#cozcat

[clarabosswald]

on philip pullman's approach to analyzing human nature vs jack thorne's

(posting here per request since the conversation on discord got, uh, distracted before i could put my thoughts into words)

bbc/hbo's his dark materials has expended on a lot of characters and plotlines that were only hinted at - or did not exist at all in many instances - in the his dark materials book trilogy. one of the characters that was impacted by that a lot - if not the most of the whole cast - is mrs. marisa coulter. and while many media outlets and fans alike have been very pleased with the show's version of marisa in comparison with the book version (and i'm referring specifically and strictly how she was written, not how she's portrayed by ruth wilson), many of us on the discord server have felt that jack thorne's spin on the character resulted in major changes to her personality, to the worse. it's a huge topic (which i love discussing but don't want to focus on too much in this post) but in short, many of us are in opinion that jack thorne's marisa coulter is significantly humanized and mellowed compared to philip pullman's, more palatable and more relatable... and thus considerably less fascinating and captivating than the books' version.

the thing about this is that i don't think this is something that's exclusive to thorne's interpretation of marisa. i think it's a trend that you can see in nearly all of the characters in the his dark materials tv show - especially the ones that were explored more deeply than in the books. i can see it with lyra, asriel, boreal - even will. and i think you can put it all down to a very basic approach to exploring and writing basic human nature that's vastly different between pullman and thorne.

with pullman's writing, i think he finds fascination in how different humans are from each other. pullman says: humanity is so varied; there are so many types of personalities; people can be really extreme; it's so interesting to explore the human nature in its weirdest and most unlikable, looking directly at the aspects people would rather not expose. lyra, the protagonist, possesses many traditionally unlikable characteristics: she's a liar, she's rude, she's arrogant, she's blunt. asriel sets out to save humanity but he's far from a good person. he doesn't see all humans as equal; he sees roger as a tool to reach his means rather than a living person; he resents his daughter for being a unruly street urchin rather than an elegant scholar like himself and her mother. he berates marisa when she obtains traits he sees as inferior (her love for lyra, which he can't understand). and marisa herself... powerful and power-hungry and ruthful and remorseless. slick and skillfully manipulative. she knows the games in the society that she lives in and she plays them masterfully. those are the characters pullman writes and explores. and not one of them is more or less human than the other. they're people; and "good" and "bad" are names we give to the things they do or the choices they make.

thorne's approach is no less thoughtful, but is significantly different. characters start off as having seemingly polarized traits, yes. but as thorne digs deeper, he finds that they have a lot in common with the perceived idea of an everyday person, and you can see that very early on in the show. asriel sincerely apologizes to lyra for not being able to spare more time and attention for her, and (infamously) declares that "everyone's special!"; marisa seems to form an emotional bond or attachment to lyra nearly as soon as the girl hugs her in jordan college (because who doesn't feel touched when being hugged by a grateful kid, right?); as she watches the severed children being rescued and shown affection in bolvangar, she looks stricken by remorse; she refuses asriel's offer to cross the bridge together because she feels committed to their child, not because of the magisterium. then in season 2, thorne invents a new side of marisa - a woman oppressed by a patriarchal society. she was oppressed as a scholar due to being a woman (in the books, female scholars were far from unheard of; marisa was a member of sofia's college, an all-women institution); she stares with longing at a woman working on a laptop while caring for a baby in a stroller; she's obviously jealous of mary. what woman can't relate to that, in this era of fourth wave feminism? then, as she faces lee scoresby - beaten and shackled and still gaining the emotional higher ground by appealing to marisa's (the master manipulator, the skilled torturer) emotions for her child - and he deduces that she was endured parental abuse as a child (which wasn't hinted at in the slightest in the books - in the book of dust we meet her mother, who's a terrible person but adores and idolizes her daughter to a fault). and of course that would tug at the audience's heartstrings - because how can you not understand marisa's vulnerability? how can you not feel bad for her, learning about the abuse she endured? this is jack thorne's way of exploring characters and filling up gaps in their stories. this is his way of exploring humans. "deep down, we all have shared experiences and feelings." the more you learn about his characters, the more relatable they are. they become more palatable to the average viewer.

these are the two approaches, and neither of them are inherently wrong or bad. but they're profoundly different. and they create different characters.

