Republic of Heaven

magnoliapearl:

whoops have some more quick sketches!!!

lord asriel, mrs. coulter and their daughter

and mr. grumman, mrs. parry and their son.

(uh, parentage spoiler alert i guess)

neon-banana:

Do I ever cross your mind?
Cause you’re on mine all the time
I can’t believe how unfair life is sometimes.

A huge reason I want to go to Oxford one day is because of Lyra & Will’s bench.

shelftalkersanon:

BANNED: His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

Published in 40 countries, Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy – The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass – has graced the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Book Sense, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists.

The Golden Compass forms the first part of a story in three volumes. The first volume is set in a world like ours, but different in many ways. The second volume is set partly in the world we know. The third moves between many worlds.

In The Golden Compass, readers meet 11-year-old Lyra Belacqua, a precocious orphan growing up within the precincts of Jordan College in Oxford, England. It quickly becomes clear that Lyra’s Oxford is not precisely like our own—nor is her world. In Lyra’s world, everyone has a personal dæmon, a lifelong animal familiar. This is a world in which science, theology and magic are closely intertwined.

The Subtle Knife is the second part of the trilogy that began with The Golden Compass. That first book was set in a world like ours, but different. This book begins in our own world.

In The Subtle Knife, readers are introduced to Will Parry, a young boy living in modern-day Oxford, England. Will is only twelve years old, but he bears the responsibilities of an adult. Following the disappearance of his explorer-father, John Parry, during an expedition in the North, Will became parent, provider and protector to his frail, confused mother. And it’s in protecting her that he becomes a murderer, too: he accidentally kills a man who breaks into their home to steal valuable letters written by John Parry. After placing his mother in the care of a kind friend, Will takes those letters and sets off to discover the truth about his father.

The Amber Spyglass brings the intrigue of The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife to a heartstopping close, marking the third and final volume as the most powerful of the trilogy. Along with the return of Lyra, Will, Mrs. Coulter, Lord Asriel, Dr. Mary Malone, and Iorek Byrnison the armored bear, The Amber Spyglass introduces a host of new characters: the Mulefa, mysterious wheeled creatures with the power to see Dust; Gallivespian Lord Roke, a hand-high spy-master to Lord Asriel; and Metatron, a fierce and mighty angel. And this final volume brings startling revelations, too: the painful price Lyra must pay to walk through the land of the dead, the haunting power of Dr. Malone’s amber spyglass, and the names of who will live—and who will die—for love. And all the while, war rages with the Kingdom of Heaven, a brutal battle that—in its shocking outcome—will reveal the secret of Dust.

coramshollow:

Mrs. Coulter is skinned alive by Metatron (my notes)

‘“Look at me, great Regent, as I can’t easily look at you. Look at me clearly, and tell me what you see.”

   The prince of the angels looked at her. It was the most searching examination Marisa Coulter had ever undergone. Every scrap of shelter and deceit was stripped away, and she stood naked, body and ghost and daemon together, under the ferocity of Metatron’s gaze.

   And she knew that her nature would have to answer for her, and she was terrified that what he saw in her would be insufficient. Lyra had lied to Iofur Raknison with her words: her mother was lying with her whole life.

   ”Yes, I see,” said Metatron.’

So this particular scene is very interesting as it involves seeing the truth of Mrs. Coulter.

1. She asks Metatron to look at her in the same way Belle says in Beauty and the Beast “Come into the light,” with almost an intrigue, but an innocent order. Her first grasp for control over him.

2. He gazes at her, and there is a high wind that culminates in a vast explosion as her clothing is torn from her and every atom of her that does not belong to her is held still in an orb encompassing her body, in the same way that Voldemort holds Harry in a force field of sand at the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. 

3. She stands there, covering her modesty, utterly naked, her hair flowing about her. Then, we see those other parts of her that reveal her true nature:

4. Her daemon, the Golden Monkey, is atop her shoulder, his once golden fur lank and rusty looking, each strand damp and wet, as though he has just come in from the rain. The hair is clumped and drips a thick and sticky tar-like substance, and he is physically rotted and almost falling apart. His ear-tufts are curled into little horns above his revolting face, and he snarls in malevolence.

5. Her ghost stands behind her, peeping out, skull-faced. It too has the same rotted quality, with a few strands of hair hanging down and tiny pinpricks of eyes looking out from far within the sockets. There is something to be said for a spoiled, rotted and toxic spirit, that is what Mrs. Coulter’s is (mostly).

6. And yet, there is one item of clothing that has not been stripped from her, and that is the golden locket that she wears around her neck. It is blowing behind her as much as her hair, but within - what was once a few strands of Lyra’s hair, is the tiny mustard-seed granule of love and hope and goodness that Marisa has, which, although immense, is tiny in comparison to the wicked deeds that she has committed that consume the rest of her being.

7. Her body, of course, remains unspoiled - that being the nature of the body, that it does not reveal what the soul and mind can. Hence, then occurs Metatron’s desire, that envelopes her and enshrouds her with lust. He does not notice the locket, thank Goodness.

xXx

(Source: jeanhollywood)