Tumgik
#alice parslow lonsdale
argentvive · 2 years
Text
The Imagination Chamber - Alice
Alice is one of my favourite characters, so I was happy to see her backstory filled in a little bit.  We learn that her husband’s name was Edward Lonsdale and that Alice adored him.  
She wasn’t pretty herself, and she could never quite believe that he loved her, though he swore he did, by the moon and stars. (p. 25)
Their marriage was brief, as he died when scaffolding collapsed while he was working on the tower of St. Giles church.  Afterwards, having been transformed by his love, Alice is not bitter but channels her love to “the little child she and Malcolm had taken through the flood.”  
It’s possible that the reference to the moon is an alchemical marker for Alice (Moon, white, mercury/argentvive).  Which would mean my preferred Malcolm-Alice ship would work, since Malcolm is consistently marked as Sun, red, sulphur.  That may be wishful thinking, though.  What IS clear is that after her bereavement Alice becomes a loving caregiver to Lyra, and a character we will root for as she battles the Magisterium.  Poor Alice even gets her own cliffhanger at the end of the Secret Commonwealth.  The last we see her she is comforting another young child, Anthony, shackled with her on a prisoner transport train.  
6 notes · View notes
enilybenil · 3 years
Quote
Among all the other activities, desperate and urgent as they all were, the two sides that were searching for Malcolm and Lyra made their way steadily downstream toward the capital city. They followed rumors, of which there were many; they ignored every cry for help from the beleaguered people on all sides; they had eyes and minds only for a boy and a girl in a canoe, with a baby, and for a man with a three-legged hyena dæmon.
Philip Pullman, La Belle Sauvage (2017)
4 notes · View notes
ssmhhh · 3 years
Text
Tumblr media
66 notes · View notes
alrightsnaps · 4 years
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media
#started from the bottom now we’re here
55 notes · View notes
mhevarujta · 4 years
Text
Did anyone else notice that Philip Pullman changed his mind about...
Boneville raping Alice?
This is part of an interview:
Why is it so much darker than before? 
‘It just is. One obvious feature is the character of Gerard Bonneville, the possible paedophile, certainly a sexually threatening man. In the end, he does threaten Alice. I don’t think he actually rapes her but he certainly threatens to. It’s a dark story, yes. But should I apologise for that? Who to?’ ‘
But in The Secret Commonwealth he decided to have Alice confirm that she was raped.
10 notes · View notes
hdmholidayexchange · 4 years
Photo
Tumblr media
HIS DARK MATERIALS HOLIDAY EXCHANGE 2019
SIGN UP FORM
This is a 2019-2020 Tumblr event for His Dark Materials fandom. Keep it friendly between each other and keep it SFW. Full rules here.
November 10th-November 20th: Sign Ups
November 21st-November 22nd: Assignments given
January 5th-January 11th: Posting
3 notes · View notes
oakleystreet · 3 years
Text
L Y R A     B E L A C Q U A
Tumblr media
DÆMON: Pantalaimon, a pine marten.
BOND: Split.
HAIR: dirty blonde.
EYES: blue.
AGE: 6 months during LBS. 10-11 during NL. 12-13 during TSK and TAS. 15 in Lyra’s Oxford. 20 in TSC.
BIRTH: 1985. (between July, August and September, according to the Timeline).
NATIONALITY: Brytish. (English).
STATUS: Alive.
Tumblr media
Lyra Belacqua was born to Marisa Coulter and Lord Asriel, a product of their affair.
After Marisa’s husband, Edward Coulter, tried to kill her and was killed by Lord Asriel, who then lost everything he had, Lyra was taken into government custody and then placed at the Priory of Godstow in Oxford by Lord Nugent, the head of Oakley Street.
There, Lyra was taken care by the nuns for a couple of weeks before the Great Flood happened. As she was being hunted by Gerard Bonneville, a physicist who wanted to get hold of her to likely trade her for scientific freedom to research Dust, Lyra was rescued by Malcolm Polstead and Alice Parslow, and they set out in Malcolm’s canoe, La Belle Sauvage, for London.
