September 2023

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Nona Liveblog. (1/5)

Because yes, I recorded it all this time.

Warning: THIS LIVEBLOG WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE BOOK. I have finished reading and am posting these notes after the fact. Therefore, it will also contain blurbs about things I missed on my first read. Please be cautious.

Once again, big thank you to @elexuscal for reading my rants and reacting with frustratingly vague emojis~

Chekhov — 08/25/2023 6:42 AM I looked at the cover and was like (Nona the Ninth cover art. Nona is standing with her arms outspread, holding a gas mask in one hand. Behind her, skeletons are falling. There is a 6 legged dog happily prancing in the background.) I hope the dog is an important part of the cast. That's really all that matters to me at this point. and lo and behold, it was! Also... This chapter numbering system is going to have me looking up bible verses which means all my ads will end up being awkwardly skewed.ALT
Chekhov — 08/25/2023 7:06 AM It's like, if you search for a sleeping bag on google once, suddenly all your ads and suggested things end up being camping stuff If I start searching up bible verses, next thing I know all my algorithmic stuff ends up being christian. I have as many algorithmic things turned off as I've found, but it STILL gets through. The thing is--the thing IS. I understand that this is John and his life before the Resurrection? But I still can't quite wrap my head around it. > He said: We just wanted to save you. You were so sick. WHO? > He said, It was me and A— and M— at the start. It wasn’t that they didn’t have the money for a bigger team; we were simply the only ones capable of what they were asking. M— for medical, A— because he was the glycerol-6 genius. Augustine???? Mercymourn?????? Hang on, were they there THAT early on??? Somehow I assumed that EVERYONe on Earth died aside from John. But this, in fact, puts them on the same timeline as him. His peers, even. Is this real...? Is this how it happens? :squint~2 emoji: Dragon — 08/25/2023 7:16 AM Ooh it's gonna think you're Christian, lol Dragon — 08/25/2023 7:17 AM Is this how it happens, indeedALT
Chekhov — 08/25/2023 11:48 AM The story so far appears to be just. John. Talking about the before. He worked to try to... cryo preserve people? Get them out... off planet? Presumably because it was dying. Is THAT who he means when he said 'you were sick'??? The planet? I'm also surprised about how adamant he is about the Nobody Gets Left Behind. I had mixed feelings about John after Harrow, and I'm not sure I believe him now. It's too much power for one being. But his intentions seem... better than I had imagined. >> “You always say that, Harrowhark.” ???????? Harrow? Dragon — 08/25/2023 11:51 AM yeah welcome to the confusion zone but here, have the fandom's favourite graphic (old style word art graphic with a sexily reclining skeleton and a skull with a crown on it, reading 'THIS POST IS ABOUT JOHN GAIUS, King Undying, Shitty Prince of Death, Necroslut Prime') Chekhov — 08/25/2023 11:56 AM Lmaoooooo Necroslut prime seems about rightALT
Apparently Camilla AND Pyrrah are here???? Guess she survived the escape from the deepest part of the River? First thoughts on Nona: Adorable. But confounding. “Thanks. I love you too, Camilla,” and: “Do you know who I am yet?” So they're trying to figure out who Nona is? Presumably it's.......... Harrow? Given the dreams. But last one in this.... body is Gideon? Dragon — 08/25/2023 11:58 AM PYRRAH! MY BELOVED Chekhov — 08/25/2023 12:13 PM So last book, Harrow went to have a nap in the Tomb. And Gideon was.........where? I thought someone was bringing her back, giving her CPR. But was that in HER body, which was not rotting? Or was that Harrow's body? (GIF of Sheldon from The Bing Bang Theory writing theorems on a white board.) I swear I'm thinking very hardALT

Spongebob Announcer Voice: They were not thinking hard enough.