and what we keep coming back to and complaining about on the discord server - specifically in the context of marisa but i do think other characters suffer from it too - that, compared to pullman's characterizations, the result is just... well, boring. or at least disappointing. because what draws many of us to marisa, what makes her so magnetic and unique and unforgettable, was never her being relatable. in the books she's very unapologetically a horrible person; the show feels like it keeps making up excuses and apologies for her horrible deeds (so much that it even neuters just how terrible some of them were). the uncompromising extremes in her personality and her choices are exactly what make her so utterly fascinating and unusual. without excuses or explanations that would make her actions make more sense to the average reader. you rarely ever think "i'd have felt exactly the same! i'd have done exactly the same! i can perfectly understand her motivation here!" yet thorne tries to make you think exactly that. and it's not wrong. i'd have loved it a ton if i were a show-only fan. but when you compare it to pullman's version - its intensity and spectacle, the heights and perils the story reaches with characters that are masterfully created as both extreme and human without compromise - thorne's is just ever so... dull.

and i honestly think the show would've been better and more successful if thorne didn't shy away from letting the characters be unrelatable. there seemed to have been intense concern in making the characters more easily digestible to as wide an audience as possible; and ironically i think that has caused the story to lose a ton of its initial appeal. and i think the same worry was applied to thorne's handling of the plot; and the show suffered massively for that too; but that's a topic for a different post.

#his dark materials #marisa coulter #mrs coulter #philip pullman #jack thorne #the golden compass #the subtle knife #the amber spyglass #cozcat #(because you've asked me to post it #it turned out even longer than my message on the server daslghsdoighasd #i'm sorry i just find the topic so fascinating and intricate #and i could talk about it even more #but this will do for now)

[birgittesilverbae]

do you know what percentage of references to breasts in wot are specifically references to arms being crossed under them

I'll have you know I had to brave WoT reddit for this because I knew someone else had done the analysis already

RJ was on something writing KoD, as is tradition

#wot #wot book spoilers #technically #I do think there's something that could be inferred about editing and publication timelines as they relate to RJ's health #while he was writing KoD #but I don't really have the time energy or desire to dig into that right now #ask #cozcat #something something br*ndon something something writing style something something [redacted] #wheel of time

[amemoryofwot]

fuck it, Moiraine bingo

You’ll notice it’s exactly the same as Siuan’s except with Autism for reasons of her really being the character ever. RJ really said I’m going to pack so much generational and religious and institutional trauma into this tiny French lesbian and set her loose on a prophecy. She really makes me so insane like can we talk about your buckwild family for a sec? How your uncle basically set your birthright except not to the throne as you thought but to the search for the child his actions brought forth? What about being set on the path to saving the world at TWENTY TWO and you’re not even the Chosen One you’re just looking for him?? Rand at least had the soul of the Champion of the Light in him Moiraine had …. Lan. Any compassion extended to Rand due to the immense stress he’s under has to be afforded to Moiraine too like she was really out there doing this alone!! And her impact being gone for what six books haunting the narrative the whole time and still coming out as the eighth highest POV character in the series! The handled differently part is just like getting to talk about ANY OF THAT (or even acknowledging Elayne is your niece wtf) and of course GETTINGG RID OF THOM GET HIM OUT OF HERE

#thanks for the ask! #I could talk forever about Moiraine goddamn #cozcat #wheel of time character bingo #wheel of time spoilers #wot book spoilers

[queenofnabooty]

Marisa/Asriel, pre-affair

He's used to eyes being on him out of lust, resentment, or a combination of the two, but Edward Coulter wife's eyes are blank giving nothing away. The only thing to do is stare right back at her until she looks away or someone else flicks him on the back of the head for not minding his place. She holds his gaze and finally, after a long moment, laughter reaches her eyes.

#ask #ask game #masriel #cozcat #marisa coulter #asriel belacqua

[neednottoneed]

danvich + loose leaf tea

She's never been much of a tea drinker; never been one for any sort of small indulgence like that. Never allowed herself the luxury of rest, of time, of stolen moments or stolen hours and something (someone) to call her own.

