Because, surprise! This bullet!fic is already an actual fic, to the tune of 75k words, written last fall for OMGCP Big Bang 2018. (@shipped-goldstandard made SUPER awesome playlists for it here, here, and here, and @khashanakalashtar made a podfic, too, for those interested
So, like, congrats if it’s the first time you ever heard about it, you don’t have to read this post and go, ‘frickety-frack, this person should actually write this fic instead of dangling these tantalizing plot points in front of me, like, wtf, bro, NOT COOL.’
To those of you who have heard of this fic (and are interested in “”the creative process””):
If you ever wonder how I plot/outline my stories, here it is in all its messy glory. Mind you, I only occasionally write it all out like this—mostly it gets talked out in conversations with my sister and my beta readers, but, generally speaking, this is how it goes, and I do often write significant plot points out in this way as a goalpost for me to reach.
So without further ado, here we go!!
(CW: mentions of homophobia, biphobia, toxic masculinity in pro sports/sports culture, canon-typical depictions of anxiety and drug abuse, including Jack’s overdose. proceed with caution if needed
red in tooth and claw, outlined
Intro POV: Jack. Focus on how he doesn’t settle until he’s 16, reflection of how who he is conflicts with who he thinks he’s supposed to be—spends half of juniors w/o settling; Isolde (meaning “ice queen”) fakes being a wolf most of the time, which is what Bad Bob’s daemon is
NHL and other contact sports have GOT to be interesting in this world—how do people handle having daemons??? Canonically, can’t get too far from your daemon w/o getting hurt so your daemon has to be a part of your sport. Easier with closer/smaller playing fields like tennis and golf, bit of a hassle when it comes to soccer and hockey
(lmao, imagine track and field though? Daemons have to either be small or fast depending—interesting take on how early sports training shapes identity—imagine how all that focus/work/ambition would influence your personality, influence the shape your daemon takes)
Jack & Isolde do a pretty good job of not letting anyone know they haven’t settled, do the anxiety meds help with that? Or hurt??
Isolde = the dorky, sweet side of Jack. Perfectionist, drawn to people while still being introverted, harder on herself than she has to be, constantly trying to support Jack, be the daemon Jack wants; she’s all his softest bits personified as a cute furball, basically
Enter Kent & Valkyria—bad-ass lion, Valkyria = all the outrageous, ambitious bits of Kent, with a side of aloofness/representation of his distrust in the world/unwillingness to make himself smaller—wars with his people-pleasing nature, caring about what others think. She’s so unusual people have to notice him, so big she can’t be ignored, but how does that play in when the people they want most to notice them don’t????
His mom has a raven, history of witches in the family—he and Val can separate pretty far, makes them an asset in the eyes of NHL
Kent aggressively pursues Jack as a friend; Valkyria and Isolde get their act together waaaaaaay before the boys, wlw daemons anybody??? Cue all the touching and sitting in laps and cellys echoed by Val & Isolde’s physical relationship. Closeness of daemons lead to rumors
Everything’s going good in yr. 1 but then!!! BIG REVEAL: Jack loses his shit when he takes a bad hit, Isolde turns into a [lion?? Bear??? TIGER??? Something threatening] and defends Valkyria
Cue big mess, awkwardness, questions about whether Jack can hack it—Kent goes no, no, we can turn this around
They end Yr. 1 very close to being the champs thanks to phenomenal teamwork between Jack and Kent, taking advantage of Jack and Isolde not settling to transform into whatever form gives Isolde the advantage
Summer happens—Jack invites Kent over for first time!! Sometime in the midst of all their work-outs, training, chirping, etc., is The Get-Together!!!!
JACK TOUCHING VAL!!!! KENT TOUCHING ISOLDE!!!! ALL THE SEX!!!!
BUT OH NO!!!! ISOLDE SETTLES AT THE END OF THE SUMMER—AS A BADGER. Somewhat solitary, gentle except provoked, loyal, vicious when threatened aLSO NOT WHAT PEOPLE EXPECT A FUTURE NHL STAR TO SETTLE AS
Weirdly enough, Jack becoming comfortable around Kent meant he was more comfortable in his own skin, which lead to Isolde settling, which resulted in them spiralling towards self-loathing and stress, because they didn’t want to settle as a badger. D:
Val is fine with it, Kent is fine with it; deep down even Jack can feel how this is the form that suits the two of them best—but he still hasn’t fully accepted it. T.T
Around this time is the start of his heightened dependence on his meds
Pushes himself harder on the ice—even if his daemon isn’t the typical large, fast-moving, traditional apex predator expected of somebody aiming to make in the NHL, Isolde can still be an asset
(And even if she’s not, all Jack has to do is be good enough to make up for it right???)
Increased dependence on Val—what people used to see as awesome teamwork now gets thrown around as Jack using Kent’s daemon as a crutch. “Can he hack it if there wasn’t a fucking lioness guarding his back? I don’t think so.”
HILARIOUS if you think about it, b/c it’s not like there aren’t goons specifically with big, bad daemons in the NHL to help protect the guys whose daemons are less then optimal when playing?? Vegas literally has a bunch of daemons who could fill Val’s role, easy, lmao
Possibly work in some of the ableism/homophobia/misogyny aspects of NHL through treatment of daemons??—most NHL players naturally have female daemons, but are the daemons respected??? Probs not usually the focus of what teams look at, but DO play a lot into the image of a player.
A team’s daemons should be close, but not too close, haha. Should never speak in public, should always be an asset, seen more as tools than as living parts of a person’s soul, also vague sense that if a daemon isn’t always tough, put-together, ready to throw down, then the player is also “weak,” a “sissy,” etc.
