#ask ht9

[hibiscustea9]

Hi! I just wanted to tell you that you're an incredible, inspiring author, and that I don't think you should feel bad for a moment about discontinuing a story that wasn't bringing you satisfaction or joy. I hope it can still be seen as a valuable part of your writing journey that gave you some insight, and I hope it's really liberating to move on. (I'm from the Stardew fandom, but I'm also sure more than a few people enjoyed reading it and got something out of it, too).

Just wanted to show you some support and encouragement. I'm looking forward to whatever you write next!

Thank you so much for the kind words, anon. I'm someone who tends to hold himself to very high standards that I don't hold others to, so while I've given out the advice about doing what makes you happy in the past, it's a lot easier to give than take your own advice. I don't know if liberating is quite the right word for how I'm feeling, but a quiet relief is definitely there.

I do have a couple of story ideas that are germinating right now. If things go well enough, I should be publishing something later this year as a way of easing back into writing fanfic. I don't expect I'll be able to be as prolific as I was back during the pandemic, but I hope to at least be able to turn out a couple more stories.

[stringcage]

can you explain tlt lore to me because i (as someone who has never touched tlt) am very confused when i see ianthe (??) and harrowhark because isn’t harrowhark with the lobotomy ginger.. and then who is alecto. wtf

so this is the greatest ask i could hope to receive and i cant thank you enough for sending it 🙏 SO YES allow me to explain to you the anatomy of harrowhark's harem

(spoilers obvs, but i will go as light on spoilers as i can because everyone should read these books theyre insane and i love them. but if anyone is interested in a more spoiler heavy explanation lmk in the notes and i will be happy to provide)

for starters the basics of harrow and gideon's relationship: harrow is a necromancer, and gideon is her cavalier, aka like harrow's bodyguard/loyal knight. and they go to this competition with other necromancer/cavalier duos to become a lyctor, but for the sake of this post lyctor lore doesnt really matter dont worry about the lyctor thing right now

basically yes in book 1 (gt9) harrow and gideon (aka lobotomy ginger (which 💀 oh anon, the layers to this. THE LAYERS)) are certifiably insane about each other but are not technically, through physical or verbal confirmation, romantically involved with each other by the end of the book. but the writing on the wall is CLEAR.

gideon is not in book 2 (ht9) for reasons, and now harrow is essentially trapped in space with ianthe tridentarius, another necromancer who was also at the lyctor competition in book 1. ianthe is a weird freak about harrow (arent we all), and harrow thinks ianthe is gross and lame. but in a way she is also, like, at least an iota of a weird freak about ianthe, but she mostly thinks she's gross and lame. theyre kind of like reluctant coworkers bc they do collaborate on certain things (👀 THINGS) and they might share a kiss here or there

oh boy and then there's alecto, stay with me here. without getting too much into dominicus lore, what you have to understand is that for a shit ton of generations, harrow's family has been tasked with keeping this tomb (a locked tomb, even) shut forever, and they don't know what's inside but they know that god put something in there that can never escape. so naturally when harrow was like 9 or 10 years old, she snuck into that tomb and there she finds this chained up, frozen corpse of a smokeshow of a woman, and that's alecto. and little harrow can appreciate the value of a smokeshow of a woman so she lowkey falls in love with her. meaning that throughout all of that prior fucked up little love triangle, harrow is also thirsting over this dead woman she stumbled across years ago

there's enough weird nuances and details with all of these dynamics that i could go on and on for ages but this is a most basic understanding. again cant recommend reading the books enough if you like insane dynamics!!

[starberry-cupcake]

SURPRISE BONUS POST!!!

I finished my recaps last time, but I wanted to pop back in once in a while, because I need to keep you on your toes, if you're still there *crickets* you're gonna have to put up with me on these tags once in a while.

Also, I've been looking at posts now, which is wild!! After so much time blocking them!!! Link me to your favorite fanart of coronabeer as a fellow fat girlie because I need more of that!! Or cool camilla stuff!!

For this bonus, @lady-harrowhark shared with me this ask game by @puffywiz and I thought I'd do it without waiting for anyone to ask me stuff, because nobody ever does and also I do what I want in this sacred space. If any of you want to do it and link me to your answers, please do!

⚔️ Fav Gt9 quote?

I think that "One flesh, one end, bitch" lives rent free in my head. I wrote it in the blurb I made for this gift I sculpted.

It encompasses Gideon to me, but also a turning point for her, and a moment in which she makes that vow her own, because she means it when she says it and she'll mean it until the end. It's a declaration, in the most Gideon way possible, and I really like it.

💀 Fav Ht9 quote?

I think I have two that I like from Harrow.

There's: "Nonagesimus, you hating me always meant more than anyone else in this hot and stupid universe loving me. At least I'd had your full attention" which was a punch to the gut and a half. I mean, damn.

But there's also a Crux quote, believe it or not: “you saw what you saw, Lady, and the only thing you control now is your reaction thereto” which is relatable af to me. I mean, more observe than control, but still. It's hard to do it some days, but we do what we can and continue on. Crux is an asshole but also a better support system than most have.

