me this, and if you have any further questions, my askbox is always open. ^.^

[doodlin-daemons]

Here’s a post from my home blog which I think explains the basics of daemonism pretty well (since, y’know, I’m the one who wrote it XD).  Hope you followers find it of use!

[doodlin-daemons]

Hello Everyone

So a few months back, I made this blog for my daemon, Phinnip, right? (For those of you who don’t know what a daemon is, here’s the short version: think those shape-shifting animal things from His Dark Materials, only applied to real life in the form of a tulpa) 

‘Cept he’s not the kind to post all that much, and this blog quickly fell into disuse.  And I don’t really wanna have to delete all of this...

Point is, I’m just gonna turn this into a regular daemonism blog instead.  I’ll talk about what it’s like to interact with my daemon, I’ll give some advice about form-finding and PTs and such, and in addition, I’ll reblog headcanons about daemon AUs and such.  I’ll leave Phin’s old posts up as well, and maybe I’ll even let him “talk” sometimes.

My new URL will be my-imaginary-bug-pal, and my home blog is @yippy-skippy-skua if you wanna know more about me.

Thanks!

[mf-doom-blog]

[harrypotterhousequotes]

[madcat-world]

Sleipnir - Keith Thompson

[flynnardkuwata]

So…yeah.  Daemon aesthetic pic because there was this thread that looked cool. :I

Image sources:

http://bill-ottawaareabirding.blogspot.com/2013/03/great-gray-owls.html

http://flickr.com/photos/97637687@n00/360791129

http://archikey.com/building/read/2867/Stockholm-Public-Library/881/

http://hdw.eweb4.com/out/1041479.html

http://mymodernmet.tumblr.com/post/128776432247/male-ballet-dancers-beautifully-interpret-birds

http://lifeinmotion84.tumblr.com/post/101393973474/fall-in-the-pacific-northwest-more-pics

http://pinterest.com/pin/121034308707765764/

[lifeinmotion84]

Fall in the Pacific Northwest

More pics: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lifeinmotion84/sets/72157648623348697/

and https://www.flickr.com/photos/lifeinmotion84/sets/72157649068257285/

Edit: Most of these pictures were taken in and around Woodland, WA. The mill is the Cedar Creek Grist Mill in Woodland. Some were along farm roads heading East toward the South side of Mt St Helens National Monument. Happy adventuring!