THE STARS ARE ALIVE, CHILD!

cid ♡ | she/her | living where the world ends. | My drawings

[cidsideral]

Jeankasa Week 2025 ♡ Day 7: PARTNERS IN CRIME

[alrightsnaps]

pullman using a 400yo mythical being to push his "age is just a number!" and "you're actually soooo much more mature than he (your former teacher who's been kind of a creep about your relationship since you were 16) is, you silly goose!" agenda? peak clownery

sir, their age gap is probably the least of your problems atp. personally, i don't love it at these particular ages, but i know most readers would bypass it if literally everything about their dynamic wasn't written to be as creepy and icky as humanly possible. you didn't write a 31yo man gradually falling for a 20yo over the course of their reacquaintance, you wrote him having been attracted to/lowkey obsessed with her since he was her teacher at 16! he was already pining for lyra when they met as adults in spite of barely knowing her

[dustywave]

spoilers for the rose field

in our reality, the area around lop nor has been used as a nuclear testing site and is now the location of a large scale potash mining operation. so, as i was reading the rose field, i was really expecting pullman to incorporate those aspects of lop nor into the story somehow. after all, there was plenty of foreshadowing in that direction—the magisterium inventing new bombs? people and their daemons getting ill from entering the red building (radiation sickness)? thuringia potash?

but no. in the end, none of this amounted to anything. the real story of lop nor must have influenced pullman in some way, because why else would he choose that location? but he completely wasted its potential. ultimately there was no real reason for the red building to be located at lop nor, other than its being a remote and exotic sounding place. this is in sharp contrast to svalbard, which played a similar role in the golden compass but was much more well developed and interesting.

this is just one minor grievance on a long list but i had not seen anyone else point this out yet. why would you feature interesting real world locations in your fantasy story, only to ignore what makes them interesting? really such a baffling choice.

[argentvive]

The Rose Field illustrations and Lyra’s Chemical Wedding

I've just finished Philip Pullman’s the Rose Field and have a lot of thoughts, especially about the ending--what was that????

SPOILERS!!

To start at the beginning: here are photos I took of the front endpaper and the frontispiece:

The endpaper seems pretty straightforward. It shows a rose and the emanations from it--leaves, petals, pollen, Dust, or?

The frontispiece is a bit mysterious. It shows Lyra, at night, looking out over the Caspian Sea as the gryphon Gulya flies away. The nighttime setting, with a bright moon, recalls the frontispiece illustration of LBS, in which Lord Asriel shows Lyra to the moon.

But is there a more fundamental reason why this scene was chosen for the frontispiece? I think a clue may lie in the caption:

<Lyra stood and looked at everything. Her head was as full as her heart.>

Lyra stands alone, without even her daemon. In a traditional work of literary alchemy, the main protagonist will unite with his or her opposite in a transformative Chemical Wedding. This is what happens in the Amber Spyglass. Lyra and Will fall in love and their love saves the universe--indeed, they save the multiverse. A cruel fate separates them for all eternity, but Lyra retains the memory of their joining. In Pullman's short stories "Lyra and the Birds," "Serpentine," and in TRF itself, we see Lyra, when in danger or confronted with a difficult problem, thinking about Will and asking herself what Will would do. (See my posts about these novellas.) A key aspect of the joining of an alchemical couple is that they take on each other's characteristics.

So as I read TRF I wondered who would be Lyra's alchemical partner this time. Malcolm is already shown to be in love with her in TSC; would he be the one? I read with increasing dread the multiple references to Malcolm's golden hair and his association with the sun, strongly suggesting he would be the alchemical opposite to Lyra's identification with the moon and silver. (See @ssmhhh 's posts on this.)

In Chapter 28, "Double Thunder," we get the definitive answer that Malcolm will NOT be her romantic partner.

<No, not . . . Not like Will, she thought. That moment in the little wood, in the world of the mulefa, when they kissed for the first time. Nothing like that would ever happen again....

And no, she wasn't in love with Malcolm....> (p. 498)

But could he still be her alchemical partner, sort of like how Harry Potter and Hermione are, or Frodo and Sam? Is there a Chemical Wedding for them, do they achieve a transformative task together? If there is, I couldn't find it. Lyra and Malcolm enter the Red Building together without difficulty. They walk to the other end; Malcolm turns the door handle easily and they enter the rose world.

