#i would die for abigail pent

[dabblingreturns]

I truly believe that this the healthiest interaction harrowhark has had in her entier life

This is the first time anyone, especially an adult harrow respected, has implied that opening the tomb was a normal, understandle thing to want to do. This is one of the central sin of harrow's life, it is her greatest betrayel, and yet abigail is happy for her without prying about the personal private pain.

It's not absolution, it's telling harrow that what she did wasn't even a sin.

#i would die for abigail pent #the locked tomb #harrow the ninth #gideon the ninth #tlt #harrowhark nonagesimus #harrow the first #abigail pent is the adult we all need #abigail pent

[arithmonym]

as much as i love abigail pent, i forget sometimes that she’s very much annexing the fourth house and the teens have complicated feelings about it!

#tempted to write a fic about it but alas!!! sixth house brain rot has had me in its grips ever since i finished NTN #but i think it would be interesting to explore how much their self-expression is a function of the annexation #& their belief they’re going to join the cohort soon and probably both die tragically young #(hey did you guys know this series was a tragedy??? anywayyyy) #the locked tomb #tlt #gideon the ninth #gtn #abigail pent #magnus quinn #isaac tettares #jeannemary chatur

[katakaluptastrophy]

I think what's so interesting about Gideon as a narrator at the anniversary dinner is the fact that there's clearly tensions that she's just not picking up on because she's only there to eat a dessert.

But these people are all the immensely powerful leaders of the Houses and consider themselves to be in competition for literal godlike powers and the favour of the emperor.

There's so many little snippets that are potentially intriguing: why is Teacher trying to prime the Ninth to consider the Fifth a threat? Why are the Third and the Sixth "sizing each other up like prizefighters"? The Fifth absolutely knew what they were doing when they sat the teen heads of the opposing cults near each other.

Through Gideon's lens, Magnus' speech is a little awkward jokey thing. But...the seneschal of the House that is known to be actively trying to absorb another House is saying it's such a shame they're all so remote from each other and what do they all have in common (and it's so quiet you "could have heard a hair flutter to the floor") - that had to feel a bit different to people who aren't Gideon.

Palamedes' is dissecting the meaning of "Master Warden" and at one point compares it to a prison warden. 'Dulcinea' asking about whether Magnus and Abigail have children is perhaps less small talk and rather more pointedly political. Harrow's apparently stilted conversation with Protesilaus is clearly her actually probing his limitations like he's a bad Chat GPT-run chatbot.

And then 'Dulcinea' tells Gideon she liked the dinner because it was "useful". In her typical "I never lied to you" way, Cyth wasn't lying when she said Abigail had to die because of her hobby - Abigail Pent let loose on the Facility would have risked blowing Cyth's cover sky high. But what does a Canaan House look like where after the dinner party, the Fifth go down to the facility, get a key, and survive to continue their 'the Houses are going to get along or else' agenda? We've seen Fifth House soft power on a smaller scale in HTN: and it looks like inviting a teenager round for coffee, lulling her into a false sense of security with small talk, and then physically preventing her from leaving the room until she does what you want, while smiling the entire time. A series of little coffee chats could probably have led to a lot of cooperation in Canaan House, one way or another.

Gideon jokes about Silas marrying Ianthe because of their similar colour pallete, but it does raise the fact that there seems to be some tension around the Third, its succession, and the *point* of Ianthe. Why is Silas openly saying Ianthe should have died at birth? Combined with Judith's comments in the Cohort Intelligence Files about succession on the Third, it feels like there's something else being said here that Gideon isn't picking up on.

And of course, Harrow wasn't the only one desperate to become a Lyctor because her con was unsustainable. Presumably at some point Corona and Ianthe would be expected to marry, or at least take on more separate roles as Corona prepared to take over the throne and Ianthe was funneled off elsewhere. At some point, their package deal would have become unsustainable and Corona's cover would have been blown. But much as Harrow wants to become a Lyctor so she can reveal the state of the Ninth without repercussions, Ianthe is probably in part motivated to become a Lyctor for the same reason. Because otherwise, what would Ianthe's expected role have been? Amidst the suggestion of anxiety about the Idan succession, the dinner party also presents the fact that the reason Abigail and Magnus' infertility isn't a succession crisis for the ruling family of the Fifth is that Abigail's younger brother dutifully married in his early 20s and had kids. We know there are branch families in Ida - Babs is from one. He may be a prince, but he's not treated well, and you do get the sense that the stakes to stay in power in Ida are high.

We don't learn anything about the political situation in the Houses themselves during HTN or NTN, but in the wake of Canaan House, you have to suspect there are a number of tensions and concerns.

#the locked tomb #tlt meta #Is Ianthe's “going to see a man about a queen” seeing to the political situation back home in Ida? #Which must have been devastated by her ascension and Corona's apparent death?

[lastflowerofyourhouse]

oh oh hey wait!!

so obviously our hint that something is Up with gideon's physical resilience after the avulsion trial is the revelation that palamedes calculated that it would cause permanent brain damage to the cavalier and gideon is. um. very much not permanently brain damaged.

but it just occurred to me. this post. this post right here.

cytherea didn't accurately convey to them how dangerous the field was. which means she probably didn't mean for harrow to succeed.

and. um.

"Sextus has seen this?"

"I asked him first," said Dulcinea, "And when i told him the method, he said he'd never do it. I thought that was fascinating. I'd love to get to know him better."

...

"So technically," said Harrow, acid as a battery, "We're your third choice."

"Well, Abigail Pent was a very talented spirit magician," said Dulcinea, and relented when she saw Harrow's expression. "I'm sorry! I'm teasing. No, I don't think I would've asked the Eighth House, Reverend Daughter...They could have done this with ease...Maybe that's why."

the sixth, voted most likely to figure out what she's doing, after abigail pent, already deceased. and the ninth, who have nothing whatsoever to do with spirit magic, but who have been establishing themselves as strong competitors and fraternizing with the sixth.

but not the eighth, the ones most likely to successfully complete the trial. because they're the most likely to successfully complete the trial.

yeah, cytherea fully intended to kill them both here, i think. she wanted them to die. come to think of it, that's the only real reason for her to be participating in the labs in the first place considering she's. ya know. already a lyctor.

and.

"Good girl," the voice was saying. "Oh, good girl. She's got it, Gideon! And I've got you...Gideon of the golden eyes. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault... I'm so sorry. Stay with me," the voice said, more urgently. "Stay with me."

that's remorse, i think. that's a genuine moment of humanity peaking through. that's oh god, what have i done.

Gideon was suddenly aware that she was very cold. Something changed. It was getting harder to suck in each breath...Now Gideon was scared. Her body had the soft, drunken feeling you got just before fainting away, and it was very hard to stay conscious. Three seconds before you die, Palamedes had calculated...It felt like all the pressure in her ears was popping loose...When her eyes opened Gideon was distantly worried to discover that she was blind...The air stopped coming. It would have been peaceful, only it sucked..."Ha-ha," said Gideon. "First time you didn't call me Griddle," and died.

no, yeah, i think she did, actually. I am 99% sure that gideon capital-D Died here.

i wonder what cytherea made of her immediately opening her eyes again.