But when Mrs. de Winter offers her a cup, when she sips it and it's still too strong and too hot and too bitter, she takes it anyway--this stolen moment and stolen minute and something (someone) to call her own.

send me a pairing and i'll write a three-sentence fic

#this got way sappier than intended but there you go! #danvich #rebecca das musical #cozcat #my fic

[markantonys]

may i have your verin opinion and your elaida opinion

verin:

it just so happens that verin IS in my top 10 characters! what an absolute icon. not many of these boxes apply to her so it looks like i don't care much about her haha but that couldn't be further from the truth! partial box for "i would be afraid of them" because i would not be afraid of her unless i knew about what she was like under the surface, in which case i would be terrified of her. and partial box for "not enough screentime" only because i would gladly read an entire spinoff series about verin, though in the main series, i think she got just the perfect amount of screentime for the sake of keeping things tantalizing and mysterious.

elaida:

i can see the appeal of elaida, but for me personally, she always made me want to chew rocks! i did feel a tiny bit bad for her when alviarin was controlling her, though. but on the whole, i was cheering my ass off every time egwene got the better of her, particularly during the dinner scene in TGS.

#cozcat #answered #character opinion bingo #wot #wot book spoilers

[deadwright]

saw who that "lestappen" post was from and i actively heard a few of your brain cells crystallise and tinkle like wind chimes

BDGSJDGSHSG it's not even my thing but as a ferrari supporter, i'm leeching serotonin from whatever source i can tap at this point

#you understand me so well i'm screaming #asks #cozcat

[lordgolden]

side quest ideas: make garlic confit. rearrange your bookshelves. clear out your browser tabs (laptop, mobile, any).

I LITERALLY MADE GARLIC CONFIT THE OTHER DAY FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!! like maybe Monday? I put it in mashed potatoes it was so good. I also rearranged my bookshelves a few weeks ago. I also rearranged my bookmarks recently too 😭😭😭 I am literally running out of tasks

#cozcat #ask

[mxrisacoulter]

42?

hey bestie 💕💕💕

42: Total Dissasociation - Interlude - Bastille Lyric: idk it doesn't even have lyrics lol 'When I'm dreaming tonight I can be anyone'

send me a number from 1 - 100 and I’ll give you a song from my Top 100 and either a lyric that’s about you or my favourite lyric from the song

#ask #cozcat #its not even a real song i need an intervention #and its higher than the actual song that quote comes from what is going on #for clarity i chose that lyric bc they are the only words in the interlude lol

[sapphoshands]

1, 24, 35, 38?

1. Describe your comfort zone—a typical you-fic.

welllllll there are women and they love each other very much. :P most often i write one-shots, usually backstory. some people might suggest that they are occasionally angsty. there is generally a lot going on under the surface and small things matter significantly.

24. Have you ever deleted one of your published fics?

i have not! there are definitely some out there that i wrote under other names and have not, uh, reclaimed ownership of *glances guiltily in the direction of ff.net* but it would really take a lot for me to delete anything. that's my history; that's my past self, you know? some of it i look at with serious side-eye, but i try to think forgivingly of that person, for the most part. (i was just looking back at the code name verity fic i wrote ten years ago and wondering whether it was too late to tweak a couple of sentences, though, sooooo it's not as if i'm good at letting go.)

35. Would you ever kill off a canon character?

oh sure. *angel emoji* mostly those aren't the kinds of stories i want to tell, but absolutely, if i wanted to explore what would happen to Person Y if Person X died, no qualms. (and now i'm wondering what sort of story i would write about moiraine or siuan dying, so... that's on you.)

38. Talk about a review that made your day.

not to imply that every review doesn't make my day! but i particularly love it when people let me know which lines or paragraphs resonated with them, and especially when they are able to pick out the things i've done deliberately in those segments. that said, one that had me grinning relatively recently was someone saying 'it's so good to see you writing for this fandom!' [paraphrased] - because, they recognised and remembered my name and associated it with quality enough that they were happy to see it! what a delight.

#fic writing meme #talk to me #cozcat

[cutearose]

bookish asks: 3, 12, 25!

I cant believe the two asks I got were both the same questions 😂 thank you for asking me things though!!

I’ll give you another for 12 - books that disappointed me: The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill. I really wanted to like this, but I just… didn’t. ALSO, Close Knit by Lærke Bagger. It looked like such a cool craft book, but it wasn’t at all cohesive or well-written. 