And PALAMEDES IS HERE TOO? (GIF of the white creature which sits on a little block and spreads its arms out in confusion, staring ahead grumpily) Is this just the My Body And Soul Were Playing Musical Chair Crew? Is that what bonds this little troupe together??? The easiest way of telling who was who was in the eyes. Palamedes had soft cool eyes of brownish grey, like bare ground in the cold mornings when Nona had been little, and Camilla had the clearest of clear grey eyes like storybook ice, not like normal cloudy ice at all. .............so Camilla has been. ...........anti-Lyctor'd? Because them deep greys are Pal's eyes. "I spent all that time sleeping with the enemy with very little to show for it, right? Blood of Eden is a house with many rooms, and I was only ever visiting one of ’em." I'm honestly still not recovered that Gideon AND Pyrrah were both sleeping with Wake. What a couple of idiots. I absolutely love these immortals who come full circle from infinite wisdom and exhaustion through the ages and just become like kids again. 'have fun and fuck around and find out'ALT
Dragon — 08/25/2023 12:24 PM All of John's Crew: We're practicing unethical nonmonogomy Chekhov — 08/25/2023 12:25 PM 😂😂😂 ok but fr They're so unethical....... But that's just a description of their general disposition Dragon — 08/25/2023 12:26 PM 10 thousand years old and they used, apparently, most of that time to discover weirder and more fucked up ways to have sex and didn't even spare a decade to learn how to make a decent omlette, apparently [or stop waging endless genocide, but whatever]ALT
Nona didn’t understand how the others could walk around and go through their lives only touching each other as much as was necessary. This is. A FASCINATING character study. (GIF from Fresh Prince of Bell Air, Will Smith in a pink cap going 'hmm') So she doesn't know much. She doesn't care about swords or bones. But those are not necessarily.... indicative of what Gideon or Harrow like. Or rather, they DO like those things. But. Why? Harrow was RAISED to be a necromancer, right? Would Nona even care about this without being indoctrinated into the Ninth way of life as Reverend Daughter? And Gideon trained because she had fuck all else to her name. Sure, she LIKED swords. but she also had little else to choose between.ALT
And it's curious that Nona is so touchy. Because YES, it feels SO UNLIKE HARROW but my mind cannot help but go to that one passage in Harrow the Ninth where--oh boy I wonder if I can find it............. > You were so afraid she might touch you. You were so afraid anyone might touch you. You had always been afraid of anyone touching you, and had not known your longing flinch was so obvious to those who tried it. Which I think makes it obvious that Harrow's flinching from touch is actually because she is likely SEVERELY touch starved. The ninth house was very hands off. She likely had very little in the way of normal childhood development where touching is concerned. She likely could only get normal levels of it from, ironically, Gideon, who was similarly touch starved. But with so little guidance from NORMAL FUCKING ADULTS, WHICH THERE WAS A LACK OF they both thought that the only way to get touch was to rip each other to fucking shreds. Intricate rituals, etc, etc........... Chekhov — 08/25/2023 8:01 PMALT
Chekhov — 08/25/2023 8:01 PM > “Is his name really and truly Honesty?” Palamedes wanted to know. > Nona struggled. > “That’s how I hear it." Oooooh wait, she auto-translates names because of her translation abilities? Iiiinteresting. Update: Necromancers are being killed for sport for necromancy, presumably. Update: Nona has no idea she is a necromancer. Post thought update: IS Nona a necromancer? Post post thought update: What if she's neither Gideon NOR Harrow? What if she's like. One of the 200 kids that has been rolling around like bowling pins in the alley of Harrow's mind? What if she's the soup of them? Is there a way to be a Lyctor but not a necromancer? She DOES heal fast. So she's still a Lyctor. But she knows no theorems and cannot do anything consciously. Then again, Pyrrah is not a necromancer, but is still a Lyctor......................kinda? IS she? Technically????????? Nona also doesn't...........eat. That's a Lyctor thing. Or rather, she DOES, but she clearly doesn't like to. Or doesn't need to. That's such a Harrow thing.ALT

Post-Book Thoughts: The frustrating thing is that the clues were THERE. It was in the last part of Harrow that we were given the clues about how it COULD work. And I still didn’t– sigh.