The climax of the story, the heart-pounding scene on which Lyra's happiness rests, comes only after Delamare sets off the explosion in the Red Building that almost seals the entrance to the rose world. Has Lyra lost her chance to reunite with Pan forever? Can she cut an opening back to her world? She immediately thinks of Will:

<She'd never actually cut through into another [world], as Will had learned to do....

Just find one speck that doesn't move in the air. That's all for now.> (p. 634.)

So she begins to cut. She has taken on Will's role as the bearer of the Subtle Knife, using the needle of the aleithiometer instead. She can do this because she is still joined with Will. When she makes enough progress, she calls to Pan.

<And then, the one thing she wanted above everything else in the world, her daemon's voice: "Lyra! Here, Lyra"> (p. 635)

Pan gives her the strength and motivation to persist, and when she succeeds in cutting the opening, he comes through and tumbles into her arms.

The final chapter opens with a paragraph describing Lyra and Pan's reunion, as they embrace and kiss (p. 636). Lyra's mission, her quest, in both TSC and TRF has been to find and reconcile with Pan, so I think this scene functions as the Chemical Wedding for the final book.

I also considered whether Olivier Bonneville might function as Lyra's alchemical partner. He is her opposite-sex sibling, a common choice in fantasy literature for this role. And he slays the main villain, Delamare. So maybe? But Olivier doesn't have any of the traditional sun/gold/red markers, and he doesn't meet up with Lyra until the main action is over. They are not partners in any important way.

So, if Pan is Lyra's alchemical partner in TRF and their passionate reunion functions as the final, climactic Chemical Wedding, how does that relate to the frontispiece illustration?

I think Pullman chose an illustration of Lyra alone because TRF is Lyra's journey of what Jung called "individuation." In Jungian language she must find and (re)integrate with her Animus. Along the way she has many helpers, but there is no partner, no living being as important to her as Pan.

The frontispiece caption lends itself to this interpretation: "Her head was as full as her heart." As we know, in alchemy mind and wisdom are associated with female characters and heart/courage with male ones. In this sentence Lyra is associated with both, because she represents both. Through her quest, she is integrating both aspects of her soul as she goes through Jung's individuation process.

Now some speculation: I think Malcolm is Pullman's self-insert in the series, and I suspect he meant for Malcolm and Lyra to be the final pairing, both alchemical and romantic. It wouldn't be the first time an author fancied their own creation: a good example is Dorothy Sayers' invention of Harriet Vane to be a mate for her detective Lord Peter Wimsey. That would explain the many, many sun and gold markers for Malcolm.

But at some point, if my scenario is correct, Pullman changed his mind. Maybe he heard the criticism that Will overshadows Lyra in TSK and TAS and wanted to center her again. Maybe he had to acknowledge to himself that, however much he tried to justify it, their age difference and former teacher/student relationship made a romance too problematic. Maybe he just couldn't find a way to make Lyra fall for Malcolm. And maybe he realized that the perfection of the Will/Lyra relationship, their full and complete alchemical union, meant no new relationship could ever measure up.

The sad news is that, at the end, while she has Pan again, Lyra has no romantic partner. Pan suggests Malcolm and Alice should get back together; hopefully that happens. In fact, how about a short novella sequel to describe that? Plus now that Lyra can cut an opening to another world, without disastrous consequences, maybe she can find her way back to Will's world. Oh well....

[no-light-darkness-visible]

[SPOILERS] The sick and dying dæmon parts of The Rose Field really deeply unsettled me. The writing was good, but more than that the series does such a good job exploring human/dæmon relationships that the reader is ready to find those things spiritually abhorrent/emotionally disgusting.

The scene with the CEO that implies that her butterfly dæmon is dead and she wears it's dead body to hide her willful inhumanity? Terrifying

[lordeasriel]

I hope you don't mind me adding to the many people sending you asks to grumble about TRF but I've never seen an author manage to screw up two trilogies with one book.

What did that conversation with the angel add to the book other than retconning one of the most poinient bitter sweet ending in literature? Without actually even really taking a moment for the character involved to actually explore what these revelations may mean?? But also then spending so much of the book introducing mystery after mystery without ever once resolving any of them with any real satisfaction?

Why kill off a beloved main character from the previous series, off screen and in passing conversation, only then to sully her character by saying she chose to betray her human lover by leaving him to mourn their relationship and a dead son without even telling him he also had a daughter?

