ok but the entire prologue of Harrow the Ninth and throughout the book, Ianthe telling Harrow that she’ll help “if only you’d ask” and of course Harrow doesn’t ask for help because that’s not what she does. And the prologue fits into the rest of the chapters right before Gideon wakes up in Harrow’s body (possibly the break in the prologue before “Hell spat you back out” fits in just as she’s seizing on the bed in the river bubble, about to remember Gideon? something like that). And that prologue ends with Harrow saying “three syllables she did not even understand” which, obviously in my opinion, is Gideon’s name.
Gideon comes because she asks! She comes because she asks her to! The whole time, everyone is all “I’ll help you if you ask for help” and the only person she ever asks for help, through the fucking murk of her own slipshod lobotomy, is Gideon. And when she does, of course Gideon answers
!!! this immediately made me think of the siphoning trial in book one. gideon is probably the only person to ever offer harrow help with no strings attached:
of course gideon answers. because she asked. i’m going to walk into the sea now
you were weak. you staggered over to the body, standing so quiet by the wall, and you buried your face in her thighs. the dead cool nearness of her was so close to being real that it rendered itself genuine comfort
“When she had been earlier born, and less self-conscious, sometimes she would rest her face against the mirror’s face, and try to reach her reflection. Camilla had caught her kissing it once, and had written about six pages of notes on that, which was humiliating”.
[ID: Three pages of drawings of characters from Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. 1. Camilla takes notes on a clipboard. Her bangs are pinned back. She says, “Keep going.” Nona is behind her, peering over Camilla’s shoulder. 2. Nona in profile with a worried expression. Her long black hair is in three braids. 3. Camilla smiling. Her eyes are gray. There are hearts around her. A note reads, “My love,” in all caps. 4. Nona lays down and lifts her legs to stretch them. She scrunches up her face in effort. Camilla stands beside Nona with no expression. She says, “Walk it off.” 5. Nona is drawn cartoonishly small and cute. Her eyes are huge and they well with tears. She smiles and clasps her hands, saying: “At least please can you write down, “I love you, Palamedes,” please, from me? At least write, “I love you, Palamedes, from Nona.”
6. Pyrrha (in Gideon Prime’s body) places a pan full of eggs on the table. She wears a vest and sweatpants. She smiles at Nona and says, “Eggs aren’t optional, kiddie.” A note pointing to Pyrrha says “Mom” with a smiley face. Nona frowns and says, “Yuck.” She is holding two cups. To the right, there is a board that reads: “Ass Joke Chart.” Pyrrha, Nona, Camilla, and Palamedes’s names are written in an alien alphabet. Pyrrha has 7 tally marks, Nona has 2, Camilla has 0, and Palamedes has 4. 7. Pyrrha braids Nona’s hair. Meanwhile, Nona stares at a plate of eggs with disgust and chews on her hair. 8. Palamedes (in Camilla’s body) frowns. He has brown eyes. 9. Palamedes eats scrambled eggs. He says, “a very nutritious part.” Pyrrha’s expression is that of a cursed 😂. She exclaims, “THE ASS.”
10. Camilla wears a hat with a neck flap, a mask with valves, a heavy trench coat, and sunglasses. 11. Camilla, Pyrrha, and Nona run towards the left. They all wear the same outfit as Camilla. 12. Nona crosses her arms and says, “If Cam gets to fight, I get to keep all the dogs.” 13. Lastly, there is a sketch of a Resurrection Beast Herald. It is an insect-like creature with wings and a skull for a face. End ID]