Daemon teamwork is also looked down upon if it isn’t in the context of a fight—say you put somebody else’s daemon on a sled or something and another daemon drags it—technically allowed but not much used in hockey—a part of reason why Samwell is a good fit for Jack and later on Bitty is because they use unconventional methods like this
Most people eyeing the draft are of the opinion that Jack is the better player but Kent has the better daemon: “If only they’d switched,” is the usual lament.
34 perfect days
More underneath the cut!!!
THE OVERDOSE—is Kent the one to find Jack? Probs. Closeness to death results in Isolde almost disintegrating, but Kent and Val manage to keep them alive long enough for help to arrive.
Imagine Kent in the ambulance, not letting anybody else touch Isolde, Val growling at anybody who gets near.
Finally has to let her go so they can take them into the ER
Kent in a hospital waiting room, Val at his feet, taking up so much space but feeling so small and helpless
what if he dies
he doesn’t die; he wakes up and he doesn’t want them anymore; Kent’s not sure if that’s worse or better some days, selfish as that is
THE DRAFT
Kent goes first; Jack doesn’t
Jack cuts off contact; Isolde is Not Happy, but she does what Jack wants, b/c it’s what he needs
(he wouldn’t have overdosed if she could have been what he needed)
Eventually they end up at Samwell, as in canon; Samwell good fit b/c of unusual team dynamics; there are a number of unusual daemons there and Samwell is known for accommodating the unusual
Thanks to nearly dying, Jack and Isolde can separate pretty far now, though, so all the sports commentators were wrong about that aspect of them being a burden on a team. *cue bitter laughter*
ENTER BITTY & ELEUTHYMIA
Eleuthymia—red fox, or possibly arctic? I think red b/c they’re more social, but maybe arctic b/c hockey??? Idk, we’ll see. Name a combination of Eleuthera = freedom + suffix -thymia = soul; fake Greek obviously b/c I really don’t think that’s how those two works but who cares!!!
Elle for short
She is exactly as personable and kind and gregarious as Bitty, with more salt thrown in; if Isolde is all of Jack’s soft bits personified, then Ellie is all of Bitty’s teeth collected into a bundle of uncompromising, will-survive-at-all-costs, you-better-believe-she’ll-bite-the-hand-that-tries-to-feed-her-poison
Still nice and sweet to the people she loves, of course
Bitty’s freshman year goes as expected—bad first impression of Jack? Check. Haus still rowdy and stocked w/nothing but Sriracha? Check. 4 a.m. checking clinics? Check.
Bitty and Elle cannot believe that somebody as grumpy as Jack has a daemon as sweet as Isolde, btw. It’s just unreal.
(Oh Bitty. You and first impressions. You really should’ve taken a closer look at what it meant for Jack’s soul to be so sweet.)
((It’s even funnier with Val later on, lmaooo))
Concussion—turning point here, too. Isolde takes it v. hard that she wasn’t able to defend Elle; increased physical affection here
Sophomore Year: Bitty gets better at hockey, Jack gets courted by the Falcs, there’s baking of pies, blah blah blah BUT THEN!!!!
EPIKEGSTER!!!!!!
It goes pretty similar to canon, except more tension b/c 4 people are involved in this argument instead of just 2; Val actually tries to get Kent to cool down but he’s not listening, Isolde is trying to explain Jack’s thought process but it’s just. A Mess.
“I miss you.” “You always say that.”
Jack happens to cut off Isolde saying ‘I miss you, too’ to Val at that exact same second
Unlike Bitty, Elle pretty much goes up to the door to eavesdrop
Val is NOT HAPPY with Kent post-Epikegster; there’s going to be an interim chapter that is basically a Day in the Life of Kent Parson, Captain of the Aces and Raging Fire Dumpster.
Btw, Purrs and Kit are still around as their pets/part of Val’s makeshift pride :)
But anyway Val refuses to talk to Kent for a month after the Epikegster—really unusual for a daemon and their human, but if ever there was a character at war with themselves, it’s gonna be this idiot
Prompts Kent to finally fricking find a good therapist, AMEN.
((//Sidenote: In the process of writing this fic, I managed to literally externalize Jack and Kent’s issues, and I am still so pleased with myself that I’m going to quote my up-at-11-p.m-while-being-awake-since-6-a.m. ass:
i have finally articulated what i feel are the major problems in jack and kent's communication issues and i am so frickin' proud of myself, i didn't even realize i literally personified them in my fic but i did. and now i feel so smart!!
so, jack's issue is self-deception, and kent's is avoidance, and Isolde literally lies to Jack and Val literally avoids Kent
and i'm all 'THIS IS SYMBOLISMMMMM'
But yeah. Daemons, man, they’re super useful for making explicit what is implicit in a text. //ends sidenote))
Continuing on!
The Big Damn Kiss (of Yr2)
It happens
Imagine Isolde running alongside Jack across the quad, though, Elle just lounging on Bitty’s bed while they’re both holding back tears when Jack and Isolde burst in, lol
Year 3 & 4—goes differently. Jack still wins the Cup, but he and Bitty don’t come out; mostly this year goes by in a few paragraphs of description that leads into the time-skip
Falcs are great, though!! Lot of unusual daemons, too, which is why Jack is a good fit there
Sometime in the middle of this, Kent apologizes. Jack apologizes. They slowly become cautiously friendly acquaintances
Except ‘acquaintance’ is entirely the wrong word when what you mean is ‘the love of my previous life,’ and the wording of that is important, because it’s not as if they were the ‘previous love of my life’ to each other—no, it’s that somedays it feels like the Jack who was with Kent was a different person entirely, that life is so divergent from the fork that he eventually ended up taking
He still misses him though.
