#Tamsyn Muir never change

[yurithusiast]

Harrow The Ninth chapter 21 out of context:

The S was drawn by me on my phone using my index finger 🫶🏻

[billyshakesp]

How Tamsyn Muir Uses Information

I've been trying to pinpoint exactly why I've been so obsessed with The Locked Tomb for the better part of a year by now, and I think I've finally been able to draw some useful conclusions. Here's my analysis of Tamsyn Muir's writing, and, specifically, how Muir uses information to drive a plot.

For me, and for most fiction writers, one of the most critical elements which drives the plot of a story is the information you choose to give to the reader, and the information you choose to withhold. It is my opinion that no one uses (and arguably misuses) information as beautifully as Muir does. Muir is surgical both in the way she delivers information to the reader, and the way she fails to deliver information to the reader. Most writers aim to feed the readers information about the story, bit by bit, letting the reader finish the picture. Muir uses this idea, but her writing is so lush and so sharp is that the information she gives us is distorted almost beyond recognition, but just coherent enough that the reader can guess at the bigger picture. This method of delivery persists from the inciting incident, basically up until the climax.

By the climax, we, the readers, have recieved just enough information to guess at the direction of the story, but we recieve so little information that we are still scrambling for more. It is at this point where Muir finally reveals one or two critical pieces of information, and when she does, the true stakes of the conflict hit the reader with, as Muir would put it, the inexorable weight of a gravity collapse. The truth is that Muir has been building suspense for an entire novel, but it's hard for the reader to conceptualise truly how dire the situation for the characters is because we have been left in the dark. We were crawling at a snail's pace, and so we didn't sense the danger until we stood before the precipice.

I was going to include specific examples of what I've just described, but I changed my mind, and I'll explain:

If you've read The Locked Tomb, you know what I'm talking about (my heart shall never be whole again).

If you haven't read The Locked Tomb, read it! It is lush, dark, vivacious, and many other adjectives which make it unclear whether I'm describing a book or a person.

Ahem. Anyway. TazMuir, I love your writing, and Alecto the Ninth will be my end, as swift and sure as the hammer to the oxygen-sealant machine of my childhood.

[paladinbaby]

running home

tamsyn muir / plainwater: essays and poetry, anne carson / camp damascus, @drchucktingle / @grasslandgirl / temporary job, minnie bruce pratt / the stream of life, clarice lispector / mirror traps, hera lindsay bird / our curious position, charles bukowski / @heavensghost / @toli-a

[Image Description: Ten images of text.

1: Cream text on a dark brown background. “You were so afraid she might touch you. You were so afraid anyone might touch you. You had always been afraid of anyone touching you, and had not known your longing flinch was so obvious to those who tried it.”

2: “”I suppose you do love me, in your way,” I said to him one night close to dawn when we lay on the narrow bed. “And how else should I love you-in your way?” he asked. I am still thinking about that.”

3: A photo of a page of a book. “I’ve been plodding about through this journey like a disembodied spirit: no family, friends or community left to remind me I actually exist. I was starting to think that I might’ve just disappeared completely, a phantom in some endless loop of unfinished business.

But I’m not a ghost, and someone who knows that has finally caught sight of me. Whether or not I fully recognise him is inconsequential.”

4: “people notice and people care and they’ll help if you let them. (will you let them? will they try to help, next time? what id, one day, they don’t try?)”

5: “Leaving again. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be / grieving. The particulars of place lodged in me, / like this room I lived in for eleven days, / how I learned the way the sun laid its palm / over the side window in the morning, heavy / light, how I’ll never be held in that hand again.”

6: “I’m restless and harsh and / despairing. Although I do have / love inside me. I just don’t know / how to use love. Sometimes it / tears at my flesh, like barbs.”

7: “there is something wrong with you / there is something wrong with you that is also wrong with me” There is a lot of space between the two lines and they’re both highlighted in blue.

8: Black text on a pale green background. “I think of myself forever sitting upon the edge of the bed”

9: A photo of bright green bushes in the woods. A white subtitle at the bottom reads “You still have time to change”

10: “What’s that quote? There are only two kinds of stories: a man goes on a journey, or a stranger comes to town.” End ID.]

[asexualbookbird]

I didn't complete my 24 in 2024 list, but that's okay. I read a lot of short books and that's okay. I tried something new and wrote a small blurb in a draft after finishing it, instead of cobbling together feelings from what I remembered throughout the month, and I liked that a lot. I'll continue to do that, it made this a lot easier. Officially gave up on Ga'Hoole, and don't feel guilty about it. There are better books in the world and I will find them. That is a threat.

The Screaming Stair Case by Jonathan Stroud ⭐⭐½ - I want to watch the tv show, and I always feel weird doing that before reading the book. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't another Jackaby. I will not delete my blog over it, but it was. Not great. Fine. Fun at times. Would be more fun if the author didn't hate fat people so much. A pet peeve of mine is when the main character is a girl but the series is named after the main boy in her life. Icky. Not the worst, but I'm not sure I want to continue the series. The audio narrator was Delightful.

The Shattering by Kathryn Lasky ⭐⭐ - GaHoole book five. I know I said at the start of the year I'd read what I owned, but I'm no longer having fun so this will be the last for me. I'd rather be reading Animorphs. The owls can't save it for me, I'm sorry. Still counting it towards my yearly list though.

I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons ⭐- by Peter S Beagle This was trying to be a T Kingfisher novel but couldn't figure out the right balance between humor and devastation and how it fits into a small amount of words. It tried to be a Terry Pratchett novel but couldn't figure out what satire was. Disappointing considering I was hyped for it when it was announced. Dragons eventually showed up, but it was too late for them to save it.

