Hello and welcome!
So, I've been trying my hand at this whole writing daemons thing. It's hard. But terribly satisfying when you think you make it work. I'm very excited for this community. While we're all chewing over our ideas and links, how about some guidelines and resources for us intrepid crossover enthusiasts.
NOT SO MUCH RULES AS GUIDELINES
1) This one is set in stone, actually: don't be stupid. By which I mean don't cause wank, don't flame or troll, and don't embarrass yourself and other members. If you genuinely have a problem with another person in the community, please please contact me, Esther, at fangirlitis[at]gmail.com. As a wise Liverpudlian once said, we can work it out.
2) The purpose of withdaemons is to explore how the introduction of daemons into another canon would alter the stories one can tell. We welcome fiction, recs, and meta. To clarify: this is for stories with daemons in them, and not for stories with His Dark Materials characters in them.
3) This is a panfandom community. All fandoms are welcome here, as are gen, het, and slashfics. Please make sure to clearly label and tag all your posts. Tags will be organized as such:
fandom: name of canon
fiction or recs or meta
Check to make sure your canon has a tag before you go creating a new one. Please use the full name of your canon if possible ("cw rps" would be acceptable, for instance, but "supernatural" is preferable to "spn" or "sn").
4) One of the things that interests me the most is considering the implications of daemons in other canons and cultures. For instance, how are political campaigns shaped by the perception of a candidate's daemon in The West Wing? How are daemons affected by possession in Supernatural? Pullman himself says that people with dog daemons are generally servants, which seems like a very British construction -- how does the transition to an American (or a Chinese, to use Firefly as an example) setting affect cultural biases about animals? These sorts of questions add layers to a story or any other kind of post -- just something to keep in mind! (And obviously, the real reason most of us are here is simply "Because it would be cool if there were daemons!" No more is strictly necessary.)
5) It's natural that certain characters are going to scream a certain animal as their daemon; that's just the way the cookie crumbles, and sometimes lots of people are going to come to the same conclusion, especially after reading a convincing piece of writing illustrating the point. Don't get possessive of or shy about daemons: no one author has a monopoly on a creature pairing.
6) That said, try not to get stagnant either. There doesn't have to be accepted daemon fanon or what have you. Below are some resources to help you out.
Daemons on Wikipedia for a quick primer, if you're rusty on the basics.
Behind the Name - an invaluable website with etymology, famous namesakes, and a really great search structure.
The Mediaeval Bestiary - an extensive catalog of European animal iconography, for that extra allegorical polish.
An array of daemon quizzes to help you if you're really desperately stuck.
Animal Index at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. Again, for jumpstarting ideas!
More links and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Hope you guys have fun with all this!
NOT SO MUCH RULES AS GUIDELINES
1) This one is set in stone, actually: don't be stupid. By which I mean don't cause wank, don't flame or troll, and don't embarrass yourself and other members. If you genuinely have a problem with another person in the community, please please contact me, Esther, at fangirlitis[at]gmail.com. As a wise Liverpudlian once said, we can work it out.
2) The purpose of withdaemons is to explore how the introduction of daemons into another canon would alter the stories one can tell. We welcome fiction, recs, and meta. To clarify: this is for stories with daemons in them, and not for stories with His Dark Materials characters in them.
3) This is a panfandom community. All fandoms are welcome here, as are gen, het, and slashfics. Please make sure to clearly label and tag all your posts. Tags will be organized as such:
Check to make sure your canon has a tag before you go creating a new one. Please use the full name of your canon if possible ("cw rps" would be acceptable, for instance, but "supernatural" is preferable to "spn" or "sn").
4) One of the things that interests me the most is considering the implications of daemons in other canons and cultures. For instance, how are political campaigns shaped by the perception of a candidate's daemon in The West Wing? How are daemons affected by possession in Supernatural? Pullman himself says that people with dog daemons are generally servants, which seems like a very British construction -- how does the transition to an American (or a Chinese, to use Firefly as an example) setting affect cultural biases about animals? These sorts of questions add layers to a story or any other kind of post -- just something to keep in mind! (And obviously, the real reason most of us are here is simply "Because it would be cool if there were daemons!" No more is strictly necessary.)
5) It's natural that certain characters are going to scream a certain animal as their daemon; that's just the way the cookie crumbles, and sometimes lots of people are going to come to the same conclusion, especially after reading a convincing piece of writing illustrating the point. Don't get possessive of or shy about daemons: no one author has a monopoly on a creature pairing.
6) That said, try not to get stagnant either. There doesn't have to be accepted daemon fanon or what have you. Below are some resources to help you out.
More links and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Hope you guys have fun with all this!