🐕 Fave Nt9 quote?

Probably "Life is too short and love is too long." Especially in the context of camolive.

They have a wonderful qpr dynamic, from where I'm standing, and I thrive on qprs that show the depth love can have, also when it's not completely romantic and/or sexual. I think it's so powerful that they get to find the balance nobody else has found in this kind of lyctor-ish situation, because of a love and trust so powerful they're able to meet in the middle and discover the path to it together, rather than trust what has been told by others blindly. There aren't tricks, backstabbing, lies, sacrifices at the expense of oneself...there's understanding and a love so deep that it doesn't need to be traditionally labeled. And I think that quote shows all of that and it's the cornerstone of their new identity together.

🏰 Fav House aesthetic?

You all know I'm a Sixth House girlie through and through. If I were to choose a House, I'd choose Sixth any day. I think my skills would be appreciated there.

Also, didn't realize at the time, but maybe this post I made about the esoteric book collection I tracked down can also be included in my Sixth House application.

Working silently by myself while having to sort things and find them their proper spot, especially archival stuff, most especially academic entries where I can learn new things, sounds like a dream job to me. It's this or the Magnus Archives.

👯 Which twin is worse and why?

THIS IS THE HARDEST QUESTION OUT OF ALL

On the one hand, from the start, I was more supportive of yandere twin, because she was ostracized and mistreated and had to live under the shadow of a sister who was unwilling to admit she wasn't the one doing necromancy. She was also a bit kooky and I liked that.

But then she became a lyctor and was pretty insufferable, especially next to Augustine, who is also insufferable. I'm not gonna judge the murder of Chad or the lyctorhood of it all, to each their own, but there are so many horny jokes I can take before I snap.

Also, I lost it at her when she helped dr reverend emperor john when we could have gotten him killed. I got very upset at that and some people didn't like that in the recap because she's their blorbina and I understand that.

Now, she's combining her personality with freakin' Chad, of all people, which sounds like a nightmare.

coronabeer twin (formerly known as regina george twin) I didn't like initially because she was too señorita perfecta and didn't admit to her sister being the one doing the stuff, which I don't respect as a sister myself

I also think she got way too fast on the BOE train and went on with that without really thinking of what that would mean to her sister, the people of the Houses, Camilla and Judith. I think she was less into it because of what they were fighting for and more because they would let her fight, which is what she wanted to do in the first place.

I can't judge her for that, though, she's finding her footing with who she really wants to be, regardless of the propaganda from either side, and also I love her relationship with Judith, which makes me like them a bit more as a combo than individually.

If she's really truly (as nona would say) also a fellow fat girlie, then I do have to support my people.

So, idk. I think initially I thought coronabeer was worse but now I think yandere twin is worse, but it's neck and neck.

✍️ Of the supporting characters, who's POV would you be most interested in reading?

I think Abby Pent. I really grew to like her a lot in the gideon-less au of Harrowcita and I would love to learn more about her life before Canaan. It seems, for what has been said, that her being married to her cav was not a usual situation, kind of unorthodox even, and she seemed like a very smart and determined woman who knew what she was about and wasn't afraid to create her own path.

She seemed like a sort of Deanna Troi and you know I love love love me some Deanna Troi. I'd love to hear more about Abby's past and how she got where she did before things went down at Canaan.

🔬 Who is your fav lyctor and why?

Ugh, Lyctors.

Out of the og lyctors, I think I've said my favorite was Cassiopeia, because she had a ceramics collection and then it was also revealed that she was a good cook, so we can vibe. The fact that she created the Sixth House is unrelated and I found that out after, I promise I'm not biased.

✂️ What is the best hair length on Harrow?

I like the short bob situation she had at the start. The buzz cut is also ok. Long hair is a no. A no-na

*gets shot*

💙 Did any parts of the books make you cry? If so, which ones?

No, but it's not easy to make me cry with a book, or media in general, it does happen, but not that frequently.

The closer I got I think must have been with camolive's last conversation before the paul atreides of it all, that was intense.

🔮 Which one of Harrows AU's do you find the most compelling?

The coffee adept AU for sure.

Where did this came from in Harrow's rolodex of scenarios, idk but I'd love to hear more. Gotta love an author setting up her own aus for fans to fill in the blanks.

🥀 If you could have chosen one character to survive Canan House, who would it be?

My immediate thought is to say Palmolive, so that maybe Camilla and him could have survived being themselves individually, but that doesn't work narratively, so it's just me being selfish and wanting Camilla to still be around as herself.

As much as I love Abby, I think her and Magnus had to go out together, I don't think there'd be any other way for them to be.

So yeah, I'll say Palmolive, narrative needs be damned.

🛡️ Which Cavaliers would you wanna see fight 1V1? Who would win?

Camilla can fight everyone, at the same time, and win.