A Psalm for the Wildbuilt by Becky Chambers ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - reread for book club! Still adore it! This time around I was able to pinpoint WHY I adored it! It's because I too feel Aimless and Without A Purpose. So. Ouchie. It's also helping me figure out what I want out of a "cosy" novel (or novella). Internal personal conflict! I would still do anything for Mosscap.

A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - reread for book club! Once again, Becky Chambers has flayed me open and picked apart my soul! Reading Monk & Robot is like sitting down and being given a cup of tea while I cry my heart out.

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - "Is this what it means to lose someone? The pain never goes away, it just gets buried?" I think this ending hit me hard for different reasons than most people are going wild for. It was Fine. Not mad I read it, but don't see myself ever wanting to reread it. I like the idea of the library as a living thing and a character itself, but there were a few plot points that just seemed to be brushed aside.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I needed a safe tragedy I knew the end of and this did it. First time I actually shed tears over these words, but I needed it. It was fun to see and note the pieces that were laid out for later books, and I wonder, knowing some teasers we've gotten for Alecto, what TMuir means by Gideon wishing she could marry her sword.....

I don't have 2025 reading goals at this moment. Maybe that will change. It will probably change. I mean, there's the Usual, read the books I own, dangit, but that seems so. Boring. Typical. Everyone's doing that. Let me be ~Different~. I have a few fiber arts projects I'd like to do and finish, and I'd like to finish the sewing projects I started if only so I can pack all that up and put it away for a while. We're still hoping to move, so paring down my book collection is still an ongoing endeavor, and I do have a couple of art pieces I'd at the very least like to get sketched out. I want 2025 to be slow. I want 2025 to be quiet. I want 2025 to be kind. That's all I ask of it. Be kind.

[ravenqueensspecialboi]

Participating in @batmanisagatewaydrug’s 2025 book bingo! I’ve got some books that I’ll be finishing and adding by the end of the week (which I’ll list under a read more), but I figured I’d at least mark down my first square, “Read and make a recipe”!

My sister in law gave me the Stardew Valley cookbook for Christmas and I made the cheesy cauliflower recipe from it! I didn’t get a picture but man was it tasty, I’m definitely going to make it again!

Other books I will be planning on reading this year include:

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (Literary Fiction)

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty (Short story collection)

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (Sequel) [Rereading as part of a Locked Tomb group read]

Eragon by Christopher Paolini (Reread a childhood favorite)

Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke (20th Century Speculative Fiction) [Rereading from a class I took in college]

A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher (Fantasy)

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (Published before 1950)

The Day of the Door by Laurel Hightower (Indie publisher)

Saga Omnibus volume 1 (Graphic novel, comic book, or manga) [Reread]

(Animal on the cover) still deciding

(Set in a country you’ve never visited) still deciding

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (Science Fiction) [Reread]

Mistress of Bones by Maria Z. Medina (2025 debut author)

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher (Memoir)

(Read a zine and make a zine) still deciding

It Came From The Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror (Essay collection)

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane (2024 award winner)

Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton (Nonfiction: learning something new)

The Will to Change by Bell Hooks (Social justice and activism)

Go Luck Yourself by Sara Raasch (Romance novel)

Leech by Hiron Ennes (Horror)

Blood and Gold by Anne Rice (Published in the aughts)

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (Historical fiction)

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell (Bookseller/librarian rec)

[memesguilding]

nona the ninth quotes - day one tamsyn muir i love you and i will never pressure you but if alecto the ninth doesn't come out soon i am going to explode. change pronouns and names as needed.

this time will be the time we get it right.

we just wanted to save you. you were so sick.

i still love you.

do you know who i am yet?

i never could help giving the girls what they wanted.

if they want her early, want can be their master.

she always made that mistake.

[name], this is sounding perilously like giving up.

this is [group] who don't give a fuck.

i wouldn't have called them too generous with fucks before.

[name]'s dead, and i don't give a fuck either.

you seem to have had... a big shock.

they wanted to see me naked. it was a sex thing.

you shouldn't always get whatever you want.

[name] isn't our friend right now.

i could never stop you from loving anything. i don't have the right.

so do i have the wrong kind of body, or the wrong kind of soul?

is there anything you're not telling me?

i trust them. they will not betray us.

i wanted to stop you hurting.

you're on amphetamines. you are on coke. you are on amphetamines and coke.

let's bloody face it, i'd gone weird.

[256kbps]

9 books I'm reading in 2025:

I was tagged by @nanthegirl and @cyberstudious to post 9 books I want to read in 2025! Most of my TBR is study-related/a niche scientific text, so I tried to pick a list that wasn't super weird lmao

A good number of these are books I started reading/rereading last year but never finished 😭

Powerhouse, Greg Wells

Change Maker, John Berardi

Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir

The Witcher: The Last Wish, Andrzej Sapkowski

Read Write Own, Chris Dixon

The Organized Mind, Daniel J. Levitin

On the Edge, Nate Silver

Built to Move, Kelly Starrett and Juliet Starrett

Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behaviour, Leonard Mlodinow

Thank you for tagging me!! <3 I'll tag @bagalois, @catedemia, @empirestudy, @o2studies, @duskofastraeus and anyone else who wants to share their TBRs!

[eloquentspeeches]

book recommendation tag game!

rules: recommend as many books as you like. please include genre and some basic information on it (either your words or a copy+paste synopsis). feel free to include cover art, a personal review, trigger warnings, and anything else! just don’t spoil the book!

tagged by @dekarios!!! thank you for the tag I'm usually too busy and or shy to randomly talk about things but here I am. I'm putting it all under a read more because million bajillion words

American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett

Some places are too good to be true. Under a pink moon, there is a perfect little town not found on any map. In that town, there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses, houses that conceal the strangest things. After a couple years of hard traveling, ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother's home in Wink, New Mexico. And the closer Mona gets to her mother's past, the more she understands that the people of Wink are very, very different ...

this is sincerely my favorite book ever. i bought it from a sci-fi only bookstore that i visited once and that closed down shortly after. it's got horror. it's got sci-fi. it's got eldritch sci-fi horror set in a small town. i re-read this book almost every year and i still find new details i missed.

