#Ninth house is so good. It’s just SO good

[magpiesbones]

LOOK OKAY. IF YOU VIEW ALEX AS SAD ABOUT DARLINGTON (which I’m not even saying she isn’t!) THEN YOU ALSO HAVE YO UNDERSTAND SHE IS EQUALLY AND POSSIBLY MORE SAD ABOUT HELLIE. LIKE CMON.

it’s more and more interestingly fucked up than ‘my not quite boyfriend went to hell and I’m distraught in a pining way’ it’s like. It’s not ‘I’m a curse’ but ‘I’m a very dangerous weapon with free will’ and also ‘nobody can know I am a knife’ and ALSO being not exactly chill with but willing to do murder. Sometimes there’s worse things than death!! often in fact!!

I would actually put at least two thirds of Alex’s motivation at any point down to Hellie Thoughts and that last third is equally split between getting as Much out of a free ride as she can, getting A Justice, and Immediate Self Preservation.

[creekfiend]

I forgot that one of the first things Alex says to Darlington in ninth house is "it's your job to teach me, not to test me. they're not the same thing"

get their (The Education System's) ass Ms Bardugo!!!!!!

[cherisheachother]

hell bent plot summary

[mayasaura]

Actually. Looking at the chronology. The last time Gideon and Harrow talked alone before the pool scene, Gideon accused Harrow of being a jealous creep for telling her to stay away from Dulcinea.

A whole lot of stupifying things happened in between, but really, it wouldn't be surprising if her first panicked reaction to Harrow disrobing was to think Harrow was making a move on her. Relationship definitely hurtling toward something.

[livingasaghost]

spotify playlists for every mood ✨💿🦋

featuring mixes for books, vibes, seasons, and everything in between

highlights include:

brat girl summer / feeling feral / god tier / stop feeling! / throne of glass / rwrb // firstprince / jade city / the locked tomb [griddlehark] / what's my age again? / friendship can be romantic / though your heart is grieving / dark academia / sad girl machine / night drives / morgan matson summer / bergman brothers / a haunting / frost / taylor breakup playlist / it's charli babyyy / what the folk / dad rock

[liichkiing]

"That's the most romantic thing you'll ever do."

"If this goes as planned, River, I'll have a lifetime to prove otherwise."

... And they lived happily ever after.

[thecaduceusclay]

Reading Gideon the ninth when you have a PhD in homestuck is an indescribable feeling

[momochizoey]

Having just finished reading Harrow the Ninth: I can see why "Content Warning: Ianthe Tridentarius" is a popular tag

[kazz-brekker]

read ninth house for the first time during my first semester at college and now i am rereading it during my last semester…the progression of time sure is linear and ceaseless

[amphiptere]

how much time do I give a book before it’s ok to dnf it

[hedge-rambles]

I know this is a jokey post but I have Thoughts about this.

Basically, Nona speaks all languages because she understands meanings. And while names generally have some meaning behind them, they're not always accessible to native speakers. While other names, particularly in certain languages, may have a very literal meaning that any speaker would understand. And finally, when Nona speaks to people she tends to talk to them in their own languages.

So, for those of us reading the book in House (aka NZ English), "Kevin" will be rendered "Kevin", because though it means "homely birth" in the original Old Irish (Cóemgen), it doesn't mean that in English. Even if she was to translate it in another language, it would still be Kevin in English/House.

Born-in-the-morning meanwhile probably has a name from another language, which still retains its full meaning. Traditional Luo naming conventions are often a very literal piece of information about the child's birth, e.g. Onyango/Anyango are names which mean the child was born in the morning. So she'd say "Onyango" if she was speaking Luo, but then turn to someone who speaks House and go "oh yeah, my friend Born-in-the-morning".

So if she had a friend who was a House speaker called Daisy, we'd get that as "Daisy" in the text. But she's probably say "Pâquerette" or "Marguerite" to a French speaker.

i do love the theories about nona translating the names of her friends into their respective meanings (i.e. that "born in the morning" is not literally named born in the morning, that's just the etymological meaning of their name) but i also really really love the implication that if that's true then nona either (a) chooses specifically not to translate kevin's name or (b) the word "kevin" is, for one reason or another, entirely untranslatable

[guhhhhhhhhhhh]

I moved to a new place and it's right across the street from this bar that's like THE live music place in town, and they basically have shows every night of the week and my bedroom faces it and I also have an exterior door that is Not Soundproofed AT ALL and I think I'm going to loose my mind because last night. SUNDAY NIGHT. They had a heavy metal band going until 2am and I could not sleep and if the same thing happens again I'm going to just.... cry idfk. The worst part is that it's good music. Like right now they're playing some good live jazz. But like. It's loud enough that It's like it's just playing in the other room. Which is a pain in the ass.