Specifically, I really wanted Camilla to kick Chad's ass tbh, that one almost happened. It would have been glorious to see that. I got Palmolive defeating yandere twin intellectually instead, but man did I want to see Camilla kicking Chad's butt and making him cry.

🧪 Which Necromancers would you wanna see fight 1V1? Who wound win?

I'd like to see Abby kick yandere twin's ass just as a revenge for her calling her useless in the last story. I think Abby was very under appreciated just because she wasn't absolutely deranged like every other necromancer is. They thought that because she was cordial and nice and had a good balance of professional and private life she couldn't kick butt, and we saw in Harrow that she very well could handle a tough situation when others couldn't. Yandere twin could have used Abby slapping her in the face and telling her to grow up, at the very least.

I'm realizing I'm just making people fight the Third lmao

🤹 Which meme would you want to see make it into At9?

My entire collaboration with this fandom has been memes, so take your pick lol after the ice cube barbie situation, the only thing that could surprise me the same amount would be a meme I used being coincidentally referenced.

If ice cube barbie wanted to do a m3gan dance while murdering dr reverend emperor john, I wouldn't mind. Killer dolls and all that.

Well, this is it for now! I'll pop back up once in a while, I think, while we wait. If you guys have a good "which character are you" tlt quiz or any other recommendations for this space, I'm all ears!

(for anyone finding this in the wild and wondering what is up with these nicknames, this is the overall tag)

[heraldofbooks]

I fully back scruffy Palamedes but I also know in my heart that when he was going to Canaan house he cleaned up cause he knew Dulcie would be there and even though he had been rejected wanted to make a good first impression.

Aha! But what about when he was crawling around the house with Cam and got covered with dust and stuff for days I hear you ask! You forget he’s also a nerd and would have gotten caught up in the mystery. But I maintain my point that at least by Magnus and Abigail’s anniversary party he would have gotten cleaned up when he was acting the Victorian gentleman.

Then he got blown up (by himself the absolute icon) and was stuck as a revenant as how he looked last and in the river in Ht9 would have let himself go and be scruffy but he physically couldn’t change.

Then in Nt9 he cares too much about Cam to let himself be scruffy in her body, so I doubt any of the characters apart from Cam know how scruffy Pal really is.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk next I will-

[puffywiz]

💙 for the ask game!

💙 Did any parts of the books make you cry? If so, which ones?

I fully didn’t expect the ending of Gt9 🙃 I was naively like, oh well, Judith sent the SOS. They’ll be fine? And they. Were not. And neither was I! I sobbed! It was the most cathartic release I’d had in ages! I was never the same! And now I’m here :)

[makethosenarratorsfight]

UNRELIABLE NARRATORS; SIDE C

*NOTE; tie sweeps require a 50/50 with a 0.2 margin. additionally, the extra propaganda is at the very bottom, with it being kinda funky

Harrowhark Propaganda:

She gave herself a lobotomy and gives completely incorrect flashbacks to the previous book. Things that straight up did not happen. Gaslight gatekeep girlboss.

She’s schizophrenic (confirmed by the author) and also lives in a world with necromancy and ghostly revenants. She’s not just an unreliable narrator for readers, she’s an unreliable narrator of her own internal experience. She knows this and has to work with people around her to compensate for it. Descent into spoilerville below. Seriously Do Not Read if you want to read these books. There’s also the little matter about how she is *not actually the narrator* of a huge chunk of the story that we are initially led to believe is being told from her perspective.

(Spoilers) Holy shit she is THE most unreliable narrator. This gremlin gave herself a lobotomy so that she could forget about Gideon Nav, the most important person in her life (for magic soul-preserving reasons) so half of the second book in the series is spent gaslighting the reader about a book they just read. She comes up with an entire alternate version of the events of the first book in the series to carefully exclude any mentions of Gideon, and any time someone says ‘Gideon’ in front of her she LITERALLY has a stroke and/or an intercranial hemorrhage as her brain overwrites the word with someone else’s name. God occasionally intentionally triggers her memory revision to get out of difficult conversations. She also hallucinates ALL the time (unrelated to the lobotomy). She shows up at her frenemy’s room in the middle of the night (think little kid stumbling to their parents’ room and saying “I frew up”) to ask her to come check underneath her bed for the corpse that’s been wandering the space station. When frenemy checks underneath the bed, frenemy claims not to see anything, and Harrow is such an unbelievably unreliable narrator that it’s an open question in the fandom as to whether frenemy genuinely didn’t see the corpse or if frenemy was just yanking Harrow’s chain. Harrow is also haunted by a literal ghost that fucks up her already fucked up alternate history. Girlie will pick up a piece of paper and read from it the most violent and haunting piece of prose ever composed, when in reality all that’s written on the paper is the elementary school Superman S*. I am NOT joking that is a real goddamn scene. Harrow was created to win this poll. TLDR; she has brain damage and memory loss, she hallucinates, and is also haunted. * https://twitter.com/vestenet/status/1301012651145859072

Girl is so unreliable, she unreliably tells me events I was there for!!! She's retelling the previous book and I'm like "girlie, this is absolutely not how it happened". Also, she gave herself a DIY lobotomy, it has to impact your memory center I guess

She literally had a lobotomy, how can she be reliable

Gideon Nav Propaganda:

(Spoilers for Ht9) She just. Fully ignores most of the magic plot happening around her in the first boom to be a dyke. In the second book it’s even less reliable and it’s fully fucking insane. It’s first person but she’s telling YOU (harrow) what is happening and it’s impossible to decipher. The appearance and personality of every character is fully morphed by Gideon’s mean dykishness.