#cytherea the first #the locked tomb #tlt #my post

[space--daemon]

Would it be possible to hear more of your thoughts about the 5th absorbs the ninth au?

oh my god YES

i'm so deep in my tlt bre fic or i would already be writing this because i LOVE this au and will soon be reading EVERY fic with this concept (some of which are linked in the notes of the original post)

so i imagine this taking place a short while after harrow opens the tomb, a year or two at most

harrow is equal parts devastated w grief and fanatic with adoration for the body in the tomb

she is also NOT in the mood for the ninth to be absorbed by the fifth and is ready to fuckin throw down

of course by throw down, harrow means "glare at them until they go away and also bones" bc she's twelve and that's really all she can do

fifth's first trip to the ninth:

abigail: hel- those people are dead

harrow, currently manipulating the corpses of her parents: (drops from the ceiling like batman) begone, invaders, you are not- griddle!

gideon, who Should Not be there but saw a sword and thought "fuck it": (walks up to magnus) fight me old man

magnus and abigail immediately decide to adopt these children

magnus starts sparring with gideon and getting his ass handed to him, much to aiglamene's delight

abigail begins the daunting task of Earning Harrowhark Nonagesimus' Trust

she explains she doesn't actually want to take over the ninth and harrow can have it once she's eighteen

this inadvertently offends harrow and sets them back a month

the fifth quickly pick up that ortus is Not Into this whole cav business and make the pretty obvious connection that gideon should be harrow's cav and the equally obvious connection that both girls would Rather Die

cut to quinn and pent's epic quest to trick two preteens into accepting the fifth as their caregivers and becoming cav and necromancer

they also become the world's most awkward wingmen

magnus, during a sparring session: say, the reverend daughter looked very regal this morning, didn't she?

gideon, who has already adopted this man as a father figure: what the fuck mags how could you betray me like this

ortus is either besties with the fifth or actually fucking them like abigail pent would one hundred percent take one look at this chubby eloquent caring inept motherfucker and be like I Want That Bear Obliterated

at some point they get it into their heads that the girls need peer engagement so they bring jeanne and isaac to visit

harrowhark nonagesimus, who has never met a person younger than her, watching a nine-year-old jeannemary chatur vibrate with excitement: what the FUCK is That

gideon nav, whose only experience with people younger than her is harrow: what the FUCK is That

#fifth absorbs the ninth!au #tlt fanfic #the locked tomb #tlt #harrowhark nonagesimus #gideon nav #gideon the ninth #harrow the ninth #griddlehark #abigail pent #magnus quinn #jeannemary chatur #jeannemary the fourth #isaac tettares #tlt au

[longearedhare]

Rating how long I think The Locked Tomb characters would last in a zombie apocalypse:

For practical considerations this is a non-necromancy universe and the zombies are walking-dead style (slow and stupid but can very much kill you if you’re being stupid or if there are a lot of them)

Camilla Hect: 10/10. Camilla would make it a solid eight seasons in any zombie show and is effectively the “Michonne” (most badass walking dead character) of the series. She’s practical and silent, and swords are a great weapon for zombies because you won’t attract more of them by making a lot of noise.

Palamedes Sextus: 6/10 ONLY because of Camilla, who refuses to let him die. Without Cam he is a 3/10. He probably ends up killed off by another character or sacrificing himself so that Camilla can escape from a giant horde of zombies. As a plus, his first aid is impeccable so everyone likes him.

Gideon Nav: 7/10. She’s strong and fast but tends to make impulsive decisions, especially when dealing with Harrowhark or any children. She’s your “Daryl Dixon” of the series because she’s scrappy. Makes it longer than she should because she’s a lucky bastard. DO NOT give her a gun because she will start firing it and attract all the zombies.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus: 2/10. The only way this woman is surviving is if she finds her way into a safe compound, and even then she’s so cantankerous that she’s constantly in danger of being thrown out. On the plus side, she and palamedes are the two most likely to find a “cure” or vaccine against the zombies.

Naberius Tern: 0/10. Dies immediately because he walks up to a zombie and makes fun of it.

Coronabeth Tridentarius: 6/10. She survives much longer than she should because other people like her but ultimately gets killed in a self-sacrificing situation.

Ianthe Tridentarius: ?/10. There are too many ways for this to go.

Abigail Pent: 4/10. She stands a decent chance if she makes it into a compound but has few practical skills beyond coercing everyone into working together.

Magnus Quinn: 3/10. Everyone loves him but he has the same factors as Abigail, and if she kicks it he would not make it another 2 hours without her.

Silas Octakiseron: 0/10. He offs himself as soon as he hears about people turning into zombies so he doesn’t get “corrupted.”

Colum Asht: 6/10. He’s a zombie killing machine but he can’t really do anything without a leader so one of the more conniving characters (Ianthe?) uses him as a human shield at some point.

Pyrrha Dve: 8/10. She’s an absolute badass and extremely resourceful. Seeing as she was once a cop, she would quite literally be the “Rick Grimes” of this situation. Fulfills the leadership role beautifully. Probably killed by another character.

#the locked tomb #tlt #harrowhark nonagesimus #gideon nav #ianthe tridentarius #palamedes sextus #coronabeth tridentarius #naberius tern #pyrrha dve #camilla hect #silas octakiseron #colum asht

[smallblueandloud]

see it's like. yes, locked tomb princess bride au!

harrow pushes the dread pirate kiriona off the cliff and as she rolls down gideon yells "AS YOU WISH" and harrow is so horrified she throws herself down too! like yes, of course! but also.

harrow saying "inconceivable!" and gideon saying "i do not think that word means what you think it means" -- gideon saying she'll fight their pursuer left-handed and harrow rolling her eyes and letting her. but also!

gideon BEING the pursuer and saying that killing camilla ("my name is camilla hect. you killed my adept. prepare to die.") would be like destroying a stained-glass window. but ALSO.

gideon being buttercup and harrow leading her through the fire swamp.

BUT ALSO. the "only mostly dead" scene except abigail pent is miracle max, magnus is her househusband, and they're in harrow's dreamscape talking about harrow herself.

BUT ALSO! harrow is the sick kid, actually, and ortus is the grandfather reading her the story.

how are we supposed to decide!!!

#locked tomb #sb and l rambles #sb and l reads tlt #tlt ideas #griddlehark #gideon x harrow #HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DECIDE. IS THE QUESTION #you see my dilemma!!!!!!!