> “Why do you love Crown?” Nona thought about it. > “She has lovely hair. And when she hugs you she smells like cinnamon, and her breasts feel nice, and she’s so big and pretty.” > Palamedes looked at her, and then he took the notepad out of Camilla’s capacious pockets. Nona despaired: there was always a tick somewhere if she mentioned breasts. lmfaoooooooo Palamedes really just made a mark about BREASTS in the G or H book. My good man, this tells you zero facts about which one of the lesbians it is.ALT
> Why is it that the blue light in the sky hurts—other people,” said Nona, “but not you and Cam?” > She had asked this upward of a dozen times, especially lately, but Palamedes always answered unhesitatingly no matter how many times he had been asked before. “She’s got the wrong kind of body. She and I can cheat … for now … draw on me, not her, for the unusual kinds of things that I do, with the downside being that our time is very limited. If I was in her body for too long, I’d hurt her and the blue light would start to hurt me. But in summary, nothing will hurt Camilla so long as I stick to the time limit. Make sense?” Absolutely not, you genius man. You're horrid at explaining the things you understand. For that matter, what IS the blue light????? I thought it was just a blue sky, and the sun that was too hot. But it turns out there's something ELSE that's up there? What IS it? Is it a thing the Edenites have? Something that hurts necromancers? But no, wait, Palamedes said it doesn't hurt him and Cam. So then does it hurt Pyrrah? Does it hurt Nona? No, nothing hurts Nona. And she said they didn't need it. SO WHAT THE FUCK IS IN THE SKY.ALT
“Sometimes,” she found herself saying, quite meditatively for her, “I don’t like it when you do—the necromancy word—” (“You just said it,” said Palamedes) “—but it feels nice at the same time. It’s mixed up. It’s like when you do that, it makes me sad—not sad that you did it, but sad that you can do it." (GIF of Patrick from Spongebob with a notebook, writing things down) One more tick for the Harrow box........................ ALT
Chekhov — 08/25/2023 10:58 PM > Then it suddenly dawned on the general public that this was the next move—we really were in the endgame, you weren’t going to last the distance—and everyone started to panic. Why is John still referring to Harrow as though she is the Earth? It's so interesting......... He is clearly referencing the climate crisis, and referencing how the earth is dying. And yet he's also referred to Harrowhark by name. Is this... kind of like how Nona can speak all the languages? Harrow hears The Earth and The World and knows that John really only means what he had managed to save of it? > I didn’t have to worry about the public or the media—we had a pet cop, P —. She’d made detective by that point; was going on to big things in the MoD. Knew G— from way back, and G— and I were both hometown boys, so P— kept the heat down for us. Hello Pyrrah. Hello Gideon First Class. > I knew all those bodies by name. Funny to say, but they were my mates, you know? I’d worked on them for such a long time, and they’d given us so much, and now they were going to get dumped in some concrete skip because after what we’d done to them they couldn’t be cremated or buried safely. I hated that. ............Legitimately beginning to like Jod. He...........cares. He's trying. And he's absolutely mad, but he CARES. He legitimately cares about the dead. He has a connection with them. Which is, weirdly, something Harrow also developed after all her life on the Ninth. She loved her people, in her own weird little way. She unabashedly loved and wanted the best for them. There's something to that............. ALT
Dragon — 08/25/2023 11:10 PM Yeah. Yeah these flashbacks really make us like Jod, ever after the last book made us go, FUCK YOU BUDDY Chekhov — 08/25/2023 11:12 PM I will fully admit, like, I don't think he's a good person I just think he's a fascinating and understandable person The whole scene is unraveling, but he seems to be a complex and very funny villain which makes him highly enjoyable Dragon — 08/25/2023 11:12 PM Yeah Or at least, I don't think he's been a good person for a long long time Chekhov — 08/25/2023 11:12 PM that might be a better way of putting it Chekhov — 08/25/2023 11:39 PM I am beginning to think that the dreams with John and Harrow have nothing to do with Nona. Like that's what Harrow is dreaming, but Nona is clearly dreaming something different. In the dream, I'm hungry. Hungry.............for souls? :espurr_flashbacks: Dragon — 08/25/2023 11:42 PM that sure is a theory : )ALT
Dragon — 08/26/2023 2:29 AM wait wait wait wait WAIT i just realised did you read the short story between Harrow and Nona? Chekhov — 08/26/2023 7:20 AM Yes I actually read it while I was reading Harrow, because someone sent it to me and said it did not contain spoilers Which was a lie but it helped me start reading HtN nevertheless Dragon — 08/26/2023 7:42 AM hmmn yeah i would wait until after Harrow myself but okay you got that context Chekhov — 08/26/2023 7:43 AM It has been helpful yeah Noodle didn’t want to have his pattens put on. He kept staring at Nona over his shoulder every time she wrestled a tiny, dirty white foot into a patten—it was like a little sock over a plastic grate—and there were six of them, she even had to do the legs he often stuck up or folded in at the middle. At one point, Noodle cunningly wriggled his way out of one shoe using another foot and Nona could have shrieked. She said, “Noodle, how dare you?” and he didn’t look guilty at all. This is the most accurate description of putting shoes on a dog, and I love it so much. I also love it that Nona loves animals. Dragon — 08/26/2023 8:04 AM dogs hate it. they hate it so muchALT
John 15:23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. The necromancy...........is beginning. :eyesblur: It's interesting that this seems to be completely intuitive. Not really..............theory heavy??? This isn't science. Perhaps John KNEW the science but that's not how this starts.ALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 8:42 AM That was because what happened the last time was that Camilla had got sick, and less important, Nona had got shot. Babygirl, I'm begging you............. Salt water had always relieved her: salt water made her feel as though, if there was someone in there with her, she would suddenly know the words to tell them everything. ................................I'm. pain. I AM interested in this whole Nona Loves to Swim deal. Another tick in the Harrowhark theory. But also....... maybe she is just connecting with the River? I'm still struggling to follow all of this guerilla warfare/political stuff. Mostly because the names are still unfamiliar. But it seems that EVERYONE wants the musical-chair-inside-out-lyctors. Dragon — 08/26/2023 8:56 AM they're ALL begging her Dragon — 08/26/2023 8:56 AM yeah the politics are pretty complicated i thikn it mostly boils down to: if Nona is a Gideon+Harrow Lyctor, she's basically an unstoppable force of nature just waiting to go off, if only they can direct herALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 8:59 AM CAMILLA WHAT DID YOU GUYS DOOOO I thought for a moment that maybe Nona could help her.... but no. Nona can't do Lyctor stuff anymore. What IS a Thanergy shock anyway? Something non necromancers can't handle? Dragon — 08/26/2023 9:00 AM seems so Chekhov — 08/26/2023 9:53 AM “Hect, you’re not listening. It’s killing him too—” “It was good,” said Camilla, and her eyes closed. “It was good. We were happy.” ...........this is. Horrible. And tragic. The idea that merging two souls in a body makes one HAPPY is a hell of a thought. Something like an ideal state. A state of comfort, like an embrace from a friend or a lover. Maybe that was the first time Cam and Palamedes could spend time together since the Canaan House.... :crycatmic: (emoji repeats 5 times) Dragon — 08/26/2023 9:57 AM :wail: (emoji repeats 4 times) steven universe fusion vibesALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 9:59 AM To Nona’s awe, she twitched the blackout curtains aside—stood bathed in the hyper-blue light from the sky as Nona held her breath—and she said to the window, “Here’s to Camilla Hect, yet another of devotion’s casualties,” and knocked back the glass. Then she said to the light, quite gently, “No, I don’t blame you, man … He was always looking for things to throw himself on.” ...............WHOMST..... ARE YOU TALKING TO????? JOHN? IS THE BLUE LIGHT JOHN????? OR GIDEON????????? Chekhov — 08/26/2023 9:59 AM oh gods yeah Chekhov — 08/26/2023 10:00 AM But it sounds like 'he' could be Gideon Is the blue light in the sky...........John???? Did he turn into a sun???? Into a star? WHAT Dragon — 08/26/2023 10:01 AM GREAT QUESTIONSALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 11:20 AM She knew the luminous sphere hanging above the city, high in space, had kicked off all the riots, and was making everyone scream, and had caused the siege in the port, and made people throw themselves in front of buses, and made everyone say the end of the world was coming soon. It was making everybody’s lives horrible, and it had given Palamedes and Camilla the same grave, pensive expression, and Pyrrha slapped on an extra nicotine patch every time the fog burned away and it hung like a great blue ball in the sky. But Nona loved the blue sphere as much as she loved everything else. She, and nobody else, could hear it sing. “Good night, Varun,” she said. ...........w....what. what is it. WHAT IS IT??? NONA!!!! (screenshot of Google explanation of Varun - Water god. Origin: Indian. Meaning: water god. Varun is a boy's name of Indian origin. A derivative of Varuna, this classic name means 'water god' and is called after an ancient Hindu deity.) okay. okay okay okay. So is that. Is that Jod or. Is that. wait. Is that. Hang on I gotta check something.ALT
.............. PYRRAH SAID IT WAS PERISCOPING IN THE FIRST DANG PART OF THE BOOK IT'S THE FUCKING RESURRECTION BEAST????? IS THAT WHAT IT IS???? IS IT JUST A GOOD BOY WHO IS HANGING OUT IN THE RIVER WITH ITS HEAD ABOVE THE WATER? DOES NONA JUST THINK IT'S A WEIRD DOG?????? Is it 7? No, they killed 7, right?ALT

