#cytherea didn't kill the Love Of His Life

[lastflowerofyourhouse]

i think sometimes about how, when he's listing the people that cytherea has hurt, he doesn't even mention himself.

she has hurt him. she's put him through hell these past weeks. she killed one of the people he loved most in the world. but he's not angry on his own behalf, oh, no.

most personally, this is for Dulcinea Septimus.

imagine you are palamedes sextus. you spend twelve years exchanging letters with a woman who is seven years your senior. you become the heir to your house just to meet her as an equal. you love her to the point of invention. you both know that her time spent alive has an expiration date sooner than most, and so one day you decide to propose to her - even though you know that she can spend the rest of her life with you but you can’t with her, even though there are imperial rules forbidding interhouse marriages between necromancers, even though you’re here and she’s there and you’ve never even met in person - but you want her to spend her days with someone who cares about her. but you’re so young, only nineteen, and there are still all of those reasons listed above, and so she turns you down. but it isn’t because she doesn’t want to say yes. and then over the next year the letters come fewer and farther apart. and then you’re both invited to the emperor’s house - both of you, together, physically in the same place for the first time - and you show up and she’s here. and it’s like she doesn’t know you. she doesn’t spare you a glance. and you’re still so tender with her - you can’t help it, there’s care baked into you, and you can’t resist helping her, loving her, going so far as to kiss her knuckles in front of company - but still. she doesn’t acknowledge anything that happened between you. she’s moved on. she must have, because she’s spending all this time with the cavalier from the ninth - who is, by the way, two years younger than you, and that doesn’t escape your notice because nothing does - and what can you do? what are you supposed to do?

you tell your cavalier that you’re glad she’s spending time with someone who makes her laugh.

[mindfogs]

THE ONE THING THE LOCKED TOMB FANDOM GOT WRONG (in my humble opinion)

everyone is always saying how my girl Gideon is doomed by the narrative, but, guys, the narrative adores her

she had so many moments where she could have died, starting right at her birth, she survived the spaceship crash, she survived the gas at the nursery, even her fucking sperm was still kicking when it was not supposed to. but these were all instances where she was saved by her divine nature, idem for the avulsion room.

other times was because of mere chance (the spaceship she didn't get on) or because someone spared her (Cytherea), you get where i'm going? all these moments where she almost met her end, she never really fought to escape death, it kind of just happen.

even when she actively chose to die, the universe Harrow refused to let her. she decided to die, and she couldn't even do that. SHE IS LITERALLY BLESSED BY THE NARRATIVE, which can be considered as bad, if not worse, but i digress.

but Harrow?

Harrow whom challenged death every time she pushed her limits, who almost died in a bone cocoon in a basement. Harrow who was almost murdered in her own ospital bed as soon as she committed the greatest sin of her life. Harrow who was almost murdered by the saint of duty like 15 times, Harrow, whom God himself asked to kill. Harrow who was gently taught how to tie the knot by her parents. and how easier would have been to have died then? how easier it would have been to follow Abigail in the river?

Harrow who was already a walking corpse for every single one of her brothers and siaters in the Mitraeum, who wasn't supposed to survive the night. who was almost posessed, who was almost murdered with her own sword, Harrow who is already 200 dead children in a trenchcoat.

Harrow who fought every time with her teeth and nails (literally) to stay alive, who made possible the impossible to save herself, Harrow who refused to die.

all i'm saying is, for how many times Gideon grazed death she always found herself alive because of things outside of her control, as of now is literally impossible for her to die because God decided to have her reborn as his indestructible weapon.

Harrow is the doomed one. Harrow who's fucking lineage of tombkeepers wasn't even suppose to be born. Harrow who's house wasn't supposed to exist. Harrow who's doomed by the narrative, but refuses to give up till she got breath in her lungs. Harrow who yet again says fuck the narrative, i will stay alive for my House, and my Love, and for Her.

[liesmyth]

do you (or your followers) have any recs for fics that handle the day(s) when the original lyctors ascended?

OOOOOOH okay I'm throwing this into the main tags in the hope that others have more to add but here are some recs:

Approaching the Roche Limit by @cadmean — John/Augustine. "Every time Augustine closes his eyes, he sees his brother. John would really rather he didn't."

Ascension by @rnanqo — Mercy/Cristabel. "Mercymorn is on the brink of cracking the ultimate necromantic theorem. She has no time for parties--unless it would delight her cavalier to go. And Mercymorn would do anything for Cristabel."

The Construct Fight Portion of Your Lyctorhood Ascension by FortyninePalm — "A myriad ago, at Canaan House, Cytherea the Seventh and her cavalier have some questions."

lux perpetua luceat eis by skvadern — G1deon/Pyrrha. "YOU SAID, I AM SORRY, DESTROY ME AS I AM, BUT I WANT TO KISS YOU BEFORE I AM KILLED."

rip my ribcage open (devour what was hers) by @darlingofdots — Mercy/Pyrrha. "Sometimes you just ate your cavalier, the love of your life, and you just need to feel something, anything."

the river of insufferable sins by @quadrille — rated M, Augustine&/Mercy. "In the first few days after her second rebirth, with Cristabel’s heart beating like a furnace in her chest, her hatred of Augustine burns like a supernova."

the truth is dark and it makes us bleed by @countingnothings — Augustine & Mercy. "Adrift far from God's light a few short years after ascension, Mercymorn and Augustine unsuccessfully try to avoid the fact that, to each of them, the other is an eternal reminder of transgression and guilt and grief."

