His Dark Materials | Twilight | Emotional state

[bironic]

One of the local Little Free Libraries had a copy of The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman and that finally motivated me to start reading His Dark Materials after all these years. People were super into them around the time we were going to Harry Potter aca-cons and of course there've been a million fannish AUs but I never got around to trying the series, other than going to see that forgettable film adaptation.

After an uncertain start, I got really into it, especially the human-dæmon relationships. I hadn't realized how into it until I found myself choking up at the descriptions of Tony clutching his dead fish, the dæmons suffering in & after breaking out of their storage jars and Lyra's limp agony when the villain clutched Pantalaimon. Also I hadn't realized how explicitly Pullman described what happens between dæmons when their humans get frisky together. Many years late to this party.

I bought the other two books yesterday and will read them in & around the new Harry Potter one that I pre-ordered but haven't picked up yet.

Obv. there are things to enjoy and things to critique and thinky stuff about Pullman's reaction to C.S. Lewis and the Church but we are not here for in-depth analysis right now. Work is rough these days as we undergo managerial transitions and as a result my entertainment has swung toward pleasure and comfort. See also: I've taken a break from vid-research movies and just rewatched the Twilight series. Well, that's sort of for vid research too, but a different project, and I wasn't taking notes. And I rewatched the beginning of the terrible-but-I-don't-care TV show Roar from 1997, because my heart.

Was sad to miss con.txt this weekend and all the friends who go with it. At least there's only a week and a half 'til Vividcon. Hang in there, self: Hugs and vids and conversation and mini-vacation are nigh.

Comments

[laurashapiro]

I loved The Golden Compass but got progressively disenchanted with the series, and I freely admit that the third book made me feel deeply stupid: I had no idea what was going on by the end. Curious to know how you get on.

[yhlee]

I had a similar reaction. Loved the first one, felt a little iffy about the second, actively disliked the third. But maybe I judged too quickly, who knows; I read these when they first came out so it's been a while!

The daemons are still such a cool concept, though. =)

[bironic]

They are interesting and adorable (sometimes) and are scratching an itch in my currently animal-free life that probably makes me even more fond of them than the narrative itself warrants.

I'm not sure yet where I stand on the second book -- am perhaps a third of the way through, if that, and it feels quite different so far, especially the baldness of the witches'-as-author's statements about the Church. I take your and Laura's responses as notes of caution!

[bironic]

Uh-oh! We'll see. The fact that Philip Pullman's website has a whole page called "What is Dust?" isn't promising.

The second book so far feels quite different from the first, and not only because it's largely outside Lyra's POV. Still, chugging along and enjoying being in the universe. I hope the religious debates and increasing moralizing don't end up pushing me out of the narrative the way they did as Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles progressed. I'm hopeful this will be different since (a) I knew going in that the books had a strong anti-(organized-)religion angle and (b) that is closer to my own opinions than Rice's views & struggles were.

[laurashapiro]

I'm glad you're still enjoying it. Yes, there are religious debates, boy howdy. I hope you get more out of them than I did.

BTW, my partner and I have resumed The Expanse on your recommendation. Just at ep 3 so far, but curious about what comes next!

[bironic]

Oh, nice! I hope it goes better for you the second time around. My favorite parts mostly involved the Canterbury/Donnager/Rocinante crew & their rapidly progressing plot. Noir hat guy could've been shoved out an airlock and the show wouldn't have suffered for it.

[laurashapiro]

You and I are as one on that. (:

[bironic]

:D Miller. I'd forgotten his name. If only that canonical airlock plot had gone differently, heh.

[mific]

I liked the Golden Compass books a lot, but it probably pays not to analyze the underlying stuff too deeply. Although I don't really mind Old Testament themes - myths are interesting, wherever they're from.

[bironic]

I'm going to keep that in mind if/when my brain starts pretzeling. I'm not very well versed (heh) in Christian mythology so it's entirely likely he'll lose me in the references and/or metaphysics at some point. Thankfully that is what online reviews and thinkpieces are for, afterwards!