…………all this effort, and there was still a hole in my head through which all the information drained.

John 5:18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. :squint~2: hmmm anyway, John is just taking Dream Harrow on a grand old tour of the earth. Are they..........actually on earth? Are they actually trudging around New Zealand and having themselves a grand old father-daughter adventure? Or is this all just a bubble in the river? A really big island? Or Chekhov — 08/26/2023 11:30 AM > I knew it was fine. I knew I’d touched something, come away with something, that could be used for good. Could be used to fix everything, used for you. I only had to figure out how. There was so much to figure out. But I’d got a dream team on tap, eh? .......................... I keep thinking 'why John? Why did this happen THEN?' The planet. ..... flipped. That was what gave him the first burst of thanergy. The planet started to die......and it..... began to flip. And he harnessed all of that into his necromancy. He was the first and only one who knew how. > He sighed and said, “We had the internet. We decided to stream.” > She said, “What is this internet?” > And he said, “See, I did make a utopia.” I reFUSE to believe that the Houses went 10,000 years without someone re-inventing some sort of internet forum. The Sixth DEFINITELY have wikipedia. The third DEFINITELY have a pornhub. You cannot convince me he completely got rid of the internet. John. Come on man. You're powerful, but not THAT powerful.ALT

This is the end of part one! I think the rest I will try to split up into DAYS, since this is the end of DAY 2. Cheers!

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Nona Liveblog. (2/5)

Warning: THIS LIVEBLOG WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE BOOK. I have finished reading and am posting these notes after the fact. Therefore, it will also contain blurbs about things I missed on my first read. Please be cautious.

Once again, big thank you to @elexuscal for reading my rants and reacting with frustratingly vague emojis~

Chekhov — 08/26/2023 11:50 AM “Okay. What do you think is sexy?” Nona cheered up immediately at being asked. “The huge old poster up on the side of the building at the end of the street —the one the dairy’s in. The old poster for shampoo.” Camilla looked at her for a few seconds too many. “The painting of the two flowers,” she said. “I think they’re very sexy flowers,” said Nona. You know what I would STILL kill for? Camilla and Palamedes' notes on Nona. Can you just imagine?ALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 12:13 PM Nona persisted, “Did you save anyone? Because you can tell Camilla and Palamedes if you did that, you know they’d like it.” “No,” said Pyrrha. “Not how they’d understand it.” ....well. A mercy kill still sounds like a damn better death than being burned alive. So. You know.............. silver linings. Dragon — 08/26/2023 12:13 PM 😬😔ALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 12:14 PM Nona said, “Okay. I don’t think redheads are very sexy.” “What? Hang on,” said Camilla, opening the door—no, Palamedes, opening the door, busy buttoning himself into Camilla’s jacket—“That’s a very interesting thing you just said, Nona. Let me write that down. :notes~1: okay but for real though, please show me the notes. "Does not find Redheads sexy." It's underlined three times and surrounded by question marks. The things you do for science............ALT
:sirenred: APARTMENT BREACH, APARTMENT BREACH :sirenred: ............OH, OKAY, not a dangerous one........ i guess.... ..............why does Nona still call her Crown if she KNOWS her name is Corona? This is fascinating. EDIt: OH IT'S THE TRANSLATION STUFF EDIT EDIT: why doesn't it do the same with Pyrrha and Camilla....? Dragon — 08/26/2023 12:30 PM Maybe cuzCamilla means what it means? I admittedly don't know what Pyrrha means Chekhov — 08/26/2023 12:32 PM yeah I guess Camilla is just a flower, right Pyrrha I think means red? Dragon — 08/26/2023 12:32 PM Hmmn Chekhov — 08/26/2023 12:32 PM wait that's Camellia Dragon — 08/26/2023 12:37 PM Wait Camellia is the flower?ALT

