#hdm 1x02

[piracytheorist]

[whogirl42]

I want to talk about this scene.

Against her better judgement, Lyra wants desperately to believe that Mrs Coulter really is the nice, kind woman who thought her to be extraordinary. That the woman hurting her right now isn’t really her.

This, we know, isn’t true. But the thing is, Lyra is right. Just in a different way than intended.

Marisa Coulter wants to be in control at all times.

“She’s constructed this version of herself which is glamourous, and graceful and in control. But actually there’s a side of her she has suppressed which is much more free, and feral in a way.” - Ruth Wilson

But the men that came threatened her research. Her research, her experiments, essentially her baby. She’s certainly devoted more time and energy to it than she ever has Lyra. And someone from the Magisterium wants her to slow down. Sending lackeys to her instead of coming to her himself. She is seething. 

How. Dare They.

And Lyra disobeys her again. Marisa snaps at Lyra, but she’s not really angry with Lyra. She’s angry with the men who came to her home.

Marisa is pissed, but she tries again to reign herself in. She apologies for being sharp with Lyra. Lyra says, plainly, “You lost control,” and Marisa’s reply is telling.

Lyra won’t let her deny it. Marisa was angry at the men and for a moment, she lost control. The one thing Marisa absolutely refuses to do. 

Marisa turns around, removing herself from the situation, but her daemon stays put. Not moving. 

There’s a poignant moment where Marisa stands there warring with herself and then she turns back. For once, she gives in to her daemon- her base desires. The ones she always tries to keep a lid on. The ones she’s distanced from herself so much she barely lets her own daemon look at her. For once, Marisa and her daemon are aligned.

This isn’t Marisa as she usually is. As Lyra said, those men upset her, and she’s taking it out on her daughter.

(A+ patenting!)

But what’s interesting is that even as her daemon is attacking Pan and Lyra is crying for her to stop, Marisa still tries to keep her cool.

Then Lyra mentions Asriel.

Marisa is still trying to control herself, but suddenly her anger isn’t just at the Magisterium officials. It’s Asriel. A complicated decade long series of emotions, anger and bitterness and so much more that I’m really hoping the show will delve into. Asriel is her weak spot. Try as she might, even after all these years he can still get to her in a way nothing else can, (except maybe Lyra?), and that’s when Marisa Coulter finally loses it.

And she slips.

And she RETREATS.

Again, Marisa and her daemon are in sync with their reactions, something that we haven’t really seen until now. The anger drains out of her, but her emotions are still heightened.

“Who’s my mother?” Lyra asks. But Marisa is back to trying to regain control. No more slips.

She’s blinking fast, once again holding herself back. I’d argue, holding tears away.

She’s still very bitter about Asriel. Bitter and petty. 

When Lyra runs to her room, Marisa frantically follows, but Lyra kicks her out. Marisa lets her. Accepts that Lyra needs time alone to process everything.

And then, alone and unwatched, for just the barest sliver of a moment, Marisa lets herself break.

She’s back to normal throughout the remainder of the episode, but then at the end, Lyra escapes. And once again, Marisa’s control slips. She spends all of the next episode going absolutely wild and feral, and somewhat suicidal, to get Lyra back. Lyra wasn’t meant to mean this much. She shouldn’t invoke this sort of reaction from Marisa. But unlike with Asriel, where she can compartmentalise and calmly manipulate, (i.e: 1x04 where he’s no more than a tool to bend the Magisterium’s arm), she can’t shut down her emotions where Lyra is concerned.

And so on some level, she seems to accept it. This girl matters. Fine. She’ll still be her twisted and cold self. This won’t break her. It’s just that now, Lyra has become one of the main considerations of her machinations.

And I can’t wait to see what she does next. What will happen when Lyra finds out what her mother is doing. What will happen when she and Lyra will meet again. And her reactions to Asriel, because if you’ve been following my blog you know I’ve become complete Masriel trash.

[thelonecritic]

Day 17: favourite outfit (in fiction)

Image from @thesargassosea

[dreamingofnoreality]

Mrs. Coulter:

[thefandomsinhalor]

Lyra throwing a pillow at Pan to shut up lol is literally like your good sense telling you to wake the fuck up and smell what’s what but you’re just too in denial to listen to it.

[tpnks]

His Dark Materials: The Idea of North . 1x02

When has that man ever done anything for you. He’s done everything. He’s done nothing. He’s a failure of a man and a failure of a father.

[piracytheorist]

He may be Goblin Bastard,

but he is our Goblin Bastard

[piracytheorist]

OKAY

Wow I gasped and shook when Boreal wrapped Adele’s daemon in his hand. BITCH. Fucking terrifying, especially when seeing Adele’s response.

I honestly liked this one better than the premiere. We got more time with the characters interacting with each other, even when Roger talked to Billy about going to Jordan College and Lyra... and the scene where Pan put his head on Lyra’s shoulder was ADORBS I CREY

Also, I am shook they’re already introducing the windows between the worlds. Though I guess it’s a good way to start establishing facts about Grumman. I even snorted a laugh when Boreal took out his phone XD

I was surprised to see the “Lord Asriel’s your dad!” reveal so quickly, but honestly that’s better because now we can openly joke about it with any newcomer who hadn’t been spoiled about it by now XD And even the way it was revealed was really great, Ruth Wilson delivered that moment perfectly.

Also also, I felt they did a great job with the characters, especially the dynamic between Mrs. Coulter and Lyra. Like, even the way they spoke in the first scene in the balcony felt so natural and true to the book, and every interaction after... also I can’t believe I felt bad for Goblin Bastard when Mrs. Coulter struck him. 

In general I like how it’s adding stuff and exploring other stuff that are not from Lyra’s POV the way the book does, but I also like how they’re exploring the connection between humans and daemons, like the scene with Adele, Lyra being terrified at the blueprints and seeing Goblin Bastard too far from Mrs. Coulter, though I feel cheated we didn’t get to see her tight and distraught at the distance the way it happens in the book... like that was a great detail in the book that could easily have been added in the series. 

Anyways. I just now realized that episode practically only covered one chapter of the book. Maybe they could have spread it out somehow so that the first episode wouldn’t be so full of stuff, idk. Ok now I feel cheated we only get 8 episodes per season. OldManYellsAtCloud.jpg

Anyways anyways, it was pretty good. It had good emotions and I’m really excited to see other deeply emotional scenes play out :D