Two Slow Dancers by apredatorywasp — Mercy/Cristabel, Mercy/Cytherea. "Mercymorn maintains her beautiful rose gold hair, and Cristabel helps. It's the night before they all ascend, so it's certainly emotional. A myriad later, Mercymorn and Cytherea enact the same ritual, with some siphoning thrown in."

[violet-prism-creatively]

My live reactions to Harrow the Ninth

Continued from my pre-reading assumptions and post-reading thoughts about Gideon the Ninth

Everyone who said "Harrow the Ninth will take a while to make sense, be patient and it will pay off" was absolutely right! I made a lot of notes throughout with predictions, some of which were correct and some of which were... not.

Theories that were wrong:

The Emperor wiped Harrow's memory of Gideon

Gideon has spoken with The Body

The Body's eyes now appear yellow because they're Gideon's eyes

Harrow only sees her own eyes as black because she wiped her memory of Gideon, everyone else perceives them as gold

The Sleeper is The Body

The Sleeper is Gideon

"Ortus the First" is Gideon (the Ninth)

Harrow is haunted by Gideon

The picture in Camilla, Coronabeth, & Judith's shuttle is of Gideon

Cytherea's body moving around is a hallucination

Gideon's sword is haunted by the lyctor who established the Ninth House

I also did make some pretty good guesses, though. Here's some more of my notes that are just fun reactions!

"Her parents had... found out... about what she had done" SHE DOESN'T REMEMBER GIDEON'S VITAL ROLE IN THIS

This Teacher is a lot more helpful

there are advantages to having God himself as a father figure

"the grey-wrappered figures of Camilla Hect and Palamedes Sextus laid on the slabs in the mortuary" NO :(

bookmarking this other incomprehensible clue

it's that graffiti S that everyone drew in elementary school lol

"You had noticed at previous dinners that he did not like some particular vegetables, so you had put them all in." that's so petty, I love it

"said Camilla Hect" YAY

"the skull of someone who, soon after death or symptomatically during, had exploded" Palamedes!

Harrow never got actual sword training as a lyctor, did she? Now Camilla can help her!

"Nobody had seen you walk through that door [to The Tomb]. Nobody had watched you leave." GIDEON SAW AND THAT'S WHAT'S GOING TO CONVINCE HARROW THAT SHE'S NOT INSANE, EVENTUALLY

"What a destructive, romantic, ridiculous act. It was always a certain kind of ass who approached love like that" yeah it's a certain kind of stupid, heroic, selfless, etc. to make yourself forget the person you're in love with to protect them

"Harrow Nova" another alternate universe where Harrow is in Gideon's role?????

"they've got a hotshot new BARI star" oh my god it's a coffee shop au in space

SHE REMEMBERS GIDEON!!!!!!! (how??)

"You sawed open your skull rather than be beholden to someone. [...] Harrowhark, I gave you my whole life and you didn't even want it." AAAAAAAAA!!!!

"I was, and am, a grown man, and you both were neglected children" thank you Ortus for taking responsibility. actually a decent person

"What the fuck is going on?" yeah i feel u babe

"'The only thing that ever stopped me being exactly who I wanted,' she said, 'was the worry that I would soon be dead... and now I am dead, and I am sick of roses, and I am horny for revenge.'" hell yeah!!

oh Ianthe was gaslighting her. yeah Gideon wreck her!

"you'd kept my sunglasses" awww

"I never made her look like that. She can't love me, even if I'd wanted her to." aw :( and she's still so devoted anyway

"Your art, not my strength, was the ultimate source of our victory." so Ortus does get to be a hero after all, in his own way!

"Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead Kia Hua Ko Te Pai Snap Back to Reality Oops There Goes Gravity" I remember seeing posts about this name now! lol

yeah it's a weird chain of people in other people's bodies (Gideon would love the innuendo)

"We needed your, ahem, genetic material" Ianthe was right, ew. Also Gideon is the daughter of God I guess?

"You watched us kill our cavaliers in cold blood, and none of them had to die." ok that is a pretty bad thing for him to do

the tragedy that Gideon only had John as a father for a few minutes, while Harrow had him as a father figure for months but didn't want that

"'my necromancer started an affair with your mother... not knowing I'd also been doing the same thing, using his body.' // I said, 'What the fuck.'" extremely valid reaction from Gideon

"Oh, we'll still hate each other, my dear, we have hated each other too long and too passionately to stop... but my bones will rest easy next to your bones." that's kinda romantic in its own way

to be fair, if John dies, the entire solar system of Dominicus dies

"We died" no actually I think you might be alive and being saved

???????? Another alternate reality memory thing??

Multiple notes about how Harrow might just be the way she is because of growing up in a temple with strict routine, no social interaction, and no variety of sensory input... but I'm headcanoning her as autistic. Also headcanoning Gideon as ADHD, and autism/ADHD gay couples are my favorite ships.