Seen here: two people who don’t know the names of flowers

Chekhov — 08/26/2023 12:40 PM quite a lot of security, and yet they're still letting the Mama Lyctor and her two Baby Lyctors run free making pancakes n shit. What sort of kidnapping is this? Camilla said, “Twenty-two people were shot,” and the bodyguard said, “No. Nineteen people were shot, and three zombie loyalists got put down. Get your maths right. Do you care about the nineteen? Or the three?” Ahhh, how quickly we strip people of their people hood when they are not aligned with our political faction............... but Camilla at least deigned to call them all people. So what I'm getting from all this cross talk is basically this: After Blood of Eden's Precious Leader Who Slept With The Enemy AND the Enemy's Cavalier In The Back of His Head died after nearly slam-dunking a baby into a planet, a nice and united front against the Houses shattered...........and now they're in factions which are rated on a scale from Most Murdery and Trigger Happy to Less Murdery And Trigger Happy. And the Less are communicating with Lyctors, since they already had a symbiotic relationship with Augustine and Mercy and Cytherea.........while the More Murdery ones are just planning to gun EVERYONE down for a clean slate start. ahhhh wars.................ALT
Nona had seen shuttles planetside before the sky changed: big boxy cargo launchers with hooks on top so that they could attach to the space elevator and launch from the geostation. They looked like cake tins with company pictures etched on the sides. This looked sleeker and it wasn’t etched at all. There were bones inlaid in the sides like fossils in a dried-out riverbed: whole skeletons curled up as though they had fallen in the shuttle mould, beautifully and intricately set. And it had windows of dark glass. No cargo launcher had windows. ....................I love Necromancers, man. I love the fact that they absolutely do NOT need to go hard with the bone aesthetic or ANY death aesthetic but because their entire planetary ecosystem basically thrives on thanergy they just decided to go for broke and go all out. Love the commitment to the bit. “Back to point of origin. Either this shuttle’s derelict, or—it dropped through the River,” said Camilla. How are they dropping through the River when the dang Big Boy is in the River? Did they just skirt up beside him? He takin a nap? Or is he under their control? 🤔 That would be quite the twist. Ctesiphon’s interactions with Source Joyeuse and Source Piotra got us many things. Okay so I'm presuming....... Patience and Joy.... So that's A and M. Chekhov — 08/26/2023 12:47 PM Source Aegis whomst????? Source Shield? wait oh, I'm dumb it's fuckin GideonALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 12:58 PM “Tell them they’ll have a Lyctor, or equivalent, if they wait,” she said. ................do you mean Nona? Because like. She's not really. Ready. To be an anything. Except a professional dog walker. “It’s … it’s bones,” said Nona, struggling to articulate. “Beneath her clothes. The way she moves her bones,” and Camilla looked at her for the longest time. 🦴 💀 🩻 ❓ ❓ ❓ ❓ ❓ Dragon — 08/26/2023 1:05 PM IT'S ALL JUST BONESALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 1:08 PM Captain opened her mouth and droned, punctuated by huge wheezing lungfuls of air: “Dust of my dust—such similar star salt—what they did to you and what they wrung from you and what shape they made you fill—we see you still—we seek you still—we murdered—we who murder— you inadvertent tool—you misused green thing—come back to us—take vengeance for us—we saw you—we see you—I see you.” :espurr_flashbacks: :stare: :notes~1: ........hwat.ALT

Post book notes: Damnit. It was. Right there.

Chekhov — 08/26/2023 1:15 PM “Lately,” said Crown, after another pause. “I’m not sure she’s in actual pain.... Palamedes.” I was WONDERING if that's why they put on the sunglasses! How useful those things have been.... first from shielding Gideon's eyes....and then when Pyrrah picked them up to cover herself from Jod.........and now this. I am loving this single pair of traveling shades. Is this room REALLY not monitored? Palamedes and Crown AND Nona are down there with one of the dying of the Cohort and NO ONE has bugged the room? You really expect me to believe that? Because they are very clearly giving away the fact that they're all quite connected to one another emotionally in this very room, right now. It's quite obvious. Would hate for that to come back adn bite them in the ass eventually........... :reaction_yikes:ALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 1:25 PM “Ninth, where is the mercy of the Tomb? Where is your sword in the coffin? Who are your masters now, and who do you master? Where is my cavalier, Reverend Daughter? Where is yours?” Oof. Ouch. Right in the Cavalier.ALT
>“Because I saw her in the waves—she was there in the grey water—I saw them all—they hurt me—where is my hunger? I eat and eat and eat without surcease, my green thing, my green-and-breathing thing…” (GIF of cat going What What?!) ...........why does this sound like something......... the Revenant Beast would say. Why Is she begin possessed by..... Varun? Is Varun the Revenant Beast of earth?????? Green thing? Green and breathing thing? That's the earth, right? That's the earth??????????? > “Nona,” Crown said slowly, “The Captain didn’t say anything when you came into the room. She only screamed.” (GIF of the blinking white guy)ALT
oh, Nona can translate SCREAMS OF A DEAD PLANET now? Is THAT on the Detect Languages list????????? what the fuck???????? Dragon — 08/26/2023 1:34 PM [cackles]ALT