[gideonisms]

Favorite ships I have discovered tonight thanks to tumblr user carys-the-ninth:

ianthe/pelleamena-- ultimate power move fucking your crush's mother once she rejects you

coronabeth/abigail pent--abigail could not fix her but Coronabeth would find her gentle but firm demeanor captivating. she could never truly win abigail's affection because Abigail's heart belongs to Magnus. this turns coronabeth on

Aiglamene/wake--listen sometimes you fall to the ninth almost die then get nursed back to health in secret by a grouchy milf who wants to take care of you and your kid/human sacrifice. ships that would have either fixed gideon nav or given her new problems

Gideon nav/Juno zeta--ships that would have made gideon nav worse! as well as camilla, palamedes, any combination thereof, harrow, pyrrha,

Pyrrha/we suffer--pretty much guaranteed to go canon next book I mean come on you can't say they never did

cytherea/pash--girl who speaks in cursive x girl who speaks like karkat. they understand every third word the other says and hate each other on sight. Fortunately, they're not doing a lot of speaking when they meet up,

Judith/ianthe--steal her girl!!

aiglamene/dulcinea--both supposedly doomed to die on their home world, and you can't tell me they wouldn't have found each other charming. princess dress femme x sword butch

Wake/we suffer--another one that's BASICALLY canon. Why else would we suffer have promoted pash

And finally! Dulcinea/alecto--girl who's dying x girl who's the death of the solar system what's not to like

#i truly feel this ship generator has given me unlimited powers of mashing women together in new combos

[field-s-of-flowers]

Harrow nova au thought (plus more thoughts later): if all the necromancer/cavalier pairs are swapped, the sixth and ninth houses will suffer each other’s fates.

So in the Ninth corner, you have Gideon Nav (Gideon Nonagesimus? Man idk), a self-sacrificing necromancer head over heels in love with Dulcinea, and is extremely upset about the big reveal. This is a recipe for some Very Bad Things to happen to our dear Griddle.

You also have Harrow Nova, who’s willing to do some unreasonable things to protect Gideon. This is a canon quality of hers, but here, it’s also been bred into her as Gideon’s cavalier. There’s no distance she wouldn’t go to protect her adept.

You might notice that this dynamic looks a hell of a lot like the Sixth’s in canon.

I think the way this would end is for Gideon to die fighting Cytherea (or maybe Loveday), and for Harrow, perhaps with myriad-old notes left behind by the OG cavaliers, to find a way to keep Gideon’s soul alive. Maybe she traps her in a river bubble (perhaps with a historical smut book), or maybe she does something else. Gideon is confused and hurt that Harrow won’t let her die for her, but she’s Gideon! Harrow has to protect her, she’s Gideon!

Meanwhile, with the Sixth, you’ve got Palamedes- also madly in love with Dulcinea, also self-sacrificing, and now he’s a cavalier, so that’s to the max. He loves Camilla, too, he loves her with all the strength in his heart. And we see that one of his worst fears is her getting hurt.

And then there’s Master Warden Cam, who’s an odd case. The insane level of devotion that makes her her might be applied to her House, but Palamedes would still be her number one. Permanently losing him would still be unthinkable.

And that’s a good recipe for a very bad start to Lyctorhood.

Palamedes tries to appeal to “Dulcinea” after Gideon is found dead, and the Sixth gets attacked for its troubles. Camilla’s badly injured, and Palamedes is angry- angry enough that he pools his thanergy and explodes himself, catapulting Cam to Lyctorhood. Between that and Cytherea’s (or maybe Loveday’s) weakened state (turbo cancer), Camilla has no trouble beating her, but her grief is almost enough to make it not worth it. And the prospect of immortality doesn’t balance it out if it’s without Palamedes.

It makes sense- switch around dynamics, and the possible outcomes are going to change. The devoted necromancer of a self-sacrificing cavalier will go unwillingly to Lyctorhood, and the devoted cavalier of a self-sacrificing necromancer will carry their soul to the end of the earth.

More thoughts on swapped necros, cavs and pairs:

The Fourth and the Fifth switch. Baroness Jeannemary Chatur and Sir Isaac Tettares are killed shortly after their shared birthday party. Isaac is fourteen, Jeannemary is fifteen. Lord Magnus Quinn and Sir Abigail Pent are heartbroken, but they don’t stick around much longer either. Abigail and Harrow have some version of the “why’d he have to get stupid now” conversation. (Also I need you guys to know that this Abigail is a weapons nerd who can use pretty much every offhand under the sun)

The Third is less swapped than it is rotated. Coronabeth is a flesh adept who ends up a semi-reluctant Lyctor. Ianthe is her twin and cavalier primary, who dies for her sister’s ambitions quite willingly. Naberius is their cousin who would’ve been sent to the front lines if he hadn’t claimed to be necromantic, but is left out of the twins’ scheme and captured by Blood of Eden along with Harrow. (You also need to know that Corona cuts off Ianthe’s hair to use it as a weapon and grows it back later)

Captain Marta Dyas is an extremely competent necromancer with accolades upon accolades and a great Trentham education and a brilliant future in the Cohort. Lieutenant Judith Deuteros is her cavalier whose dad is a fleet admiral. They work together very well, and though Judith does get her ass kicked by Palamedes in a duel, she holds her own against Teacher for long enough that Marta can escape. Marta gets captured by Blood of Eden along with Harrow and Babs, which is very good for her blood pressure. (Marta and Babs do not have an As Yet Unsent romance. She has a boyfriend back at Trentham. She gives him romantic advice.)

Duke Protesilaus Ebdoma of Cypris is a sick necromancer who’s realized he doesn’t have much time left. He’s taken a new cavalier to make his last days more comfortable- Miss Dulcinea Septimus, just out of school and eager to prove herself. They, of course, don’t last very long- Dulcinea is killed and impersonated, and Pro’s body gets wheeled around with a wave of the hand and a “my adept’s not feeling very well.” (You also need to know that Dulcie dresses like she’s in Barbie and the Three Musketeers and has a stunning array of very cool hats with feathers)

Speaking of the murder of the Seventh, I’m not sure what to do with the Lyctors. It makes more sense for Cytherea to be the one to impersonate Dulcie, but also! It’s my roleswap AU and I want Cristabel Oct!!! She hasn’t got the intellect ordinarily found in a sandwich or an orange and I think she should be immortal!!!

The Eighth is also there. Silas’s offhand is a net. That’s all I have going now, I don’t know or care too much about them

Wow this got long. I guess it turned into a whole Harrow Nova AU planning post? Idk I just really like roleswap AUs and Harrow Nova is fueling my love for them like nothing ever has. (Red OSP voice) So yeah!

#soph’s posts #Harrow nova au #soph reads the locked tomb #The locked tomb #man idk how to tag #I’m not tagging all the characters #Good luck y’all! #Soph’s harrow nova stuff

[hecatesbroom]

Why we don’t have to Mercymourn (yet): a TLT theory.

Major spoilers for Harrow the Ninth ahead; read at your own risk!

To be blunt: I firmly believe Augustine will call Mercymorn back from the River.

For this, we obviously need one big thing to be true: Augustine has to be alive. So, let’s start with that.

We know he was swallowed up by the stoma, but we do not know what the stoma is. The only things we have are Gideon’s perception and a handful of clues from chapter 36.

The first time we hear of the stoma is Mercymorn’s quote about Ulysses:

Ulysses is, according to Mercymorn, “languishing in Hell”, meaning she doesn’t necessarily believe he’s dead, and no one disputes this claim. First off, this means Ulysses is likely still alive if the RBs in the stoma didn’t get to him already. Second, it implies that none of the Lyctors seem convinced you’ll die if you’re absorbed by the stoma.