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. This saga dares to ask a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails? Mistborn: The Final Empire — Kelsier, a brilliant thief has turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler as the mark. Kel's plan is the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into the fold. But she will have to learn to trust if she is to master powers of which she never dreamed.

i can only recommend the first triology of this series - final empire, the well of ascension and the hero of ages - since i haven't read the other books from this world. definitely worth the read, this book changed my brain chemistry when i first read it in high school.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three half brothers in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir. Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment. Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the specter of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor. All the while, he is alone, and trying to find even a single friend . . . and hoping for the possibility of romance, yet also vigilant against the unseen enemies that threaten him, lest he lose his throne–or his life.

if you like complicated political court drama!!! then oh boy this is the book for you!!! my cousin made me read this book because complicated political court dramas are her specialty and she was not wrong. this is a banger.

gideon the ninth by tamsyn muir

The Emperor needs necromancers. The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman. Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead nonsense. Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as arcane revenants. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy. Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service. Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will be become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon’s sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die. Of course, some things are better left dead.

if you follow my blog at all then you know i'm like a hardcore fan of TLT. i love this book series. it's such a good read. this is one of three with a fourth on the way. please read it. pelase.

bullet train by kōtarō isaka

​Kimura’s young son is in a coma thanks to the Prince, and Kimura has tracked him onto a bullet train heading from Tokyo to Morioka to exact his revenge. But Kimura soon discovers that they are not the only dangerous passengers on board. Satoshi—the Prince—looks like an innocent schoolboy but is really a stylish and devious assassin. Risk fuels him, as does a good philosophical debate, such as questioning: Is killing really wrong? Nanao, nicknamed Ladybug, the self-proclaimed “unluckiest assassin in the world,” is put on the bullet train by his boss, a mysterious young woman called Maria, to steal a suitcase full of money and get off at the first stop. The lethal duo of Tangerine and Lemon are also traveling to Morioka, and the suitcase leads others to show their hands. Why are they all on the same train, and who will make it off alive?

okay i saved bullet train for last solely because. i didn't like. the book. as much as i really wanted to like the book. BUT i really do like isaka's writing and i think reading the book and watching the movie is the way to go to really appreciate what's going on in Bullet Train. that's my personal opinion.

[g1deonthefirst]

lyctorhood

positive opinion ask meme: see i actually love unhealthy codependent dynamics and characters dying for each other and love-as-consumption and love-as-change so on a narrative level i love lyctorhood. ESPECIALLY g1deon and pyrrha's accidental compartmentalization. the horror of g1deon looking in the mirror and seeing his dead best friend/lover's eyes in his face -> the horror of pyrrha looking in the mirror and seeing g1deon's face. pyrrha in his body for 10,000 years like does she even fully remember what it was like to be in her own? what it was like to be her? the two of them picking up each other's traits until they're as much each other as they are themselves. genuinely so hot to me.

and ofc i love regular lyctorhood too. the 10,000 years of guilt and grief. 10,000 years of forgetting, of losing the person that you once were, of laughing with the laugh of the loved one you killed. not to mention serving a god who wants you to treat him like he's your buddy but he never really can be just your buddy because he's for all intents and purposes your creator and could destroy you even more easily than he made you. tamsyn muir REALLY went off with lyctors

[thosearentcrimes]

ok so i promised to start poasting more book reports soon and i swear i was gonna but my brain ceases to function recreationally once you get into like 30+ degrees celsius and it has literally been that temperature even at night most of this week please help

Read Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth, and Nona the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir. Very good books. Fun time. What if Catholicism were Homestuck? Well, apparently, if the writing is good enough, and there's lesbians, it would be a fun and interesting book series? I wouldn't have thought so either initially.

More seriously, though, they're very good books, and remain good despite substantial changes to the narrative format over the course of the books. I will say, I did not particularly like the interstitial narratives in Nona. This is mostly because I think referring to present-day (more or less) Earth in SFF is a silly move that is sort of pointless by definition. If you've convinced your audience to care about your silly make-believe world, then talking about Earth is an obtrusive diversion, and if you haven't, then you're dead in the water anyway. I appreciate it characterizes John a bit more, but I dunno if either the method or the goal were apt. Nona is still great, because the interstitials are ultimately a small part of a very funny book, but, y'know.

I think more of the meme jokes are forced and unfunny than work out, and I think the bad ones detract more from the books than the good ones add to them. I guess it's lampshaded with the bad pun humor thing at the very start of the series, but, eh, doesn't help.

I have less to say about these books than I do about most things I review here. This is partly because it's easier to tear stuff down than praise it and there's so little to tear down, but mostly because, as I did with Friends at the Table, I have elected to pester exclusively the person whose fault it is that I'm reading this stuff with my inane observations, as punishment. I note that literally everyone else on tumblr has chosen a slightly different approach to the two series I'm mentioning. This is because I am an insufferable contrarian and also I don't really vibe with the concept of fandom but that's a separate issue. By the way, you might wonder why I would punish someone for introducing me to good books.

Been reading the Earthsea books because I never got to as a kid (did get to read the Chronicles of Prydain books, those ruled I think). Bit of a confluence of themes there, lot of stuff about mortality and the ways to attain and use power. Earthsea obviously less a fan of immortality as a concept, though even there I suspect there's a fair degree of ideological overlap. Also the only character who sticks around through the whole series has two names and they are Ged and Sparrowhawk. And the second book takes place in a locked tomb. Coincidences are funny I think.