MASSIVE spoilers. Like even mentioning that this is a thing is a huge fucking spoiler. I normally don’t care about spoilers that much but I legitimately feel awful for anyone with even a passing interest in reading these books who has this spoiled for them. Anyway. Yeah turns out the second-person narration is actually a first-person narration by the dead girl living in Harrow’s head whose death traumatized Harrow (and the entire fandom) so badly that she literally lobotomized herself to forget it and give Gideon a chance at not having her soul digested.

constantly adds her own commentary, does not pay attention to the interesting moving parts of the plot bc she's too busy looking at pretty girls, cannot be trusted to read her own intentions correctly never mind anyone else's. I love her dearly

she just doesn’t notice or doesn’t give a shit about a ton of plot-essential information. Harrow and Palamedes are talking about a necromantic theorem that would blow open the entire story if we could hear them? You can instantly feel Gideon’s eyes glaze over and her mind wander to the nearest available hot girl, and our attention goes with her. It’s handled so smoothly that you might not even notice it happening until a second or third read.

More Propaganda under cut!

Harrowhark:

Harrowhark is simply the unreliable narrator of all time. Can’t remember shit because of a lifetime of trauma? Check. Maybe lying to yourself and those around you a bit? Most definitely. Being gaslit by the survivors you depend on to orient you to reality? For sure. How about a little bit of canon schizophrenia? She’s got it all. Ghosts? Or something? Spirits that are attached in some way to your body and are not perceivable by others? Sure, sure! But how about spirits that are attached in some way to your body and are gonna use you to hijack others’ bodies and maybe kill God, too? Absolutely. Wee bit of DIY brain surgery? If it would make you an unreliable narrator, friends, then Harrowhark Nonagesimus has been there, been subjected to that!

Okay I don't know that much about this series since I haven't convinced myself to read all of the first book, but this is my blorbo in law so I'd feel bad not spreading propaganda (all of what I'm saying is something I've read, as to prevent myself from straight up submitting misinformation). So all of Harrow's unreliable narration takes place in the second book, Harrow the Ninth. Basically, without her even seemingto acknowledge it, Harrow's brain is very fucked up during this book, to the point where even she's not sure how reliable her narrative is. There's many questions left unclear as a result of her fucked up little brain, like what's real, what's fake, whether we can trust her judgement, whether even she can trust her own judgement, whether her original cavalier is dead or not (Harrow is convinced she is), etc. Let me tell you, I adore unreliable narrators who aren't even that sure if they're reliable. I have yet to eat that trope up here in this circumstance, but this poll might not run again by the time I do, so for now, here's my messed up blorbo in law.

OKAY SO REMEMBER MY GIDEON SUBMISSION? HARROW DOESN’T! SPOILERS AHEAD BECAUSE SHE LOBOTOMIZED HERSELF TO FORGET GIDEON BECAUSE THAT’S A HEALTHY WAY TO GRIEVE AND THEN IN THE ONLY PARTS OF HER BOOK THAT SHE NARRATES (THE REVISED CANAAN HOUSE PARTS) IT’S LITERALLY A ROOM FULL OF GHOSTS HER BRAIN SUMMONED TO DEAL WITH THE FACT THAT SHE CUT HER BRAIN IN HALF TO FORGET GIDEON. she also is a) haunted and b) psychotic, experiencing hallucinations her entire life of both the ghosts haunting her and less supernatural hallucinations- bells tolling, bones rattling, her parents (some of the only dead people NOT haunting her), etc! in the revised history of canaan house that her brainghosts invent, she brings along someone who knows about her psychosis to help reality check her when she tells him go! her caregiver as a child and support when she got older, crux, is a horrible man- but at one point, when someone other than harrow is in harrow’s body and tells him “i am not harrowhark, i am sorry,” his response is simply “aye, you’ve said that before too. who are you then, if not my lady harrowhark?” showing his familiarity with her psychosis and his love for the child he wouldn’t dare see as a daughter. but enough about that lets talk about her unreliable narration! she lies about her feelings of course but she also simply hides the truth from everyone, all the time, compulsively. also literally the entire section of her book that she narrates is a lie she’s telling US about a lie she’s telling HERSELF and no one understands even a little bit of the truth until like the last act of the book. queen.

