I’ve not read any of Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials series, and I really don’t have a lot of interest in seeing the film version of the first book, The Golden Compass. (My reluctance has nothing to with the controversy over whether the story promotes atheism, in case you’re wondering. No, the problem for me is more basic than that. The trailers look great, with an impressive cast and wild-looking airships and an alternate-reality version of Victorian England, all really cool, pulpy stuff… and then the damn, cartoony, armor-plated, talking polar bear shows up and suddenly it all becomes extremely silly-looking. Seriously, the Coca-Cola bear just ruined the whole thing for me, like a pin into a cheap balloon.) However, I’m always up for a silly Internet quiz, so when I saw a link over at Puffbird’s LiveJournal for a test to determine your Golden Compass daemon, naturally I had to take it…
(A daemon, in Pullman’s universe, is apparently a sort of animal avatar of a person’s soul. Or some damn thing. I don’t quite get it. But then, I didn’t quite get my D&D character either.)
Your Score: The Honest Soul.
You scored -5 Extroversion, -5 Sensitivity, and 18 Openness!
You are a talkative, open kind of person. You wear your heart on your sleeve, and you trust people not to break it. In a way, you are as honest and trusting as a child. You are comfortable with who you are and have a strong sense of self, but you are also a little sensitive. Hurtful remarks, especially from people whose opinion you value, have the power to wound you terribly.
You tend to be open about your thoughts and opinions, and you find it difficult to hide your emotions from people. You like to share your thoughts, opinions, and emotions with people, and to hear theirs in return. When someone disagrees with you or offends you, you will take them up on it, whether they are friends or strangers. You don’t mind a friendly debate, but become upset when things get hostile. You wish that people wouldn’t take everything so personally, but simply think calmly about things.
You have a close knit group of friends and family for whom you would sacrifice almost anything. You don’t like big parties full of strangers – you would rather spend your time with the people whom you really care about. You need a private spot where you can retreat when the world gets to be too much, but you want to be able to emerge from your “den” and find your loved ones there to heap love and affection upon you.
Your daemon would represent your loving, open nature, and he or she would probably spend a lot of time encouraging you to be independent and to do the right thing.
Suggested forms:
Dog, Otter, Marmoset, Saw-Whet Owl, Songbird, Chinchilla.
Link: The Golden Compass Daemon Test written by wolfcaroling on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test
View My Profile(wolfcaroling)
I’m fairly pleased with this result. I can picture myself with a dog as a familiar quite easily. Curiously enough, this is pretty much exactly the same result Puffbird got on her quiz.
Here’s my results.
Your Score: Shy Loving SoulYou scored 0 Extroversion, 15 Sensitivity, and 10 Openness!
You are a sensitive and shy person. You want to be loved and liked, but you don’t think people actually like you very much, and that hurts to think about. You like to be with your family and friends, who care about you. When you are with them, you can open up and talk and be yourself. Among strangers, however, you are nervous and tend to clam up. People are often surprised at how talkative you can be once they get to know you, because you appear to be so quiet and bland at first. You hide your feelings from people whom you do not know well, because you don’t know if you can trust them. With your loved ones you can be more yourself.
Your feelings are easily hurt, and you tend to be easily embarassed. You are sensitive, and your loved ones may even tease you about being a little TOO sensitive at times. When your feelings are hurt, you don’t always let on. You don’t like confrontations, and you are not the sort of person to throw a melodramatic hissy fit. You just tend to fret over it for a few days, until eventually the misunderstanding is cleared up, or time heals the wound.
Your daemon would represent your shyness and sensitivity, and your love of family, and your tendency to hide your feelings from strangers. He or She would probably hide in your pocket or sit on your shoulder where he/she would whisper comfort into your ear.
Suggested forms: Rabbit, Dormouse, Dik-dik, Sighthound
Jason, if you are interested, I have recently watched the movie and posted my review on my website. Thanks.
Thanks, Ilya, I’ll check it out!