#polstead

[geekynerfherder]

'The Golden Compass', 'The Subtle Knife', The Amber Spyglass' & 'La Belle Sauvage' by Takumi.

Cover art for the Japanese editions of the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, and book 1 of 'The Book Of Dust' trilogy written by Philip Pullman.

[transmasc-totoro]

I love Phillip Pullman but by far the WORST part of the post dark materials trilogy is Malcom falling in love with Lyra. Not to say I know him better than the author but my boy would NOT carnally desire the child 12 years his junior he rescued as an infant and taught as a professor. He simply would Not he would see her as a little sister

[lobeliamaximoff]

The Secret Commonwealth Fancast

Cameron Monaghan as Malcolm Polstead

[lordeasriel]

In The Secret Commonwealth Malcolm is constantly described as large, hefty, bulky, and so on. I am curious, just how large do you imagine Malcom being?

I mean, I imagine he is very tall and has broad shoulders, definitely has some strength going on about him. If I were to drawn him, I'd use rectangles and squares because that's sort of the vibes he gives me. He's definitely a heavy man, which also boggles my mind, because he is often described as agile or something like it, but I strongly disagree with that. I see him as Strength based kind of man, if that makes any sense hahah

Think maybe Toby Stephens in Black Sail (or even in And Then There Were None) kind of build. He's not very muscly? But very broad features, he definitely fills a room, as we see him do many times in TSC (and he's very aware of it and uncomfortable about it). He's the very opposite of lanky, I think. He's definitely a large man imo

[rjalker]

so is there a third book in The Book of Dust trilogy yet. Because if Malcolm Polstead doesn't get violently murdered I'm gonna be fucking pissed.

[ID: A digital drawing of a tan and brown werewolf holding a man by his throat with one clawed hand, and preparing to strike him with a long green knife in the other.

The man is clutching at the werewolf’s wrist with both hands, kicking his legs in an attempt to get free, his one visible eye wide and filled with a spiral to show his panic. He has red hair, and is wearing a tweed jacket and dark brown pants.

Behind them, a small dog with brown and tan fur to match the werewolf has an orange striped cat pinned to the ground by its neck with blood pooling out from the wound. The background is plain white. End ID.]

Longshadow is for killing pedophiles

[richmond-rex]

Who should be the King of England? That is the question this elaborate medieval diagram dares to answer. Created during the War of the Roses, when the Houses of Lancaster and York were engaged in a bitter fight for the English throne, this multi-page chart enlivened with bright colors and gold leaf lands emphatically on Edward IV and the House of York. With efficiency and bravado, it places Edward within world history, tracing his lineage back to Adam and Eve and linking him to the great rulers of history including King David, Alexander the Great, King Arthur, and William the Conqueror. How could Henry VI, Edward’s bitter rival, possibly compete?

[alethiosr]

The Grades of Separation

The Grades of Separation is an idea I thought of a while ago and thought I might as well share. It is numbered from 0 to 4, with 0 being full unity between human and daemon and 4 being total separation. This concept was originally just for the development of my own daemon philosophy, daemointus, but I see no reason why it can't be used by fans of His Dark Materials or by daemians if one so chooses.

Grade 0: Complete or near-complete unity between human and daemon, characterized by a lack of knowledge or serious acknowledgment of one's daemon. Communication or projection incredibly unlikely. Most common grade in our world.

Grade 1: Slight separation between human and daemon, but little to no outer-body presentation. Characterized by an awareness of one's daemon and some level of autonomy, but one may not identify their daemon as such. If the daemon is properly identified, they may be given a name or their species identified if settled. Communication may be possible but unlikely.

Grade 2: Significant separation between human and daemon, but link still intact. Daemon is entirely outside of human's physical body with their own set of subtle bodies and is fully autonomous and sapient with their own personality, wants, and needs. Communication is almost guaranteed at this grade. Daemon may be observed by their human and those capable of seeing subtle substance. This is the most common grade seen in His Dark Materials.