Gideon Nav:

Gideon Nav is all but useless as a narrator, and we love her for it. So first of all, she knows absolutely nothing. She grew up under a rock. Almost literally. When the plot is happening near her, she almost never tells us about it. Politics, history, and the magic system are boring. Let her know when there's something she can FIGHT. She also has very selective emphasis and focus that can change a scene completely without ever actually lying. She can tell the same story—to us, in her third-person narration as a factual recounting—and in one version the incident will be a schoolyard scuffle, while a later telling will reveal it to have been a near-homicide. She'll confidently interpret other character's motivations and emotions, only to later be proven wrong. But the thing that makes her REALLY unreliable? She lies to HERSELF constantly. She will tell us in her narration that she doesn't give a shit where someone disappeared to, and then spend the whole day searching for them. She'll say she hates someone, when. Well....

okay so i am actually going to do one segment about her own book and one about harrow’s so many apologies and also many spoilers ahead okay? okay so in gideon the ninth it’s a well known thing that she’s an unreliable narrator on two fronts: she lies to herself and therefore us about how she’s feeling and what she’s thinking, and also she isn’t paying attention to the plot at all. the only things she pays any attention to are hot girls, swords, and hot girls with swords. at one point she watches their only way out be sealed off and is so bored about it that she goes to sleep watching it happen, taking absolutely no note of “oh hey they’re trapping us here”. later someone asks IN FRONT OF HER “hey where did all our shuttles go” and shes like “😌😌😌😌😌😌😌😌😌” and still does not make the connection. babygirl. but THEN!!!!! in HARROW the ninth (MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD) gideon is the narrator the ENTIRE TIME (except for the revised canaan house parts) and not only does she editorialize, she also straight up lies about events and motivations! partially justified by her being inside harrow’s head, but like. babygirl. beloved. the interjections of “holy fuck” and “pommel” and othersuch things is so important to my mental health and wellbeing. thank you. thank you for lying to us so so much.

[theriverbeyond]

For the tlt ask game, ✍️ and 💀?

✍️ Of the supporting characters, who's POV would you be most interested in reading?

Already answered here and here but a third POV i'd love is We Suffer And We Suffer, detailing the obvious shitshow /fun house /loony toons that is BOE governance. I think it would be so funny. she is going to get a thrombosis.

💀 Fav Ht9 quote?

too many the count, HtN is my favorite book in the series. in attempt to not paste the entire book into this reply, "Sick of roses and horny for revenge" is a very important quote. to me.

[letthebookbegin]

OMG HOW FUN!!!!!

💀 ✍️ 🔬 for the tlt ask please!!!!

(be happy I didn’t ask for 💙 tbh)

thanks sudha!!! 💕 and yh 💙 would just be. all of them. multiple times 😭

💀 Fav Ht9 quote?

also so many..... also the entire last act, but i'm gonna pick this one bc my entire day is derailed every time i think of it:

Always your sword, my umbral sovereign; in life, in death, in anything beyond life or death that they want to throw at thee and me. I died knowing you’d hate me for dying; but Nonagesimus, you hating me always meant more than anyone else in this hot and stupid universe loving me. At least I’d had your full attention.

(honorable mention to the "i am a nonsense." monologue bc it's burned into my brain and i just want to give harrow a hug okay ��)

WAIT ALSO i can't let this question go by without

It had bewildered her, back at Canaan House, how the whole of her always seemed to come back to Gideon. For one brief and beautiful space of time, she had welcomed it: that microcosm of eternity between forgiveness and the slow, uncomprehending agony of the fall. Gideon rolling up her shirt sleeves. Gideon dappled in shadow, breaking promises. One idiot with a sword and an asymmetrical smile had proved to be Harrow’s end: her apocalypse swifter than the death of the Emperor and the sun with him.

✍️ Of the supporting characters, who's POV would you be most interested in reading?

this is such a good one!! there's so many but i'll go with camilla or palamedes; they're there for so much of the story & i'd LOVE to get their perspective on things

🔬 Who is your fav lyctor and why?

i'm so invested in all the OG lyctor's stories, i've said this to you before but my kingdom for a prequel!! anastasia figuring out true lyctorhood and dying for it, cassiopeia giving the sixth house instructions to desert hundreds of years in advance, cyth - just all of cyth!! - g1deon falling for wake when he's known to not fall for anyone else & thinking he's going mad with the gaps in his memory, augustine and mercymorn's WHOLE thing, there's just SO much there! my answer as i started typing this was going to be pyrrha, but i now realise she's. not actually a lyctor hahaha, so i'm going to go with cassiopeia! i need to dissect her brain

tlt asks

[menherapunzel]

⚔️ 💀✂️

SAW THIS ASK AND GOT IMMEDIATELY SO EXCITED IT FELT LIKE I COULD THROW UP. rabbiting heartbeat. IM SO RHGHGJHJNJBMGN. thank you beloved :3

from this ask game!

⚔️ Fav Gt9 quote?