(Is he talking about the self he used to be? Is he talking about Kent? ARE WE EVER GOING TO KNOW FOR SURE????)
Post-grad—Bitty settling in with Jack, having a job as a media consultant or something??? I’LL SEE. Their relationship is very good, pretty awesome, etc., etc.
Except.
Except as fond as Isolde is of Elle, and as much as she likes Bitty, part of her is always, always, always going to long for Valkyria
Id vs. superego, Isolde as Jack’s id going pretty much directly over what his conscious mind has decided is the route for them
Except that Isolde is never going to act on her feelings, of course. That would hurt Jack, and she’s never going to hurt Jack
Cue Bitty and Elle, begrudgingly at first, trying to friend-woo Kent Parson so Isolde can date Valkyria
Kent has pretty much no idea why Jack’s boyfriend starts being so nice to him out of the blue??? But okay, he’ll take it, the kid’s pretty nice, even if he wants to murder him and take his place somedays
Val likes Bitty, though, the traitor
Listen to your subconscious Kent. You’d be happier if you just acknowledged what you wanted, Kent.
But anyway. Kent’s over Jack. He really is. Really really is.
…which is why, six months in, he’s sort of surprised to find out he’s kinda, sorta, maybe just a litttttttle bit fallen for Jack’s boyfriend.
Just his fucking luck.
But then! Kent meets someone new: Lena & her daemon, Samson.
Bitty and Elle are NOT pleased with this wrench thrown into their plans btw
Like. Not pleased AT ALL.
Isolde’s fucking heartbroken, not that she admits it, but she also wants to be happy for Val?? Like. That’s honestly so great for her. She’ll just. Be over here. Quietly devastated.
(Val’s over there smiling tightly and going ‘yes! here’s my new bae! he’s….great.’ *cue tight grimace-smile*)
He’s not as great as Isolde—nobody’s as great as Isolde. But it’s early days yet. Maybe he’ll grow on her. She liked him a lot at first, after all! These are probably just speed-bumps in the relationship.
(Spoiler alert: They are not speed-bumps. He does not grow on her.)
But anyway! Things go well for Kent and Val and their new significant others, until they don’t.
Basically they discover that Lena is biphobic, and a bit of an exclusionary feminist (not a TERF, but definitely the kind of feminist that looks down on housewives and women who like romance novels and Downton Abbey).
They still stick with her until Lena crosses gets upset that Val won’t let her touch her, and she breaks up with him at his own birthday party.
Cue Bitty and Elle reviving Plan Seduce Kent & Val to Make Isolde Happy!!!
((A/N: Regarding Lena—I wanted Kent to date, which he did, to varying degrees of success. And I wanted him to have a decent shot at moving on—enter Lena.
I actually fleshed her out a little too much, initially, to the tune of 5k words I had to cut out which detailed their meet-cute and the early parts of their relationship. It just didn’t work out for the story though?? If it was endgame PB&J I couldn’t afford to have her be too likeable, for my own good if nothing else, because otherwise I’d have just had her run off with Kent into the sunset and that. Like. Would torpedo my plans.
I WAS *50K* IN AT THAT POINT OKAY! I COULDN’T HAVE MY RANDOM OC TAKE OVER!!! EXCEPT THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I WRITE OCs!!!!
So it’s honestly very unlikely I can write KentxOC WITHOUT them being endgame as a result unless I make the character unlikeable or have her move cross-country for no discernible reason. -deep sigh-
So yes I completely admit plot being a part of why I wrote Lena being a bitch, but I also really like her as a character, honestly.
Like. She’s very real to me, in the sense that what I eventually did was write her as someone close to Kent’s ideal: smart, funny, snarky, just a little bit mean, and just a little bit vulnerable underneath it all.
She likes Kent, very genuinely, and Kent likes her, very genuinely. If they’d both been slightly different people, they would’ve worked out together.
But I knew from the start that I wanted to show that Kent had grown. Kent at 19, at 20—hell, even at 24—might’ve stayed with Lena, but Kent at 27 knew that they weren’t good for each other in the long run.
Like, I wrote Lena as that one awesome person that you get closer to and find out that, oh, fucking hell, their politics do not align with yours. And not even on the big issues! You’re totally in-sync in the big issues! They just get the details wrong.
So, yes, Lena is the embodiment of my issues with white liberal feminists who fail ever-so-slightly at intersectionality, because so many of them would be so great!!! except I just cannot with the microagressions, holy hell.))
A N Y W A Y
Kent has absolutely no idea that Bitty and Elle, in the midst of Plan Seduce Kent & Val to Make Isolde Happy, have inadvertently fallen for him themselves.
“I do not believe this,” Bitty says, looking at Elle in stupefied horror. “You like her.”
“I don’t!” Elle protests, waving her tail frantically. “I just think she’s really nice to nap on!”
Bitty waves his arms, equally frantic. “That means you like her!”
Jack, in the meantime, is just. Conflicted. Like. What is he even supposed to feel? He’s glad that Bitty and Kent are becoming such surprisingly good friends, except it sort of hurts because Parse is still keeping him at an arm’s length, and now there’s not even the excuse of long distance, is there, if he’s so close to Bitty? It’s just Jack, isn’t it? He’s choosing not to be close to him, and Jack can’t blame him.
Still hurts, though.
Long story short—mutual pining, longing glances, the daemons (esp. Val) internally screaming ‘just get together already!!!’)
Then one day, while Kent is invited over to Jack and Bitty’s place in the summer
Val and Isolde are getting pretty cozy and close, but so are Elle and Val???? Kent doesn’t know what to make of this, other than he and his daemon are always super obvious about their feelings.