During their time in the flood, Lyra was taken by the Sisters of Holy Obedience, but was promptly rescued by Malcolm. Eventually, they reached a fairy island and met Diania, a fairy who tried to steal Lyra by feeding her fairy milk. Malcolm tricked Diania and recovered Lyra, and once again they were back in the Flood, on their way to Lord Asriel in London.
When they arrived in the city, the CCD forces that had been looking for them were caught in a conflict, as Lord Asriel and Oakley Street agents made their way to rescue Lyra and the children. Lord Asriel returned with them to Oxford in a gyropter, and left Lyra under the protection of Scholastic Sanctuary at Jordan College. There, Malcolm left with the Master of Jordan, the Alethiometer he took from Gerard Bonneville, which would pass into Lyra’s possession ten years later.
“Secundum legem de refugio scholasticorum, protectionem tegimentumque huius collegii pro filia mea Lyra nomine reposco.” Asriel said. “Look after her.” “Scholastic Sanctuary? For this child?” “For my daughter Lyra, as I said.” “She’s not a scholar!” “You’ll have to make her into one then, won’t you?”
—  Lord Asriel, chapter 25, La Belle Sauvage.
Lyra grew up in Jordan College, under the guardianship of Dr Carne, but personally being cared for by Alice Lonsdale. She had a rather carefree life, being an natural leader and befriending most children from the region, from gyptians to town kids to college children. At one point, Lyra was responsible for invading the Costa family’s boat with her little gang of children and she often played war games with these particular groups of children. At the College, her actions were observed by Bernie Johansen, the half-gyptian pastry cook, who reported back to the Costas, who then reported to John Faa, as a favour to Lord Asriel.
She grew up believing Asriel was her uncle, and he made brief, sporadic visits to see that she was well cared for. Lyra was informally educated by the scholars from Jordan, and she had very little interest in learning as well, and as a result her education was flawed, filled with gaps, and yet in certain areas unusually specific, as Jordan College was meant to be a higher education institution.
When Lyra was ten or eleven years old, she sneaked into the Retiring Room out of curiosity, but ended up seeing the Master of Jordan poison the decanter of Tokay meant for Lord Asriel. Upon Asriel’s arrival, Lyra revealed herself in order to save him from drinking the poisoned wine and Asriel employed her as a spy during his presentation to the scholars, hiding her in the cupboard. During this meeting, Lyra was introduced to the concept of Dust and she saw the City in the Sky in Lord Asriel’s photograms.
(to be continued)
Tumblr media
Lyra, prior to her daemon settling, had the innate skill of reading the Alethiometer without needing to consult the books. This skill was likely attributed to her status as child of the prophecy and she lost it after her return from the Land of the Dead and Pantalaimon’s settling.
Lyra is considered very small for her age. She is also said to be strikingly beautiful, enough to draw the attention of passersby.
During their adventures, Pan and Lyra had to separate when she visited the world of the dead. By doing this, they acquired the skill of separating like the witches do.
Lyra still takes Alethiometer classes with Dame Hannah Relf. She also had a brief dalliance with Dick Orchard - the boy who could spit further than anyone else - who also happened to have been a childhood crush of hers.
Lyra uses the name Silvertongue among friends, although she is still legally and widely know as Lyra Belacqua.
Her Alethiometer was given to her by the Master of Jordan, after Malcolm gave it to him. It had belonged to Gerard Bonneville, who stole it from a monastery in Bohemia; the monks had also stolen the Alethiometer from a traveler who had taken shelter with them. The history of the instrument is tied to the fact it had been often stolen, Lyra being the first owner in a long time who had actually received it as a gift. (TSC, chapter 7)
Lyra can use the new method of reading, but it makes her feel sick and often refuses to use it. She is yet to understand the connection between the method and the daemon.
