#thank u for the message! always nice to discuss hdm meta!

[lordeasriel]

Since realizing the similarities between primate people, I have been trying to figure out what all the major characters with cat dæmons have in common (Will, Fardar Coram, and Malcom). And they are fighters in their way and kind of subtle people too. But I was wondering if you had any thoughts?

Oh, I have thought about the cat daemons too! I feel like while the three of them have cats for daemons, they don’t have the same types of cat.

Coram has a very beautiful cat, autumun-coloured; Sophonax stands out with her fur, it’s pointed out often in LBS and NL.

Malcolm has a ginger cat, kinda similar to Sophonax but Asta is far simpler and quieter than Sophie. Asta is the most mundane one of these three.

I was under the impression that Kirjava was black, but apparently her fur has similar vibes to Sophie’s (I googled it lmao) but it’s more about the colours of the Subtle Knife - I assume a kaleidoscope of colours with a grey colour base? It’s hard to say.

At any rate - and ignoring the fact that Philman absolutely just makes Will ridicuslously The Protagonist, including with this silly description of Kirjava lol - we can assume that while Will is quiet and reserved, his soul is supposed to show a great deal of personality and good character. It’s a very strong contrast to a very... I’d say bleak person, when you consider how colourful Kirjava is and all that.

Like you pointed out, they’re all good fighters, but they favour agility over strength; Coram uses more his wit to beat Bonneville than actual physical strength, and he makes good use of the lignum vitae stick. Malcolm moves quickly and often outsmarts his opponents, and he is also good at evading them. Will is pretty much the same; they’re about agility and quick thinking, much like cats in my opinion.

The sublety is also on point, but what makes them stand out to me is that they know how to be very loud when they want to. They can make themselves heard. Coram has the respect of the gyptians easily, he can be the center of attention when he speaks as well as blend in when he wants to. The same goes for Malcolm, who can be rather notorious as a presence or simply become inconspicuous (and he is very tall and strongly build, so he is very good at blending in). And Will’s entire character is about how good he is at being subtle, but he also has a strong presence when he wants to. (IIRC, he is paralled with Lord Asriel/Iorek at some point, and Iorek also is compared to Asriel, who happens to have a feline daemon as well, but I’m just stretching here lmao)

All these three people are very composed, they don’t anger easily, but when they do get angry they’re usually swift and precise in how they deal with it. They all have a sort of reputation that makes them stand out between their peers - Coram as a sort of sage figure to the gyptians, Malcolm being good at blending in with the College Folk, Town Folk, the Spies and so on - and Will being Remarkable in, well, everything he does. It’s hard for me to discuss Will, especially about his daemon, because he feels like a broken character to me - we don’t use this term for literature, but I feel like broken character fits well - he is too overworked and it feels unnatural. Notice how he just fits in too well with the pattern of the cat daemons, while Malcolm has stronger differences despite still fitting in with the general Cat vibes (Malcolm is also broken as character, but he is a bit less, especially when he is younger). So, while he does fit super well, I try not to overthink him too much lmao (I also don’t like him, but I’m being impartial here, I promise hahahah)

I can’t remember other cat daemons, but I’d say the main trait people would share (in my opinion, of course) is sublety and quick thinking, because not everyone with cat daemons could necessarily be agile physically, but Coram, Mal and Will all are witty people, and that is the sort of thing that doesn’t require phyisical proficiency.