At the end of the chapter, we get John’s explanation of the (or as he says, a) stoma. It’s a portal, and considering even John doesn’t know what lies beyond it, no one can be sure it really is Mercymorn’s “Hell”. Moreso, this place -- whatever it may be -- sounds like a very tempting place for people fighting John. It’s the only place he doesn’t have power over.

Considering all this, I’m fairly certain Augustine did not die. As much as he might’ve hoped to wrestle John into the stoma, I think he might even have been prepared for events to turn out this way.

Now, assuming Augustine is alive in the stoma, we arrive at the next point: calling back Mercymorn.

Sure, Mercy wanted to die in the nearest sun, but you can’t prepare an insane(ly risky) plan like this without having at least one backup plan for when all goes to hell. (Literally, in this case.) There had to be a way for her to return from the dead, if it ever got that far before it was all over.

We’ve already seen two possibilities of bubbles in the River, and an insanely persistent revenant in the form of Wake. This is important information that’s most likely going to play a part in the next books, and means Mercymorn might’ve prepared something similar.

But there’s more important information that wasn’t quite used to its full potential in HtN: Augustine is a spirit magician. He founded the Fifth House, the House of Abigail Pent, the genuis who was able to work out everything that went on in Harrow’s bubble. The Fifth are skilled at spirit magic, and I can’t even imagne how skilled their founder, a Lyctor who had 10.000 years to hone his craft, might be.

Tamsyn Muir does not generally give us information without making it come back in interesting and unexpected ways. Except for Augustine’s plunging the mithraeum into the River, we have never seen him use his necromantic powers at all. Yet I’m pretty sure John mentions Augustine’s proficiency with spirits at least once or twice. He mentions it enough for it to be significant, yet Augustine’s powers aren’t shown in a very surprising way. (Yes, except for the River scene. But that wasn’t as much of a bang as it could’ve been, considering it followed after Mercy’s assassination attempt and John knitting himself back together.)

So say they both went into this with the plan that, if Mercymorn would be killed, Augustine could bring her back. We know that in order to summon someone, you’ll ideally have to use blood*. And Augustine just so happened to fall into the stoma with Mercy’s blood still on his chest.

We know (or at least suspect) Lyctors can extract blood from their clothes in a matter of seconds. We’ve seen G1deon do this after Harrow attacked him during dinner:

So it’s strange that when John kills Mercymorn, Augustine doesn’t cleanse himself of her blood. Well-dressed, antique-wearing Augustine, who seems to value his clothes and appearance so much. For a while I attributed this to sentiment; an unwillingness to scrape the remnants of his passionately hated ally from his own chest. But combined with his still relatively unused skills in spirit magic, Abigail’s mention of needing blood to tempt spirits, and the fact that we don’t know what lies beyond the stoma, I’m not so sure anymore.

(nona the ninth chapter 1 spoilers incoming!!)

But what if Augustine calls Mercymorn back? Perhaps we’ll get another Camilla and Palamedes situation. I just don’t believe Tamsyn Muir set up that relationship with that reveal, only to discard them for the next two books in the series. There’s too much history there, too much build-up, for both Augustine and Mercy to be discarded this way.

Augustine is coming back, and I’m sure he’s taking Mercymorn with him.

* chapter 47, Abigail Pent

#the locked tomb #htn #mercymorn the first #augustine the first #john #tlt #augustine #mercymorn #htn spoilers #harrow the ninth #my tlt theories #long post #i guess :')

[harrowharks-iliac-crest]

47

Fifth skull, in two - the exorcism is about to begin.

She had said to Ortus, “I thought the messages were hallucinations, even though I never hallucinated like that before. It was easier to believe I was succumbing to the madness again.” “Harrow,” he had said, “I have come to the conclusion that you were never mad … though who can be the judge of madness?”

Just like me, Ortus thinks the insanity was an artefact of the whole Harrow's brain being seriously messed with.

“Pal always said I’d be the death of him. And I was … He and I never even got to meet. I never even really got off Rhodes. It seems like such a bastard. You did kill the Lyctor, didn’t you?” “Yes,” said Harrowhark. “Was it quick?” “Quicker than she deserved,” said Harrow.

Harrow, don't be so sure of that.

And if, somehow, they managed to get Palamedes to join their little bubble from his - then perhaps Dulcinea and him could still meet, at least in death? That would be sweet.

Harrow remembered that Palamedes Sextus had made a war of his whole life in order to prosecute his desire to marry this woman. “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, Reverend Daughter, and I am sick of roses, and I am horny for revenge.”

Oh hell yeah. The real Dulcinea Septimus is really cool, I like her.

“Oh, Harrow, bless you, I always was a busybody,” she said smilingly. “Don’t thank me for sticking my oar in. You asked me to come, and I came. I understand you didn’t ask on purpose, but I like to think that there was a grain in your soul that saw yourself in need, and perhaps thought to itself, I wish I had Abigail Pent. It takes a great deal of ego to be a psychopomp. Thank you for letting me be yours.” And she curtseyed to Harrowhark, with enormous grace. Harrowhark bowed in return, and found herself saying, “The body of the Locked Tomb preserve you and yours, Pent,” and meaning it.

I'm sooooooooo happy we get to spend some time with Real Abigail. I was always so sad that they died so early in Gideon the Ninth. I always felt like Harrow's fake memories felt too real, when it came to her. I'm sooooo glad it's really her, well, her soul.

Abigail asked: “Who are you?” And with a sodium flare sparking from Abigail’s fingers, the lid of the coffin swung open [...] There was nothing inside.

:o

The Sleeper was not, in the end, of any great height or breadth, and the voice that had emerged from that mask was not inhuman. In fact, it was a woman’s voice. “You wizards never learn,” said the Sleeper.

My bets are still on Cytherea, somewhat.

“Listen to your leader,” said the Sleeper. “Don’t engage. I’m not here for you, but don’t think you can’t die again. Just give me the girl, and the rest of you are free to go back to whatever hell you came from.” Abigail said, from somewhere in cover, “You must be joking.”

You really think Harrow's friends are going to abandon her so easily? After already going through all of this for her - while being able to leave, and deliberately choosing not to?

“Seven,” said the Sleeper. “Six. Five—” “My cue, I think,” said Magnus Quinn.

I LOVE this. I love all of them banding together to fight an unnamed, faceless, terrifying ghost.

“I have known one death,” he said hoarsely, “and I swear that I will not know its like again.” “Smart boy,” rasped the Sleeper, her voice still strangely fuzzy, as if she were speaking through a communicator. “Figuring out the limits, are we? Doesn’t matter. My rules.”

Souls can die in here, but not so easily. I'm completely gripped, I'm on the edge of my seat, the real world doesn't even exist to me anymore.

“What happens? What happens if you take me?” Ortus said urgently, “Lady, no.” The Sleeper said, “You’ll die. It doesn’t have to hurt. I’m not here to torture anyone.” “And?” “I get your body.” “And?” “I finish it.” “Finish what?” “This isn’t a conversation. Two.”

How terrifying!