Tagging people who have been following along. I'm going to switch to not tagging people anymore after this, but tagging all posts as #violet reads tlt, and you can follow the tag. @procrastinationaccount @vivaciouscynner @pearlofmydreams @cursed-druid-girl @ghostly-atv

[harrowharks-iliac-crest]

50: 30 minutes before the Emperor's murder

Second skull - whole.

We're back to Gideon's perspective, about to meet the Emperor, and ... about to witness the Emperor meet his end - possibly about to BE the Emperor's end. Let's see how this unfolds.

In the room was Cytherea. Cytherea’s body, her back to us. She had been neatly tied to a chair with a band of angry-looking tendon.

Cytherea! ....... ON The steel chair!!

Hah, sorry, I couldn't resist.

Did Mercy get to her? If the angry tendons are an indication, then probably yes.

“Commander Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead,” he said. “All of it.” “I can’t believe you feel like you’re in position to demand things of me.” “All of it, Gaius!” There was the preparatory sound of indrawn breath. “Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead Kia Hua Ko Te Pai Snap Back to Reality Oops There Goes Gravity,” he recited, all in one breath. “Correct?”

Lmao that's one hell of a name. I would love to have "Oops there goes gravity" as part of my name.

Maybe I can I've changed my name before its not like its hard

Anyway - Cytherea - Cytherea' body is being possessed, haunted, whatever you wanna call it. She's ... probably ... still dead.

The commander? The same commander as the one who died drifting down to the Ninth with baby Gideon? The same commander who's been haunting Harrow as The Sleeper? That commander??????

He said, “Blood of Eden died with you, Wake. Any further action is just agonal breathing.” “We both know that’s not true.” “You never would have fired nukes into my fleet.”

Okay, but Blood of Eden are still very much kicking, and they very much did fire nukes into his fleet. Didn't they do that at the start of the book? Eighteen thousand dead or something like that??

“You’ve been a revenant for nearly twenty years, Wake. It’s extraordinary … You really are everything they said you were.” Silence. “You’re not a necromancer—” “Necromancy is a disease you released,” she said. “Necromancy needs to be strategically and deliberately cleansed.”

She IS that same commander - Gideon Nav's mother - and her, and the Blood of Eden, are on some kind of ideological quest against necromancy itself.

You tell me the thanergy link you rode to get here, because you certainly weren’t in Cytherea’s body back at Canaan House,

The sword that killed Cytherea, the one Harrow has been holding on to this entire time.

It's a tenuous link, but probably enough. The commander's daughter's sword, in the hands of the commander's daughter's kismesis necromancer adept sorry for using a homestuck word it just fits okay.

Alternatively, if it's not the sword, it's Harrow's body, holding the soul of Gideon Nav, the commander's daughter herself.

Could it be that Gideon Nav didn't die as a child because she was being used as a thalergetic/thanergetic link? Can living bodies do that? Her mother seems to have been powerful in life, and is still powerful in death as a revenant, so I can't rule it out.

“Mercymorn the First, Augustine the First, meet Commander Wake Me Up Inside, sincerest apologies if I got that wrong,” said the Emperor. “Wake —Mercy—Augustine.” “Oh, we’ve met,” said the corpse, with immense satisfaction.

Cahoots! Cahoots I say.

Commander wake me up inside 🤣 (save me!!!!)

They're confronting God, for something - that's taken ten thousand years to uncover, apparently.

The plot thickens.

“They were working for me,” said the dead Commander. Mercymorn demanded, “Are you flattering yourself, or being wrong on purpose?” The other Lyctor interrupted, “Joy—” but she was saying, wildly: “Oh, let it happen! If this is happening, let it happen … We had a deal, Wake! Where the hell have you been hiding for nineteen years?” “Where—you—fucking—left—me,” she ground out. “In my bones. Then a blade. In—that—fucking—hole.”

The sword, then. "That fucking hole" presumably being the Ninth house.

The corpse was grim. “I came armed.” “It doesn’t matter what you came armed with, Commander—” “I had the baby,” said Wake. “The baby I’d had to incubate myself for nine long fucking months, when the foetal dummies these two gave me died.” “Oh, God, it was yours,” said Augustine, in horror. “I thought you’d used in vitro on one of Mercy’s—” “I said they all died,” said Wake.

Oh my god!!!!

The eggs you gave me all died and you lied to me!!!!!!!!!!

She's behind all of the messages that Harrow thought she hallucinated!!!!!! THIS is what they meant!! They weren't for or about Harrow - they were for Augustine and Mercymorn!!!!

“Okay. Let’s get this straight,” God was saying. “You brought a baby—a baby you’d made inside yourself, well done, that’s the classic—so you could, what, kill it and create a huge thanergy cascade at the door? I wish Harrowhark were here; it would do her good to know there are more people in the world with an imagination like her parents’

So that was the plan - to kill baby Gideon and breach the locked tomb - but it didn't work - because Commander Wake (me up inside) died before she could reach the Ninth?

The woman I was pretty sure was actually my mother—wearing the body of a woman I’d had a crush on, who in turn had been wearing the identity of a woman she’d murdered, until I fell on a spike so that my boss could kill her—craned her head around in her bonds.

An absolutely WILD situation to be in, admittedly. Imagine being completely mystified with your origins all your life, and then finding out, after your death, like THIS.