Uh, who to recommend these books to. Anyone looking for a good series of novels to fill however much time it takes you to read them? They're really very good. I eagerly await Alecto the Ninth.

[revvnant]

okay srs question, you've talked before about how hurricane the town is a character in its own right. how do you think hurricane evolves alongside mike/how does he view the town as he grows older?

this is gonna wander. i'm spitballing.

i always like stories that involve immortality that isn't innate. like, how do different people react to living forever? do they grow? part of me believes that, if you check in on an immortal a hundred, two hundred years from their turning, you'll actually find them to be the same as they were when last you met. check in twenty-five years later, though? totally different person. i think we go through cycles. we see the elderly as static only because their next phase (death) isn't comprehensible to us. give an eighty year old twenty more active years. see how they change.

all this just for me to say that michael is an exception to the rule. i very much cleave to pseudo-hard magic systems (call that the worldbuilding half chub), and mike being a revenant, specifically, is important to me. revenant. revenir. re-turning. put a pin in that, it's a surprise tool that will harm us later. call him wight. call him zombie, in the traditional sense — a victim not permitted to rest, chained to the work they performed in life.

i'm going to scoop a little from tamsyn muir and a little from canon. sorry, i promise we're getting there. the way that fnaf's ghosts work, to me, has always had to do with cause of death/method of murder. it's less intentionality on afton's part and more an unhappy accident. let's posit three types of death, assuming the existence of a material (if not made of any matter we can normally perceive or interact with) soul in this fictional setting:

1. gradual, natural death, including death by sickness. cell decay. a smooth transition where the soul gradually loosens from its mooring and is drawn naturally to... wherever. some afterlife. the soul recycler. doesn't matter. any trauma — fear, the intensity of the illness — is spiritually negligible. it might rattle inside a little, but it will pop out.

2. traumatic death. getting stabbed. getting hit by a car. getting shot. a hole opens for the soul to get out, but the pressure of the sudden switch gets it stuck. maybe this is temporary; the soul lingers for a bit, separate from the body, gets its bearings, and moves on. maybe it inhabits something else just because it's more comfortable with a casing. a television. a closet. it may need some gentle massaging to stabilise. the time between death and the natural movement to an afterlife mentioned above is what makes up the ghost. i could talk about this forever, about ghosts not experiencing that time linearly, but we'll move on.

3. extremely traumatic death. the soul is skewered in place. such immense damage is done to the individual, both physically and emotionally, that that reverse pressure lodges the soul inside the body. if you're, say, beaten, stabbed, and then shoved inside an animatronic casing while still alive, and then your meat rots away over years, you may not perceive the difference between the original body and the new one. the shock takes so long to settle, it becomes home. dislodging is now a process. the feeling is key, here. it gives the soul something to hold onto, a link to its form that it grips onto and won't let go. unfinished business and the like. revenge. hence, the revenant.

now take number three and put it inside a body that decays but never dies, that can move without muscle or bone. the kids were stuffed in suits. michael was the suit. he was crammed inside his own head, alive, with all of the funtimes. how was he meant to escape? he was literally fenced in while all the death processes happened. and then they eject from him, because they're not him, but he's stuck. and he's furious. and through sheer force of rage, he pilots himself, because even purple and empty, his soul is in its original wrapping. it never left.

obviously, he can't work. not a problem if he doesn't have to eat, definitely a problem if he needs a place to live. he may be able to hide inside his house for a while, use money from the family account, but william has also gone missing. and michael is a renowned murderer. so he has to move, and he has to change his name, and he has to find somewhere to live. more than anything, though, he has to find william. that is the condition of his continued existence. he's not a person choosing a goal with the freedom to opt out at any time; he's a creature being powered by an emotional engine that only accepts hate as fuel, thanks.

meanwhile. hurricane moves on. nobody knows where the remaining aftons went, and speculation runs wild for a time. maybe they blame michael for the murders, chalk william up as one last victim, and go on the local news about it. a real act of satanism, in their very town. but what gets me about hurricane is 1) the very specific timescale and 2) the absolutely ghoulish behaviour that comes after. the gap between sister location and fnaf 3 being thirty years is so incredibly perfect. fnaf was already in part about nostalgia-made-horror; it was the game's marketing scheme, and then it was made part of the plot. hurricane looks back on what happened to its children, and it makes a haunted house out of them.

i love people who speculate on sammy emily, if you think he exists. i love it because he's only middle-aged now. your sister was beaten to death in an alleyway and now she's part of a tourist trap. for peace of mind, i like to think the parents moved away. it's all very derry. in a word, it's peak. the series does not get better than this, because it's so ick, it's so what the fuck, and it's so real. hurricane cannibalises its loss and processes it into a mythology. they never found the bodies: speculate, until the speculation becomes a story on its own. do not think about the child bleeding out in the rain. think about that freaky puppet. it's outlandish and so it's easier to confront. humanity loves to look sideways at tragedy to keep from going mad.

back to michael. i could fill his thirty year gap with so many adventures, and sometimes i do, but most often, in my mind, he is static. he gets ripped out of the time stream in his twenties by something so horrific, and he cannot look sideways at it. his eyes were kept open and facing forward clockwork orange style while he was a passenger in his own corpse. now he's in the driver's seat and his eyes are on the road. you know in signalis how a promise is literally ripping the fabric of the universe apart? michael does not change. michael cannot change. there's nothing left of him that can grow save for his frustration and his guilt. ghosts don't perceive time linearly? he has no concept of those thirty years. (neither does springtrap. lol and lmao.)