THIS ONE IM ACTUALLY UNSURE OF. in the end it’s probably something from the pool scene. almost definitely the one about harrow consenting to being ritually drowned but thrashing away from a hug (not gonna go grab my book copy right now but you get the gist). im in the middle of rereading GTN and it took a while to finish the first time, so there are MANY good tidbits, hints, and clues that totally escaped me then! so many bangers too. Properly enjoying them now 👀 i will also say that “ghosts and you might die is my middle name” is currently consuming a lot of my brainspace <3 I Love Gideon Nav The Regular Amount (Which Is A LOT)

💀 Fav Ht9 quote?

again. so many good good GOOD ones. thinking of the entire last dance exchange. thinking of “Around you, people would go back and forth, giving you the widest berth possible, ignoring you so entirely that at one point you were convinced you were dead. With that conviction, you had felt only intense relief.” because it makes me want to TEAR MY HAIR OUT. but i really really have to give it up for *gestures at my current bio* “There were a couple of callouses now on those soft necromancer’s palms, and I was proud of you.” THIS IS FOR A MULTITUDE OF REASONS and half of them are praise kink /j NO NO NO OK SO. god, just… the fact that gideon could be PROUD of harrow for ANYTHING. the fact that it’s this. the distinction of “soft”, to call harrow of all people in any way soft, and to be a “soft necromancer” even just in reference to the flesh… the pacing, the timing, where this line falls 😭 like ok my girl ok. i genuinely am considering getting this one tattooed but i need a good design for it. I WAS PROUD OF YOU!!! she can be SO mad at her and still PROUD of h— *dies on the spot*

✂️ What is the best hair length on Harrow?

SHORT. FUCKING OBVIOUSLY IT’S SHORT. i can admit that the slightly longer hair is cute on the HTN cover, and nona’s braids are fucking awesome for NONA, but for harrow? the length of her hair is something that she kept up with meticulously — every one of her most devout people had their hair cropped close — and the way that her hair DOES grow longer is bc she gets too damn sick to take care of it, and bc someone magically manipulates her hair for fun. WITHOUT HARROW KNOWING. to me it’s a companion to the autonomy-stealing haircut (i think there’s an actual real life term for this, or at least a trope one, but can’t recall it rn. that’s also… very gender-y to me). this new length actively distresses harrow, who doesn’t have the wherewithal to comprehend the unfamiliar sensory experience and who is already dealing with a Whole Fucking Lot. so yeah. it’s short. it’s the short hair. i love my darling girl.

thank u so much stein im actually indebted to you now /j. infodumping is my life’s greatest joy and this felt SO GOOD to talk abt !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🫶

[hibiscustea9]

The moment I realized Noah was going fuckbuddies with Clint is when the depth of his depression really hit me. That's not bottom of the barrel, that's Cask of Amontillado.

Also I admire your firm refusal to acknowledge Alex's existence.

Good job on Blue Velvet.

Hi, anon, thank you for the ask. I'm sorry it took so long to get back to you; I haven't been on Tumblr for a few months.

Noah's depression was meant to be stark, not just in how he viewed himself, but how he thought others viewed him as well. Obviously, "Blue Velvet" is a story that's focused primarily on him and Qi, and how he comes to realize his own worth and the value of his life, but choosing Clint as the third-most important character in the story served a variety of reasons.

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed reading "Blue Velvet" - and as for Alex, I actually have a story with him as one of the main characters early in development. It probably won't start until next year at the absolute earliest, but he won't be a background character for much longer. Thank you again for the ask!

[procyonis]

💀 and 🥀 for the tlt ask game !!!!

Questions are from this

💀 Fav Ht9 quote?-

GOD this is a difficult one, since Ht9 is my favorite out of the three books out. There's just so many to choose from! BUT since I'm absolutely typical it's this-

“It had bewildered her, back at Canaan House, how the whole of her always seemed to come back to Gideon. For one brief and beautiful space of time, she had welcomed it: that microcosm of eternity between forgiveness and the slow, uncomprehending agony of the fall. Gideon rolling up her shirt sleeves. Gideon dappled in shadow, breaking promises. One idiot with a sword and an asymmetrical smile had proved to be Harrow’s end: her apocalypse swifter than the death of the Emperor and the sun with him.”

This is one of the many quotes that haunt my brain.

🥀 If you could have chosen one character to survive Canan House, who would it be?-

One of the teens, their deaths all around just were so supremely shitty but also if one lived- plot wise it could've worked. Everyone else's death had major plot relevance sadly (even Marta, who I contemplated.)

[a-big-apple]

For the TLT ask Game

💀 Fav Ht9 quote? ✂️ What is the best hair length on Harrow? 🥀 If you could have chosen one character to survive Canan House, who would it be?

💀 Fav Ht9 quote?

shit this is difficult i think it's a very close race between "There had been another girl who grew up alongside Harrow--but she had died before Harrow was born" and "You'd touched that letter, and I--you know it was killing me twice that you weren't there, right?" but fuck i'm also so partial to "gall on gall"

✂️ What is the best hair length on Harrow?

listen i love Harrow all the ways, but buzzed head Harrow is very close to my heart.