“I think you’re skipping ahead in the story,” said God. “I think you’re glossing over a part … because you think it doesn’t matter? Are you embarrassed? Gideon, were you aware that, when you let Commander Wake get as far as she did—to the House of the Ninth, to one of our own Houses, our own people—that she was pregnant?” A pause. “I was aware,” said Gideon Classic. “Why the hell did you not tell me?” “Because I thought it was—mine.”

Ohhhhhhhhh. The plot thickens FURTHER. Gideon Nav's father possibly confirmed to be Gideon the First???????

(I'm not ignoring the "I thought" and all of the everything Commander Wake just said, meaning it could very much be not true, but still -)

“You never kept it secret from us. I always thought it was a little over the top, Teacher … you were always so fussy about never bleeding … but Cassiopeia told me a very interesting thing about blood wards, once. She always said that they should really be called cell wards, because they work off thalergetic enzymes … which can be spoofed with a substantial thanergy burst and the blood of a close relative. A parent. A child.” The Emperor said, as though speaking to a kid: “And how would you ever—” and stopped. [...] “But it was only—” “The once? Yes, one evening planned down to the ground for five hundred years,” said the Saint of Patience.

Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit!!!!!!!!

Gideon Nav's father almost definitely confirmed to be THE EMPEROR??????

THIS was the purpose of the sexy parties???? LMAO?????????

“I’m—” I said. The world revolved. “I’m not fucking dead,” I said, which wasn’t even true, [...] “Hi, Not Fucking Dead,” he said. “I’m Dad.”

CUT!!!!!!!! FIREWORKS PLEASE OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!

That was the single best way to end that chapter ghholy fuck.

I learned WAY more than I bargaiend for in this chapter holy fucdk¬!!!!!!!!!!!

HOLY FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[iviarellereads]

Full TLT series to date thoughts on rereading Gideon the Ninth, chapters 31-35

A probably semi-regular weekly bonus to my reread blog, since sometimes you realize things on reread that just make you need to yell in a full spoiler space.

There's so much to unpack in the pool scene. No doubt 99% of it has been covered by multiple people multiple times. I do have to say, I love how Muir takes advantage of the way history changes in the telling. It's been ten thousand years, and almost no primary sources still exist outside the Lyctoral labs in Canaan House, unless you count the remaining Lyctors and Jod himself. How much of this story really is true? I don't remember much of what's said about Anastasia, but they do find her body inside the Tomb at the end of Nona. And we can assume that "the beast he can't defeat twice" is at least halfway true on a metaphorical level, though I'm extremely curious to find out how we'll see it framed in Alecto's book.

I didn't remember Harrow's line, "I ate you alive". There are so many little things that point to it, but whoof, it's no wonder she couldn't kill Gideon for real, couldn't bear to live with that sin even if she'd learned to live with that of her parents.

It's kind of surprising how accurate Gideon's guess about a Lyctor's (or God's) state of mind is in chapter 34, I must say. Though I suppose she'll have better things to think about when she finds out how accurate it is very soon...

I said most of it in my analysis proper but Corona's reaction to Ianthe choosing to take Babs instead of her… It really breaks my heart. She's done nothing but try to be enough for her twin her whole life, and instead of being united, she sees this as the ultimate betrayal. I don't think Ianthe could have cared any less which one she took. I don't think I quite believe that she wanted to preserve her sister alive out of love for her, unless it's something more twisted like not being able to kill her own reflection. (None of this should be taken as a sign that I dislike Ianthe. She could murder me 24/7 honestly. She and Mercymorn can take turns calling me flowery insults for eternity.)

"Hate him? I have loved that man for ten thousand years. We all loved him, every one of us. We worshipped him like a king. Like a God! Like a brother." Another rapier to the heart, honestly. We have the outline of his version, from his dream ventures with Harrow-Alecto, and we have a vague sense of the official party line, from Harrow's conversations and eavesdropping… but I still can't help but wonder how much of that love was pushed in his memory modification, during the Resurrection, or over the course of the many Resurrections if you hold to my theory as well. And the punctuation on this line! The way Cytherea talks of worship. Period after "king", exclamation after "god". And a sad addition of "brother" to the end, half afterthought, half desperate wish.

[arrestedforhomestuckcrimes]

Fics I will write one day....

Eridan x Alpha kids - <> Roxy, <3 Dirk, c3< Jane + Gamzee, <3< Jake. No plot ideas yet just want it. All I know for sure is Jane is NOT the one stepping between Eridan and Gamzee, but I can't decide whether Eridan or Gamzee as top leaf is funnier. Also Eridan ends up with Dirk b/c he panicked and asked him to pretend to be his bf so he didn't have to go to something Feferi planned.

Eridan x Karkat - No game AU. Feferi decides Eridan is FAR too stressed (AKA stop messing with her attempts to reform Alternia boy) and as a good ex, decides to hire a palesale for him. Pale BDSM, posture collars, gill fetishizing, impact play, etc etc etc. Actual WIP

Eridan x Gamzee - <>!!! I need this okay Eridan needs to be a dumbass about clown religion right up until he realizes it's the one thing Gamzee is actually serious about I HAVE THOUGHTS.