[mific]

Oh, and in case you ever read Twilight fanfic, Minisinoo is an excellent writer. She used to have her own website but folded that up and her stuff's only on FF now.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4434193/1/Cowboys-Indians
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5204260/1/The-Star-Quilt (sequel to the above)
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4239601/1/Beauty-Shining-in-Company-with-the-Celestial-Forms
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4136682/1/This-is-My-Beloved-Son-in-Whom-I-Am-Well-Pleased
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4167451/1/Amputated-at-the-Neck

[bironic]

Oh, thank you! I've been afraid to dive in. The name Minisinoo sounds familiar - I wonder if I've read some of her stuff before.

[mific]

She's a Native American pro writer who also wrote extensive fanfic in x-men, then Harry Potter (fond of Cedric Diggory), and a little Twilight. She was drawn to Twilight by the Native American aspect, but writes Edward character pieces as well. She was ending her interest in fanfic around the Twilight phase, and disliked the Meyers Mormon-issue stuff. Her work tends to be character-driven and not tropey, gen or het with a bit of slash. Only short pieces in Twilight but some of her Harry Potter works are more epic.
I used to be in Twilight fandom when I first discovered fandom at all, so if you develop any fave characters let me know and I'll see what I can find to rec.

[bironic]

Cool; thanks for the background!

I've been afraid to dive in to Twilight fic, heh. I liked Carlisle -- or wanted to like him -- and was disappointed the movies and books didn't give us much about his history. Guessing there isn't much fic about him, either, but you never know. Other than that, I may be pretty non-choosy about pairings/moresomes, if you have favorites you'd like to recommend?

[mific]

My time as a twifan was so long ago I haven't kept any recs, but a quick search turned up these two writers, for Carlisle.

Gisellelx (Giselle-lx)
https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1877538/giselle-lx
[And a subset of these that the writer chose to upload to AO3:
http://archiveofourown.org/users/gisellelx/pseuds/gisellelx/works?fandom_id=289943]

This one also seems like a good writer - and esp. likes Carlisle:
Malianani
https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1564908/Malianani

BTW, this is a site to download multi-chapter etc. stories from ff.net as ebooks, instead of having to use their interface: https://fanficfare.appspot.com/

[grammarwoman]

Roar! \o/ I loved that show, and still feel responsible for its demise, because that's what happens to shows I enjoy that much.

[bironic]

Roaaaar! Same here! I was mad at Ally McBeal for ages for replacing it at the end of the summer. Did you have favorite characters or aspects of the show? I loved cheesy villain Longinus so much and still follow Sebastian Roche from time to time because of it. On rewatch I noticed for the first time how good-looking John St. Ryan was, too, whereas before I just laughed at the giant moustache. And Heath Ledger and Vera Farmiga were so young.

[grammarwoman]

Heath was so young, and so puppishly cute! I didn't even realize that was Vera Farmiga; that's why she looks so familiar. I loved her scrappy character. I also had a huge girlcrush on Brigid Brannagh from when she was on "Kindred: The Embraced" and was disappointed that she was only in one episode of Roar. But seriously, looking at the IMDB page, so many "Hey, it's that guy!" names! :)

[bironic]

Oh my gosh, did she play Shannon? *checks* She did. My Mary Sue hurt/comfort heart beat for that scene with her and Longinus in the woods.

[stultiloquentia]

I haven't read the Pullman trilogy in a long time, but I remember finding all three books equal parts frustrating and wonderful. Pullman wrote some of the most gorgeous imagery in YA fantasy; Pullman is also a smug, obnoxious ass. Also, he, uh, is not as goo a Milton scholar as he thinks he is.

HOWEVER, the books are totally worth reading to the end just because they make the BEST AU/CROSSOVER FODDER EVER!!1! and you will now have access to the pleasure of dreaming up daemon companions for every character you've ever written.

[stultiloquentia]

Not as goo a scholar. I'm not even going to edit that; I like the error too much.

[bironic]

:) :) I enjoyed your comment and keep hearing your voice in my head as I continue to read. It really feels more like an angel/devil-related action movie than literary criticism, but there's still enough plot and worldbuilding to enjoy the ride. Latest bit of pleasure: m/m angels.

& yes, it's nice to get more background on daemons for more thorough enjoyment and/or creation of fusion fics! Not a whole lot of rules explained as to why adults' daemons settle on one form over another (other than that many of the adults' daemons we meet make a lot of sense and/or illuminate parts of their characters), but maybe more is forthcoming as Lyra matures and Will enters her world.