It’s probably just friendliness on Bitty’s part, though.
Don’t get your hopes up, Parson. Why do you always do this to yourself, Parson. You are such an idiot, Parson.
A N Y W A Y
Bitty is just lounging in the living room one day, face-down on the couch dramatically de-compressing form the day as he recounts what went down at his work (a.k.a. he gossips shamelessly)
Someone shuffles closer to him, and sits on the couch next to him
He thinks it’s Isolde who jumped on the couch to be with him; she loves to cuddle; it’s the obvious assumption to make, honestly!!
It’s not Isolde
It’s Val
It’s Val, placing her head next to him
IT’S VAL
HE JUST FUCKING TOUCHED KENT’S DAEMON OMFGGGGGGG
Bitty is just staring at Val at this point, his hand frozen in her fur as she stares back at him, both of them like deer in the headlights, lololol
Meanwhile, in the other room, Kent and Jack were just talking and chilling and low-key NOT-flirting when Kent cuts off in the middle of a sentence
Jack goes, “what’s wrong?”
Kent says, too fast to be believed, “Nothing.”
Jack, narrows eyes, suspicious, “whenever you say it like that, I know it’s something. Spit it out.”
Except Kent can’t just say that Jack’s boyfriend touched his daemon and now his heart is too warm for his body, can he?? Lbr, in-universe touching someone’s daemon is akin to touching somebody’s dick—like, it’s not always sexual or romantic necessarily but it usually is and it is ALSO definitely at that same level of intimacy, you feel??? Kent can’t just say that, oh my GOD
Except Bitty snaps out of it and starts yelling, “Oh my God! Oh my God I’m so SORRY I didn’t mean to DO THaT. OH MY GOD I thought you were ISOLDE.”
Kent and Jack slide into the room to find Bitty on his knees in front of Val, his hands raised like she’s got a gun pointed at him
Kent immediately tries to reassure him, “haha, it’s fine, dude, we didn’t mind”
“HOW CAN YOU NOT MIND,” Bitty yells
“YEAH,” Elle yells to second him
“Uh, no seriously, it’s fine???”
“WHAT YOU JUST THINK IT’S FINE AND DANDY FOR ANYBODY TO TOUCH YOUR DAEMON????”
“No, but it’s not like you’re just anybody????”
Jack: wait what
Bitty: wait what
Elle: wait what
Kent: wait what
Val, exasperated: It’s fine. I liked it.
Jack, who knows what that means: O.O
Kent, who knows that Jack knows what that means: Val!! Why!!! WOULD YOU!!!! JUST SAY IT LIKE THAT!!!!! JESUS!!!!!!
Bitty: …does that mean what I think it means
Val, rolling her eyes: Yeah. Surprise! We like you!
Isolde: oh.
Jack: oh.
Val, hastening to reassure the other love of her life: We still like you, too, though, babe!!
Isolde: [pleased] Oh!
Kent: LIKE NO PRESSURE THOUGH OMG HAHA WE MEAN THAT AS FRIENDS
Val: LMAO LIKE HELL I DO
Kent: [stubbornly] well, I mean it like friends!!!!
Jack: [disappointedly] oh.
Elle: [suspiciously] …do you though
Kent: ………..ok, maybe just a little bit in the not-friends way
CUE ALL-AROUND CONFESSIONS AND THEY FINALLY FINALLY GET TOGETHER HALLELUJAH!!!!!
Also cue sex scene at this point, b/c that’s honestly how I roll ;) ;) ;)
Probs gonna end it with a cute epilogue of happy domesticity or something, because jeez did Val and Isolde and Elle earn it. :)
And ta-da! That’s the daemon fic in a nutshell, folks! Thanks for sticking it out this long, and if you want to see the fully-fleshed version of it, the link is here. :D
OMGCP Characters’ Daemons: Headcanons for What’s and Why’s
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For those who asked:
Here are all the tiny background details I came up with regarding the daemons in my fic, red in tooth and claw. Some of them made it into the fic, some did not, but I figured I would share regardless, because I’m quite proud of how they turned out, and I’m sure several people would enjoy the ‘behind-the-scenes’ look. ^^
Again, tagging @beaniebaneenie & @najatapl because you asked. <3
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PB&J’s Daemons:
Jack & Isolde: Badger
Isolde’s form came the easiest to me. Usually, when I start a fic, I don’t get more than 1k in without already formulating the summary. So I knew Jack settled late; I knew that his daemon probably had a regular form she wore before she settled, because that was a very Jack thing to do; and then I thought hard for two seconds and went, “What does Jack’s soul feel like to me?”
And my gut went, “Badger.”
And my head went, “PERFECT.”
Then it also went, “Wtf, how would that even work playing hockey??? She’s a fucking badger, those don’t go well with ice.”
And thus this 75K monster was born, all to answer that question.
But Isolde is a badger because Jack’s soul has to be a solitary creature; she has to be something that burrows, that’s grounded. She has to be something that people who know the persona Jack puts on would look at and think, “Wait, what? Really???”
Because Jack’s soul wouldn’t settle as something easy for him, but she would settle as something right. I also love the connotations of badgers, especially from all the HP and Redwall books I consumed while growing up: Loyalty. Hard work. Pride in a job well done. Pride in the community they’re part of. Bad-ass protectiveness. The ability to go balls to the wall for the people they love. Real-life badgers being able and willing to tear out throats to defend their territory while looking cute and cuddly also had a lot to do with it. :D
So, yeah. That’s Jack and his Isolde. <3
Kent & Val: Lion
Kent and Val went a lot of places for me, because I knew I wanted his to be a cat, but what kind??? Look, she can’t be a housecat, he’s an NHL player. There was also a moment there where I thought, “Bald eagle!” but 1) Too obvious. 2) Bald eagles look kinda ridiculous; I honestly don’t think my vainglorious boy could ever settle as something that looked THAT ridiculous. But birds of prey stuck around for me, especially crows, and I eventually decided to use it for his family.