Eridan x Signless - :3c This one involves multiverse transversal. Universe A, instead of Signless getting killed and becoming a martyr, the empire decides to break his spirit by making him fight gladiator style. He wouldn't fight for his OWN life but knowing it's the only way to keep Disciple/Dolorosa/Psiioniic alive.... :3c When Feferi takes the empire, she tries to keep Eridan out of her hair by giving him this old Empress touched relic. uwu And when Signless dies for one reason or another Eridan tears the universes apart to get a new one- One who Isn't Perfect. But he can mold them... Right? Obsession!!! Might actually do this as two distinct Things. Part A as Eridan x Signless part B as Eridan x Kankri?

On that note an ACTUAL Eridan x Kankri <3< nonsense. They would be terrible for each other and I love it. Also Kankri's just fun to write.

Gideon Nav is Actually G1deon's kid AU. G1deon lands on the ninth chasing Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead Kia Hua Ko Te Pai Snap Back to Reality Oops There Goes Gravity. Lands far enough after that Gideon has been claimed by the ninth house, well before the baby murders. This is mostly about G1deon interacting with the other lyctors and Jod, deciding to keep Gideon on the ninth (and the ninth Intentionally not killing her b/c u can't kill the Saint's Kid. Not when he's visiting every year.) Maybe last chapter is Gideon and Harrow go to the lyctor trials but she recognizes Cytherea... Idk. It's in my head now and I can't get it out.

Omegaverse, Miya asks Joe to teach him to cook because he wants to impress the omega he has a crush on. Lasanga time. uwu Miya has a crush on Cherry and Cherry DOES tease Joe about this. Actual WIP

Draluc feeding off of Ronaldo and they both get horny about it. Ronaldo thinks he's straight so it takes a hot minute.

Pure PWP. Asriel and Ralsei should fuck IDK context yet but it's gonna happen. Haven't decided yet how involved Kris is going to be.

THAT SK8 VAMPIRE AU. S is a vampire bar. Or maybe monster bar in general. Ainosuke keeps draining his meals completely. Tadashi is a werewolf. Reki and Langa are both humans. Miya is CURRENTLY a human and one Ainosuke is thinking about turning when "this lovely young rose finishes blossoming." Miya is jealous when Langa starts getting all of Ainosuke's attention instead.

More sk8 omegaverse. Do every threesome combo in that "how not to start a pack" thing.

Matsucest stuff. There's like. So many options here. Too many. ChoroToto thigh-highs, every vampire brother gets one of the 18matsus as a servant, 18KARA GETTING BULLIED BY THE NEETMATSUS. Oso/Jyushi stupidity starting with "Bet you wouldn't lick XYZ" and ending with blowjobs. Etc.

[terezis]

how Did you like nona tho?

short answer: i liked it! i didn't love it. as of this exact moment, having read it twice, i think that nona the ninth should have been pruned mercilessly and put into a very long alecto. (breaking dawn is 756 pages! they could’ve done it!!!) it didn’t need to be its own book, and does not do enough to justify itself as one. 

that said: it was still pretty good!!! 

long answer: i’m gonna be spicy first and then talk about what i liked LOL... spoilers under the cut

most of my criticism here comes back to the fact that this was originally meant to be the first act of alecto the ninth. you can tell. i definitely feel like i have read the beginning of alecto. like, don't get me wrong, most of nona stands on its own as a story, and it's a fun read; but you could have cut a good third of this book and it wouldn't have changed anything. 

we spend a frankly OBSCENE amount of time on nona's daily life when we could have gotten the picture in forty pages... and for all that she's deeply invested in her home life, her time at school, and her friends, the book fails to make ME care, which is disappointing because i know tamsyn muir is capable of doing so.

i mean, in the first two books everyone was uniquely delightful and felt like they could be the main character of a different story. it was hilarious to watch gideon interact with silas and colum; i love the original lyctors. but why should i care about beautiful ruby, whom i cannot distinguish from the other one, what's his name, born in the morning? we suffer? hell, even the angel???

you could replace pash with any nameless rebel and the story wouldn't change overmuch; the fact that she's apparently wake's niece has no relevance, except that it makes her hate zombies more… but most people in this book do, so who cares. what’s the point.

likewise, details and subplots that, in previous books, would have become relevant to the larger story at some point, don't seem to matter as much in nona. is that because they're going to be addressed again in alecto, or because they actually don't matter? i can’t tell.

take for example: hot sauce’s burns. compare it to something like abigail's backstory; it's a minor detail, but her interest in lyctoral history ended up spooking cytherea, which got her murdered, kickstarting the main conflict of the first book.

am i being too nitpicky here? did it not feel like those burns were supposed to be more relevant than they were? especially after we learn that she thinks edenites are too soft, so she hangs out with a fringe group implied to be responsible for the zombie burnings? but neither thing ever comes up again. is it just flavor? 

also consider: the different factions of the blood of eden, namely the hopers, who we’re frequently TOLD are major obstacles to the characters’ immediate goals, but who we rarely see become a problem. we suffer says it’s hard to convince them of anything, but they never really refuse her in any meaningful way. what are the stakes? is this the same group who previously killed 18,000 cohort soldiers with a space nuke? where's the oomph??? 