It could still be Cytherea. She saved Harrow's body earlier - it could be because she wanted it for herself.

But I somehow feel like it's getting somewhat less likely that it's her.

#harrow the ninth #harrow the ninth liveblog #htn liveblog #tlt liveblog #htn spoilers #tlt spoilers #the locked tomb

[innercherryblossomgalaxy]

ntn theories - all unhinged

had a severe case of brainworms so i needed to get out all (well, most) of my thoughts about the new nona preview and basically the entirety of htn

a) about alecto: is she human? i don’t think so - maybe she once was. she was hurt (by jod), and then “brought back”; she is known as jod’s greatest enemy - but that’s probably because jod and alecto are the only ones who can permanently kill each other, and jod is afraid. assuming the person jod is talking to on the beach is harrow-as-an-alecto-substitute:

1) jod and alecto CAN get hurt, but only for a short period of time

2) jod and alecto get simultaneously ravenously hungry, although this is rare. they get thirsty too - they “lapped at the seawater like dogs”. What’s interesting here - humans can’t drink too much seawater, or they’ll die. Interesting connection between alecto and harrow - both tied to saltwater.

why is harrow = alecto here? To jod - harrow is sick, alecto was sick. They are both (supposed to be) in their respective tombs. They are connected through gideon - alecto and jod are tied, and gideon, jod’s child, is tied to harrow. They are both “misunderstood” - the lyctors ‘hated’ both. And, very importantly - alecto = earth’s rb, and harrow = the ninth children’s mini rb

It’s time to talk about abigail pent, the most brilliant woman ever. The river should not exist - it’s an anomaly, and there’s something beyond. Something is blocking the water/soul/thanergy flow so that this potential energy can be used for necromancy - and who’s our mucus plug? I think it’s alecto (but maybe not lmao). She appeared in the river at the end of htn when gideon-in-harrow’s ribcage collapsed - how? even if her body is in the tomb - her soul is probably in the river. (Even then, the body in the tomb might be anastasia and not alecto).

Would it be absolutely insane to say the lyctors who went through the stoma are probably still alive? It seems likely - it’s a place jod can’t go, and if the river isn’t supposed to be there at all, maybe you’re SUPPOSED to go through the stoma. All conjecture, though.

John 20:8 - i dont really know much about the bible, but hey, ive got the internet! john 20:8 is about john, jesus’s beloved disciple, looking around jesus’s empty tomb with peter. Presumably, mary magdalene is also there. John goes into the tomb, and he sees and believes. Points of note here:

1) here, we’re talking about the tomb being empty as a bad thing for john gaius, while it was a good thing for john the disciple - one’s greatest enemy has risen, while the other’s god-figure has risen.

2) harrow also goes into the tomb, sees, and believes very directly - in fact, it’s what deters her from ending her life. Jod’s doom = harrow’s life. Very paradoxical - as she thinks she’s also devoted to jod.

3) gideon very strongly parallels jesus - jod’s kid, sacrifices herself, basically gets resurrected - but this leads to a very strong gideon/alecto parallel, because we expect the body/alecto to get resurrected as jesus did. Again, the jod/alecto and gideon/harrow parallels are very strong - but this time, alecto is not equal to harrow. Here, alecto = gideon, and jod = harrow. juicy shit

4) interesting to note - john was jesus’s beloved disciple. He went into the tomb, saw, and believed. Harrow is gideon’s beloved, ummhmhmhmhmhmh, necromancer. she went into the tomb (she could because she had gideon’s blood and her shredded face between her fingers), saw, and believed.

b) about anastasia: she’s important because she’s the cornerstone of the tomb and of the lyctoral process. We don’t know much about her - but we also know a lot. We know a lot in terms of her relation/similarity to harrow and her role as the gatekeeper of the locked tomb. She’s absolutely shrouded in mystery. The thing I want to know about is her relationship with jod. Was it loyalty and devotion towards jod no matter what - or was it subversion? It wasn’t absolute loyalty - because then the ninth house would never have existed. Did she want to end jod because he killed samael, or did she ONLY want him to kill her - and so she took on the task of dying in the tomb? We don’t even know if she’s dead or alive.

from htn, harrow = anastasia. from john 20:8, harrow = alecto. In some aspects, harrow = jod as well, because of her regenerating thumbs - a power gideon probably gave her. jod survived getting atomized so yeah he can regrow limbs.

harrow and anastasia: Both ninth house incarnate. Both extremely religious and loyal to THE LOCKED TOMB - their religion is different from the other houses, who are all loyal to only jod, although harrow appears very worshipful towards jod in htn. Both considered incomplete lyctors - and thus useless to jod’s imperialist regime. Mercy repeatedly says harrowhark is “anastasia come again”. Both extremely intelligent - harrow is a know genius, anastasia probably was too, considering she almost discovered the process for perfect lyctorhood. 

The body, as harrow saw her, had black eyes like hers, which changed to gold later on after she became a lyctor. 

We have to keep in mind anastasia designed the locked tomb with jod - meaning there could easily be traps/escape routes/tricks involved. She also worked on the road to perfect lyctorhood with cassiopeia - who was involved in creating teacher and stuff with multiple souls.

c) about gideon: I could write whole books about gideon (i mean,,,, i guess tamsyn already has), so I’ll save it for another long, long post. Basically, she has my entire heart - I’ve never related to a character more, ever (although I REALLY related to harrow in htn too).

d) about cristabel: who is C- ? I think it’s either Cassiopeia or Cristabel. Given that only 4 people are mentioned - augustine, mercy, gideon the first, and C- , given that augustine’s cavalier was alfred, his brother, and given that mercy was the second saint to serve that lying hag jod, it would make sense for cristabel to join the party at this time. 

i believe the focal points of tlt are, in fact, cristabel and loveday (as stipulated in the cavalier gender theory), along with pyrrha and ANASTASIA. let’s say these people are the catalysts of the story. Also, palamedes and cam.

e) about palamedes and camilla: absolute focal points. HUGE parallels between palamedes/jod and camilla/pyrrha. but i’ve run out of energy so it’ll have to wait.

f) about BoE: BoE is almost definitely an organisation formed by the rich ppl who escaped earth, leaving everyone else behind to save their own ass. Thus, BoE = asshole trillionaires who withdrew their funding and WILLINGLY LEFT BEHIND A PLANET TO DIE of pollution/nuclear warfare EVEN WHEN TECHNOLOGY WAS AVAILABLE FOR A MASS EVACUATION. 

This is important, because in htn, jod says (and im paraphrasing) “when you willingly leave something behind, you dont have the right to act like it belongs to you anymore”, which i strongly think refers to the above ppl. “eden = someone they left behind to die” could be talking about alecto - or the mass of people left behind on earth even when there was a way for everyone to live. 

So, in BoE mythology/history, the story probably goes like this - there was an unhinged scientist, unreliable, with his unstable team, who promised us great things - the great escape of 11 billion humans, the great resettlement. Our founders trusted in him and his team - only to flee for their own lives as he went mad and killed the whole planet, giving birth to the horrifying and unnatural practice of necromancy. Our ancestors, being the best ppl to ever live, fled successfully, but UNFORTUNATELY could not save everyone - though they tried. Now it’s our DUTY AND MOTTO to kill the practice of necromancy along with jod and his heretics.