Lyra’s major is unclear, but she wrote an essay at one point about the Patterns of Trade in Arctic Region with particular reference to independent cargo balloon carriage (1950-1970) (click here to see the Extra letters from OUATIN). In that same letters she mentions “Econ Hist,” and how it must be that subject as there is no other way to examine her knowledge about the alethiometer. It can be assumed she was majoring in Economic History.
At one point, Lyra mentions the Count and Countess Belacqua, her alleged parents who died in aircraft accident. It is unclear whether they were real people or made up by Asriel to cover his own identity as Lyra’s father.
Tumblr media
DÆMON RELATIONSHIP
Chaotic, friendly, constant banter, harmonious. Good communication and synchronized behaviour in feelings and actions. (HDM)
Chaotic, aggressive, constant disagreement and sheer unhappiness. Lack of synchronization in feelings and actions; lack of communication. (TSC).
FAMILIAL TIES
Lord Asriel: father.
Marisa Coulter: mother.
Marcel Delamare: uncle on her mother’s side.
Madame Delamare: grandmother on her mother’s side.
Dr Carne: legal guardian under scholastic sanctuary.
FRIENDS & ALLIES
Roger Parslow
Miriam Jacobs: colleague.
Hannah Relf: mentor.
Malcolm Polstead: former teacher, ally.
Alice Lonsdale: caregiver and friend.
Iorek Byrnison: friend.
Serafina Pekkala: friend.
ROMANTIC TIES
Will Parry: old flame.
Dick Orchard: old flame.
ENEMIES & RIVALS
Olivier Bonneville: rival.
Father MacPhail: enemy.
Father Gomez: enemy.
Pierre Binaud: enemy.
AFFILIATIONS
Jordan College: safe haven.
Oakley Street: allies.
Bud Schlesinger.
Anita Schlesinger.
The Eastern-Anglia Gyptians: allies.
Farder Coram.
Ma Costa.
John Faa.
St. Sophia’s College: alma mater, educational.
Magisterium: enemy (during HDM), antagonistic (during TSC)
Consistorial Court of Discipline: violent.
La Maison Juste: antagonistic.
The League of St. Alexander: suspicious.
The Daemonless People: friendly.
Princess Rosamond Cantacuzino: friendly.
Vaclav Kubiček: friendly.
Nur Huda el-Wahabi: acquaintanceship.
16 notes · View notes
asvezespedro · 3 years
Text
A comunidade secreta (O Livro das Sombras #2), Philip Pullman
A comunidade secreta se passa sete anos após o final de A luneta âmbar, e vinte anos após Malcom Polstead e Alice Parslow (agora Lonsdale) deixarem a bebê Lyra e seu daemon Pantalaimon nas mãos de Lorde Asriel, depois da grande enchente que tomou conta da Inglaterra. Lyra e Pantalaimon, agora já adultos, sofrem com um descompasso de ideias e emoções e a convivência se torna cada dia mais insuportável para os dois.
A história de A comunidade secreta começa quando Pantalaimon, em uma caminhada noturna para espairecer de seu desencanto com sua humana, testemunha o assassinato de um homem desconhecido. A daemon do homem, notando sua presença (e o fato de estar sozinho), pede que ele impeça os assassinos de encontrarem alguma coisa, e Pantalaimon corre de volta para o dormitório estudantil onde ele e Lyra agora vivem, levando consigo a carteira do homem assassinado. No caminho, fatalmente, sente um par de olhos o observar: uma daemon-gata, que, assim como ele, é capaz de se separar de seu humano.
Toda a história do livro gira em torno da possibilidade de humanos se separarem de seus daemons, uma grande conspiração de instituições religiosas para dominarem a sociedade (este é, afinal, o universo de Fronteiras do Universo) e, ao que o final do livro indica, alguma profecia envolvendo Lyra. A narrativa se alterna entre o ponto de vista de cinco personagens centrais: Lyra, Pantalaimon, Malcom, agora um pesquisador de História que, inexplicavelmente, está apaixonado pela 20-anos-mais-jovem Lyra, Marcel Delamare, líder de um braço do Magisterium e obcecado em encontrar Lyra, e Olivier Bonneville, leitor-prodígio do aletiômetro contratado por Delamare para encontrar a garota e filho do vilão do primeiro livro da série, Gerard Bonneville.