i feel like all of the above is also exacerbated by the fact that the entire book is told from nona's pov, and nona just does not give a single shit about the larger conflicts happening around her. it's not her fault. if i were her, i don't know if i'd care either. but as a result she spends SO MUCH of the book away from the action, which sucks when the best parts of this book are when she actually gets to be involved. 

i loved when she snuck out to talk to varun; when she listened to cam's tapes; when she and hot sauce ran off to see the broadcast. those parts fucked!!! i liked when she got to throw a tantrum!!! it was spooky!!! let her loose!!! i guess she has been let loose now, but it would've been nice if it had happened sooner.

look, i know this is a lot of criticism for a book i keep saying i liked. i really did enjoy it. harrow the ninth also had to grow on me, and u know i love that shit now. i like when a book is a puzzle, and the locked tomb is one of those thousand piece motherfuckers. right now nona gets a 6.5/10 from me, but mayhaps that will change on another reread.

anyways here's my highlight reel:

i was thrilled when gideon woke up and made a joke about stealing palamedes' girl

it’s so fucked up that ianthe wore babs' body like a little suit (complimentary) and when that body hugged corona omg. recall the last time the sisters saw each other. so fucking juicy. i love her

i LOVED the nun. pre-res anastasia? when she did the thing with the gun??? delicious

the thing with anastasia's bones at the very end Intrigued Me Deeply, and i want to know more about her relationship with alecto

the part where pyrrha told nona about her terrible shirt made me cry, which is funny bc the shirt had a sex joke on it

THE PART WHEN AIGLAMENE TOOK GIDEON'S FACE IN HER HANDS AND FLINCHED BACKWARDS BECAUSE SHE RELEASED SHE WAS LOOKING AT A CORPSE, AND SAID THEY KILLED YOU, AND GIDEON JOKED ABOUT IT, AND AIGLAMENE TURNED TO HARROW FURIOUSLY FOR LETTING GIDEON DIE, OW MY HEART

did not expect gideon to do a kill on crux, liked it, liked how she reacted to it, still don't think it's really gideon as we know her though

like she was MEAN. she was so sassy!!! i know she is sassy in general, but she was like NICE sassy in the other books, why is she acting like the villain version of herself, the stuff she said about becoming john's cavalier was so fucking weird, i don't think it was a front??? but why would she want that??? she was so MEAN

i hope she and ianthe are actually friendship bracelet wearing buds though like imagine when harrow finds that out. hilarious

i REALLY liked the fucked up nun. like a LOT

[ladytabletop]

The Locked Tomb for blorbos etc. I NEED to know.

OH HELL YEAH I HOPED SOMEONE WOULD ASK THIS this post is gonna have spoilers so it's beneath the cut

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

Gideon Nav. Hands down. Child of God and his most hated enemy?? Her blood therefore unlocks the tomb??? (literally Harrow fighting with Gideon and ending up with blood under her fingernails and her subsequently being able to open the tomb? chef kiss) living loophole? walking bag of jokes willing to sacrifice herself for Harrow, someone who tormented her and whom she cared for before she knew that's what it was? she was 100% in for Harrow well before the impossible Lyctor choice. AND SHE'S SUCH AN IDIOT BABY. "I gave you my whole life, Harrow, and you didn't even want it" honey PLEASE she loves you and didn't want to eat your soul!!!

Anyway. The number of days I don't think of Gideon Nav is zero.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

wildly, Ortus Nigenad. Who'da thought I would be so enamored with a hulking poet coward? couldn't have given a toss about him in book one, but book two just absolutely cemented his place in my heart.

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

Not enough people talking about real Dulcie. She's so excellent and just enough like how Cytherea acted as her but just enough herself.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

JUDITH DEUTEROS. I would literally kill for more scraps of Judith Deuteros.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

it's mercymorn. she's so *extra*. she's so vile. she's so sarcastic and dripping with vitriol and she cared so much, in her own weird way, about the right things, and I love and hate her and just cannot get enough of her.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

silas ocktakiseron. what a snooty little zealot asshole. even in death, he thought he was always right. fucker.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

John Gaius, God himself, I was so fuckin mad about Ianthe choosing him over Augustine even though it was telegraphed from several miles away, like jfc Ianthe you slimy perv, just let God die.

ANYWAY

none of this covers how much I love Pyrrha Dev's slutty, slutty ass and Gideon the First's equally horny ass, and how Coronabeth is the tragic hero we all deserve, and how Camilla and Palamedes are literal perfection, and Harrow captured more of my heart than any emotionally stunted perfectionist ever should, and Alecto is such a weird mystery creature, and Abigail Pent and Magnus Quinn are relationship goals and I must someday know how it is they came to be necromancer and cav AFTER being married, and the fourth teens make me so very sad by nature of their existence, and the absolute badass war criminal milf that is Commander Wake, and whoever the fuUuUuUck Nona the Ninth is!! And whoever is in Gideon's body now! And again, harrowhark nonagesimus, who replicated the tomb in her head for Gideon's soul to live in and who now lives there herself in the place that reflects her old crush and her current crush and where hopefully she will now find rest!!

