#Abigail’s dad

[rocktheholygrail]

#murder family reunion

[genericb34ns]

[katakaluptastrophy]

What do the Fifth House actually do?

Sure, yes, ghosts and tradition and the Heart of the Emperor, and Watchers Over the River - but none of those things give you the kind of assets that mean you can dress your cavalier in a coat that "probably cost more than the Ninth House had in its coffers" for a dinner party.

It's made clear very early on that the Fifth are a power to be reckoned with. When they first receive the letter about the Lyctoral pilgrimage, Gideon assumes it would be on the Third or Fifth. Harrow, meanwhile, has frequently-repeated anxieties about the Ninth being subsumed by the Third or Fifth, to the point that she worries that the anniversary party invitation may be an attempt to wipe out the other Houses. Teacher describes the Fifth's relationship with the Fourth as "hegemonic". The Fifth loom so large in the cultural imagination, they even inform the name of the made up porn magazine that Gideon offers to Crux.

The links between the Third and the Fifth that both Gideon and Harrow make seem to reflect both the fact that these two Houses have particular power and influence, but also that they frequently cooperate. Judith writes about the close cooperation of the Second, Third, and Fifth, a relationship which becomes a source of tension as the scions seek to establish authority after the Fifth are murdered. Judith says:

“The Fifth are dead. I take authority for the Fifth. I say we need military intervention, and we need it right now. As the highest-ranked Cohort officer present, that decision falls to me.” “A Cohort captain,” said Naberius, “don’t rank higher than a Third official.” “I’m very much afraid that it does, Tern.” “Prince Tern, if you please,” said Ianthe.

Which makes it sound as though Abigail might technically have been considered the highest ranking person at Canaan House (likely because she was head of her House and not an heir in waiting like Judith or Coronabeth), and that following her death there is some question as to whether the Second or the Third should take control, but notably no suggestion that anyone else might.

We know what the Second do: they are the leaders of the Cohort and the Bureau, the military and intelligence that forms the core of imperial expansion. Most of the information that we get about the other Houses talks only about their cultural or ritual roles in the empire - we get very little in the way of gritty details of what happens outside of the Dominicus system.

We know a little bit about what the Third does - according to Tor they are cultural trendsetters and players in soft power, but the one detail we get in GTN itself is revealing: when Gideon imagines her glorious future in the Cohort, one of the assignments she considers boring is the prospect of being "in some foreign city babysitting some Third governor." Which makes it sound rather like the Second are conquering the planets and the Third are then running them. But the books are even lighter in details about what the Fifth do, beyond ghosts and manners.

However, there is one suggestive detail: an important topic in HTN is stele travel - the necromantic FTL used by the Nine Houses. And Mercymorn, in describing a stele, specifically states that Fifth House adepts are required for their construction. Which rather makes it sound like the Fifth have a monopoly on the manufacturer of the technology required for FTL travel. Now that in and of itself could be the basis of their enormous wealth - selling aerospace tech to an ever expansionist military is probably quite lucrative.

But there's another element of House imperialism that only gets mentioned in passing that doesn't seem to be entirely accounted for, which Judith describes in As Yet Unsent:

"Their other line of attack is the business contracts. They claim that the services asked of them by the Emperor were set down in lifetime contracts by previous generations, who assumed the contracts would be terminated upon the Emperor’s death."

There are obviously some unanswered questions about the imperialist project of the Nine Houses - both Augustine and Coronabeth question quite why it works the way it does - but from the above it sounds like in many respects it functions exactly as you would expect an empire to: as a vehicle for the exploitation of others' resources.

Perhaps the Cohort themselves administer these business contracts. Perhaps they fall under the purview of the Third House planetary governors. But if you're exporting resources from the living planets of your empire to the mostly desolate planets of the Dominicus system, you're going to need some FTL ships and a whole lot of bureaucracy.

And if there's one other detail that we get about the Fifth, it's that there is something significant about the political power of their bureaucracy. As Judith puts it: "Quinn himself is a Fifth House bureaucrat with all that entails."

Are the Second, Third, and Fifth so close and so powerful because they form the bedrock of the empire: the conquest, control, and exploitation of planets beyond the Dominicus system?