Grade 3: Slightly greater separation between human and daemon than Grade 2 with link still intact but loosened significantly. Daemon can travel away from their human without causing harm or suffering, and is able to keep their subtle bodies sustained separately from their human. The witches from His Dark Materials, along with Lyra Silvertongue, Will Parry, Malcolm Polstead, and Anthony Hassall are all examples of this grade.

Grade 4: Total separation between human and daemon, usually resulting in death. This usually happens due to the practice of intercision, but brute force has also been referenced as causing this separation. Those who survive this separation usually suffer greatly as a result of such severe separation, though exactly why isn't clear. Both human and daemon seem to appear lifeless and apathetic, and in the Subtle Knife a big point is made about them being fearless and therefore making terrifying soldiers.

Grades 3 and 4 are noticeably close, with both being achieved through forceful separation in some way or another. The only noticeable difference as that all cases of Grade 3 separation is willful on at least one side, while there's no evidence of this for Grade 4 separation that doesn't involve intercision.

Advancement in grades isn't linear either. Will Parry, for example, jumped from Grade 0 to Grade 3 instantly. And most cases of Grade 4 do not go through Grade 3 first. Regression from Grade 1 to Grade 0 is probably also possible, though beyond that it's hard to imagine regression as being possible.

If there's anything I missed or could add to this idea please let me know, input is always grealy appreciated.

[ssmhhh]

lmao the fact that he was Will Parry in the national theatre stage adaptation of hdm makes this even more satisfying 🥲

It’s giving malcolm polstead 💀

[now-that-i-saw-you]

11 years old Malcolm Polstead was one of the most charming characters in the hdm universe it's too bad Pullman wrote the secrert commonwealth

[liarbelacqua]

Title: From Eden Rating: T/M  Characters: [Lyra Silvertongue/Will Parry], Pantalaimon, Kirjava, Elaine Parry, Mary Malone, Malcolm Polstead, Serafina Pekkala, Iorek Byrnison Words: 1088541 Chapters: 29/29 Summary:

“Maybe it means nothing. It just is.”

“Everything means something,” Lyra said severely. “We just have to figure out how to read it.” (Lyra’s Oxford, pg 6)

The prophecy contained more than anybody was told. As both Lyra and Will work towards reuniting, they find themselves carried willingly towards that hidden destiny.

Notes: Adult!Lyra & Will reunion fic, set after TAS. This was written before The Secret Commonwealth was published and was based on my (apparently idealistic) TSC speculations, as guessed from interview tidbits, The Lantern Slides, Lyra’s Oxford, La Belle Sauvage, and Once Upon a Time in the North. Basically it’s a reunion fic written for the purpose of giving Will & Lyra what they deserve (happiness!!!! family!! peace!). Also Malcolm Polstead has STRICTLY big brother vibes here. Idk what that Mal/Lyra mess was in TSC but it ain’t here 😌 chapter 1

[demongemz]

welcome to london, LORD ASRIEL BELACQUA! did anyone ever tell you that you look just like JAMES MCAVOY? well, no matter, we hear that you are 43 and working as a/an EXPLORER. we also hear that you currently HAVE your memories from HIS DARK MATERIALS and have a tendency to be ADVENTUROUS as well as VINDICTIVE.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Name: Asriel Belacqua Relatives: Marisa Coulter(Lover); Lyra Silvertongue (daughter) Occupation: Explorer Birthday: December 16th Age: 43 Sexual Orientation: Bisexual Moral Alignment: Chaotic Evil Memory Status: Intact Dæmon: Stelmaria a snow leopard