Which then resulted in me going, “Omg!!! If his family has birds, then what if he was descended from witches!! What if he and Val could separate!!!”
My brain: Hey that would be useful in the NHL. Kinda the opposite of Jack, huh.
My brain: What if Kent’s soul was the apex predator of big cats, huh.
My brain: She’s gotta be a lion.
Because Kent’s soul is big. She’s big and wild and impossible to miss, because there’s no way Kent’s walking into a room and getting ignored. Nuh-uh, no way. His soul also had to be a pack animal, because Kent is a people person, and a people pleaser—and of all the big cats, it’s lions that live in prides. Also, the connotations of that word! Kent’s soul having pride would mean Kent’s soul having a family a community, where his self-worth was tied to what he could provide for the people he loved, which was interesting and complicated and messy.
Additional, traditional connotations of lions: ‘Lion-hearted,’ courage, royalty, arrogance, laziness (look, lions sleep a lot), glory, victory, pride, power.
But I also wanted to explore the ramifications of what it would mean, if Kent’s soul was a lion. Really convenient as a hockey player, yeah. Also really convenient that they could separate far. But what would that mean off the ice? What would that mean as a person whose soul sometimes took up too much space? What would that mean as a person whose connection with their soul didn’t automatically mean physical closeness—how would that look like to people in a daemon!AU, where honestly you look like a freak if you don’t have your daemon near you?
So that was Kent and Val’s arc. Navigating a world where what you were made all your success possible, but it also meant having to compromise over and over and over again, make yourself a little tamer than you would have been doing something else. But also: finding your pride, in all senses of the word. Finding the people who were proud of you, just as you were. <3
Bitty & Elle: Red Fox
Bitty was the hardest of the main trio to pin down for me—I had a couple of options for him, in that he might’ve gone coyote for the simple fact that badgers and coyotes often hunt together as buddies, so that would’ve played into the Zimbits angle of it. But having his soul as a coyote didn’t feel quite right. I liked the trickster archetype of it, though, so I finally went fox, and, voilá! Elle was born.
I knew I wanted Bitty’s daemon to be a canid, and a golden retriever was also considered for a bit before I decided that I wanted Bitty’s soul to be wilder than that. Something that wasn’t tamed.
I settled on foxes for their cleverness, their adaptability, their bright coloring, their comfort with both rural and urban spaces, their connections to fairy tales and folklore, and their ubiquitousness. There are a lot of connotations for foxes, so I wanted Bitty to both have a daemon that was relatively common, but also one that had a lot of meanings culturally attached to her, so that she could run the gamut of character traits.
So, Elle became a vixen: colorful, cute, yet could blend into her surroundings easily enough if she wanted to, sharp-toothed, wild, curious, mischievous, playful, family-oriented if not quite a large pack animal, and neither small enough to easily hide nor large enough to stand out. Not an apex predator, but not a prey animal either. Bitty’s soul has bite. ^^
More beneath the cut!
The Zimmermanns, Parsons, and Phelpses’ Daemons:
Bob & Dianthe:
Gray wolf. A very typical NHL daemon; I wanted Bob to have the daemon Jack thought he should have, but didn’t. Naturally gregarious, fast, adaptable, and built for stamina and a wide array of terrains, I thought the gray wolf and its pack animal tendencies was perfect for Bob’s Dianthe, who’s friendly, goofy, and loves with startling tenacity and ferocity.
Alicia & Ciarán:
Border Collie. Alicia’s daemon had to be sleek and beautiful, and what better than the gorgeous, distinctive, clever, and hard-working working dog, the Border Collie? (I may also have been swayed by memories of Fly from Babe.) Bred for intelligence and obedience, I knew Alicia’s Ciarán had to fit seamlessly and unobtrusively into the world of Hollywood, but I also wanted him to have a bit of a bite, and the authority to know that he was the top dog, thank you very much. Like, every time I see this dog, I think of blue ribbons and Best in Show, and that is so exactly Alicia for me. <3
Karen & Alfvandr:
Crow. A very clever, commonly seen bird with a lot of cultural connotations—think trickster, think quick wits, think Huginn and Muninn (though, yes, I concede that ravens are different and bigger, but same vein, right?). I knew I wanted Parse’s mother’s family to have birds, and I really do love how clever and communal crows can be.
Carrie & Fortindair:
Golden Eagle. Huge-ass, fearsome, deadly bird of prey coming through! I wanted Carrie’s daemon to be as wild and distinctive as Kent’s, and golden eagles are glorious. They’re also really good fliers, and have connotations with royalty due to heraldic symbolism. Capable of taking down deer and wolves, Carrie’s Fortindair is not to be messed with.
Connor & Nym:
Fox! Because what pairs better with crows than foxes? ;) I also really wanted Kent’s dad to have the same daemon as Bitty for maximum feels. (This is also why I had Lena’s daemon be a crow—Kent and Val are drawn to people who are similar to their parents, though it worked out much better with Bitty and Elle than Lena and Samson.)
Phelpses & Bittles:
I imagined the Phelps having a lot of foxes and hares—quick and quick-witted, energetic, clever, and common (but wild) animals from folklore and fables. Hence Aunt Judy’s Gaheris and Suzanne’s Gawain. Bittles tend towards dogs—loyalty, obedience, strength, doggedness (ha! get it?), and tradition.