🥀 If you could have chosen one character to survive Canaan House, who would it be?

THIS IS SO HARD. i want to say Jeannemary, but make her survive all that without Isaac and Abigail and Magnus? or i want to say Abigail, but then who else would be able to exorcise Wake from Harrow's river bubbles later?? and of course i'd say Pal but he did kind of survive and now we get to have Paul... and to say Gideon would make the rest of the books not even happen jlkdfsjkldfskjdf so maybe my answer is Dulcie! maybe she would survive long enough for the many very powerful necromancers in the books to find a way to help her.

<3 <3 <3

[txttletale]

Vi or Gideon for the character ask game! :)

gonna do gideon because all my opinons on vi boil down to "i just think she's neat" (and also i like the way u portray her in ur fics). my two opinions (ask meme. send me blorboi) favorite thing about them: i love how gideon is good at some things and bad at others. like, she's perceptive and understands a lot about stuff that makes sense to her (swords), but she's also totally oblivious and short-sighted and doesn't pay close attention to things that bore her. and that's just a great trait to have in a protagonist, you see her shine, you see where she doesn't. makes her rounded and likeable. least favorite thing about them: nothing she's perfect. the only two points in her narration when i disagreed with her was when she called abigail and cytherea's conversation boring (noo gideon historical trivia is actually very interesting) and when she condemmned ianthe's decision to throw augustine into the stoma (ianthe sucks but if she hadn't done that the Sun Would Have Gone Out.) but those aren't bad moments or anything they're in character and work well. i love her. #girl favorite line: ok this is a tough one. i think it might be "This is Gideon Nav Talking Time". like. the assertiveness. the 'i am not taking this bullshit anymore of it'. it's glorious brOTP: okay this is a weird one but hear me out. ianthe. i just thikn the brief dynamic they have at the end of Ht9 of Gideon being like 'you're a horrible creep and very evil please stop making such funny jokes' is really endearing. but also palamedes as like the first genuine real friend she has is also a heartwarming classic. my brOTP is gideon/any friends at all honestly OTP: i mean her and harrow obviously. are they unhealthy and insane and codependent? yeah. so what. let the #girls have a fucked up relationship in media for once i say. its feminism nOTP: ok its not so much a nOTP but i do think everyone who thinks that gideon/coronabeth would be healthy or even functional has a HUGE misreading of coronabeth. they're attracted to each other, for sure, but as an actual relationship they'd be awful for each other and it'd end in disaster. random headcanon: adhd gideon isn't a hot take but adhd gideon. unpopular opinion: every time i see a post arguing that gideon is 'actually smart' i'm like, idk, nonplussed. just feels like takes like that devalue the actual strengths and forms of intelligence she shows in order to frame them in a more, like, traditional way? lame. song i associate with them: cry for judas. i mean:

mistreat your altar boys long enough and this is what you get: sad and angry, can't learn how to behave still won't know how in the darkness of the grave long black night, morning frost i'm still here but all is lost

favorite picture of them: idk i don't keep fanart in mind usually but i like it when fanartists make her look like a bit less of a super-badass and instead focus on the fact that she's a goofy teen. she deserves to be smiling like a dumb asshole i think

[puffywiz]

TLT ask game!

⚔️ Fav Gt9 quote?

💀 Fav Ht9 quote?

🐕 Fave Nt9 quote?

🏰 Fav House aesthetic?

👯 Which twin is worse and why?

✍️ Of the supporting characters, who's POV would you be most interested in reading?

🔬 Who is your fav lyctor and why?

✂️ What is the best hair length on Harrow?

💙 Did any parts of the books make you cry? If so, which ones?

🔮 Which one of Harrows AU's do you find the most compelling?

🥀 If you could have chosen one character to survive Canan House, who would it be?

🛡️ Which Cavaliers would you wanna see fight 1V1? Who would win?

🧪 Which Necromancers would you wanna see fight 1V1? Who wound win?

🤹 Which meme would you want to see make it into At9?

[makethosenarratorsfight]

UNRELIABLE NARRATORS; SIDE C

Dr. John Watson Propaganda:

He literally admits that he changes his stories. "One day the true stories may be told"? Do I need to say more?

Gideon Nav Propaganda:

(Spoilers for Ht9) She just. Fully ignores most of the magic plot happening around her in the first boom to be a dyke. In the second book it’s even less reliable and it’s fully fucking insane. It’s first person but she’s telling YOU (harrow) what is happening and it’s impossible to decipher. The appearance and personality of every character is fully morphed by Gideon’s mean dykishness.