[commander-wakemeupinside]

I'm rereading gtn again because I don't have anything better to do with my life (pls gimme book recs btw, I have nothing new to read) and I got to the part where Team 69 explores the sixth house lyctor lab. Since I am so bored and have nothing to do, I thought it would be fun to sift through every detail of this lab because I do have a few thoughts about it. Also, maybe if I dump all of my thoughts out like this I'll have a Thought (if that makes any sense). Right now it's just floating in my brain but if I can see it maybe it'll make sense. Anyways this will probably be completely incomprehensible sorry it's more for my own thought process than for general consumption.

So first, we know that this lab is the sixth house (Ulysses and Titania) because later on in the book Cytherea tells Palamedes that Teacher was his house's creation, and it's clear that this lab belonged to whoever made Teacher.

We get a description of the lab, which is a mess (Camilla Disapproves). Palamedes describes the challenge that he did to gain access (well, sort of) to the lab. For anyone who can't remember that part, I'll summarize: there was a room with a locked box and a tooth, and no instructions of what to do with the tooth. After examining the tooth for hours, Cam realized that he was looking in the wrong direction. They found the skeleton servant missing that tooth (which also revealed that they weren't constructs, but rather revenants- or so Palamedes thinks. I think he's maybe not entirely right but we'll get to that.) and took a mold of his clavicle, which unlocked the box.

There's a lot to notice about all of this. Palamedes says that when he inspected the tooth he found out that it was from a guy who died at Canaan House. interesting, given something I'll bring up later. He also says that the skeleton servant wouldn't go downstairs to the creepy challenge basement with him. more interesting, since we know that Teacher also can't go down there. The bit that I just don't know what to think of is that there's no energy signature on the bones.

The Harrow unfolds the tooth, revealing writing on it: Five hundred into fifty, it is finished!

I'd kill to know what that means, but I do have a theory which I'll get to in a minute.

Next, the pinboard is presented. I'm going to quote the passage describing it:

There were rainbow splotches of pins all over the board. There were tiny clusters, and Gideon noticed that at the centre of each cluster there was one white pin; the smallest and most numerous clusters had three pins fixed around one white pin. Some others had five or six. Then there were two other separate whorls of pins, each made up of dozens alone, and the one enormous pin-splotch: more than a hundred of them in a rainbow of colours, thickly clustered around one in white.

Okay so obviously the largest pin cluster is Teacher. the white pin represents the original soul in Teacher's body (I think) and the other pins are all the other souls added and smushed in ("soul melange"). The two second-largest clusters are the other two priests, who are probably prototype Teachers. As for the rest of the clusters, I think they're the skeletons. That, or there were a bunch of other prototype priests that died a while ago or just failed to work. Honestly I'm not sure which of these two conclusions is more likely. the skeleton idea is very neat and tidy and explains why there's only three priests but so many pin swirls. the prototype priests idea could also be possible. I don't know. if anyone has insight on that I'd love to hear other ideas.

Anyways, next we have the binder. The little note from Anastasia made me go awwww because it's proof that the 6th and 9th houses have been collaborating since forever. Plus I go absolutely feral for any information about Anastasia (who totally didn't fail at the lyctor thing btw! Jod just stopped her because he didn't want another perfect lyctor). There's lots of pictures of people, including one of Teacher- circled in black marker. These were clearly the options for the soul melange experiment, and it sounds like Anastasia helped the 6th team select who the final specimen would be.

Then the fire alarm goes off and the skeletons and the two priests collapse. This is presumably after Judith and Marta kill Teacher, which maybe means that all the skeletons and priests were linked to Teacher (maybe proving my skeleton idea?).

So, what does all of this random information mean? I have absolutely no idea. Ulysses and Titania made a weird revenant soup (best way to describe it other than soul melange) with a personality, ability to do necromancy, and immortality. This is reminiscent of the soul transplant part of the lyctoral process, right? but it's also not like actual lyctorhood because otherwise Teacher would be a lyctor, and he's not. It's using revenants instead of cavalier souls. My only thoughts on that are "yikes" and also "that's really fascinating but wtf".

Anyways, I have lots of other thoughts about this but I just remembered that I have homework to catch up on because I missed two days of school last week due to being sick. until next time!

[harrowharks-iliac-crest]

Okay the liveblog continues today. I've been flapping so much in anticipation. I've been mentally preparing myself. ASDJfhskdfgkjdf.

Okay here we go.

34

Second skull, for some reason. (Ortus the First was formerly of the second house, wasn't he?)

Phalanges spurted from the mass; then a distal row, then a proximal row of carpal bones and a length of articulated wrist. It was not the sheer animal pleasure of Ianthe’s arm, but it was easy and it was satisfying. You said, “I could simply give you a full skeleton frame.” “Don’t,” said Camilla quickly, and paused, and said: “That’s going to get me in trouble.” “The Warden specifically requested movement.” “I don’t mean him,” said his cavalier.

Eye emoji - in trouble with whom? I really wanna know what Camilla has been up to this entire time.

and you looked inside. The three inhabitants stared back at you. The first was Captain Deuteros, a woman whose stretched-out corpse you had last seen riddled with bullets.

Oh my GOD.

Yeah, upon reflection - we didn't actually see Judith Deuteros die in Gideon the Ninth.

Another woman sat close beside her, wearing her own shabby shirt of indeterminate colour, but as though it had been designed for her royal use: a woman you had last seen calmly falling to her death. Ianthe Tridentarius’s features stared out of Coronabeth’s face—an aurora of a face, with deep lustrous skin and burnished hair, and eyes of genuine violet, like plums.