SMH Daemons:
Shitty & Nerysta:
Great White Pelican. I mean. Come on. A huge white bird with a really big mouth? Is there anything more Shitty? (I also went albatross for a moment there, because of Orville from The Rescuers and also The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, but I settled on pelican because of Nigel from Finding Nemo (also partially why Nerysta’s name starts with ‘N.’”))
Ransom & Ogochukwu:
Cheetah. Ok, the reason for his and Holster’s is joint, and, yes, to those wondering, it was absolutely inspired by @achilleees great, great fic you got me wanting you. Ransom’s soul is absolutely a cheetah: fast, graceful, deadly, and also surprisingly prone to nervousness. Cheetahs are locally extinct in Nigeria, but were indeed once native there. I imagine Ogochukwu’s being a cheetah is even rarer that Val being a lion, and a source of pride for his family while also being kind of ‘???’ because honestly they were expecting him to settle as something a little more intellectual, but instead you have this finicky huge-ass carnivore.
Holster & Adlamara:
Alaskan Malamute. These dogs are fucking huge and fucking adorable and fucking loud when they howl. Need I say more? Also, Holster’s soul has to be a dog. Loyal, excitable, hard-working (Malamutes were bred to be working dogs), and very very friendly?? It’s so Holster! I also imagine Addy’s size and frame were very helpful to him while he was in Juniors. Like, a very typical ice hockey daemon, you know? That fits Holster to me.
Lardo & Alexander:
Small-Clawed Otter. Native to Southeast Asia, this otter is small, dainty, graceful, and, according to Wikipedia, has ‘a high degree of manual dexterity’ due to its claws not extending past its fingers. It’s also the smallest otter in the world. For Lardo, I wanted something sleek and clever, and I also thought something communal and playful would suit her. Yeah, she wants to project the secluded lone artist aura, and she does need her space, but c’mon. Lardo. You like. Joined the SMH as their manager. She likes people; she likes her people, and her territory, but honestly speaking, as long as you respect her boundaries, she’s cool with sharing. So that’s her and Alexander.
Backstory-wise, you may also have noticed that Alexander is unusually named. I did that deliberately to reflect my experiences as an Asian-American and the ways that, despite our best efforts, assimilation evades us. ‘Alexander’ technically matches the ways American daemons are named: Classical Greek (well, Macedonian) figure, nice meaning behind the name, long, and honestly kind of foreign-sounding? Larissa’s parents’ daemons put a lot of thought and effort into this name, and they honestly thought they had it in the bag.
Except Alexander is a common human name. So Larissa’s daemon stuck out like a sore thumb from day one. On their first day of kindergarten, they had the choice to either panic about it or let it roll right off them, and, Larissa and her daemon being who they were, they chose option #2.
Alexander’s name is something that they’re proud of, though, because it’s a marker of their Asian-American identity. Something quirky, something just a little unique, something in-between, something theirs.
Johnson & Ananke:
Chameleon. I love this metaphysical goalie, and having your soul settle as a reptile that literally changes colors for purposes of camouflage and social signalling is, like, peak Johnson.
Chowder and Xú Feng:
Flying Squirrel. I wanted something cute and awesome and bad-ass, and, honestly, what’s more bad-ass and adorable than a flying squirrel? Like!!! They fly! Just—leap from tree to tree, defying God and gravity! I also wanted Chowder to have a daemon that he could carry, as a goalie, because although goalies have more flexibility on what their daemons settle as (see: Rzeznik), since they don’t move around as much, I headcanon that most goalies tend to have their daemons close anyway.
Chowder sort of had the opposite experience of Lardo, in that I headcanon him as one of those 5th generation Cantonese-Americans, and his family has very deliberately held onto the traditional naming conventions of their culture, so Feng has a family name and a first name, China being one of the places where daemon lines have their own family name distinct from their humans’ that they pass down to their offspring.
Personality-wise, I picture Xú Feng reflecting the part of Chowder that’s shy and introverted. I love, love, love how friendly and endearing Chowder is, but I look at him and read this as a learned attribute. Like, there’s no way he didn’t teach himself to be this friendly and engaging. So! Xú Feng is shy, vulnerable, but also secretly having a scathing internal snark reel going on at any given moment. I love her, and I love Chowder, and you should love her, too!
Nursey & Kye:
Rattlesnake. A snake! Mostly because people don’t really know how nice and friendly snakes can be unless they had one for a pet (our 6th grade class pet was a snake, so I am In The Know), and people then think of them as traitorous, cold, venomous, and mean (I mean, just look at the Bible and Slytherin), even though they’re really really not. Which I thought matched pretty well with Nursey ‘Actually Has No Chill’ Nurse. Nursey’s daemon is also femme-leaning nonbinary, which is honestly par for the course for Samwell, and I thought snakes and their lack of obvious sex characteristics would be a good fit. Also, rattlesnakes are distinctive and colorful, and honestly kind of nice? I mean, how considerate of them—warn any takers that you’re capable of murdering them! Engage with them at your own risk!
Dex & Julietta:
Greyhound? Greyhound. I mean??? Skinny, fast, bred to be a working/hunting dog, but honestly a little awkward-looking?? IT’S DEX. And Dex definitely reads ‘dog person’ to me, so greyhound it was.
LV Aces’ Daemons: The Big Cat Team of the League!! Go, Aces!!!
Swoops & Coramaris:
Cougar. Matches the general big cat theme of the Aces’. Also the bad-ass big cat of North America, Maris’s almost as big as Val and just about as unstoppable.
Scrappy:
I didn’t name his daemon, especially since Scrappy’s is the shiny new canonical(!) to my Aces (imagine! more canon!Aces!!!), but I imagined her to be an ocelot; one of the smaller wild cats, to contrast with his huge, thuggish, ‘I murdered a man with THIS thumb’ looks.
