#Mrs. Coulter

[clarabosswald]

HIS DARK MATERIALS | "Lyra and her Death" (season 3, episode 4) bonus:

[toxic-mothers-tourney]

Semifinals: Match 1

Marisa Coulter (His Dark Materials) vs. Cersei Lannister (ASOIAF/GOT)

Marisa Coulter

CW: nonconsensual medical experimentation, child death - she is intensely manipulative, even managing to leverage some influence over the goddamn church at times. she weaponizes her maternal relationship with her daughter in an effort to control her, and uses “mother’s love” as a way to justify her actions. notable shitty moments include sending magic spy drones after her daughter, torturing enemies for information on the whereabouts of her daughter, drugging her daughter into sleep for weeks to “keep her safe,” and kidnapping/overseeing experiments on other children that involve severing their connection to their souls. - Oh she’s terrible and so complicated. No qualms about doing evils to lots of children (luring poor children off the street to be kidnapped for a soul-splitting experiment that was likely to result in their deaths) But when she realizes the same thing is about to happen to her own child she snaps and stops the experiment. Her daughter hates her. She loves her daughter terribly but knows she is (rightly) hated. She��s allied with the evil church, not because of her beliefs but because the church is politically super powerful. Her daughter comes into her care later in the books and she drops everything to go hide away in the mountains with her daughter to keep her safe. But she also keeps her daughter drugged with a sleeping potion because she knows if her daughter wakes up she will run away. She loves her daughter but it’s in such an absolutely toxic way. I think she should win this whole bracket. - read more here

Cersei Lannister

CW: child death, sibling incest - Her actions killed her ENTIRE family and then some through her enabling her son. She never took responsibility for it either. - She had sex w her brother next to her sons corps - she dotes on her eldest son (the prince/king) and enables his vicious cruelty towards others. she is heavily critical of her younger son (an 8-year old) and constantly reprimands him for not obeying her every order and not acting as perfectly as she demands. she disrespects and demeans him constantly, and threatens people he cares about. she plots to have everyone around her murdered because she’s so paranoid about her kids getting killed; she is protective of them but she’s also unhinged and miserable to be around and she sucks the joy out of every room she walks into

mod notes: YEE HAW LET'S GET THIS THING ROLLING

[magiclilybean]

Mrs. Coulter: **exists**

Lord Asriel: **forgets how to act**

[trashfolk]

His Dark Materials is a good show, actually

[wouldtheybecomeafearavatar]

would marisa coulter from his dark materials become an avatar of the web?

[apologeticallymyself]

His Dark Materials

I'm currently watching His Dark Materials on Crave and one of the strong feelings I have about this show is sadness for Mrs. Coulter's Deamon... He's so sad and neglected and it breaks my heart! *I know it's part of her character, but I imagine it as a pet*

[dragontopaz]

Mrs. Coulter + 3x06

[joncronshawauthor]

The Most Iconic Mothers in Fantasy Literature

In the enchanting world of fantasy literature, where magic and mystery blend seamlessly, there lies a special breed of characters: mothers. These matriarchs of the mystical realms stand out not just for their maternal instincts, but also for their extraordinary abilities to juggle the fantastical with the familial. Let’s dive into the pages of fantasy and meet ten of the most iconic mother…

[who-canceled-roger-rabbit]

The weird irony of that Golden Compass movie no one but me* watched is how Lord Asriel clashes with his ex over her fanatical loyalty to a corrupt multinational cult, and yet to play said ex they got Nicole Kidman

* And apparently Seth MacFarlane, who referenced it in an American Dad episode

[abyssnia]

Now when you are still invested in Marisa and Ruth Wilson, do yourself a favor and watch the Affair. Ruth plays the leading role of Alison. The series is full of angst and romance. And don’t let the first episode traumatize you from not watching forwards. It’s going to be worth it and I promise you will cry for (with) her. 