And also there's an earwig problem in my room so I haven't been able to unpack or put things where they're supposed to go because of that and this morning one of them LITERALLY CRAWLED OUT FROM HNDER THE CAP OF MY ALLERGY PILL BOTTLE AS I WENT TO PICK IT UP and like somehow this place is better than our last place but the downsides. The downsides are Big and, naturally, are only affecting me :) because my roommate is a ridiculously heavy sleeper and so far has not encountered any bugs :))

[silasoctakiseron]

Every single one of you has managed to somehow be wildly, stunningly incorrect as to whether Silas Octakiseron would become a Lyctor in the absence of external pressure, which is sort of insane given the multiple chapters clearly stating the extent to which he Would Not Do That, including the chapter in which he literally dies in large part due to his staunch opposition to Doing That. But we can go over this again, that's fine. Hopefully this is in some way clarifying.

The first indication we're given regarding Silas's attitude toward Lyctorhood is when he's talking to Gideon in chapter 28, when he reveals that he's not just opposed to the Ninth achieving Lyctorhood, but that he thinks no one should, and that he himself has already abandoned the entire endeavor.

"In fact, I am unsure that any of us should become Lyctor. Since when was power goodness, or cleverness truth? I myself no longer wish to ascend, Gideon."

We can combine that with his specific breed of annoyingness in chapter 33 to deduce that whatever he saw in the only Lyctoral challenge he completed (implied to be Anastasia's, since he has the black key already when he takes Cytherea's off her) was enough to put him off the concept entirely:

"I won the first key to see what I was up against, and took possession of two more to preserve them from misuse," said Silas. "I hate this House. I despise the reduction of a holy temple to a maze and a puzzle. I took the keys so that you wouldn’t have them. Nor the Sixth, nor the Third."

Then, of course, we get to chapter 34, in which Silas literally dies because of how staunchly morally opposed he is to the truth of Lyctorhood as a concept and how convinced he is of the idea that Ianthe should be put down like a dog for having pursued it.

"So that is Lyctorhood," said Silas. He sounded quiet, almost fretful, lost in thought. Gideon thought—just for a moment—that she could see Colum Asht's throat working, that his pupils had dilated just a very, very little. "To walk with the dead forever … enormous power, recycled within you, from the ultimate sacrifice … to make yourself a tomb." "You understand, don't you?" said Ianthe. "Yes," said Silas. Colum closed his eyes and was still. "Yes," repeated Silas. "I understand fallibility … and fallibility is a terrible thing to understand. I understand that if the Emperor and King Undying came to me now and asked me why I was not a Lyctor, I would fall on my knees and beg his forgiveness, that any of us had ever failed this test. May I be burnt one atom at a time in the most silent hole in the most lightless part of space, Lord—Kindly Prince—should I ever contemplate betraying the compact you appointed between him, and you, and me." Colum opened his eyes again. "Silas—" he began. "I will forgive you eventually, Colum," said his purse-mouthed uncle, "for assuming I would have been prey to this temptation. Do you believe me?" "I want to," said his nephew fervently, with a thousand-yard stare and his missing finger twitching around his shield. "God help me, I want to."

[whatkindofnameisella]

girls when leigh bardugo

[hedge-rambles]

Harrow is exceptional but I'm pretty sure the average bone adept can raise a skeleton easy enough. Harrow's OP status is more the fact she can raise a skeleton from a single finger bone. Very few bone adepts can do as much with as little as Harrow can.

The standard Ninth cavalier wears panniers to carry around kilos of bone for their necro to use. Gideon doesn't have to though, because Harrow doesn't need that. She could conquer the average town with nothing but the contents of her pockets.

Fighting the average bone adept is "two skeletons burst out of a corpse and shamble towards you". Fighting Harrow is "weird looking goth kid throws some dice (?) on the floor, they transform into a battalion of skeleton soldiers moving in perfect lockstep before pulling you all apart".

Most adepts can do the standard tricks of their houses I think, but you're 100% right that we've mostly seen either the absolute cream of the crop: some of the most talented necros in the system (and also Judith) or fucking lyctors. Most are not nearly as good at them.

But even the Ninth had spirit callers who could bring Wake back for a few seconds. Abigail is special because while your average Fifth can call someone 400 years dead with their bones, Abigail could do it with one of their old socks. Dr Sex was dead for like 250-300 years when some Fifth academic called him back, which wasn't considered particularly noteworthy (merely rude, let the man rest).

BoE still make headway though because they use guerrilla tactics and specialist knowledge. They know not to fight head on if they can avoid it, and they know what can make it all go terribly wrong (e.g. sniping someone who's not the necro). And also because, well, outside the Dominicus system necromancers are a lot weaker. There's just so much less ambient thanergy to work with, hence the need for fresh deaths. Without those to power them, a necro on a thalergenic planet is just a nerd who gets out of breath tying their shoes.

The Nine Houses must be absolutely terrifying to fight.

And not just because their invasions start with a drop ship full of pimply 14 year olds inexplicably armed with zweihanders whose entire remit is to cause a mass casualty event for necromantic purposes...