MASSIVE spoilers. Like even mentioning that this is a thing is a huge fucking spoiler. I normally don’t care about spoilers that much but I legitimately feel awful for anyone with even a passing interest in reading these books who has this spoiled for them. Anyway. Yeah turns out the second-person narration is actually a first-person narration by the dead girl living in Harrow’s head whose death traumatized Harrow (and the entire fandom) so badly that she literally lobotomized herself to forget it and give Gideon a chance at not having her soul digested.

constantly adds her own commentary, does not pay attention to the interesting moving parts of the plot bc she's too busy looking at pretty girls, cannot be trusted to read her own intentions correctly never mind anyone else's. I love her dearly

she just doesn’t notice or doesn’t give a shit about a ton of plot-essential information. Harrow and Palamedes are talking about a necromantic theorem that would blow open the entire story if we could hear them? You can instantly feel Gideon’s eyes glaze over and her mind wander to the nearest available hot girl, and our attention goes with her. It’s handled so smoothly that you might not even notice it happening until a second or third read.

More Propaganda under cut!

Gideon Nav is all but useless as a narrator, and we love her for it. So first of all, she knows absolutely nothing. She grew up under a rock. Almost literally. When the plot is happening near her, she almost never tells us about it. Politics, history, and the magic system are boring. Let her know when there's something she can FIGHT. She also has very selective emphasis and focus that can change a scene completely without ever actually lying. She can tell the same story—to us, in her third-person narration as a factual recounting—and in one version the incident will be a schoolyard scuffle, while a later telling will reveal it to have been a near-homicide. She'll confidently interpret other character's motivations and emotions, only to later be proven wrong. But the thing that makes her REALLY unreliable? She lies to HERSELF constantly. She will tell us in her narration that she doesn't give a shit where someone disappeared to, and then spend the whole day searching for them. She'll say she hates someone, when. Well....

okay so i am actually going to do one segment about her own book and one about harrow’s so many apologies and also many spoilers ahead okay? okay so in gideon the ninth it’s a well known thing that she’s an unreliable narrator on two fronts: she lies to herself and therefore us about how she’s feeling and what she’s thinking, and also she isn’t paying attention to the plot at all. the only things she pays any attention to are hot girls, swords, and hot girls with swords. at one point she watches their only way out be sealed off and is so bored about it that she goes to sleep watching it happen, taking absolutely no note of “oh hey they’re trapping us here”. later someone asks IN FRONT OF HER “hey where did all our shuttles go” and shes like “😌😌😌😌😌😌😌😌😌” and still does not make the connection. babygirl. but THEN!!!!! in HARROW the ninth (MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD) gideon is the narrator the ENTIRE TIME (except for the revised canaan house parts) and not only does she editorialize, she also straight up lies about events and motivations! partially justified by her being inside harrow’s head, but like. babygirl. beloved. the interjections of “holy fuck” and “pommel” and othersuch things is so important to my mental health and wellbeing. thank you. thank you for lying to us so so much.

[juiice]

The Locked Tomb Fic Recs (5)

Part 1+ Links

Someone asked for some griddlehark sweet hurt comfort on the discord and I realized i had enough to make a post.. these arnt all of them, just the ones that wernt explicit, not HT9 spoilery and tagged h/c The theme is

… Hurt/Comfort GriddleHark!

(All fics under 9,000 words.)

2 AU Sick Fics-

     The Meaning Of The Word by pipistrelle Rating: G

Harrow, along with a good percentage of Canaan University's necromancy students, has the flu. Gideon has a lot of feelings that she is in no way equipped to handle. It's a tough week.

     Waiting and Better Days by badgerjaw Rating: T

What I say is, “Fuck off, I’m sick.”

“For once, I didn’t say anything,” you say.

“Yeah, well, sometimes the look on your stupid face does all the talking for your mouth.”

Gideon gets sick, and Harrow takes care of her.

2 Cannan House Necromantic Fainting Spells-

     Black Hole Eyes by inquisitor_tohru Rating: T

Gideon had the foresight and the common decency to offer an injured Harrow something that wasn't shitty drawer bread.

     no grave (can hold my body down) by summerhuntresses Rating: G

After Harrow passes out in a bone cocoon, Gideon takes care of her while studiously avoiding any inconvenient revelations.

2 Cannan House Sun Burns-

     Erythema Solare by constant_vellichor Rating: G

’It was then, of course, because Gideon’s life sucked balls and she should have never expected anything else, that the Reverend Daughter Harrowhark Nonagesimus stalked into the room.

“Griddle,” said Harrow, “how come you look like a particularly unfortunate boiled lobster?”’

Gideon Nav, a redhead whose experience of life has so far consisted of spending all her time underground slathered in paint, experiences her first sunburn at Canaan House.

Harrow helps.

     Red's Not Your Color by Mijali Rating: T

Gideon had never seen sun so strong before. Gideon is also a ginger. Did you guys know the sun is poison?

+ 1! Cannan House Sick Fic-

     come get y'all soup by darlingofdots Rating: T

‘They brought soup, Nonagesimus. There is literally nothing nefarious about soup. They’re being nice.’ Gideon crossed her arms across her chest, even though Harrow couldn’t see her. ‘I know you normally live off cobwebs and the souls of the innocent, but would it kill you to let someone help you out just once?’

The Ninth House has the flu, and Magnus brought soup.