But what did jod DO? it’s clear alecto existed before he did whatever he did - which involved hurting alecto - and it made me think of augustine in htn telling jod “you made her worse when you brought her back”. 

#tlt #the locked tomb #gtn #htn #ntn #nona theories #nona the ninth #nona spoilers #ntn spoilers #im supposed to be studying but ntn was absolutely railing my brain #mmmmmyehhh it's just a theory #A GAME THEORY

[bossoftheoss]

The Nine Houses, and Hell

Firstly, there have been many depictions of Hell and the Underworld across a variety of religious and fictitious traditions. We’re going to be using the Nine Circles of Hell model, from Dante’s Inferno. Secondly, this is less a “Each of the Nine houses -is- one circle of Hell and more ”this is they play with the concepts”. Also worth noting that this is literary analysis, and not meant as “hell is real and you, yes you, will go there”, but I look forward to seeing you all there. 

The First House. The First Circle of Hell is Limbo. This is where people go if they’ve sinned, but are still good enough to avoid total damnation, or if they were pagans who died before Christianity was a thing. Limbo is grey, and uneventful, and dull. The First House sits in eternal decay. its priests have done nothing wrong, but aren’t special enough to join the emperor. No one does anything on the first house. It is full of revenants going about the same daily business forever. Other than all the dead people Limbo isn’t haunted in the Bible, but we don’t know enough about what may or may not be haunting Canaan house to do a proper analysis. Additionally, the use of Limbo to justify the Christian use of Pagan Greco Roman traditions mirrors John’s use a Christianity, picking the corpse of a dead culture for his own means. 

The Second House. The Second Circle of Hell is where things start to get mean. The people trapped in the Second Circle are those who have committed the Sin of Lust. Now, the Locked Tomb series is full of all sorts of Hoes, but when is lust itself a Sin? The Lyctors and Ianthe show no shame about their physical attraction. The Fifth’s relationship is criticized for being highly irregular, but by being a marriage its pretty above board sin wise. Gideon gets flustered, and has moments of shame, but she doesn't seem see her attraction as wrong.  Harrow is Harrow. Her issues with relationships seem to stem more from what she thinks she deserves, and doesn't want to disrupt what little she allows herself. Judith Deuteros though? Now she’s got some baggage. Additionally, Lust can refer to relationships built on love, but improper. Gideon the First and Pyrrha Dve, whatever you think about that mess, fit squarely into this, not to mention that Gideon1′s perceived relations with a corpse is presented as one of those lines even most necromancers won’t cross There are also, apparently, a frankly atrocious amount of Sick Pornographies concerning the Cohort. 

The Third House. The Third Circle is gluttony. The third are rich kids, used to getting what they want. Coronabeth, at least, sees consumption as love, and feels rejected when she is not eaten. Oh yeah, and Ianthe eats herself and others for her own gain. There’s that. Subverting this, Ianthe herself is remarkably unfed-looking, and can’t really cook a decent meal (everything Harrow knows comes from Ianthe). 

The Fourth House. The Fourth Circle is greed. There’s not much here for this one? You could argue that the Fourth are greedy for glory, to the extent that child soldiers are Fine, Actually. Isaac is a Baron who wears a bunch if jewelry, which would be super greedy in any other media, but is tame by comparison to everyone else around him. The Fourth Circle also punishes those who squander wealth, just as the Fourth throws away the lives of its children. Despite all their hunger for glory, the Fourth actually go to great pains to avoid the limelight.

The Fifth House. The Fifth Circle is Anger. From the top, Abigail and Magnus subvert this by being the kindest, gentlest motherfuckers in the whole damn place. Abigail has moments of anger in Harrow, but she was murdered and now is baby sitting a third repressed teen, so I’ll allow it. However, the Fifth is the “deals with ghosts” house, and we know for a fact that revenants can be pretty pissed off. The very first ghost we meet in the series is Commander Too Angry to Die Wake, who is later half banished by Pent. (Pent Up Anger? that doing anything for you?). It is also worth noting that the Fifth Circle is the river styx, where the wrathful either fight each other or just sorta drown forever, which is further reflected in Revenants and The River.  

The Sixth House. The Sixth Circle is Heresy. Being the archivist house, the Sixth probably has various heretical documents squirreled away. Palamedes and Camilla are also decent people, which might as well be Heresy under this particular god. We have seen hints that Cam (and by extension Pal) are becoming radicalized, which is further Heresy, and are achieving a special version of Lyctorhood of their own, Heresy. The Blood of Eden seem to know more about the Sixth than they should, so maybe there’s even more Heresy to come. Cassiopeia, the Lyctor of the Sixth, was torn apart by angry ghosts. We are told that ghosts don’t go near a Beast, so. Could be more Heresy. The list goes on. 

The Seventh House. The Seventh Circle is Violence. The Seventh house seems to be a planet entirely devoted to wearing sundresses, reading romance novels, and growing flowers, which isn’t super violent, and also accepting and worshipping the fact that some of your Heirs are going to die young of a painful, terrible cancer, which is pretty Violent. Protesilaus, despite his hobbies, is still a brutally effective fighter, Cynthera is a straight up savage murderer, and even real Dulcinea has her moments of “oh she’s kinda fucked up actually”. Naturally, the awful cancer hasn’t helped the second two. In the Seventh Circle, those who commit the sin of harm against The Self are turned into thorny trees. There could be a connection made between the rose growing and the cancer cult, but the cancer is only -presented- as a self inflicted sacrifice. The actual patients seem pretty over it, which is fair.  

The Eight House. The Eighth Circle is Fraud. This includes Hypocrites, which the Eight absolutely are. The “Forgiving House” will hold a grudge forever, and will be very quick to label the practice of others heretical and abominable while committing some pretty egregious sins of their own. The Eighth also the most priest like of the Houses. What a weird coincidence. Sowers of Discord are also in this Circle, which fits, and sorcery, of which the Eight has a special, nasty favourite. Despite all the Fraud, the Eight are actually one of the more upfront of the Houses. Amidst all the politics and skullduggery, Silas and Mercymorn will call you a bitch to your face, which you have to respect.

The Ninth House. Treachery Babey! Whatever went down with Alecto? Betrayal. Lying about the true state of Lyctorhood? Betrayal. Whatever happened with Anastasia and Samael? Probably betrayal. When the Lyctors betrayed god and made a baby, where was that baby headed? Ninth. Opening the Locked Tomb? A betrayal of Harrow’s whole faith and family. Not eating Gideon’s soul? Well that’s only seen as a betrayal. Gideon and Harrow’s arc is learning to become loyal and dependent on one another, but the Ninth is so seeped in treachery that they see it at every turn. It takes two whole novels for Harrow to even begin to think the Sixth or the Fifth may simply be That Nice, and aren’t out to get something. In Dante’s inferno, the centre of this Circle is home to the worst traitor of them all, Satan. At the deepest part of the Ninth, God’s greatest enemy is trapped in a tomb of ice, kept alive to suffer forever. That one’s a freebie, but who betrayed who? 