We're mostly introduced to the schools of necromancy at the beginning of GTN, before we have broader context beyond "ooh, new magic system." But if you think about it in light of what we later learn about the Cohort:

Second House: they can literally drain your life force to power up their cavaliers. "It’s said they all die screaming"

Third House: that pile of corpses in no man's land? They're being used as a power up. Also, someone's just rearranged your face; your arse is on backwards.

Fourth House: that pile of corpses in no man's land? They're bombs now. And if you corner a Fourth House necro, they're a bomb too!

Fifth House: at best, they're the weird technicians for the Houses' horrifying blood and monolith based FTL system. At worst, it doesn't matter if you kill yourself to avoid capture or if you hold out under interrogation until you expire, they can still interrogate your ghost.

Sixth House: drop a cigarette or shed a hair on a clandestine operation? These guys now know your age, shoe size, and approximate location. They know what you had for breakfast. They know what you held in the last 12 hours.

Seventh House: that pile of corpses in no man's land? They're armed and marching on you now.

Eigth House: why is he glowing? WHY IS HE GLOWING?!

Ninth House: the guy next to you's bones just became an IED.

[2tarbell]

does twee have a job??? i know you mentioned her being pogue turned kook, im wondering if she’s kept a job she had as a pogue 🤭….

TWEE!READER who is a cart girl! she started the job right before her father came into money and wanted to keep it. mainly because she misses the pogue lifestyle and working makes her feel less guilty about now living in a nice house.

she receives a lot of tips because the players think she’s the cutest thing! rambunctious and teasing, having inside jokes with all the members. in her little cart girl uniform, tight polo and pleated skirt. her striped socks and maryjane’s. hair always done up in some cute style. she’s a natural born people pleaser and can happily stay afloat in the midst of these golf playing men. but only because she doesn’t entertain their foul intentions, too naive to assume anything bad.

but she actually met rafe after her shift ended, parking the cart back in its ‘home’ and gathering her things. he’s just leaving when he passes her by, having been in the carolina sun all day golfing with his boys. they’ve since left and he found himself lingering just a bit more, hoping to catch that cute cart girl he saw at the ninth hole.

he’s handsome, that’s the first thing she notices. and her mind races, hoping to maybe see him on her shift tomorrow. the daydreaming causes her to trip. thankfully, she caught herself before eating shit, not without attracting the attention of the cameron boy, though. his hands shooting out to her shoulders and steadying her.

“you good?”

she smiles sheepishly, smoothing down her hair. twee nods and looks down at her shoes, frowning at the scuff on the leather of her new shoes. goddamnit. when she looks up at him again, eyes squinting in the setting sun, rafe feels his own smile twitching at the corner of his lips.

“sorry— was just… thinking…” she trails off slightly.

rafe actually huffs out a laugh, and she becomes more embarrassed than before. her grimace makes his grin soften.

“don’t worry ‘bout it, yeah? s’all good.”

her little grin is adorable and rafe trails his eyes down her body when she turns to retrieve something from her cart. miles of smooth skin disappearing underneath that short skirt, he can just barely see the lace edge of her panties, until her dainty hand reaches back and pulls the skirt down a little.

“glad you caught me then—“

his eyes snap up back to hers when she turns around with what he assumes is her purse, smirking and crossing his arms. her playfulness isn’t lost on rafe and he finds himself reciprocating, flirting.

“oh, so it’s a habit of yours to trip into eligible bachelors?”

she giggles and rafe knows he’s in.

he sets his jaw, noticing her looking up at him through those dark lashes. she leans back against the cart and crosses one ankle over the other. rafe’s eyes are drawn to the movement and trail slowly up her legs. when he meets her eyes again, she has a knowing smile on her cute face.

“bet you, uh, get a lotta these dudes in trouble, huh?”

the way she cocks her head to the side, an innocent gleam in her eyes, makes his shorts feel just that much tighter. her voice is soft and unsure when she replies, “whaddaya mean?”

rafe shrugs, smiling lazily and scratching his ear. “pretty thing like you workin’ here… dunno, ‘m sure it makes it hard to focus on golf…”

her huff paired with an eye roll makes his chest swell. he can see the smile she’s biting back and chuckles, fishing his phone out of his pocket.

“y’know i— i gotta see you somewhere other than here, if you wanna…” he mumbles lowly, holding the device out.

“y’gonna get me fired, rafe…” she teases.

his name has never sounded so good. rafe places his other hand hand over his heart, grinning at the giggle she lets out at his dramatic gesture.

“i promise, kid, swear on m’life. just one date?”

he’s putting on the works, he knows; charming smirk and narrowing eyes. but, twee is just a girl, in every sense of the word. so when she walks off after giving him her number, hundred dollar tip the handsome boy said was ‘all f’you’ tucked into her bra strap and a promise to text him her work schedule, she can’t hide the smile growing on her face.

rafe can’t hide his either, shaking his head and stuffing his phone back in the pocket of his golf shorts. walking out to his truck, he can’t think of anything else but the apple hairclip she was wearing and that little grin that made his heart stutter.