ninth_cavalier: (Default)
Gideon Nav ([personal profile] ninth_cavalier) wrote in [community profile] desperatefans2024-01-06 12:34 pm

Introducing Gideon Nav, Cavalier Primary to the Ninth House, Keepers of the Locked Tomb...

...House of the Sewn Tongue, The Black Vestals. We pray that the tomb is shut forever. We pray the rock is never rolled away. We pray that which was buried remains buried, insensate, in perpetual rest, with closed eye and stilled brain. We pray it lives, we pray it sleeps, we pray for the needs of the Emperor All-Giving, the Undying King...

One minute Gideon is doing the stupidest and most perfect thing she has ever done, heroically sacrificing herself so her necromancer can eat her and achieve true Lyctorhood and break Cytherea the First's body into so many little shards of bone and ribbons of fat and flesh that even her own mother (thousands of years dead, and most likely a huge bitch) couldn't recognize her, and the next she's—standing. Whole, the aches in her leg and shoulder gone, her sunglasses perched on her nose, the comforting weight of her longsword1 on her back. She takes a breath, just for the novelty of it, and looks around.

The first thing she notices is how clean it is. No blood, no mold, no grime, no layers of bone dust. When she breathes, she just breathes air, and it feels like extra clean air, which—she looks further around—is probably due to the actual grass on the actual ground. In the distance there are trees. With birds in them.

Is this—this can't possibly be what the inside of Harrow's brain looks like. The inside of Harrow's brain is undoubtedly as spooky as the outside of Harrow's brain, because where would she even have found the imagination to dream up something this—idyllic?? There's nothing even close to it in any of her experience on Drearbruh, and Gideon would know, having been there and actively making that experience worse for all of Harrow's sorry little life.

No, what she's looking at is—a house. A big, boring, white-painted house, not a bone to be seen. "Okay," says Gideon. "What the fuck."

Anyone looking at her will see a tallish (though not for Mansion standards), broad-shouldered and very ripped butch woman, dressed all in black (black tank top, black pants, black stompy boots). She has short-cropped red hair, medium-brown skin, and her face has been painted with stark black and white skull makeup, atop which she has incongruously perched very old-looking aviator sunglasses. Slung over her back is the aforementioned sword.

1 Typist note: the books consistently refer to this as both a "longsword" and a "two-hander," and from the way its weight and length is constantly emphasized I interpret it to be more toward zweihander than longsword. Also, bigger sword sexier.
sporesprouter: (Default)

[personal profile] sporesprouter 2024-01-06 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
She shakes her head. "I know that, it's just... That's what happened. I walked into a store, did some shopping, walked out of the store, and then I was here, and the store wasn't. I know it's impossible, but impossible things happen a lot here."
sporesprouter: (Default)

[personal profile] sporesprouter 2024-01-06 07:50 pm (UTC)(link)
She nods. "I bought a cup. It's in my room right now."
sporesprouter: (sailing)

[personal profile] sporesprouter 2024-01-06 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
"It's very unfair. I was trying to get back to my ship, but instead I've been here for months, and I don't even know if my crew is okay."
Edited 2024-01-06 20:00 (UTC)
sporesprouter: (sailing)

[personal profile] sporesprouter 2024-01-06 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Tress nods. "They were fine when I left. I just miss them. A lot."
aflashbastard: (Default)

[personal profile] aflashbastard 2024-01-06 08:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Crowley's now moved his thinking outdoors and at that sudden statement, he turns to the new arrival and notes the all black clothes, the red hair, and the sunglasses.

"Hey," he says, in a mildly suspicious tone of you stole my look.
lightbearinglord: (peerless)

[personal profile] lightbearinglord 2024-01-06 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Already feeling faintly regretful, Lan Wangji looks at Gideon's hand. He is clearly expected to do something with it, some social ritual that is unknown to him. The idea of touching someone he has just met isn't particularly appealing, but neither is the idea of behaving rudely without intending to. "Young mistress Nav," he says, a little on the grim side due to the aforementioned reasons, and also due to his hope that this title isn't egregiously offensive1. "My name is Lan Wangji. I am from the Gusu Lan clan. What would you like me to do with that?" He nods at her hand.

1Much to consider after his recent conversation with Magnus...
lightbearinglord: (from behind)

[personal profile] lightbearinglord 2024-01-06 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
The widespread insistence at the mansion that titles and honorifics are unnecessary is one of the features of life here that continues to irritate him the most, but if that is what Gideon wants, Lan Wangji will adhere to it. "Gideon," he agrees, keeping his voice neutral, and then pauses. He also arrived here without someone important. That person followed him not long after, but he knows better than to give false hope. Consider Tress, for instance, still without her Charlie. "I have seen no one of that description."
sporesprouter: (closeup)

[personal profile] sporesprouter 2024-01-06 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh, no. I'm sorry. I hope whatever was happening turns out well for them."
aflashbastard: (Default)

[personal profile] aflashbastard 2024-01-06 08:42 pm (UTC)(link)
“No no, I was here first,” Crowley says, frowning at being called dude. “Both here here and also, well, existence.” And he could have the guns if he wanted. Maybe Aziraphale would notice him more if he had the guns…
sporesprouter: (walking)

[personal profile] sporesprouter 2024-01-06 08:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Tress blinks. "So. Um. Not doing too well was an understatement. Would you like to go inside?"
lanselos_du_lac: (seriously)

[personal profile] lanselos_du_lac 2024-01-06 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Lancelot is coming across the lawn, on his way to lunch, swordbelt at his waist and no cloak despite the cold. He spots the newcomer, their unusual facepaint, and slows to a stop.

After a moment's consideration he keeps walking, calls, "Hail!"
sporesprouter: (walking)

[personal profile] sporesprouter 2024-01-06 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Tress nods. She can't do anything about the people Gideon left behind any more than she can do anything about her own, but getting someone through arrival is a much smaller problem with much simpler solutions. "All right. This way." She starts toward the building. "When was the last time you ate?"
lanselos_du_lac: (direct)

[personal profile] lanselos_du_lac 2024-01-06 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
"No--" Here he would usually insert a polite form of address, but he's hesitant to try either sir or lady. This feels rude, but he goes on. "No, I am late a knight of Camelot. And now just a man. Here. I am called Lancelot."
new_inglewoodblues: (hungry for home)

[personal profile] new_inglewoodblues 2024-01-06 09:14 pm (UTC)(link)
It's cold, and Ragnelle would prefer to be asleep, but for some reason she's not1 -- she woke hungry again, and she's annoyed about it. When she passes Gideon she does not say hello.

1Thanks, typists!

Page 2 of 31