Vorsey & Gloriandette:
Black jaguar. The one who started the Aces being known as a big cat team, Glory is friendly, quiet, and awesome, but very circumspect and adheres closely to the etiquette of the NHL. She cared a lot for Val and Kent, and honestly just wanted to look out for them; sometimes passing down the advice ‘keep your head down and keep swimming’ is all you can do when you’re swimming in toxic waters.
Gopher & Xiomara:
Hyena. Matriarchal, vicious, known for laughing? Also, most famous example would probably be the wonderful Shenzi of Lion King fame? This fits my weird, quirky, out-there OC to a T. Take my word for it. :D
Chopper & Erra:
Black Bear. Look, if I mentioned bears being common-ish in hockey, somebody had to have a bear, and it might as well have been the big teddy bear of my Aces, Daniel Chopard. <3
Viney:
Arctic Wolf. The most solitary of wolves, and also the one from furthest North. Like, a few Canadians have to have them as their daemons, right?
PVD Falconers’ Daemons:
(In general, they’re known for unusual daemons, so I looked at the characters and went, “What would be ridiculous, but fitting?” XD)
Snowy:
Swan. Graceful, elegant, but also weirdly vicious and kinda awkward-looking if you catch them at the right moment. Also associated with ballet dancers and figure skaters more than hockey players, but here you go, have a goalie with a swan for his daemon, lmao.
Tater & Ustinya:
Fruit Bat. Ok, so I love the book Stella Luna and chose Tater’s daemon solely based on that, but HOW. FUCKING. ADORABLE, AMIRITE??? Like!!! Imagine!!! Big, muscular Tater with this tiny, delicate, beautiful, and utterly charming daemon!!!! The soul of a dancer in flight!!! That’s Tater! Fight me on it!!! (also, Ransom’s Ogo is totally head over heels for her, like, this cheetah would die for Ustinya)
Poots:
Orangutan. Poots is ridiculous so I thought his daemon should also be ridiculous, but also weirdly dangerous. Remember the Librarian from Discworld anyone?? Do not underestimate the orangutan!
Thirdy:
Gray Wolf. As the older, more stable captain/father figure of the group, I thought having his daemon be a gray wolf—deadly, graceful, leader of the pack, very dependable—was quite apt.
Rimouski’s Daemons:
Zezzie & Zyllena:
Hummingbird. Written deliberately to be a red herring for Kent’s daemon, fast-moving, colorful, territorial, and kind of an asshole if birdwatchers are to be believed, hummingbirds are tiny but badass birds who play an essential role in the ecosystem. Zyllena’s restless, nervous energy contrasts with her human’s calm outward appearance, but inside Zezzie, too, is very excitable. :)
Berger & Donatella:
Mastiff. Reflects the steady, reliable daemon and person relied on by many sports team. Not flashy but solid and dependable, so respected greatly by those in the know.
Pronunciation Guide + Name Origins for ‘red in tooth & claw’
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Alright, so @khashanakalashtar has recently created a wonderful new podfic for my fic, red in tooth and claw. This has inspired me to finally finish up and post my pronunciation guide! For anyone who’s ever read this fic and wondered, ‘How the hell do I say that???’ or ‘How did she come up with that name?’—here you go! I hope this helps!
Tagging @beaniebaneenie & @najatapl because y’all expressed interest. :)
(Note: This is how I pronounce things, and if you pronounce it differently in your head, that’s fine. Completely valid, in fact! Except for the names that aren’t made up; those have proper pronunciation that I just borrowed.
Also, if I put an ‘h’ after a vowel, assume it’s a short vowel, with the exception of ‘ah,’ which sounds like the first syllable of ‘autumn.’
Please message me if you have any additional questions!)
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Daemon—pronounced like ‘demon’ in the same way ‘archaeology’ is pronounced ‘ar-kee-ology.’ (If you’re like me and still pronounce it ‘day-mon’ in your head, you’re valid, and I love you.)
Isolde—pronounced ‘ih-SOLD.’ Can also be pronounced ‘ih-ZOLD’ or ‘ih-SOLD-uh’/‘ih-ZOLD-uh.’ Her name is Welsh by way of Germanic, and means ‘ice lady/queen,’ or possibly ‘ice shield,’ which I thought was fitting. Fans of Arthurian/Welsh legend will recognize the name from star-crossed lovers ‘Tristan and Isolde,’ which I thought was also apt.
Valkyria—pronounced ‘Val-keer-ee-uh,’ with the ‘a’ in ‘Val’ sounding like the ‘a’ in cat, though it can also be pronounced ‘Vahl,’ like the ‘a’ in ‘all.’ Norse/Germanic in origin, her name refers to the mythical warrior women who chose those who would die in battle. Most of Kent’s family’s daemon names are Germanic in origin.
Eleuthymia—pronounced ‘eh-’or ‘ih-loo-THEEM-yuh,’ her name is Greek in origin and comes from combining the words for ‘freedom’ and ‘spirit/soul.’ So she’s literally named ‘free-spirited.’ (Shoutout to @motherfuckingnazgul for catching that!)
Dianthe—pronounced either ‘dee-ANTH’ or ‘die-ANTH,’ like the name ‘Diane + th.’ Greek for ‘flower of the gods,’ with the genus dianthus containing carnations and pinks.
Ciarán—pronounced like ‘KEE-rin,’ it’s an alternate spelling of the name ‘Kieran,’ and Gaelic in origin, meaning ‘little black/dark one.’
Alfvandr—pronounced ‘alf-VAHN-der,’ I derived it from Norse ‘Alfvaldr,’ which means ‘elf ruler.’