[multifandom--mess]

it still irks me that abigail was just born to die...doomed by the narrative and fucked over by all the men in her life

and then i think about how she was mirrored after claudia and how the both of them were saved/created for the sole purpose of being a manipulation tactic in a toxic relationship

justice for my girls 💔💔

[selfshrimping]

family photos are real awkward when your boyfriend and older brother have almost killed each other multiple times

[vigilantempathy]

Canonically, Hannibal Lecter is secretly housing both Abigail Hobbs AND Abel Gideon for much of Season 2. Can someone write the crackfic of those two being reluctant housemates?

Featuring Abigail quipping about how she thought skipping college (because her bio dad killed girls at every school she applied to) meant skipping roommate drama?

Or Abel Gideon trying to intimidate her out of leaving her wet towels on the bathroom floor by describing his serial murders and Abigail being like, “bitch, please, my first dad was the Minnesota Shrike, my second dad killed my first dad, and my third dad is the Chesapeake Ripper and the reason we have to share a bathroom.” And Abigail getting to leave her wet towels wherever she wants as a result?

Abigail passive-aggressively asking for second helpings of Gideon’s limbs when he pisses her off at the dinner table?

[simply-a-void]

Flint would have been a girl dad had it not been for the narrative. Send tweet.

[graves-doodles]

Something something everyone's happy AU like Micah stayed in jail and Dutch had an unfortunate heart attack or something idk

[garnishedcarnist]

My roman empire? How Abigail looks and acts so much more mature around Will in early season three compared to the scared child she is throughout the show- which is entirely because she's in Will's imagination. He's preserved her not as a broken and abused or traumatized girl, but as the young woman she would have grown into had he been given the chance to properly father her. Maybe that's why he lets her go; because he's seen her as all she could have been, and he knows he'll always have that version of her with him, wading in the stream.

[iicaru2]

so are we just gonna gloss over the fact that little four year old jack probably saw kierans decapitated body get slowly walked into camp for all to see, and then immediately got shot at and could have died if not for john grabbing him and putting him back behind cover. because of all the absolutely horrible things that literal toddler jack marston had to experience i think that mightve been one of the worst.

[redconejo]

John fucks around and finds out

[katakaluptastrophy]

OK, so we've discussed Jod's apparent faux concern when Harrow comes to him desperately begging to be protected from G1deon:

"Harrowhark, when was the last time you slept?"

We later learn that he asked G1deon to "fix or put down Harrow". He thought putting her in desperate circumstances would somehow activate her Lyctoral powers.

It all feels particularly awful because elsewhere we've seen him imagine Harrow as his daughter: "You’d make a hell of a daughter, Harrowhark."

And yes, this is Jod's love of being perceived as a nice man and his tendency to make everything about him. But also...

They’d all expected me to go nuts. A— kept saying, Are you sleeping, are you okay, are you taking any Class As, you know you can tell me.

I wasn’t trying to be a dick. I think I hadn’t slept for two days.

I wasn’t operating on a lot of food or sleep.

I’d stopped sleeping and I wasn’t eating much, I was keeping my body going just by fiddling with the processes.

That last one is John 1:20. You know, the chapter where Jod finally unlocks the full potential of what he can do (with just a little help from a planet and 10 billion deaths) and becomes god?

Jod sees himself in Harrow. And he knows being hounded and sleep deprived was what worked for him.

[allthemeniveloved]

Blood and Bonds

Summary: A special nerve was struck with John Marston as Micah questions Jack's paternity in front of the boy.

wc: 802

ao3 link

a/n: I cannot seem to consume enough "dad John Marston" content recently, and there certainly isn't enough anti-Micah Bell content out there either. Hope you enjoy!

The thick, swampy air hung heavy around Shady Bell, the remnants of the gang’s haphazard camp sprawling across the crumbling plantation. The cicadas droned in the distance, blending with the low murmurs of conversation from the gang members scattered about. John Marston leaned against the porch rail, his keen eyes watching Jack toddle around the yard with a stick in hand, pretending it was a sword.

