#*mirror Harrow | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

multifunctionalnitroglycerin · 1 year ago

Text

Poe’s Annabel Lee in TLT #2

You thought I'd never post it huh? Well about a month later, here is the beast. Enjoy!

We have already delved into the most obvious parallel that the TLT books create, between John and Alecto and the heroes of Poe’s Annabel Lee. I would like to now draw some comparisons between Gideon and Harrow and Annabel Lee. This might seem a bit far-fetched, because how can John and Alecto AND Gideon and Harrow exist in the same premise within Poe’s lines?

The answer is simple. They don’t. Contradictory, I know, but a lot of that comparison and many of those parallels stem from the fact that those two pairings themselves are reflections of one another. Or perhaps picture negatives. After all, what John and Alecto had, stems from love, and it is plainly stated – as plainly as all things in Muir’s writing are, at least – whereas the beginning of Gideon and Harrow’s relationship sprouts from unadulterated loathing. We learn afterward of course that this is not really the case, what with Gideon sacrificing herself in an act she perceived as the only act of Love, she could offer to Harrow and whatnot. But the parallels are there. And it is deliberate, for John and Alecto broke the world, and Gideon and Harrow will remake it – or die trying. Muir has a wonderful way of interweaving elements in the plot and creating comparisons, parallels, and antitheses between the countless colorful dynamics in the books. So, I feel where John and Alecto broke the world, and are going to -probably – die, Gideon and Harrow will step up and mirror them, bringing hope back to the world. As @local-selkie said, the series probably won’t end without hope. Hope for reconciliation, for fixing what has been irrevocably broken, hope for breaking circles and hope for a better tomorrow. (Yeah well, I may be a cynic, but I am human above all, and if there is one thing that humans yearn for, live for and fight for, it’s hope. Naïve, childish, hope. It’s what makes us better, I think)

Onto drawing a few parallels now,

It was many and many a year ago

In a kingdom by the sea

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

by the name of Annabel Lee

Not really much to say about this one. Our story for these two starts about twenty years ago, in far off Pluto – well, the Ninth – with the salty ass underground (might point to there having been saltwater there at some point) where Wake collapsed dead, and a wailing Gideon was found. Harrow had not yet been born, and frankly neither of them would be what one would call a fair maiden.

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

than to love and be loved by me

I was a child and she was a child

In this Kingdom by the Sea

Here I feel we could consider this a reference to the shared childhoods of our heroines. The lonely, shared childhood of our heroines. For there were no other children on the Ninth, and they bitterly clung to each other with all they had. Even if it means beating each other into a pulp within an inch of their lives. Because Harrow was a child, and Gideon was a child on the far off Ninth, where there were no other children, and all they had was each other and their rivalry. So, I can see the whole “she lived with no other thought” than finding a way to make each other’s life hell. And as we see going forward in the books, that was all they could do to love each other, the only way they knew how.

But we loved with a love that was more than love—

I and my Annabel Lee;

With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven

Coveted her and me.

We loved with a love that was more than love, we loved with a love that felt like hatred, with a devotion that felt like abandonment, because Gideon could think of no greater act of love than sacrificing herself for Harrow, than letting Harrow consume her, and Harrow could think of no fate worse than that. Harrow loved Gideon so much the greatest act of service, of devotion, of love she could think to offer to her ill-matched cavalier was to spare her, to let her live. And they both failed spectacularly at that, but oh well. Angst.