……………………….. (looks into the camera like I’m on the office)

Chekhov — 08/26/2023 1:46 PM > I think you want Camilla to look at you like she looks at me. And you’re in love with th—” ................. yes Nona? I'm listening. 👁️ 👁️ Which Warden is it that she's in love with? > “All right, Nona. I’ve heard enough.” > Nona, when the hand was withdrawn, said thickly: “You’re mad at me. Shame on you.” Have Camilla nd Pyrrha taught Nona that she isn't allowed to be angry? Because she starts tantrums? Does this mean she is dangerous when this happens? Or is it just a precaution. Fascinating either way. She does sound a bit like Harrowhark here though. Chekhov — 08/26/2023 1:54 PM “Oh, I’m Camilla’s partner. But I can’t stay.” :wheeze: :wheeze: :wheeze: Corona that is RUDE. > “You darling, I know what you are, even if they refuse to see it,” she said softly. “All I can say, sweetheart, is I envy you more than anyone else in the universe.” (GIF of Jake the Dog from Adventure time rubbing his head as he thinks deeply) I don't...................know. I don't know. I don't think Nona is a blank slate of Gideon. I think it's far more likely that she's a blank slate of Harrow. But I think it's even MORE likely that she's one of the 200 dead children contained within Harrow. Or just all of them. At once. In a mixer. Dragon — 08/26/2023 2:09 PM SmoothieALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 2:13 PM Some deep well of need and terror welled up in her, and then—before she could walk it back, and without even really wanting to—she did it. She told Hot Sauce the Secret. ...............Hmmmm. I'm going to assume this is not the I'm Living With Two half-Lyctors and they are trying to make me remember who I Was secret. The reaction from Hot Sauce makes it sound like maybe it was another secret. Perhaps the secret that Nona likes Varun? And can..... hear him? “There’s a clinic in town,” Yeah, that's about the right reaction to someone telling you the blue monster in the sky is singing to you. Dragon — 08/26/2023 2:14 PM :madjoy:ALT

Realizing what this secret must have been in hindsight…… I wonder what Hot Sauce thought in that moment.

(Is………..is Hot Sauce’s real name………. Tabasco???)