The irony of all this is of course that so many of these “Sins” are John’s fault. While the Locked Tomb series does have more than its fair share of nasty people, many of the heirs are actually quiet decent people living within an all consuming system. Many of the moments of real happiness, from the Fifth’s marriage to Palamedes survival, are in defiance of God’s system. 

#the locked tomb #gideon the ninth #harrow the ninth #john gaius #cavalier #necromancer #lyctors #the nine houses

[lastflowerofyourhouse]

ok so @arithmonym 's post about how abigail pent was in the process of annexing the fourth got me thinking. if jeannemary and isaac can see her intentions, then the people around them must too, right? i'm fairly certain isaac has at least one living parent, and there should be officials and advisors surrounding him to prevent exactly this sort of thing from happening. harrow cites the fifth as the biggest threat to the ninth multiple times. if abigail is trying to annex the fourth, the people around isaac know about it. so why have they allowed him and jeannemary to get so close to abigail and magnus? why are they taking that risk?

unfortunately, i'm visiting family right now and i don't have access to my copy of gtn, so i'm gonna have to work from memory here. i may edit in some corrections when i get home in a couple of days. but if memory serves, isaac is not the eldest child in his family. he's just the eldest surviving. and the fourth doesn't seem particularly careful with their heirs. isaac is thirteen and already talking about shipping off to the front. how old do we think his younger siblings are? eleven? eight? two? who's next when isaac dies young?

so many of the houses have dwindling populations. the sixth, the ninth, the second. and based on their famous propensity to eat their young, i doubt the fourth is doing much better. i doubt they have very long before they end up like the ninth, stuck with a child despot and no one to marry them to. it's happening more slowly than what happened to the ninth, but it's really not that different. they haven't pumped neurotoxin into the nursery, but they very much are killing their children.

the reverend parents took desperate measures to save their house. they did it to preserve the cultural identity of the ninth. like harrow says. getting annexed is a worst-case scenario, because it would be the end of everything they are. i think the fourth is in a similar situation. four for fidelity, facing ahead. i think that to pull back, to preserve themselves, to save their children and bolster their population, would be an unconscionable betrayal of their cultural identity. i think the idea horrifies them, as much as the idea of reaching out to the fifth horrified the reverend family.

it's just, that horror is pushing them in the opposite direction. the people around isaac and jeannemary are intentionally allowing the fourth to be annexed, because god forbid they simply stop sending twelve year olds to die.

#the locked tomb #tlt #tlt meta #isaac tettares #abigail pent #my post

[naamah-beherit]

and then God said: "LOOK AT ALL THOSE CHICKENS"

Or: drabbles and ficlets written for the weekly Locked Tomb Microfic Challenges. Also available on AO3.

💀

1. Missing

Every few hundred years, when mood strikes him just right, Augustine raises a glass and says, “To missing friends.”

Gideon grumbles his wordless assent. Mercymorn says nothing, because she’s never there. John simply drinks straight from the bottle.

“To things we’ve lost,” he adds.

“Anything in particular this time?”

They used to drink to ancient heroes at whose names the world trembled (Leeroy Jenkins and John Cena, John called them, and it looks like the name ‘John’ birthed heroes and gods in the world before the Resurrection), to plants that are no more, to food that doesn’t taste like it used to.

“Let’s go with an archive of ancient knowledge. Irrecoverable. The servers are lost.”

“To… what was its name, by the way?”

Not that it matters. The Resurrection has wiped Augustine’s memory clean of everything that happened prior. But John is happy when he asks, and Augustine would rather keep his God happy.

Who now sighs with longing after days long lost.

“Tumblr.”

💀

2. Dream

Gideon didn’t dream of a gentle hand or a tender kiss, of sunlight on her skin or warmth in her bed. She didn't dream of colours, of seasons, of life not measured by Drearburh’s bells.

You can’t dream of what you’ve never known.

💀

3. Heat

“Hey, Nonagesimus! Do you keep the House so cold to make a point in suffering, or are we all a fridge for your parents' corpses? We could do with more heat, you—”

Ten seconds, Gideon thinks when a swarm of skeletons descends on her. A new record.

💀

4. Honour

Duty underlies Matthias Nonius’s soul and makes his bones. Duty has brought him to the River’s banks, where he stands in front of a nightmare made rippling, festering flesh.

“You,” says his rival and ally, unseen for a myriad.

“I promised, didn't I? Now let's kick arse.”

💀

5. Spirit

Elbows-deep she stands in the River, amidst souls pawing at her legs, mouths screaming without sounds, among spirits so old they've forgotten they're dead. Abigail Pent listens to what they can't articulate, opens her eyes, and says,

“There’s something wrong with the River.”

💀

6. Flirt

In the early days, when the Mithraeum was still bright and new and reeking of thanergy so much that it left her lightheaded, Harrow forced herself to grab Ianthe’s sleeve and drag her to the most secluded of empty corridors.

“My, my,” Ianthe drawled. “That’s so forward of you, Reverend Daughter.”

“Silence. Do you—do you ever wonder why the Saint of Joy hates the Saint of Patience?”

Ianthe spread her arms wide and said nothing, though the grin on her face was the widest and the most abhorrent thing Harrow had ever seen, and that was after taking into consideration the—the—

She wiped blood trickling from her nose. “Oh, just speak finally, for God’s sake.”

“Ah, my dear Harrowhark—” Harrow bristled at that, and Ianthe only grinned wider. “That’s just how old people flirt.”

💀

7. Sword

Let it be known that Wake had plans. Grand plans that involved the fate of the universe, plans on which people’s lives depended on. She’d take Bomb and spill their blood under the Tomb that shall never be opened, watch its door burst open and let the monster that lies beyond emerge to bring justice to the silenced ones. Worst case scenario, she’d die for the cause. Good enough an end, even if underwhelming.

What she didn’t plan for was getting stuck in a blade.

Perceiving the world is… difficult without senses, to say the least. She’s clinging to the steel with all the might a rage-filled revenant can muster, drifting in and out of consciousness like tides of an old world used to ebb and flow. When she’s lucid, she watches Bomb grow. She watches her get beaten, watches her cry, watches her freeze to death and wake up with a gasp, and in one brief moment of clarity that tastes suspiciously like fear, she thinks, If this brat can’t stay dead, then what does that mean for us when we try to kill her father?

But she doesn’t allow herself to feel that fleeting fear for more than a heartbeat she hasn’t got anymore.

“Get up,” she chants without tongue, without voice. “Get up and fight,” she tells Bomb after every scuffle. “What good are you if you don’t fight?”

And Bomb takes the sword with Wake’s soul in it, and off to fight she goes. Wake isn’t proud of her. Swords can’t be proud. Swords can’t be anything.

But she sure as hell cackles in vindication as the Ninth’s witch’s lips crack open under Bomb’s fist.

💀

8. Titties

The Ninth cav plops down in the chair next to Abigail, slides her glasses a bit down her nose, and fixes her in place with a gaze so imploring that the universe itself would bend over to fulfil her every wish. Magnus has told Abigail many times this is how she looks at books. She’s… inclined to agree.