he falls asleep with the horrors fresh enough to burn his tongue and wakes up to a haunted house.

wouldn't you go ballistic. wouldn't you want the entire thing razed to the ground. wouldn't you think of all the people who judged you and scorned you and called you the devil, see what 'they've' built, and wholesale check out from humanity? michael never fit in in hurricane, but now he can't fit in anywhere. because how could they do this? those kids died last year, he drank from milk cartons with their faces on them and it curdled in his stomach because it happened at his family's restaurant, and maybe he could have stopped it. he should have put his foot down. he should have looked closer. you're mythologising that? his failure? unlived lives? how could you do this? how could you do this.

who is he going to meet, to change for? the town is a moral wasteland to him, and he's also super stinky and cannot get a normal job. we are only individuals insofar as we are not other people; i.e., what is us is necessarily defined by what is not us. neon genesis evangelion finale. or descartes. it's one of those i can't remember. who does michael exist in comparison to?

dead children. henry. springtrap. mostly springtrap. and he's played those games before. they are, in fact, the only games he's ever played. he has no reason to change — he has every reason to stay the same. springtrap is the only person who makes him michael. everyone else is dead or fled. michael wakes up because they found springtrap. springtrap wakes up because michael is there.

unpin that bit for me, the one at the top about returning. re-turning. les mis fans you don't have to say it, we know, we know it's always the cycles, every time with the cycles. orpheus so loved eurydice he couldn't not look at her, and so condemned her to hades and himself to loneliness. michael so loved hated springtrap that every time he was nearly out of hell he turned back. he had to look, because to know he is to know me. i just need to make sure you're there. i just need to make sure i'm me, and i can only be me with you. and if you keep 180ing at the gates...

so his view on the town can't change. simple answer.

[billyshakesp]

Guideline #1: Stay Alive

If you're in America, or you follow American politics, you may recognise the severity of our predicament. This post cannot answer questions. Instead, it is here to bring attention to all of the people whom will suffer under President Donald Trump. Guideline #1: Stay Alive, bitch.

This is a threat. To my reader, I will impress upon you this: you may not end your life through suicide. You may not end your life through a lack of regard for your own well-being. You are important; there are others struggling, including me, myself, but we help each other just by being here. To any of those who commit suicide, I will expunge your soul from the river manually, and I will reincorporate you into a meat which you will feel satisfied with. You will be comfortable and satisfied within your body. After the transplant has been achieved, a rigorous care program will commence, which will consist of the mandatory consumption of two pizzas and five chocolate chip cookies every twenty-four hours, as well as a minimum of four hours of cuddling with no less than four cats; however, this number will be limited at three thousand cats, for legal reasons. If you are allergic to cats, then I will find you a meat shell that isn't as weak and pathetic as yours.

To those who have not yet willingly evicted your soul from the thalergetic realm of the living, this section addresses you: The Locked Tomb army will rise once again. Though our numbers may be few, we wield power that the fat cats in the government could never imagine. We are the first Saints to serve our Lord and Resurrector, the bonermancer prime, long may she make us wait for Alecto the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir. We will rise. We will rise in our grief for Gideon the Ninth, and Harrow the Ninth, and Nona the Ninth. We are the vengeance of ten billion. We have come to protest the horrific treatment which people of colour, immigrants, necromancers, swordswomen, and, of course, hopeless, useless lesbians, have faced under the governance of Trump. Together, we can bring change to this broken system. We will root out the corruption in our government, and we will appoint a new leader (personally, I elect Cassiopeia the First, although I'm open to your opinion). Let this be a new dawn. Morning is now. We are the occultists of the Locked Tomb, and we will sleep no longer!

(THIS IS A JOKE: This post is obviously meant to be satirical. I do not promote suicide nor do I look down upon people with cat allergies, nor do I wish to incite a violent overthrowing of the government, unlike certain creepy, old, orange people. However, the issues I address in this post are real. If you are reading this, first of all, thank you for making it to the end of this attempt at humour. I'm honoured to have you here. If you or a close one is considering suicide, there are many resources to support you. I'm not the right person to ask about this subject, I will list some resources here which I trust: The National Suicide and Crisis Hotline (988), The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); The Trevor Project. Stay safe out there. Every day in which you wake up and are not dead is a victory. Drink water, hug a cat, etc. Thanks for reading!)

[carica-ficus]

Review: Harrow the Ninth

Author: Tamsyn Muir

Date: 24/02/2024

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

________________________________________________________

My February has been very hectic (to say the least), but at least I finally managed to get my hands on "Harrow the Ninth" thanks to my wonderful boyfriend who ordered it for me. <3 And just in time too because I was in a mood to get back to The Locked Tomb. This series completely won me over.

"Harrow the Ninth" picks up sometime after the ending of "Gideon the Ninth", and follows Harrow as she tries to adapt to her new life as a Lyctor. Her powers are immeasurably stronger, but in comparison to the older Lyctors she is seen as feeble and incompetent. Even worse, she is seen as a liability to the Emperor. She needs to learn to defend herself and prove to be a valuable soldier to her God, but this all seems a menial task in comparison to more dire matters - the indescribable grief and significant vulnerability which render her useless.

The first thing that stands out in this book is the switch in narration. "Harrow the Ninth" is mostly narrated through a 2nd person singular and is only switched to 3rd person singular when referring to the events which happen at the Canaan house. It's certainly an interesting writing choice which might prove to be slightly confusing at first, but Muir's beautiful style and fantastic storytelling quickly compel the reader to simply accept the fact that this is how "Harrow the Ninth" will be told. If something, Muir has proven numerous times that her writing decisions are always made with a specific intention, so it's best to just accept them and enjoy her work as it is presented.