Devo confessar que fiquei um pouco decepcionado com este livro. Li Fronteiras do Universo vários anos atrás e, além de ser um leitor com menos maturidade na época, já se passou tempo o bastante para eu esquecer os livros em si e me lembrar apenas das minhas impressões deles – que, sem dúvida nenhuma, foram bastante fortes. O primeiro livro da nova trilogia, La Belle Sauvage, me agradou bastante, reforçando essas impressões. Malcom é um protagonista encantador, seu afeto gratuito pela bebê Lyra me pareceu um carinho fraternal que me cativou, e ver sua relação com Alice amadurecer enquanto os três seguiam a enchente foi o bastante para me manter preso na leitura.
A comunidade secreta, por outro lado, teve pontos negativos o bastante para fazer com que minha leitura fosse inconstante e pouco fluida. As dificuldades na relação entre Lyra e Pantalaimon me deixaram negativamente surpreso e até desconfortável em alguns pontos; Lyra se tornou uma jovem chata, profundamente diferente do que eu me lembrava do primeiro livro, e a inexplicável paixão de Malcom por ela, sendo que da última vez que o vimos ele era um garoto de 11 anos preocupadíssimo em proteger uma bebê recém-nascida, quase me fez largar o livro.
O maior ponto negativo, porém, foi uma cena quase no final da história em que Lyra, viajando sozinha cada vez mais para leste em busca de uma cidade mitológica onde viviam daemons abandonados ou solitários, é sexualmente atacada por um grupo de soldades em um trem. Em resumo, a cena não tinha razão de ser. O ataque acontece do nada e não leva a lugar nenhum. Lyra passa o restante da narrativa fisicamente machucada, o que afeta em certa medida seu comportamento, mas não há sinal de qualquer efeito psicológico do abuso. Ou seja: se o objetivo era fazer com que Lyra chegasse machucada à cidade que tanto buscava, havia uma centena de outras maneiras de fazer isso. Não era preciso recorrer a uma cena de violência sexual que, ao que tudo indica, não será tratada pela história.
O fato de que esta cena ser seguida por uma representação profundamente negativa da cidade mais ao leste do livro também não ajudou na minha disposição, pois acendeu uma luzinha de um possível racismo contra árabes na minha cabeça.
No geral A comunidade secreta foi uma leitura leve, para não ter que pensar muito, mas uma decepção.
0 notes
enilybenil · 3 years
Text
Malcolm describes a tension among all of them in the boat--Lyra cries, Alice behaves like the combative dishwasher she started out as--that reminds me strongly of the Horcrux’s influence in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It seems to me that an external influence is trying to make the group turn on each other.
The water is described as “a gray waste” (411).
2 notes · View notes
enilybenil · 3 years
Text
Alice resuming her usual half-sneer is a symbol of her asserting herself in the face of Diania’s manipulation and appeal to femininity. I love it.
3 notes · View notes
enilybenil · 3 years
Text
Solve et coagula count: Malcolm stabs Bonneville in the leg, then Alice shoots the dæmon in the remaining foreleg, and Malcolm and Alice make off in La Belle Sauvage with Lyra. In this, Malcolm and Alice also parallel the damage that Coram van Texel did to Bonneville’s dæmon earlier in the book. The narrative makes a point to  say that the hyena’s leg “was smashed beyond repair” and “was hardly there” (309).
2 notes · View notes
enilybenil · 3 years
Text
Questions (Chapters 1 - 6)
What is up with Alice?
How is Malcolm going to get to senior school?