BACKGROUND

Lord Asriel was a highly respected member of the Brytish aristocracy. He was an explorer and did work in experimental theology, through which he acquired much power, land, and money. This all changed when he had an affair with Marisa Coulter which resulted in a child in 1985. Asriel hid the child in one of his own estates, trusting her to Ma Costa and Marisa pretended the baby had died. However, Marisa's husband, Edward Coulter, came after Asriel. He turned the cottage looking for the baby before starting towards the main estate. Just as he was about to open the closet where Ma Costa was hiding with Lyra, Asriel challenged Edward to a duel. Edward had a gun which he shot, missing, Asriel took it off him before turning it on Edward, shooting and killing him. However, as a consequence, Asriel was taken to court and subsequently lost most of his money and property and, along with it, his power for killing a man as, even in self-defense, Edward was revenging his wife. With these events, she was abandoned by her mother, and her father wasn't allowed to go within 50 miles of her so Lyra was eventually sent to a convent by the court, However, since Asriel despised the Holy Church, he would take Lyra to Jordan College with him instead in 1986. Malcolm Polstead, who worked at The Trout Inn, opposite the priory in which Lyra was being kept, took Lyra in his canoe to Lord Asriel who was in London during the floods. At Jordan, she was raised by Lord Asriel as his niece. Asriel, pretending to go and visit the King of Lapland, went on an expedition to the North in which he took photograms of Dust and of Cittàgazze, a city in another world, seen through the Aurora. It would be here where he would also meet the explorer known as Stanislaus Grumman. When he returned to his alma mater to present his findings to his fellow scholars at Jordan in the Retiring Room, Dr Carne, the Master of Jordan College, attempted to kill him by poisoning a bottle of Tokay when no one was around. Lyra, who ended up hiding in the wardrobe in the room to avoid getting caught while exploring, saved Asriel's life by warning him not to drink it. Asriel ordered Lyra to go back into the wardrobe, and presented his findings to the scholars, including showing them what they took as Stanislaus's skull. He asked the scholars for money and, after being shocked by his photograms of Dust and of the Aurora, they granted him the funds. More can be found here

[zippocreed501]

The 1827 murder of Maria Marten - known as the Red Barn Murder - was, as so many crimes and criminals of the time, immortalised in a Staffordshire porcelain figurine. This was produced by the Obadiah Sherratt factory in 1870.

Maria was shot dead by her lover William Corder in Polstead, Surrey.

A year later, Maria's stepmother claimed to have had dreams of the young woman's murder and burial beneath the Red Barn. The bereaved father discovered his daughter's body after digging up the barn floor.

Constables Ayres and Lee tracked Corder to a boarding house in London. He was arrested and later found guilty. His execution on the 11th of August 1828, drew crowds of over 7,000 people.

At the dissection of Corder's remains, a galvanised battery was used on the body in a demonstration for the gathered medical students. Later, surgeon George Creed removed Corder's skin, tanned it and then bound an account of the murder in the flesh of the dead man.

[dude1818]

Just starting The Secret Commonwealth, and both the blurb and the opening pages focus heavily on the trip Lyra and Will took to hades and her newfound ability to separate from Pan. That was a very cool sequence in the first trilogy and some important things happened, but it's definitely not where I would expect a sequel to focus

Going through the dead guy's wallet. The ID card has his photo and a photo of his daemon. Amazing, of course it does

And here's Malcolm, excuse me, Dr Polstead. He reminds me a lot of the new tenure-track hire from when I was in grad school that none of the students wanted but kept trying to endear himself anyway

Just started reading the account of the mysterious desert in the East. The title of this book was referenced in La Belle Sauvage as the name of the fairy realm, and it seems like the desert also exists in the fairy realm. The addition of a fairy realm to this cosmology seems odd, but I suppose it could be a demiplane like hades was. Theoretically Malcolm could've traveled through a portal in the previous book, since that was before they were all closed, but the narrative felt very similar to how my D&D party has accessed the faewild in various campaigns

Oh yeah, next page confirms. It's the same kind of demiplane as hades, where daemons can't enter. Unlike the fairy realm, where they were able to bring their daemons too

I'm surprised that the Magisterium is still in power after the end of The Amber Spyglass. I suppose they had full power to prevent anyone on this plane from finding out God was dead

Oh my god, the book that Lyra's reading is their version of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

😲 Is Mrs. Lonsdale Alice? She is!