Even though the story is a bit convoluted at first, things slowly start falling into place. New characters are introduced and old characters are given enough space to grow and expand. Muir incredibly utilizes her universe and the story in order to create a completely new experience of the series, but also provides many scenes where it pays homage to the first book and its events. "Harrow the Ninth" is truly an upgrade from "Gideon the Ninth" in tension, emotion, depth and story.

On the other hand, I'd argue that its pace is slower than that of "Gideon the Ninth". Harrow is actively preparing for the most difficult fight of her life, but the process of it is relatively passive. There's a lot of things happening at the same time, but it feels like the plot isn't moving forward at all. This book focuses more on other elements, than on its story, up until the very end where it builds up to a thrilling finale. Taking into consideration the aforementioned switch in narration and unresolved questions, it is easy to understand why some readers find it all difficult to grasp. However, "Harrow the Ninth" is absolutely worth the time.

There's a lot of things to adore about this sequel, but the portrayal of Harrow's grief, feeling of inadequacy, and utter helplessness take the crown. "Harrow the Ninth" is a story about loss and about love, it's about desperately clinging to that which doesn't exist anymore - a home she cannot go back to and which will never be the same, a person who gave their life for hers, and to a version of herself that she no longer is. It is about change and the inability to finally accept it.

"Harrow the Ninth" is a worthy sequel to a riveting book such as "Gideon the Ninth" and provides a compelling foundation for the rest of the series. Although the novel might seem a little slow and complicated, my honest advice is to just leave all your expectations behind, keep reading, and accept everything as it is written. The book is highly rewarding and offers something new and different. Reading through it has been a beautiful experience and I cannot wait to continue with the series and to, one day, reread it and appreciate it even more.

[4th-make-quail]

ahh i love so many authors how can i pick? octavia butler is a sci-fi genius. shelley parker chan has an incredible historical fantasy book called she who became the sun. gideon the ninth by tamsyn muir and also anything else she has written. the fifth season by nk jemisin! s.a. barnes and caitlin starling are two of my horror favs. - book anon

Oooh I have Octavia Butler on my TBR for sure! I've been trying to read more classic SFF on my bingos and I know her stuff is super good and very influential.

I actually have She Who Became the Sun on my card for this year!! I might read that next in that case 🤔 i need to pick my next book still!

I fucking LOVE the Broken Earth trilogy ahhhh!!! Jemisin is such a good writer, that series changed me forreal lmao. And ofc in unsurprising news, I absolutely LOVED Schaffa, what a terrible guy.

i'm gonna add S.A. Barnes to my TBR because that series sounds fun and I wanna read more SF horror style, but i regret to say i finished Luminous Dead earlier this year and didn't really like it ahah. Tamsyn Muir i never got into, if only cos I think I'll bounce off the style and it's suffered (for me) from a sort of over-hyped situation which puts me off.

you have good taste, book nonny!! have you ever read Joe Abercrombie? :3c

[simplegenius042]

Late WIP Wednesday & Last Line (Paragraph)

Tagged by: @cassietrn @josephseedismyfather @inafieldofdaisies @direwombat @socially-awkward-skeleton @adelaidedrubman @g0dspeeed

Tagging: @strangefable @jillvalentinesday @wrathfulrook @chazz-anova @deputy-morgan-malone @derelictheretic @ec-10 @minilev @josephslittledeputy @neverthesameneveranother @onehornedbeast @shallow-gravy @voidika @vampireninjabunnies-blog @strafethesesinners @ladyoriza @ladyofedens-blog @little-wolf-seed and @nightbloodbix

Here's 3 WIPs and a Last Line Paragraph (from The UnTitledverse, Far Cry The Silver Chronicles and Life, Despair & Monsters) to make up for the lack of activity (I've been a little preoccupied but I'm all good now). NOTE: I'm still ironing out these scenes, so some changes might happen in the future of publication. Anyway, enjoy!

Here's a WIP for A Blast In The Past (not Jurassic World related), a fic that's story was heavily inspired by Bendy And The Ink Machine and writing style inspired by Tamsyn Muir's Harrow The Ninth. Come meet the second main protagonist of The Perfect Storm saga... and the narrator who torments him:

You opened the wooden door to Carmine Studios, the hinges creaking from age and the times you've passed through it, revealing the hall that would seal your fate, on a false hope you would see your old friend and boss, Terrance, once again… but all you had entered was an empty caricature of the real thing. A nightmarish mockery that you'd soon find would come to life. But you didn't know that, not yet. You were more focused on the nostalgia behind your work, weren’t you? Or what once was your work.

In the hallway hung old posters of cartoons that no one cared to remember anymore. You admire it without recognizing the deception. Do you want to know the real kicker here?

It’s all a part of the show… all half-lies and half-truths, but close enough to what you already recognize that you couldn’t tell the difference until it was too late.

Was Seeker the clumsy meerkat who would follow through on any dangerous stunt, regardless of how far it puts his safety in jeopardy, all for what he loved most… a banana waffle split with streams of caramel syrup trailing up and down? No, it was more selfless than that. Nauseously so. Wasn’t it his loyalty to his friends?

Heh. Friendship… what good did that do him in the end, Bowler Hat?

You shift to the next poster, the one you’re least familiar with. Who was she again? An intelligent wisp named after her actress, Emily Margarita? Or perhaps you remember her as something more impersonal… perhaps a cunning foe? Doesn’t matter to you now. All you know is that she was a co-worker who you described as a “nice dame with a great voice, like a canary”.

But you never would have understood why most of the blokes back then howled and whistled for her, even if you knew the truth. “She was no scag,” you’d say, but you’re smart enough to know that being hitched with her would be… unpleasant. Shame you never listened to your gut.