25. What reading goals do you have for next year?

Ooh I actually have a few!

Once again my goal is set to 100 books - I think it fits in nicely with the other goals I have for my life, and when my schedule is running smoothly, two books a week is very achievable. I want to get back into my daily walk followed by book + tea + snack time, and if I do well at that, my goal should be easy to hit! I’d like to not frantically read eight books in the last few days of the year like I did in 2023. 

I want to actually make notes on every new book I read! I dont need to write a full review, but I’d like to do better at actually putting my thoughts into words, and making sure I actually save them. There are quite a few books on my 2023 list that I know I had thoughts on but I never went back to add them to my review because they werent complete yet, and then I forgot to ever do it and have lost any idea of how I felt! I definitely did better at it in 2023, but I want to set a definite goal of doing it for every new book. 

I want to give storygraph a fair chance, so I’m going to be using it alongside goodreads! I’m not importing in my shelves this time, since it went so badly the first time - I’m just going to add the books I read as I read them. The social aspect is one of the most important parts of goodreads to me, so I’ve been unsure about trying storygraph, but I do want to see what its like and see how I feel about the stats and such. 

Thank you for asking, friend!!!

#on that note if anyone wants to be my friend on goodreads or storygraph send me a message!! #I got seven whole likes on a recent goodreads update I’m basically super popular now #shsjdjsjjs #cozcat #ask #post

[ichabodcranemills]

"Asriel and the monkey should match" how does it feel to have a GINORMOUS GALAXY BRAIN

Ashsjsks thank youuu

But really! As soon as I realised that Stelmaria and Marisa matched, the thought came to me. I wish Philip Pullman had thought of something like that instead of letting the poor monkey nameless

#asks #cozcat

[birgittesilverbae]

Lan & Siuan - peace

The morning is still and quiet when Lan accompanies her down to the water's edge, hands her down into the rowboat moored along the shore, ever the gallant Warder, and joins her.

"It's strange," he says, his fingertips dragging along in the current, "every time I camped by a body of water I woke up in a cold sweat, afraid I was about to have it dumped on my head."

"The echoes of her persist," Siuan agrees softly, "even in her absence."

#wot #mywot #wot book spoilers #siuan sanche #lan mandragoran #myfic #three sentence fics #ask #cozcat

[amemoryofwot]

how do u feel about Daigian Moseneillin

I feel soooo Blorbo about Daigian. I mean it’s keeping track with my Cairhienin Aes Sedai brand but honestly she’s in such an interesting position! What does it mean to be the weakest Aes Sedai in their power hierarchy, is it worth it? You’re still Aes Sedai in name but to defer to all the others forever? But like, she DID IT she was so weak in the power and spent so long as a novice/Accepted but she still got the shawl, I’m feral for women who are overly dedicated no matter personal cost etc. AND despite her weakness (i mean relative to other Aes Sedai she’s still more powerful than a lot of other characters) she’s actually really involved with story events! The moment she and Eben confront Aran’gar is INCREDIBLE. I wouldn’t be surprised if the show had to cut her or combine her somehow but I would be really interested to see how her conversation with Nynaeve around Eben’s death would play out in context of show!Nynaeve’s established experience with Stepin

#thank you for the ask! #cozcat #WoT character bingo #wheel of time spoilers

[queenofnabooty]

Marisa/Asriel, impending doom

Marisa's walk had become a comical waddle as she paced up and down the halls. Asriel listened to her moan about the unwanted cooing and belly rubs from those expecting a celebration.

"My love," Asriel soothed her, "A bomb could be falling from the sky and people still want to discuss the weather."

#ask #cozcat #masriel #ask game #marisa coulter #asriel belacqua

[neednottoneed]

danny/rebecca + dreams

No one would ever accuse Mrs. Danvers of being a dreamer, especially no one at Manderley. Rebecca is the only one who knows she dreams constantly--of a house by the sea, of someplace quiet, of rhododendrons.

Nowadays, the only thing she dares dream of is a world where Rebecca is alive again.

#again sorry for the angst!!! #this is short but! i tried #these two really can't be happy #rebecca das musical #mrs danvers #cozcat #answered asks