So this is a proper sequel to the first book. I was a little confused how this trilogy could straddle the original trilogy. And it also explicitly follows up on Lyra's Oxford, so I'm glad I read that

[lordeasriel]

thinking thoughts and will poulter would be a good Malcolm Polstead. He has The Vibes

[tasseomancer]

Roger: “I’ll go first.”

Will: “No, I will.”

Somewhere in Oxford. Malcolm Polstead’s ginger ass: “Lol”

[the-blorb-system]

Actually same,, you have a talent to put into words a lot of thoughts I personally have and Express it in a way I can never even though I sat on wording this previous ask for almost an hour. I guess my mind is just scrambled cause I talk about topics people don't want me to bring up so they hide most of the information.

Taking existence in already existing stories and tales, establishing yourself in it and twisting it to fit your vision.. It was roughly what i did for the majority of the time.

Omg the golden wish fish,, of the old fisherman and his cruel entitled wife.. you just gave me a vision into my childhood that I completely forgot about,, genuinely thank you I am going to shelf it for later pondering.

I was a kid who didn't have a lot of interests as a kid, aside of reading and Sitting in her own mind. I hated social interactions because I recognized I wasn't as them all, not to mention I couldn't really tell anyone about this unique imaginary friend of mine who would always be here for me and told me to keep him a secret.

So most of my adventures varied on existing tales like disney (that's how I came to know of alice's tale,, which became my 2th most favorite comfort because I found so many associations between her tale and my own life. I have a Google doc somewhere where I stated the exact associations and likenesses)

Or on some popular books I read as a kid, such as the secret garden (a place which existed in our innerworld for a time), a little princess, and little women. I always liked classical literature.

I also became a fan of multiple books that were our earliest alters after the original group, like nathan byrn from the half bad trilogy which was a very powerful protector and the somewhat physical manifestation of our nonverbality (still exist and appear even to this day), or malcolm polstead from the book of dust trilogy who was the first variation of our scouts, and lead with the curiosity only an 11 year old boy who ran from the law and discovered the world with his canoe can do (his traces disappeared, I can only assume he is fused but maybe Luna know more than I do about it).

Yes we had a group I personally call "the original group" (you could view it on SP). They were the first to become. The first Introjects. The first alters. After me and E. At least. They came from the media that became my ultimate #1 favorite comfort media which I derived my name from.

But the reason I never associated them with the media was because their stories, their background, their history and adventure, became so different from it that I believed I just made my own universe of it.

Like yeah brain I get I was severely bullied and ostracized at school and home also wasn't perfect, but why would a group of severely traumatized kids sent to a distant world to save it from destruction Help me in any way?? They're all way more unstable than me if we go to the low blow of comparing trauma :/

. . . Ok now that I think about it a moment more I guess I get why, beyond the "you're autistic and it was your comfort media and special interest".

That's actually something that I take a lot of interest in personally, and a project of mine.

Which I can explain if you want

- Digi

I completely understand that, actually. At least through the lens of my own experiences. Many of my fictive headmates especially are arguably way more trauma of a much more severe caliber than I do, but I think that's why I latched onto them enough for them to become alters.

Definitely because Special Interest type reasons, but also because, you know... if someone's been through worse than me it means they already know how to handle what I've been through, right? That was the thinking as a kid, at least. If you've had to patch a shattered leg so many times then helping me with the cut on my arm will be nothing. And there was probably an aspect of "if we have a caretaker or a protector modeled after someone the host is more likely to want to listen to when it's important, they'll be more effective at their job.

That's my understanding of it, in simpler terms, but I would be really interested to hear how that works for you!

Also, thank you for the compliment! I actually take a lot of pride in my phrasing, even though it's not always consistent. Sometimes I could regale you with the most eloquent of tales regarding the happenstances of my livelihood, and other times words stupid I want not that because what is happening, right? )=<

In any case I'm glad I've been able to express some concepts for you that aren't always easy to understand or put into words. I hope that's helped!

-Lizzy