Fortindair—pronounced ‘for-tihn-DARE,’ I literally just combined the name ‘Fortinbras’ from Shakespeare’s Hamlet with an alternate spelling of ‘dare.’
Nymaeve—pronounced ‘nih-MAYV,’ like the month of ‘May + v.’ I combined Welsh ‘Nimue,’ meaning ‘memory,’ with Irish ‘Maeve,’ meaning ‘intoxicating,’ and took a page out of GRRM’s book and used ‘y’ to make it look fancy. Her nickname is pronounced ‘NIHM.’
Rzeznik—a Polish surname pronounced ‘ZHEZ-nik,’ where the ‘zh’ sounds like a very soft ‘j,’ like the last consonant in the word ‘garage.’ Zezzie is pronounced ‘ZHE-zee’ or ‘ZEH-zee,’ honestly depending on which of their teammates knows how to pronounce his last name.
Zyllena—pronounced ‘zih-LEH-nuh,’ I completely made this name up and have no idea what it means.
Bergeron—common French-Canadian last name, pronounced ‘bur-zhur-on,’ where ‘zh’ is once again like the last consonant in ‘garage.’ ‘Berger’ is pronounced the same, just minus the ‘on,’ thought Kent absolutely calls him ‘Burger’ to mess with him.
Donatella—pronounced ‘dahn-uh-TEHL-uh,’ the first syllable is pronounced the same as ‘dawn.’ Latin in origin, meaning ‘given by God.’
Tamsin—pronounced ‘TAM-sihn,’ the origin is the Cornish version of ‘Thomasina,’ meaning ‘twin.’
Gilgara—pronounced ‘gihl-GAH-ruh,’ with hard ‘g’ both times; another made up name, somewhat inspired by Gilgamesh, mythological Sumerian king of Uruk.
Gaheris—pronounced ‘guh-HEHR-iss.’ Named after the Arthurian knight.
Gawain—pronounced ‘guh-WAYN.’ Also named after the Arthurian knight, the brother of Gaheris. I headcanon most of Southern whites’ daemons have names that draw from Arthurian or Classical Greek and Roman traditions.
Briseis—pronounced ‘brih-SAYS,’ Greek in origin, meaning ‘daughter of Bris.’
Nerysta—pronounced ‘neh-RIHS-tuh,’ Greek in origin. Her name means ‘sea nymph.’
Ogochukwu—pronounced ‘o-go-CHOOK-woo,’ where the first two o’s are long, like the ‘o’ in ‘no.’ Nigerian (specifically Igbo) in origin, her name means ‘God’s favor.’ I named her after one of my favorite teenagers at my parish.
Adlamara—pronounced ‘add-luh-MAHR-uh,’ her name is a variation of Germanic ‘Adelmar,’ meaning ‘nobly famous.’ Also doubles as a combination of Hebrew ‘Adalya,’ meaning ‘I shall be drawn up from God,’ with ‘Mara,’ or ‘bitter.’
Alexander—pronounced ‘a-lehks-ANN-duhr,’ Greek in origin, meaning ‘defender of mankind.’ The Duans’ daemons named him after the Classical Greek figure so he and Larissa wouldn’t stand out, plus they liked the meaning of the name. He did end up standing out for having a ‘human’ name, but luckily neither he nor Larissa minded.
Xú Feng—pronounced ‘shoo FUHNG,’ she is named after the Taiwanese wuxia actress 徐楓. ‘Feng’ is her given name, and she takes her family name from Chris’s patrilineal daemon line; most Chinese and Chinese-descent daemons have family names that differ from their humans’.
Kye—pronounced like it rhymes with ‘eye.’ I made this name up, though I headcanon that their assigned birthname was ‘Kyria,’ (pronounced ‘keer-ee-uh’) Greek for ‘lady,’ as in counterpart to ‘lord.’
Julietta—pronounced ‘joo-lee-EHT-uh,’ Italian in origin, meaning ‘young.’
Ananke—pronounced ‘uh-NANG-kih,’ she is named for the Greek personification of necessity, compulsion, and inevitability—the mother of the Fates, which I thought was fitting for Johnson.
Lestrega—pronounced ‘leh-STRAY-guh,’ it’s bastardized Italian for ‘the witch.’
Tynden—pronounced ‘tihn-dehn.’ I made this name up, so no meaning.
Samson—pronounced ‘SAM-suhn,’ Hebrew in origin, meaning ‘the sun.’
Ustinya—pronounced ‘oo-STEEN-yuh,’ it’s a Slavic name derived from Latin ‘Justin,’ meaning ‘just, rightful, proper.’
Shemaiah—pronounced ‘sheh-MAY-uh,’ Hebrew in origin, meaning ‘God heard.’
Gloriandette—pronounced ‘glohr-ee-uhn-DETT.’ A name I cobbled together, ‘Glory’ is self-explanatory, and the addition of ‘-dette’ means ‘little.’
Coramaris—pronounced ‘cohr-uh-MAHR-iss,’ where the first syllable is pronounced the same as ‘core.’ Latin in origin, it’s a combination of ‘cora + maris,’ or ‘heart + sea.’
Erra—pronounced ‘EHR-uh,’ she’s named for the Akkadian god of plague.
Svetlana—pronounced ‘sveht-LAH-nuh,’ it’s a Slavic name meaning ‘light,’ or ‘pure.’
Xiomara—pronounced ‘zee-oh-MAH-ruh,’ with the first two syllables blended together. Spanish in origin, her name means ‘battle-ready,’ and I totally named her after Jane’s mom in Jane the Virgin. Her nickname is pronounced ‘Zo,’ like it rhymes with ‘go.’