[clarabosswald]

"If what you're saying is true, I am very sorry. BUT — "

[toxic-mothers-tourney]

Round 1: Match 2

Odalia Blight (The Owl House) vs. Marisa Coulter (His Dark Materials)

Odalia Blight

- She's literally guilt tripped and tried to control every aspect her kids lives as well forced one of them to dye her hair so it was the same as hers - Consistently put her own children in danger for the sake of money. Tried to kill her daughter’s girlfriend. Emotionally abused her husband by threatening to harm their kids if he didn’t do what she asked. Gets her daughter’s friends expelled from school because her daughter messed up a product launch. Terrible mom. - cringe - read more here

Marisa Coulter

CW: nonconsensual medical experimentation, child death - she is intensely manipulative, even managing to leverage some influence over the goddamn church at times. she weaponizes her maternal relationship with her daughter in an effort to control her, and uses “mother’s love” as a way to justify her actions. notable shitty moments include sending magic spy drones after her daughter, torturing enemies for information on the whereabouts of her daughter, drugging her daughter into sleep for weeks to “keep her safe,” and kidnapping/overseeing experiments on other children that involve severing their connection to their souls. - Oh she’s terrible and so complicated. No qualms about doing evils to lots of children (luring poor children off the street to be kidnapped for a soul-splitting experiment that was likely to result in their deaths) But when she realizes the same thing is about to happen to her own child she snaps and stops the experiment. Her daughter hates her. She loves her daughter terribly but knows she is (rightly) hated. She’s allied with the evil church, not because of her beliefs but because the church is politically super powerful. Her daughter comes into her care later in the books and she drops everything to go hide away in the mountains with her daughter to keep her safe. But she also keeps her daughter drugged with a sleeping potion because she knows if her daughter wakes up she will run away. She loves her daughter but it’s in such an absolutely toxic way. I think she should win this whole bracket. - read more here

mod notes: mrs. coulter terrified me as a kid. also 'she’s fine with her daughter being a lesbian…just as long as her gf’s not on wanted posters' that is so lan qiren of her. lmao.

[appretiartis]

Still trying to decide if I like the parallel between Mrs. Coulter walking on the ledge and talking about wanting to jump vs Lyra letting go and falling into the abyss

[littletayyswriting]

a choice to make

Title: a choice to make

Author: LittleTayy

Ratings: Mature

Characters: Marisa Coulter, Lord Asriel, Lyra Belacqua

Summary: Lyra Belacqua is three months old when Mrs. Coulter makes a choice.

AN: Is this good? Not really. But I couldn’t get it out of my head. Please, please heed the warnings. I hope you enjoy! Please leave a comment. :)

WARNING: This story contains thoughts and themes of filicide and graphic thoughts of child harm. If this may be triggering or distressing to you, please do not read. 

Read On: AO3

He wanted her to mother the baby. She could tell.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to necessarily. But every time she was near the babe it felt as if she didn’t know what to do. Marisa wasn’t used to not knowing and the more frustrated she got, the harder it all became.

Asriel just didn’t understand.

He didn’t spend any time with the babe; other than making sure she was happy and fed - by the gyptian woman that looked after her. He didn’t even do the feeding itself. Yet, whenever Marisa was there, he all but forced her to tend to the babe. She didn’t come here, to the Belacqua estate to be a mother.

Still though, she was drawn to the little thing. Lyra, though she rarely thought of the baby by name, was a cute squirmy little thing. She had grown in the three months since she’d entered the world and now she looked even more like Asriel than she had in the beginning. To Marisa, the babe looked like a perfect copy of her father.

Looking down at Lyra now, her little face red and squalling in discontent, Marisa felt the panic start to swell inside her. The Golden Monkey clutched at the crib bars in agitation. She scowled at him as she reached in to pick up the child. Lyra wiggled and squirmed, her little mouth opening wide as she cried, the sound getting louder and louder.