Then there was the star of the show! The only prick you knew craved for nothing but the spotlight. Endlessly seeking validation for his actions. Only satisfied once his legacy was recognized. A pitiful shapeshifter that took many forms but loved only one… “Mario Emmett! The demon that never could be!"

A lanky black creature with an ego that was bigger than he deserved. Was he the main protagonist of your little show? Who are you to know? You’re only here to follow a repetitive script, endless by design.

You seem confused pal, scruffy face scrunched up, wrinkles becoming more apparent as your tired eyes examining the poster a bit too close... Perhaps a little reminder of why you’re here will help out with that gap in your memory. Wouldn't you agree, pal?

You search through the pockets of your plain brown overcoat, and feel the thin paper edge of a letter. The one Terrence had sent you, remember?

Carefully, you tug it out. Not that the yellow paper didn't already look worse for wear.

Despite its lack of care, surprisingly not your doing for once, you were reasonable enough to fold it neatly like a professional old-timely gentleman. No, it was… Terrence, yes, Terrence who had scrunched it with little care. “Always had a knack for getting on my nerves,” you would bitterly think. Funnily enough, that’s the part of him that was done right. What an Abercrombie!

…Is that the right slang?

You unfold the letter up, again, for what would be, unbeknownst to you, the first of many times. You read the ink scribbled over the dirty gold paper once more.

More interaction between Jennifer and Sir Enigma Malvolio. Seduction... could be better Jennifer. Granted, Malvolio's not... normal. The extent of how "unnormal" he is though is yet to be recognized:

"You shouldn't be here."

Jennifer swiftly turned around, her back to the Apex's chamber pod, its mesmerizing fluid motion forgotten as she focused on the approaching short figure of Malvolio. She noticed just how quiet his steps were, and how he neglected to bring his cane down to the container's metal floor.

"Don't you know it's rude to snoop around in stranger's properties?" he asked, his voice echoing in the trailer, despite how restrained it is from the usual bombastic and joyous attitude he put up in front of Dicko. From what she could tell, he sounded more amused than angered that she came into his workshop uninvited.

His gaze was still as dead and false as it had been like in their first meeting.

Remembering why she was there, Jennifer shifted her stature, "I'm sorry. I just couldn't help myself after tonight's fight."

Seeing that Malvolio stopped approaching, tilting his head as he waited for her to continue. Thinking she had his attention, she looked around, blue eyes wide in wonder as she gestured the workshop, "This place is amazing."

Looking to Malvolio, who she still had the engaged attention of, she gestured to him and stated coyly, "You were amazing."

To what would have to be the eighth confusing she's ever received from this man, Malvolio snorted and tsked at her. With a shake of his head, he looked to her, a smile curved on his lips as he made his reply.

"Please, I barely did a thing. She's the one who deserves the credit. It was all her," he pointed his cane behind Jennifer, to the darkened pod, where the Apex resided in the waters, "I was merely the motivation she needed to win the fight."

Looking between Malvolio and the beastie, Jennifer selectively stammered as she said, "But you did create it. And shared its mind. Don't you agree that's more than enough reason for praise?"

For whatever reason, Malvolio scoffed, looking Jennifer up and down, scrutinizing her with his gaze as he impressively twirled his cane to rest on his shoulder, now looking more like a club than a walking stick. He unnerved and frustrated her. Jennifer needed him to lower his guard, to be completely oblivious to any danger she posed.

It just ticked her off that he was clearly unconvinced with her performance, and at ease while she had to keep her nerve together, especially for Dicko's sake.

Here's a FC5 WIP for The True Sinners of Silva on a (forced) picnic with Faith and Nadi, for a "girl's day out" as Faith had insisted to Jacob (though Nadi hadn't initially been invited). Have some lore, ship teasing and the aftereffects of Silva's terrible childhood. Also TW for kidnapping, cults, manipulation and discussion of eating disorders:

Faith let out a sigh as she clung on to Silva's arm, effectively anchoring the woman where she sat. And she wasn't sure what was more concerning; the fact she didn't mind Faith being so close to her, or the familiar content smile on the herald's face.

"I'm glad the two of us can finally hang out," Faith admitted, neglecting to include Nadi's presence, "Jacob had been hogging you for so long that I was afraid I wouldn't ever get to see you again."

Silva wasn't sure how to respond to Faith's small confession so chose to reply with a contemplative hum, ignoring the warmth she felt rushing in her face. She also ignored the gnawing hunger at the sight of the food as well.

Nadi must have noticed that she wasn't eating the food as both herself and Faith had been. She looked at Silva with concerned brown eyes.

Silva was unsure why the blonde would care though; she just wasn't that hungry. Not even for the barely nipped sandwich in her hand.

"...Something wrong with the chicken, enfer?" Nadi asked, her head tilted as she scanned Silva over with her gaze. Silva glowered at the woman, rather irked that John's right-hand would bring attention to her lack of appetite, especially while the present host was a herald.

"It's nothing," she told the Frenchwoman, lowering the chicken sandwich. Nadi was unconvinced, though, and looked to Faith, head jerking to Silva.

And unfortunately, Faith lifted her head from Silva's shoulder, adjusting herself to sit up straight as she shifted her attention from Nadi to her charge. Silva risked a glance next to her and had the misfortune of getting caught into the worried gaze of Faith's green eyes.

"Do you not like the food?" Faith asked, eyes wide in panic like she committed some unspeakable crime, putting a hand on her forehead as she continued, "I should have asked you what you wanted. I'm sorry, I was so excited for this picnic with you that I didn't think you'd have any problem with the food-"

Silva saw the growing distress on the herald and swiftly responded to put a stop to it. She didn't want to find out what the repercussions were from upsetting the brother's little sister.