Why decide the mini antagonist of the series is suddenly a sibling with no meaningful narrative meaning and a half arsed resolution amounts to "guess we're siblings so I'm not gonna kill you like I wanted to any more." "Cool, I guess?"

Why introduce a world where capitalism is killing people's daemons and leaving daemon corpse because no one can connect any more, then an hour later they're all connecting in a little town celebration?

Why spend so long repeatedly expressly saying that you can only reach a place if you and your daemon travel separately then tack on: except if you fly. Or drive apparently. Or walk through a jungle.

Why bring back an item of communication that is establish as needing to be played with a bow, then say "oh BTW they can be written on. Don't worry about it"?

I honestly felt like I'd gone mad after reading the book because why did I spend so long reading these books only for the end to give nothing. For it to feel like the last third of it is just feel like hastily scribbled, unedited notes because the author just wanted to go to bed and be done with it all?

You're more than welcome to rant! I don't know if I have much to add to this because you've summed up everything I believe it's wrong with the novel.

Pullman really did wreck two trilogies with a single book which is a feat in itself. TRF is such a lukewarm conclusion to the TBOD and it wreaks such havoc in the trilogies lore that I think even people who liked it have had lukewarm reactions to it. At least in my bubble, everyone seems considerably silent about it after the initial reaction.

I think this while reworking the ending didn't pan out the way it ought to for him. Clearly the final part, especially those final chapters, don't connect well with the rest. Like you said, the whole point of the other world being because people couldn't make connections, then immediately after everyone is connecting.

For me, he dropped the ball the moment he came back with "all the windows are still there" and the Magisterium wants to destroy them all, oh no. Why? Literally nothing in TSC points to that direction, they had one focus, which was the red building. Sure, that one being a window was sort of expected, but like, why add the others? The angels could have missed one, they could have allowed one to go open, they could have struggled with the monks who defended it so fiercely.

And you know, the one thing that is so small but it turned me off greatly was the fact there was a forest at the red building. Why? I mean, the desert aesthetic was so much cooler.

AND the whole breaking of the Lop Nor/Karamakan journey thing. The text tries so hard to be witty about it, with "They said nothing about by air, eh?" as if that isn't the laziest thing ever made.

He rants so hard he isn't a fantasy writer and honestly it shows. Tolkien would never.

[appretiartis]

It's been a week from The Rose Field release, so I think it's safe to ask the burning questions

Best thing to happen in The Rose Field?

Lyra can lie like she used to

Olivier committing familicide

Windows to other worlds??? Several???

Abdel Ionides

Lyra and Olivier throwing hands at the Brazilian embassy's gardens

Pan planning to play The Parent Trap with Malcolm and Alice

Serafina Pekkala/Farder Coram lovechild

Voting ended onNov 6, 2025

[appretiartis]

Worst thing to happen in The Rose Field?

Serafina Pekkala dying of misogyny

Mrs Coulter having another baby out of wedlock

The Red Building is just a door to capitalism dystopia

Xaphania fucking lies to children

Lyra has a very tiny subtle knife

Alice seduced a 16yo Malcom

Malcolm 'Gary Stu' Polstead

Voting ended onNov 6, 2025

Worst here can mean whatever: you hate that it happened, or it makes no sense to the plot, or it's just plain bad writing.

I also have a best thing poll going on here.

[alrightsnaps]

something something men being feminists from the waist up

[cedarbookhs]

Philip Pullman 6+ books into the same fantasy world: btw griffins are real

[mamsellechosette24601]

the rose field spoilers - my thoughts

I have no idea what the intention with the Olivier reveal was, and it upsets me that Philman felt like he had to give Lyra a biological brother to be some sort of companion at the end, instead of going for a sibling dynamic for Malcolm and Lyra, which would’ve been so much better than all that stress we had to go through thinking “will they won’t they”. And then if he wanted a half-brother, wouldn’t a child Asriel was not aware of make so much more sense? How can a previous pregnancy fit into Mrs Coulter’s life? I have no clue

That being said, I am OVERJOYED at Lyra’s character arc and all the theories brought in about the imagination and the windows. With Philman I know never to think too literally (what about the spectres now? What about Dust being dragged away? What is the truth?), especially when he’s telling it to our faces that he wants us to be able to hold paradoxical truths. The conversation with the angel midway through made me ugly sob. So it had always been unfair! It had always been weird that Will and Lyra didn’t insist more! It had always been too mathematical to make sense within such an emotional context! And then… isn’t that what facing reality as a child feels like? When you tire out of fighting and just give in that the reasonable adult must indeed be right, and you have to live as they tell you? They were too young, too broken, too much yearning for a guidance they never had. They were left speechless before angels, after battling death. How many of us have known that speechlessness?