As for the analogue to the seraphs, this is a bit trickier than John and Alecto. Because for them it’s obvious it’s the rest of the Lyctors, the Lyctors that couldn’t compete with John’s monster cavalier, the Lyctors that could never achieve their perfect connection. But who could it be that covets the connection between Harrow and Gideon? I think to be able to imagine an answer to that we should take a step away from the narrative and look at them from everyone else’s perspective. For the Niners it’s a no brainer. They know Gideon, they know Harrow, they would never think of a worthy connection between the two as highlighted by Crux’s words in NtN (and goodness if that didn’t hurt). But what about the Canaan House? Contrary to Harrow’s insecurities and paranoia, to the external observer they do present a united front. The two black clad nuns of the Ninth, with their veils and their disconcerting face paint, with their creepy/ damning/ borderline heretical prayer, the tiny unhinged necro, and the huge, silent Cav that disarmed Magnus in three moves, that seem so in sync it’s almost uncanny (“Death first to vultures and scavengers - AN ICON). So, I could see, the rest of the people in Canaan House at least envying their connection a bit, (if they haven’t already figured them out – like Pal and Ianthe), at least at first glance. And then there is ofc SYLAS OCTAKISERON, (I hate him, I am sorry, but if I could stick him headfirst to the ground I would). The Eighth generally isn’t that fond of the Ninth so no surprise there. I am rly not sure how the OG Lyctors would feel abt them but if you have any ideas feel free to share.

And this was the reason that, long ago,

In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

My beautiful Annabel Lee;

So that her highborn kinsman came

And bore her away from me,

To shut her up in a sepulchre

In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,

Went envying her and me—

Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know, In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

Alright, so as I mentioned before, this is where the tone shifts to something more chilly, if you will. No more fairytale notions – as much as Gideon and Harrow can be perceived as a fairytale. But if we want to be particular abt Gideon and Harrow’s timeline this is the exact point where Harrow makes herself a mausoleum for one more soul, Gideon. (The pain though). I know that at first, I interpreted kingdom by the sea as the Ninth, for Gideon and Harrow, but here I think it is safe to assume that it is referencing earth again, aka the First, where the final showdown for GtN is taking place. The highborn kingsman, I think again references the Lyctors only this time we are talking Cytherea, that forced Gideon’s hand, in sacrificing herself and Harrow partly consuming her. And now Gideon is a part of Harrow, locked away in her - soon to be lobotomized - temporal lobe.

And obviously Harrow aches for Gideon, for she never wanted this to be her fate. She consumed her out of necessity, not out of want. It is the process of Lyctorhood itself that comes and takes Gideon from Harrow, that causes this painful sacrifice, and has her clutching at whatever remnants of Gideon she has, as hard as possibly, with no plan whatsoever, but to preserve her, thus rendering Gideon’s sacrifice pointless.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we—

Of many far wiser than we—

And neither the angels in heaven above,

Nor the demons down under the sea,

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:

And this is Lyctorhood ala Harrow. Aka rendering the whole procedure useless, because you love your cavalier so much you cannot bear the thought of killing and consuming them. (Or well, Lyctorhood ala Ninth House, because Anastasia attempted preserving Samael first. I mean we can see that the Ninth Necros love their cavs too much – They literally both went, Immortality and immense power? No, thanks, I don’t want it without my cav by my side. They’re both ambitious enough to try, however, and we saw what that cost them). I think that this part works as a foreshadow for Gideon and Harrow in the future, (for a hopeful future) as well as it is the part with the closest parallel to Alecto and John. Because part of Alecto is in Harrow and part of Gideon is John, and their love is enough that Gideon kills herself for Harrow, no regrets, and the stubborn, little, malnourished nunlet lobotomizes herself to spare Gideon being consumed into nothingness. So yes, their love transcended that of the other Lyctors and their cavs, because they refused to make the sacrifice, because they loved each other so much they found a way to at least stop the procedure, instead of just ling down and taking it (well Harrow did, Gideon was ready to die for her. And again. How Gideon thinks so little of herself she thinks she is better off as a sacrificial lamb, and Harrow in her endless guilt just refuses to let her – masterful and painful in equal measure. They both feel betrayed, because the other didn’t let them die, but wanted them to live.

As for the never severing the souls, I have two words for you. Perfect Lyctorhood. (Just an idea, but we’ll see)

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,

In her sepulchre there by the sea,

In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Dreams of the beautiful Annabel Lee, like the coffee-shop au dream/hallucination Harrow has? Like the constant nightmares where her brain glitches replacing Gideon with Ortus?

I must admit that this part to me also highlights the connection between Harrow – Anastasia’s Line – and Alecto. Because we meet Alecto through the dreams, because Harrow sees Alecto in her sleeping and wakeful hours, because in the dream Harrow is Alecto and Alecto is Harrow.