"No, no, it's not the food," Silva stated, garnering Faith's attention as she listened, focus as intense as the floral scent that followed the herald. Once again unprepared for the sole attention of Faith, she hurriedly tried to clear up any confusion, "The food is good. It's just me. I'm not hungry."

Even though she said she wasn't hungry, Silva could feel the pained craving for the food, but her mind just couldn't handle the idea of consuming anything for the time being.

Faith's demeanor lost the panic instantly, and the calm that came across her face left Silva stunned at the whiplash.

"Huh," Faith said, looking over to Nadi, the blonde unbothered by the herald's rapid shift in emotions, who had a knowing look as she stared at Silva with sincere pity.

"Are you sure, enfer?" Nadi questioned, a brow raised, "Jacob said you don't eat a lot at the center. The last time you ate must have been, what... three, four hours ago? Can you really say you're not hungry?"

Silva refused to answer, looking away from Nadi as the conflict of hunger and lack of appetite raged inside.

Both woman present found Silva's silence to be confirmation, and Nadi asked, "You're not starving yourself to spite us, are you?"

Silva gave Nadi an incredulous look, straightening up, "What would be the point of that? Despite how unpleasant I find your cult, it wouldn't help me to weaken myself. And besides, like you said, I do eat at the center. Which would be counterproductive if my plan was to starve myself, no matter how stupid of a plan it is to begin with."

Nadi nodded along, not incorrectly correcting her on their group status, agreeing with most of Silva's words, "I believe you. So, what's up?"

Silva had half a mind to not outright curse the sharpshooter about the obvious reason being how she was kidnapped from her home and kept captive against her will surrounded by cultists. The terror and stress of not knowing what they're capable of. Nadi would never know the terror of being unable to predict a so-called prophet's next move.

Especially when he was your own father.

Silva snapped out of her musings when Faith's hand rested on her arm. Glancing to her, the herald gave a comforting squeeze, a small encouraging smile on her face. The action made Silva's face feel no less warmer.

So instead, she glanced between Faith's waiting green eyes and Nadi's sincere stare, and exhaled a sigh, as she softly revealed, "I... just can't."

Nadi nodded slowly, "But you want to."

Silva gave a nod at Nadi's correct guess. She looked down to the sandwich in her hands. She wanted to have it, and the basket of fruits with the baked goods. She desired it badly, but she couldn't let go of the dread that came with eating and swallowing.

"But you don't because you're afraid of what could happen if you do. Like choking? Or perhaps vomiting?"

Silva didn't need to say anything to confirm that what Nadi deduced was true.

Nadi hummed, and stated, "It seems you got yourself an eating disorder, enfer. An avoidant one from what you've described."

Silva eyed John's confidant. The name sounded familiar, something Kamski would have offhandedly mentioned. Curiosity did eat away at her, as she replied, "You seem to be familiar with this disorder."

Nadi smiled, though the smile didn't reach her brown eyes. She looked down to the apple she had been biting on, "That's because I suffer from the same thing. Unlike you though, where you don't eat enough, I eat too much. I've gotten better though. John, la chérie, helped set up a diet and routine for me. Got me to memorize timing as well. He and Alexander still check up on me from time-to-time, but it's greatly appreciated."

Silva was surprised; both by Nadi's confession and the fact John of all people went out of his way to help Nadi. Silva thought him incapable of such a thing, given his holier-than-thou attitude towards her.

And finally the last paragraph for the still unnamed arranged marriage FC5 scenario. And Alexander (AKA Jacob's most trusted and loyal right hand man) is pissed. TW for cult views, a war crime and mentioned coerced/arranged/forced marriages. Also mentioned drug (Bliss) use. Snippet below:

Letting out a deep, shaky sigh, Alexander stared straight into Jacob's cold blue eyes, and said, "So you must understand my... my confusion and my shock and my fury when the Sinner herself, stumbling around the halls, high on fucking Bliss, wept in my arms as she told me exactly everything you and Joseph and John and Faith neglected to share with me or Nadi or the rest of the congregation. You told me she agreed to our negotiations. No, not our negotiations, you told me she agreed to your family's negotiations as soon as it was put forward. You told me this marriage between a suitor of her choosing, no matter how nonsensical and impractical and detrimental the wedding itself is to morale and our resources, was to bring unity between Eden's Gate and the Resistance indefinitely. So tell me Jacob. Why the lies? Why the lack of care towards the rules that Joseph says keep us grounded? Rules that I have witnessed so many of our brothers and sisters be punished for breaking, and yet now you and your siblings are exempt from it? Why have you been sending out Hunters, armed to the teeth, to track down Palmer's Militia if we're in a truce? Why do I hear of no contact with the Resistance if we're supposed to be sharing compensations and details surrounding our peace? Why had Silva told me that Joseph already chosen her suitor, and ignored her refusal of it?! And most importantly, why did she say it was YOU?!"

[the---hermit]

Summer 2023 tbr pile.

Since I'm a mood reader I never really make tbr lists. I am not sure I will be reading all the books in this pile, there might be some additions as well. In fact I have been wanting to reread The Lord Of The Rings for a while now so that might be added to the list. I am waiting to be in the perfect mood for that reread tho, whichcis why ai didn't include it in the pile itself. A couple of books in there are on my currently reading list, and I know already what I will be picking up next. It will be interesting to see how much my actual reading list changes from this at the end of summer.

The books on this tbr are:

Juniper and Thorn by Ava Reid (currently reading)

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

A Magic Steeped In Poison by Judy Lin

Nel Buio Della Casa by Fiore Manni and Michele Monteleone

A Psalm For The Wild Build by Backy Chambers

Nona The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (next up)

Nimona by ND Stevenson (next up)

Sandman volume 9 The Kindly Ones by Neil Gaiman (currently reading)