CORONA!!!!!!!

She's alive!!! Did Camilla just round up anyone still left alive in Canaan House after Harrow dealt with Cytherea?

(Harrow - you have another letter to pass on!)

A head-and-shoulders photograph of an unsmiling, adamant person, in all assumption a woman, stared fixedly at you as though calculating how much effort it would take to snap your neck. She was dressed in black to the chin, and her red hair curled thickly about her neck and shoulders. Thick, itchy streams of blood began to ooze down your sinuses. That portrait frightened you more than anything you had seen since becoming a Lyctor; it scared the irresolute piss from your body. Yet you had never seen the face before in your life.

It must be Gideon. It must be.

If you meet Judith Deuteros, silence her. Kill her if necessary. The bones of Deuteros’s jaw fused shut; you glued her bottom molars to her top molars immediately, and cleaved her tongue to her palate. She said, “Nnnngh?”

What information could Judith possibly have that is so dangerous????

Omg, the Coronabeth letter is funny. You can literally see the argument past!Harrow and Ianthe had when it was written. Lmao.

You always were too curious for your own good. “Ngghyaaar—warn him, Lyctor! He has been infiltrated, damn it, and I can do nothing! I am a prisoner of war! If you love him, tell the Emperor that the traitor has already—Nghhhyughh—”

Judith being "a prisoner of war" is fucking bone-chilling. They are here, presumably just the three of them, with Gideon's portrait, and they are prisoners???

I'm scared.

You said, “Who took you away from Canaan House? Who are you with, Hect?” “You call them Blood of Eden,” she said.

Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shi------

Okay, that changes things ----

Judith then, is the prisoner; Camilla Hect and Coronabeth are working together, working FOR the rebel insurgents.

How absolutely, utterly terrifying. Is Ianthe in on this? Oh my god.

[violet-prism-creatively]

Finished-book update!!

Boy, was I right about Dulcinea being suspicious. I read a tumblr post a while ago about not-anymore vs. never-was horror, and there's that shift during the conversation Gideon overhears: that isn't Dulcinea anymore -> actually, that never was Dulcinea.

"Gideon stop sacrificing yourself for Harrow" challenge FAILED

Now I remember what that one writing blog was saying, but I think I disagree. Gideon's sacrifice is narratively satisfying because it demonstrates her development from hating Harrow to liking/respecting/loving her. On a logical level, Gideon's skills are no more useful on Harrow than they are on her, but being a lyctor seems to confer an advantage. This is shown in Ianthe's fight with Cytherea, where they are on a similar level because Ianthe is a lyctor. I guess you could see that as a flaw in the magic system, but I think it's just how it is that the state of being a lyctor gives you more power.

Does this mean Gideon is gone and not going to show up in the future books? That would be sad. I'm guessing that the next book will be split-POV between Harrow and Gideon in the afterlife or wherever she is. After all, poisonous gas couldn't kill baby Gideon, so maybe impalement won't kill her now.

We got the whole story of Gideon and Harrow's childhood hatred! The image of them discussing it in a swimming pool is lovely in its strangeness. Harrow's whole monologue about how she's the product of her parents killing 200 children and has mistreated Gideon her whole life!!! And Gideon just being like "one flesh, one end, bitch"!

Speaking of characters I hope come back in the next book, maybe Palamedes will be in whatever afterlife Gideon is in too? I hope Camilla and Coronabeth survived. Corona and Ianthe's sibling relationship is so toxic and interesting! (It doesn't matter that Ianthe killed and absorbed Naberius, it's that she didn't kill and absorb Coronabeth!)

So we've met the Emperor in the epilogue. What are his motivations? Is he a good or bad guy? We will find out in the next book...

I've already downloaded the ebook of Harrow the Ninth and will be reading it on a plane ride tomorrow. I'll post my reactions to it too!

Also, does anyone have fanfic recommendations that don't contain spoilers for the 2nd and 3rd books?

Tags: @procrastinationaccount @vivaciouscynner @pearlofmydreams @ghostly-atv @cursed-druid-girl @aliuss

I'm about to start reading The Locked Tomb series... so here's what I know about it beforehand, since seeing a non-fan's idea of what something is about is always funny:

The main characters are Gideon, Harrow, and Nona. Are they all "the ninth"? The book titles seem to imply that. Ninth what?

They're necromancers

Also maybe nuns? There's some kind of religious aspect to it

God is a character. Or maybe he's a guy named John. I've heard "Jod", does this mean John-who-is-God or the ship of John/God?

They're in space, but this is not actually very important

I think it's Gideon and Nona who have a romantic relationship? But also they spend a significant amount of time apart

Is wearing skull face paint just a necromancer thing?

Side note: It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that the woman(?) on the cover is wearing sunglasses and those aren't just the skull's eye sockets

There's something called a lector I think. Is that a necromancer-nun?

A writing blog I read years ago critiqued the magic system where one of the characters seems to sacrifice herself or something at the climax of one book.

The overall vibe seems to be dark comedy, chaotic but with grounds for some deep analysis about religion and such.

Let's see what I got right and what I was totally wrong about!