The bright eyes of the beautiful Annabel Lee, Alecto’s golden eyes, Gideon’s golden eyes, and Harrow’s own dark ones, that while not bottomless pits are pretty dark in their own measure. Now the lying down next to my beautiful Anabel Lee part, is… tricky for those two. I honestly don’t have many ideas abt it. I can picture it as Kiriona and Harrow sitting next to one another in the Tomb, and together undoing what has been done, and then having their happy ending, but that’s as far as it goes. If we take the idea that Harrow is the mausoleum in which Gideon’s soul is preserved, I can imagine that the whole thing will happen in the River. Perhaps from an access point on the Ninth, but literally this part is the one I most struggle to interpret.

Of course, we also need to take the biblical connections into account, and those biblical connections are in large why there are so many parallels between the two pairings. You have God and his offspring, that sacrifices herself, you have Harrow, who in a sense is also Christ going down in Hades in the days before the resurrection, and you have Alecto. John is Gideon and Harrow is Alecto and it’s a glorious mess. We have parallels in a love that transcends all that was known before, we have it starting from what is perceived as hate but in reality, is the last strings of their sanity sticking together, with a few sprinkles of codependence. And again, is that love truly as beautiful as it appears?

We do tend to romanticize it a lot in the fandom, but ultimately, it’s a story about grief and loss. Harrow’s story is abt grief and loss and guilt. The future of the ninth was sacrificed for her to be born, her whole planet will be lost if she doesn’t find some way to help it, she has already lost so much and sacrificed so much to be where she is, and the last straw is Gideon’s death and coming back as Kiriona. And Gideon, Gideon that was born alone on the ninth that no one wanted, no one paid attention to but Harrow – Harrow who made her life a living hell yes, but Harrow who talked to her, even if it was just to exchange insults. Gideon abandoned by the world, that loved Harrow and harrow abandoned her too, in choosing not to utilize her sacrifice. Their stories are so interwoven with themes of love, loss, and grief, that the parallels are hard not to draw.

Anyhow, I am beat. I hope this makes sense. Feel free to add your own thoughts and comments, and don’t forget to take care of yourselves.

Till next time!

PS check out @katakaluptastrophy's post abt the descent of Christ/Harrow in Hades here.

It's spectacular, as usual (The articulation is so on point I cannot. I feel like a mad scientist reading a scholar's work every time). And perhaps with the Orthodox Easter approaching I might take the chance to revisit the scriptures myself.

And @fkapommel's post abt the duality of the Christ symbolism in Gideon and Harrow here.

I enjoyed this too much not to recommend it.

45 notes · View notes

literary-illuminati · 2 years ago

Text

Book Review 38 – A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow

This was the second novella I read on account of it being a Hugo nominee, and probably the book I was/am second-most dreading getting through (I am really not looking forward to Legends and Lattes). And, I am sad to report, that dread was entirely justified. This really isn’t going to be a very nice review, so, you know, caveat lector.

The story is a direct sequel to A Spindle Splintered, and will be incredibly confusing to read without that context (source: my roommate did so accidentally). In the five years since Spindle, Zina has been very busy being a dimension hopping heroine, crashing into one alternate reality’s version of Sleeping Beauty after another and either ensuring that the Happily Ever After goes as planned or offering an escape to Beauty’s (and presumably others, though I don’t believe it’s ever mentioned) who’d rather opt out. In the process she’s entirely abandoned Charm and Prinny, and essentially every tie she has to her own life, sublimating anxiety over her own mortality into heroine-saving adventures.

Then it turns out all the jumping between stories and screwing around with plotlines is doing structural damage to the multiverse, as she discovers when a desperate Evil Queen drags her into her castle to force her to explain how to escape the fate she knows is coming for her, after a ratty old copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales appeared on her bookshelf earlier. The queen is, unsurprisingly, not as evil as she seems on first glance, and also just smoking hot (Zina’s narration is very clear on this). The two go on interdimensional adventures, bond and open up to each other, face down an evil immortal cannibal Snow White, hook up, and write their own Happily Ever Afters, or at least something close enough. And in the meantime Zina reconnects with her friends and agrees to become the closest thing Earth has to a fairy godmother.