Marisa frowned, eyes wide as she tried to rock the child as she’d seen the gyptian woman do. Except, unlike the woman, she couldn’t seem to calm Lyra down. Her hands tightened as they held onto the baby, the urge to shake her into quietness welling up in her. But it only made Lyra cry more and harder - Asriel had dismissed the woman for the evening and now he was nowhere to be found either.

The Golden Monkey opened his ugly little mouth to speak, whether to soothe or berate, Marisa did not know and she did not give him time to voice his words. Instead, she lashed out with her foot, to kick him squarely across the chin. They gasped and whimpered in tandem, the daemon scuttling away to cling to the door frame. She ignored him.

“Hush, hush,” she whispered desperately to the child. Yet, the baby did not quiet and Marisa’s grip tightened once again as it squirmed against her harder. She wanted to shake it, to cover it’s mouth and stop it’s incessant squalling. She shouldn’t though. She couldn’t it.

She felt squirmy herself then, her skin overheating and her breathing labored. She couldn’t do this; she couldn’t be some kind of mother figure to this girl that Asriel was so determined to keep. She should’ve dashed the baby’s head the moment she realized the thing looked like Asriel. Instead, sentiment had taken hold of her and she’d let Asriel spirit the thing away like some thief in the night.

And he was a thief, Asriel had stolen so much from her…

Marisa shook her head, words I can’t, I can’t whispered through stuttered breath as she dumped the babe back into its crib. She wasn’t gentle or careful and it only made the wailing louder. How Asriel couldn’t hear the atrocious thing was beyond her.

Her hands gripped the bar as she stared down at the baby she’d birthed, seeing nothing but the proof of her sins and the damage of her wicked little daemon. It disgusted her. She didn't want to be it's mother. The thought flittered enticingly through her mind then; she could still get rid of it, here and now. No one knew about the baby. It would be so easy to pick up the nursing cushion on the rocking chair and smother it.

Crib-death was common enough. No one would think anything of it. Except…

Except, Asriel would know. And he would never forgive her. But maybe she could live with his hate, if it meant this little thing didn’t tear her life apart.

“Marisa!” Asriel’s voice boomed down the hallway, straining to be heard over the crying. She barely looked up from the little thing as Stelmaria and her lover charged into the room. “For Authority’s sake, woman, calm her!” Asriel said before he stopped to take in Marisa for a moment. He frowned.

Stelmaria spoke then. Cautious and steady. “Asriel,” she warned. She lifted her majestic head to Marisa then. “You should go Marisa,” Stelmaria told the woman and Marisa nodded.

She stepped away from the crib quickly, eyes on Stelmaria as Asriel scooped their daughter up and began to calm her down. The babe’s cries lessening in the comfort of her fathers arms. It made Marisa sneer.

She didn’t want to be a mother. Not now, not like this.

“You wanted to keep it, Asriel. I will not see the child again. Understand?” Marisa told him plainly, voice low. She kept her eyes on Asriel’s, to make sure he understood and though he scowled at her, he did not say a thing.

Marisa turned her back then, on her lover and her child and strode out of the nursery. The Golden Monkey gave one last pleading look at the occupants of the room before scampering after her. She’d made her choice and nothing was going to change that now.

[camushii1]

His dark materials spoilers out of context

[lifewithaview]

Anne-Marie Duff and Dafne Keen in His Dark Materials (2019) The Spies

S1E3

Lyra is rescued from the Gobblers by the gyptians that bring her to their boats. Meanwhile, Mrs. Coulter travels to the Jordan College with the Magisterium guards to press The Master of the Oxford College, Dr. Carne, to know where Lyra is and whether he has an alethiometer. When he refuses to answer the questions, she orders the guards to destroy the college. Her attitude is discussed at the Magisterium by Carlo Boreal and Pavel Rasek, since it has disrespected the Jordan College's scholastic sanctuary. Tony and Benjamin decide to go to Mrs. Coulter's apartment to rob her information about the missing kids. But something happens and Benjamin is captured by her.