When did Marisa Coulter learn about the witches’ prophecy about Lyra (presumably within the last six months) and why is it now so important to her to resume custody? It’s not for Lyra’s personal care. We know how Lyra was treated when she lived with Mrs. Coulter. And how could Mrs. Coulter profit from having a prophetic (Philosophical!) child when the prophecy wouldn’t come to pass for another ten years or so? (Lyra raised by Mrs. Coulter would be an entirely different animal, not at all the Lyra Silvertongue of His Dark Materials. Fic?)
Why did the CCD kill Robert Luckhurst?
Who is trying to kill Lyra and why?
How did the witches’ prophecy become known?
Does Papadimitrou become the Master at Jordan who tries to assassinate Lord Asriel?
Why is Lord Asriel not just an unfit father, but an unfit person?
Comparisons between Hannah Relf and Mary M–
Does Hannah Relf become for Lyra after The Amber Spyglass what she became for Malcolm here? Was Malcolm her first student and Lyra one in his footsteps?
Does Malcolm appear at all in His Dark Materials, unnoticed?
4 notes · View notes
enilybenil · 3 years
Text
Malcolm has a physical response to Alice’s appearance while she sleeps.
“It was too close. He felt he was doing wrong. He sat up and looked away. Lyra stirred and murmured, and he stroked her forehead and found it hot, like Alice’s face. He wished he could stroke Alice’s cheeks, but that image was too troubling altogether.” (395)
Malcolm is horrified by his own sexual awakening: “What had happened to him? But there was no time to think about that” (399).
1 note · View note
enilybenil · 3 years
Text
Malcolm and Alice get clean water and cook on a fire on the island with the lamps and the people who do not see them.
Asta: “Everything’s in favor of us, except the house and the people.” (392)
Lyra will not eat smoked salmon, which makes me very anxious because you know what they say about those who eat the food of the fairies--that mortal food turns to ashes in their mouth.
1 note · View note
enilybenil · 3 years
Text
Malcolm refers to the priory again only by color: “that big white priory” (379). In fact, when they first see it, it’s so bright white that Malcolm and Alice think it’s a light, because it reflects that strongly.
1 note · View note
enilybenil · 3 years
Text
Malcolm and Alice are intimate on a level that indicates they’re attracted to each other--which isn’t unusual on Malcolm’s end, I don’t think, but could be unusual on Alice’s end since there’s such an age difference. Alice is about sixteen, and Malcolm is about eleven. I at least would find it highly unusual for Alice, at sixteen, which where I come from is the age of consent, to be attracted to Malcolm. (There was a scandal in my high school where senior girls aged 17 - 18  were ‘dating’ eighth-grade and freshman boys age 13 -  15. I can tell you there was sound condemnation both from these young women’s peers and from the boys’ parents. That’s what this reminds me of.) While I see that Pullman is inclined to build a king and queen for his Magnum Opus, I don’t know that I believe that Malcolm and Alice are that in the way that, for starters, Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter were, or that Will and Lyra were, in the original trilogy. I’ll have to go back and take a look at the respective couples’ alchemical coding, but Malcolm has a strong mix of elemental codings and I feel that Alice is pretty strongly water-coded, despite being moved to fire (violent) action sometimes..
I suppose I don’t think of Malcolm’s alchemical coding because I think of him as a young alchemist himself and have done so from the first page. This is of course my interpretation and may not be Pullman’s intent, because it is difficult to have a protagonist be an alchemist in their own story. Lord Asriel pretty clearly plays that role when he comes in and fixes up La Belle Sauvage. Lyra herself is a Philosophical child and serves a very Philosopher’s Stone-like role in this book with many people trying to acquire her, steal her, house her, shelter her, etc. Though she is a baby, she is simultaneously a MacGuffin. And yet she experiences a moment of profound unity with Malcolm that is probably the most agency I’ve ever seen expressed by any baby in fiction or real life (disregarding Renesmee Cullen, because I have some resentment toward magical baby plots).
1 note · View note