“I’ve been thinking,” the Ninth starts without a greeting, tearing right to the point with the grace and finesse of a star destroyer, “that you should know, being from the Fifth House and all, because everyone keeps saying it’s not real, but I’m kinda on the fence about it, so—”

“You can just ask whatever you want to ask. I don’t mind if you’re direct.”

“Frontline Titties of the Fifth. Is that a real thing, or…?”

Frontline WHAT of the Fifth?!, screams a part of Abigail’s mind. The other looks at the bright, hopeful look on the Ninth’s face—and God help her, she’s so young—that Abigail thinks to herself, What would Camilla Hect do?

She straightens a bit and smiles. “That’s internal House business, I’m afraid.”

“Intern—what? What d’you mean, internal? It’s real, then?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Come on, don’t be like that!” She squints and purses her lips. The paint she has slapped on it cracks from the grimace. “Holy shit, are your photos there? Is that why you don’t want to tell me? Will Magnus have to kill me if you answer? Blink once if yes, I’ll—”

“Here.” Abigail pushes her unfinished breakfast over. “You should eat more. For the muscles.”

The Ninth looks down at the plate, then back up at Abigail, and grins like the child she still is. An urge to ruffle her hair shoots through Abigail like a comet, but she squanders it. The Ninth necromancer would probably try to rip her skeleton out of her body if she saw it happen, and Abigail really doesn’t want to dirty her hands with a necromancer duel before noon.

“Muscles of the Ninth, ey! Maybe after we’re out of here, I’ll set up my own titty mag to match and honour yours.”

A fleeting touch should be all right, shouldn’t it? That’s what Abigail tells herself when she throws her caution to the four winds and squeezes the Ninth’s hand. The look of wonder she gets in return was well worth the risk.

“I’m sure you will. And I’m sure it’ll be glorious.”

#the locked tomb #archiving #naamah writes

[iviarellereads]

Harrow the Ninth, Chapter 8

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For detail on The Locked Tomb coverage and the index, read this one!)

(Slashed Fourth House icon)(1) In which we run it back on book 1 again.

Harrow sips tea, overwhelmed at the flavour of it,(2) while Nigenad recites the Ninth House intercession at Canaan House.(3) Teacher asks that the Ninth grace them with the Ninth prayer, and Harrow is furious that she can't remember it. Nigenad, however, steps up and recites it. While he does, Harrow thinks about the constructs, how she hates that they've been dressed as it smacks of whimsy. She was also horrified to realize that the constructs leading them into the atrium were dropping plant matter.(4) As Ortus wraps up, the priests smile, and Harrow realizes that the First and the Ninth are the only Houses that had to learn how to wait for something that will never happen. Teacher fawns over Nigenad, while Harrow hates everything.

This time, when the keyrings are distributed, the Ninth ring comes with a key already on it: a completely uninteresting key with a triangle head and two teeth.(5) Then Teacher tells them about the history of Canaan House and the research facility. It was meant to be the palace for God, in the time before the Lyctors. They were ten disciples, at first, half necromancers. The King Undying kept them alive with his power, but they had to stay close to him for this to work, and they wanted to serve in his name elsewhere. Others took up the position, while some left and became the first cavaliers, or honed the craft of necromancy. He says that this, Canaan House, is where the research took place to discover what would become Lyctorhood.(6)

At this, Abigail Pent exclaims her excitement that the path to Lyctorhood is independent research (one of the kiddos "made a sound like an exhausted balloon squeal"), but Teacher cautions that it is only part of the path. The other part is silence and care. The Sleeper lies in the heart of the facility, and is their greatest threat, "for although they lie in sleep… in that sleep, they walk."(7) The Sleeper cannot die, may not even be wound-able. Their best defence is silence and traveling in groups.

There was no pause here, just a perfect babel: "--isn't how it--"(8) "How much sound is--" "--doesn't make any--" "--what kind of cack-handed--" "I do not know the answers to any of these questions," said Teacher calmly. "Only that, already, you are being too loud."

At this, everyone stops speaking, and even Harrow and Nigenad, who had not started talking, grow more still. At this, Teacher says he's making a joke, they're all perfectly safe up here, on this side of the hatch. Only down in the facility is there danger. However, he adds that he can guide them no further, "this place has changed beyond [his] ken." Still, he wishes them all luck, and constructs lead them away.

As they are escorted to the Ninth accommodations, Nigenad wishes Harrow had chosen someone else. She says there's no changing it now unless he can summon Matthias Nonius, whose service she will only take "if he promises not to speechify." Harrow notices that the constructs are TOO good, they do things that are beyond her ability and thus impossible for anyone of the Nine Houses.(9)

Nigenad asks outright why Harrow chose him. She says there was no one else, and his affect slips. Exasperated, he says "You never did possess an imagination," then he gathers his composure and asks her forgiveness. He says he does not know yet how to die, and he forgets his graces so far from the Locked Tomb. Harrow says to forget about dying, and get on with the task at hand, because the Ninth "should not let our hearts falter or fail regarding some fiendish somnambulist", and if something happens he can simply recite his poetry at it, which should solve any insomnia. Nigenad says Harrow is humorous, and he understands.

The skeleton construct gestured to them both as they made the initial step to follow, and Harrow was struck when it opened its yellow-molared mouth. "Is this how it happens?" it said.(10)

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(1) There isn't a specific use of or focus on the Fourth in this chapter, the only remark we get out of one of the teens is a noise. I think this icon is in use because of the Fourth part of the opening poem about the Houses: Four for Fidelity, facing ahead. Also, there's a pattern to the icons: the ones in this side story are all slashed or cracked, depending how you want to interpret the chunk missing. (2) You may recall that Gideon was super into flavour in the previous book, but had never had anything at the Ninth that wasn't bland. I wonder if an oversensitive palate runs in Harrow's family, or if it's just a trait of hers that the whole House accommodated because she's so important to them. (3) Have you found a pattern to Harrow reliving Canaan House in this strange almost retcon way? (4) Imagine growing up in a place with almost no water and nothing green, and seeing someone throw flower petals at a wedding. Horror indeed! (5) This doesn't match any key described in Gideon the Ninth as far as I can find, in case you're wondering. (6) How much of this is truth, how much is fiction in this undefined side story? Certainly, he never mentioned the facility the first time around. Why would Harrow's brain rewrite it this way? Or is this something other than a dream? (7) That is definitely, absolutely, and entirely new. (8) Hmm, now what was that? What isn't how what? (9) We know otherwise, but it's interesting that the skeleton constructs are even more whole and unusual than the ones in Gideon, which were already pretty weird being souls bound to constructs and not simple automata. (10) And here's why I don't mind drawing attention to the sentence in the atrium babel. The Body also said this in the first part of this strange side story: "This isn't how it happens." The reader is absolutely supposed to know this is more than it seems. A construct talking is downright absurd, they don't even have vocal folds! So, if you're reading with me for the first time, what do you think is going on here? Why are things happening differently?

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