So, to not be entirely one-sided here: I really did enjoy the sequence where Zina and Eva are thrashing about jumping through a dozen different versions of Snow White over the course of a few pages while they fight over the magic mirror. That was fun. The close narration did an excellent job getting across who Zina is and characterizing her too, even if there were a few too many pop culture name drops for my taste. Otherwise...

This book is just..argh. Even it’s basic premise is the fairy tale equivalent of one of those zombie stories about a guy whose spent his life fantasizing about killing zombies and won’t shut up about how similar the plot is to all his favourite zombie movies, except in this case the hypothetical zombie killer has also taken half a film theory undergrad and keeps peppering the narration with commentary about how the monsters trying to eat his brains are a problematic appropriation of Haitian folklore and/or a representation of late 20th century American anxiety over mass culture and consumerism. The bit gets old so so quickly.

Beyond that – look, I’m a hard sell on multiverse stuff generally these days, versions that try to milk it for serious drama especially. And the metaphysics just make zero sense at all, and not even in a charmingly nonsensical fairy tale way – adding scifi technobabble to things that are just neer going to make sense according to any sort of mechanistic scientific understanding of the world’s usually a mistake unless you’re actually planning to do something with it, in my opinion. Absolutely worst of all, though (and now I know this is an incredibly petty and personal pet peeve), the story lampshades that it makes no sense. Okay being honest if I’d otherwise liked the book I might have found the whole conversation with the folklore professor where Zina asks how to solve the plot just kind of endearingly annoying, but as is? Unforgivable.

The Evil Queen (or Eva, as Zina names her, since in the Grimm Tale she doesn’t have any other name, you see) isn’t a bad character, but she does rather feel like she walked right out of Enemies to Lovers central casting. More than that, as a villain redemption story goes it just hits all the beats that it possibly could to make its job easier, which just makes it so much more boring than it could have been. Eva never really did anything that evil, all she ever wanted was agency and self-determination, she was motivated by fear, she’s only an antagonist for like fifteen pages before becoming Zina’s sidekick, she’s heroic and selfless when given the opportunity, she’s physically attractive and falls in love with the protagonist, etc, etc. Most of all, she’s contrasted with a real villain, a gothic horror Snow White who really does eat the hearts of children to retain her eternal youth. And just, you can feel the author stacking the deck in her own favour here – there’s just almost no actual moral conflict or drama to it all, you know?

I’m sure it was mostly unintentional, but the wider themes of the story are...weird. Or, actually, so aggressively conventional that I’m just surprised to see them in a book with this one’s explicit politics. ‘You owe the world to your closest friends and relations, but ignoring your own affairs to go help strangers is irresponsible and dangerous to everyone. It’s also an infantile response to fear over your own mortality; maturity and responsibility mean settling down and helping to raise a kid,’ is, like, really not the message I was expecting. Especially from a book that keeps peppering the narration with phrases like ‘heternormative family structure’. Admittedly a probably uncharitable read, but you really can’t spend so incredibly long hammering home how fucked up and horrifying so many of the narratives that the world is made of are, and how all the different iterations of each story are real and all the characters full moral agents, and then pivot to ‘but intruding on other stories is damaging the fabric of reality! So we’ll just stop.’ Fuck all those other not-really-evil queen’s being forced to dance in red hot slippers until they die, I guess – if they wanted to live, they should have had the good sense to be a love interest.

Also, look, it’s not a rage button for everyone like it is for me. But the bit where the narrative came out and drew a bright line between Zina ‘refusing to accept’ how she will inevitably die from her tragic wasting disease and evil Snow White eating the hearts of children for eternal youth is probably the point where the book went from mediocre to actively making me angry.

I love the whole fractured fairy tale conceit, I really do. But this whole series is just not it, at least for me. Go watch Maleficent instead, for something with the same take on an evil witch queen. Or, I don’t know, Shrek.

#book review #a mirror mended #alix e. harrow #sff #hugo nom #novella

28 notes · View notes