Abigail was sitting on a weathered chair nearby, mending one of Jack’s shirts. She paused now and then to glance up, smiling as Jack swung his “weapon” at an invisible foe. For a moment, everything felt almost normal—almost peaceful.

Then Micah Bell swaggered out of the main house, his boots clunking heavily against the wooden steps. His face was twisted into its usual smug grin, the kind that made John’s fists itch.

“Well, ain’t this a sight,” Micah drawled, his voice cutting through the stillness. “Little Jack playin’ soldier, Ma sittin’ pretty, and John watchin’ over ’em like a good little lapdog.”

John’s body stiffened, but he kept his gaze on Jack, refusing to rise to Micah’s bait. “What do you want, Bell?”

Micah ignored the question, instead stepping down into the yard. He walked in a slow circle, his boots kicking up dust as he approached Jack. The boy froze, clutching his stick tightly as he looked up at the unfamiliar man.

“Cute kid,” Micah said, his tone dripping with mockery. “But y’know, John, I can’t help but notice… he don’t look much like you.”

Abigail’s head snapped up, her eyes narrowing into a glare. “Don’t you start, Micah.”

John finally turned, his jaw clenched. “You best watch your mouth.”

But Micah wasn’t done. He crouched down near Jack, his grin growing meaner. “Hey there, little fella. You sure your Pa’s really your Pa? Or is it just what your ma wants everyone to believe?”

Jack tilted his head, confused by his words, but Abigail was already on her feet, fury blazing in her eyes. “You leave my boy alone, Micah!”

John moved faster than a rattlesnake, grabbing Micah by the collar and slamming him against the side of the house. The stick Jack had been holding clattered to the ground as the boy scurried back toward his mother.

“You got somethin’ to say about my family?�� John growled, his voice low and lethal. “You say it to my face, not to my boy.”

Micah chuckled, though his eyes flickered with unease. “Easy there, cowboy. Just pokin’ fun. Didn’t mean nothin’ by it.”

John shoved him back against the house one last time before letting go. Micah stumbled but quickly regained his footing, his grin returning, though it lacked its usual confidence. “That’s the only warning you’re gettin’. Next time, you’re not walking out of here.” John warned, his hand hovering over his holster.

Micah straightened, brushing the dust off his jacket, though his grin was noticeably smaller. “Touchy, touchy,” he muttered, taking a step back. “Fine, Marston. I’ll leave you to your happy little family.”

“Get lost, Micah,” Abigail snapped, pulling Jack close as the boy clung to her skirts.

Micah tipped his hat, his smirk creeping back as he retreated toward the house. “Don’t let me interrupt your picture-perfect life.”

John stood there, his fists clenched and his chest heaving, until Micah disappeared inside. Only then did he turn back to his family, his features softening as he crouched down in front of Jack.

“You alright, buddy?” he asked, brushing a hand over his son’s hair.

Jack nodded, though his wide eyes betrayed his unease. “Who was that man, Pa? He’s scary.”

John swallowed hard, guilt pricking at the edges of his mind. He pulled Jack into a tight hug, his voice soft but firm. “He’s nobody you need to worry about, son. I ain’t gonna let anyone hurt you.”

When he stood, Abigail was watching him with a mixture of gratitude and lingering anger. “You didn’t have to let him get under your skin like that,” she said quietly.

John sighed, running a hand through his hair. “He’s been lookin’ for a fight since day one. But nobody’s gonna stand there and talk about my boy like that. Not him, not anyone.”

Abigail nodded, her lips pressing into a thin line. She reached out, placing a hand on his arm. “We’ll get out of here someday, John. Away from all of this.”

John glanced toward the dilapidated plantation house, shadows flickering behind the shattered windows. “Someday,” he echoed, though the weight in his voice betrayed his doubt.

For now, all he could do was keep them safe—protect his family from the wolves circling closer every day. And no matter what it took, John Marston wasn’t going to let anyone tear apart the fragile peace he’d fought so hard to build.

꧁✰꧂꧁✰꧂꧁✰꧂꧁✰꧂꧁✰꧂꧁✰꧂꧁✰

[neitherofusideal]

Happy Father's Day, Murder Dads! ❤️‍🩹

[sojutrait]

just hitched !!!!