Lyra never fully voices whether she believes that things she’s learned will allow her to find Will, and I believe it was the perfect right call to let that remain silent. For one, it’d be to make her arc revolve too much around romance, when it’s been about her finding herself as an artist. Second, how many barriers must she have put up to convince herself there was no way of seeing Will again? It’ll take her a while to realise the maybe behind the alethiometer’s needle, and to have the bravery to try it without the existence of the tiniest of openings, as was the case when she did open a window. Third, it’s for the reader to decide. As a storyteller, Lyra is now conscious of what to leave in and what to leave out, as to make the audience pass by the greatest amount of emotion. I wonder if she herself will be tormented by the artist’s choice - try out real life, or treasure the idea? I believe she’ll wish to cherish the idea of Will a bit longer, and that will hold her from realising the possibilities too. But the possibility is already there in her subconscious, especially in how she cries at the old man and the old woman living their last days together. I guess the role of Malcolm as a possible romantic interest had a part in this too - somebody getting as close as possible to what she had with Will, all the unending parallels that made me sweat cold, but it just isn’t it. We who receive the artwork are better off left with the tragedy and the wonderings, but the philosophy of the books pushes her to give real life a try.

And then, the relationship with Pan… absolute chills thinking about all the parallels in the scene when they almost get separated in between worlds. When you think they couldn’t undergo worse fears of separation than what they’ve already faced, here’s yet another way, which is just the way they got cut from Will. The panic of undergoing it again - losing Will, leaving Pan in the shores of the dead, being under the blade in Bolvangar, and all of it at once, and all because they had separated in the worst and (now, perceived as dumbest) possible way, through the hatred for oneself.

Overall I’m not bothered by the amount of retconning that went into it, especially when it seems to me to reflect so much of how we grow throughout life. We learn to be silent, to make ourselves responsible for our communities, to accept how arduous it is to go by day by day. We learn to hate ourselves, until somehow new possibilities present themselves, showing you that you do not need to do all you thought you had to do when you were 12, while the harsh reality you did face back then has not actually changed. It’s you who has changed, who has been able to see things a little less in black and white. And you wouldn’t have gotten there if you hadn’t gone through pain, and one thing does not annul the other, you’re just able to live within the realms of uncertainty and possibility.

That’s it for now, I will have more to say later when I’ve gathered my thoughts.

[hatters-workshop]

I'm still angry about the Book of Dust series in general, but specifically how with The Rose Field, Pullman managed to sully the entire point of the original trilogy. Having an angel randomly turn up and sit on a bench and go "oh by the way, one of the greatest tragedies of your life was actually just an angel lying to a naughty child. Bye." AND THEN Lyra just kind of. Shrugs and goes about her day. Like that should have pivoted her whole character narrative. There is now a possibility of seeing Will, without harm to the universes or seemingly creating spectres or anything. Suddenly her infatuation with Malcolm is irrelevant, because she has the opportunity to reconnect with Will. They fought so hard and saved the multiverse and they can actually have the reward. Yes, they will have to find a way, but it's an option that they were previously told was impossible.

Nah, barely gets mentioned again and is treated as a slight 5 minute emotional hiccup before returning to the barely coherent plot.

[pippingender]

I love so much that Philip Pullman wrote a beautiful fantasy trilogy to say “organized religion is bad” and then came back 20 years later with a second trilogy to say “but you know what’s worse? capitalism”

[97354cunt]

The Book of Dust was thus named after what philip pullman has for a brain; naught but dusts.

[susanoois]

the fact that this is the couple that Isayama wants you to see at the end of his work! 🫡

[cidsideral]

And also,

what he drew at the end of the manga serialization back in 2021

[ravenhealer5]

My JeanKasa art commission by @weis_sen on Twitter.

They're doing art commissions to support a fundraiser for G@za. If you have the means, and would like to get a personalised JeanKasa fanart, check them out.

[redstonedust]

more musicians should write about completely made up situations. i dont wanna hear another breakup album thats obviously just the singer venting about their ex. its boring. i dont care. make up some OCs and write crazy POV songs about them killing eachother.