There is definitely some His Dark Materials (hey, the new show seems to be doing a decent job of adaptation! I was so nervous) references in there.

Is the wrist scar reference from the series and I've forgotten it or is this from something else?

Hm, the wrist scars don't remind me of anything in particular. He later clarifies that the scars make out the letters HJKL around his wrist - so maybe it's just a gag for that reason.

That is probably right, found this [1] comment where he explains it. I thought the torus/ice stuff was a Jemisin reference!

[1] https://www.metafilter.com/166166/Og-to-til-javanissen#69855...