Chekhov — 08/26/2023 2:17 PM John 8:1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ... At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach ... > ...sometimes they blacked out together. Only for seconds, really no time at all, but he didn’t like it. He’d never liked losing control. He’d never liked losing consciousness. In the dream she knew he could not be coaxed to sleep unless she stood in the doorway, or in the worst times stroking her thumb between his eyebrows, down the bridge of his nose. > In the dream she did not fear sleeping, but she did not know how to do it herself. Her body was a mystery to her. She did not understand what it meant or signified. Is this the River. And does this recreation of the earth depend on John's focusing on keeping it stable. Or is this................Varun. And they're wandering around the literal corpse of him. Or is this. A secret third thing. I'm also still confused about who N is. The one dating Mercy? Presumably Mercy. The nun friend? I don't believe she made it out. I don't think she's Mercy's cavalier. Is this someone else? > You’ve got this guy with an army of upward of forty walking corpses that he acquired legally but was meant to bury a while back, it’s time for some hard conversations. He’s curing cancer, that’s great, but he’s bookended by two zombies that they’ve dressed in outfits, that’s bad. Love or hate him, you gotta hand it to John, he's fucking funny. > You’ve got a wizard out in the wop-wops who’s now got blanket bans from nearly every video upload site and a whole bunch of people have entered the country because of his YouTube channel, the government isn’t all, Love that small-business entrepreneur spirit. well why not? He's got a very convincing business model.ALT
Dragon — 08/26/2023 2:23 PM ngl i'd subscribe to john's youtube channel Chekhov — 08/26/2023 2:24 PM "Hey guys, you're watching Necrolord Prime, Prince Eternal. Today we're going to be making these corpses do sick skateboard tricks! Respectfully, of course." Dragon — 08/26/2023 2:25 PM i think there's real in-universe media fic for john's twitch chat or that would be a great niche Chekhov — 08/26/2023 2:27 PM I would write that. Good lord Dragon — 08/26/2023 2:27 PM now i'm not sure i'd call John good 😛 Chekhov — 08/26/2023 2:29 PM Unethical LordALT
Dragon — 08/26/2023 2:29 PM mariobrothers69: yo where's john pizzasteve: stream's on pause, he went to pee mariobrothers69: necromancers still need to piss? GiveMeMercy [MOD]: This particular necromancer does, no word on the others. Chekhov — 08/26/2023 2:29 PM :wheeze: Dragon — 08/26/2023 2:32 PM John: Thank you so much to 'TheTrueBurgerKing' for subscribing, $50 kroner, don't know how that translates to NZD off the top of my head, but I appreciate it, every cent counts. He asks, "What does cryopreservation liquid taste like?" and i'm going to be honest, that's not really my area of expertise, but it smells vaguely like orange. Like orange la croix. Chekhov — 08/26/2023 2:33 PM Please write this. I would read this in a heartbeat Dragon — 08/26/2023 2:34 PM i very well mightALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 2:35 PM They were beef cattle and mutton; my way was a hell of a lot quicker than the abattoir. But it’s hard to be all, Let’s listen to magical inside-out animal-shield man. He obviously has some good ideas. It's fascinating to watch John's development here. Not because I disagree with the magical inside-out animal shield, but the man has clearly worked himself up into a decision. He has shown, on a smaller scale, that he IS ready to kill from necessity. Prior to this, his early character exploration featured being respectful of death. But this character choice was about how much he's willing to use death to his own means. They were the means to protect his family and yet. And yet.......... I cannot help to feel like this is.......in a way. Foreshadowing a much larger 'sparing from the abattoir'. Or back-foreshadowing? Backshadowing? Dragon — 08/26/2023 2:36 PM something is definitely being shadowedALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 3:16 PM "...how many do we have of those? Seventeen? Well, someone’s in for a long night—" Gaius, is that you. The camera swung back and forth a few times, which made Nona nauseous— there were brief flashes of boots and legs: of whites so white they looked yellow except where they were splotched with reds so red they looked orange, a multihued melange of faces and walls—before it settled on a desk. Ten thousand years and still no one knows how to operate a camera with even a shred of common sense. It's humbling. The person themselves was frighteningly pale of skin, and their hair alarmingly perfect in shape and form. Nona had never seen hair like that before. It was as though it had been sculpted, not grown. It was a rich middling brown, ----I was ABOUT to say 'Hell'o Ianthe, you little piece of shit' but apPARANTLY this............... isn;t???????? But their huge, screen-magnified eyes were quite pretty, Nona decided: blue, with brown bits. She had never seen eyes like that before. .....................Niberius?????????????? :_whate: :whatdidIdraw: :What: :pika_huh: what the hap is fuckening Or wait, it's Ianthe but not? Wait, no, yes, Ianthe was a Lyctor so she WOULD have Niberius' eyes. But then why change her hair? What does THAT mean? If anything? I say this with all the authority invested in me as Prince Ianthe Naberius the First, the Lyctor Prince, the Saint of Awe.” .........so it............IS Ianthe. But no longer. Tridentarius?ALT
huge screenshot of > Their crooked mouth You're shitting meALT
> The only alive thing about this second person was their hair, neatly arrayed with a wreath of fingerbones and white, springlike blossoms: wildly red hair, red enough to make the electric hexagons struggle with it. It was the face of the girl in her dream. GRIDDLE????????? GRIDDLE'S BODY???\ :lazer_eyes: :lazer_eyes: :lazer_eyes: And their eyes— WHAT ABOUT THE EYES???????? :megacatscream: :megacatscream: :megacatscream: :megacatscream: :megacatscream: :megacatscream: YOU CAN'T DROP THAT ON ME AND NOT SAY SHIT > Her Most Serene Highness, Crown Prince Kiriona Gaia, heir to the First House, the Emperor’s only daughter. (GIF of Bert the muppet staring with huge eyes into the camera) Her Most Serene Highness KIRIONA??????????????ALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 3:23 PM There was something irrepressible hovering at the edges of the person called Prince Ianthe Naberius’s mouth at love and at concern—like a struggle not to smile, or not to explode in a fit of temper. ...........IS SHE ACTUALLY NOT A CORPSE???????? Is she ALIVE? ............WHO THE FUCK'S IN THERE!!!!?!???!?!?! Edit: oh wait it says Ianthe. So it's just the body???? Dragon — 08/26/2023 3:23 PM Kiriona 🙂 🙂 🙂 Chekhov — 08/26/2023 3:24 PM WHOMST THE FUCK Dragon — 08/26/2023 3:24 PM Nona The Ninth AKA: Tell Me Who's In Who's Body OR SO HELP ME Chekhov — 08/26/2023 3:24 PM you DRESS UP Gideon Nav? You PROP HER UP AND RENAME HER FOR A PR MOVE???? JAIL FOR EMPEROR. JAIL FOR A HUNDRED THOUSAND YEARS Dragon — 08/26/2023 3:25 PMALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 3:26 PM I'm in agony. What is happening. Why. Gideon. Ianthe, what the hell is even. Nona CLEARLY recognizes Nav as the 'other' girl in the dream /screaming Dragon — 08/26/2023 3:28 PM [pat pat]ALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 9:49 PM “Who is driving this fucking car,” said the driver. They had a low, terse voice and surprisingly good House. “You, so make sure we have a car to drive by the end of the journey,” said the Angel. Who is this woman(person?) I need to know if she's actually secretly from the Houses. If she's actually a spy, or a necromancer in disguise. “Nona,” she said, “Pyrrha went to pick you up from school before lunch. I thought she was with you.” :catyell: PYRRHA NO don't DO THIS TO MEALT
JOHN 19:18 There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle. This entire scene is like a delicious popsickle. John walking away in a fit of rage to scream about they money being funneled away from research for safe space travel..... Talking about how he wanted to resurrect the two dead bodies he'd fixed to a certain point - to the soul, as it were. He's created several KINDS of necromancy, right? But not all of them. He's got Bone magic and ligaments and meat, crude forms of them. He's got body preservation, like the Seventh. He's got movements. But they're not alive. The Fifth House lies, undiscovered. We were the ones who argued them down to 8%. They were ready to go when we were just in the seventies, they were all, ooh, everyone knows it’s a risk, and it’s not like it’s thirty percent fatality, it’s thirty percent chance of damage, what’s that even, ooh. He said, They hadn’t given a fuck about maternity, said people should terminate before they got packed as a rule. When M— had been all, I will not accept those numbers, I will not accept a plan that incorporates reproductive injustice, and we stood beside her, we said that’s not acceptable, they whinged about the money for a while and eventually said fine. And now they were acting like eight percent wasn’t good enough. Like we hadn’t tried. (GIF of Spongebob looking sadly at a steaming cup of liquid, in deep contemplation)ALT
He said he wasn’t even sure the FTL thing was real. He said they were going to try to generation ship it to Tau Ceti using stuff we’d come up with, tech we’d created, and just be all bye-bye, fuck you, planet, thanks for the oil and for the chicken yakitori, we loved that stuff. :psyduck_oh: And I said again, Guys, nobody’s going to fall for that. They’re going to have to give numbers. They’re going to have to prove they’re making the other ships. Nobody’s going to fall for that. [...] At that moment in the dream he got up off the car, and he said, “Fuck,” in a normal voice, and then he said, “FUCK,” so loudly that it echoed off the crumbling concrete shell and the bones and was carried off into the mist. (GIF of a cat laying supine against the corner of the wall, staring desolately out into the middle distance)ALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 9:59 PM You know. I understand that Gaius is a very demented immortal. But damn if this shit doesn't make for a compelling story. Dang if this doesn't make him at least sympathetic. You can feel the anger radiating from him. You can understand the mental journey. Sure, he's a horrible genocidal maniac who thinks he's invented a Utopia by........killing a resurrecting nine planets and putting some people on em to play Fantasy DnD Dream House - Necromancers Only edition. He invented two new genders - wizard and fighter - and thinks he's fixed the energy crisis. We only got to see how bad shit was on the 9th, but I bet the rest weren't that much better off. ................and yet. I can't help but be invested in this story. This is. Oof.ALT
Dragon — 08/26/2023 11:53 PM Yeah. Yeah. This part. Hurts Dragon — 08/26/2023 11:57 PM Right? Right. Like what hits me is he clearly cared so much. He wanted to make a better society. So here John. You got your wish. 10k years later, what does it look like? One whole planet lives in bone slums, eating leeks exclusively. The 7th breeds people with childhood leukemia; the 8th breeds batteries; the 4th breeds canon fodder. You lost sight of it, John. You lost sight. Chekhov — 08/26/2023 11:58 PM I wonder if it WAS possible to really become a godlike creature and make a society without any downfalls. Because as other books have mentioned, he wasn't exactly in the Dominicus System at all. So it's not like he's exerting his will on them to be like that? I suppose the Cohort is, in a way. But it's weird that they mostly seem to be self governing.ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 12:01 AM Least fucked up houses appear to be 5th and 6th. But idk enough to judge. The fifth at least produced two functioning adults. Dragon — 08/27/2023 12:04 AM Yeah. And I mean I don't know if have an out of touch immortal in charge of everything would be better. But. But. At the very least he could have stopped siphoning so much of their population into a literal undead army.,and maybe built some greenhouses. Y'know? Dragon — 08/27/2023 12:06 AM Magnus and Abigail are/were just. The most well adjusted people we met. Followed by Pal and Cam. But call me crazy, I don't think good exam scores should be the only requirement to run a Planetary government at like 18 Chekhov — 08/27/2023 12:07 AM Yeah no, that's absolutely a fair point. It's not ideal in any sense. And he absolutely did allow/miss out the fact that the Ninth house resorted to child genocide to keep their bloodline running. Even if he was properly horrified about it The whole mess with Blood of Eden isn't entirely clear either At least not yet Dragon — 08/27/2023 12:14 AM Yeah A lot of things messed up But hey, if you're gonna claim the title of "God", you get to take responsibility for itALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 10:12 PM She didn’t ask anything else, except: “You heard about the broadcast?” and Nona said, faintly, “Yes,” ready to tell her about the girl from the dream; but Camilla had immediately changed tack... p a i n Why do they want a Lyctor on tap?” Another pause, another clack. “To remove the R.B.?” ...........R......essurection Beast....? :squint~2: "Camilla, I can’t bear this. I’m eating your life.” Clack. Pause. “I’d carry you with me either way.” Pause. “What do you mean?” Pause. Clack. “I’ve carried you, Warden. And I’ve carried your memory … I’d rather carry you.” (GIF of crying cat animated to blink sadly with eyes full of tears) oh, alright. okay. is that how it is. Clack. “Camilla, I mean it.” Pause. “I meant it too. You used to say it to me.” “We are one flesh.” Clack. “I am your end.” :buffcry: :crycatmic: :cryalot: :hardcry: d.....dont..... do dis tdo me.......ALT

●

Nona Liveblog. (3/5)

Warning: THIS LIVEBLOG WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE BOOK. I have finished reading and am posting these notes after the fact. Therefore, it will also contain blurbs about things I missed on my first read. Please be cautious.

Once again, big thank you to @elexuscal for reading my rants and reacting with frustratingly vague emojis~

Narrow picture of Nona the Ninth, her braids flying in the wind, holding Noodle the dog. They're both backlit by a bright blue sky. ALT

alright let’s take it.

“Cam, have you thought about what it means if Nona’s actually—a completed merger? One we will never actually be able to unpick, a successful soul gestalt?” Clack. “Yes.” “Yes? And? Thoughts?” Clack. “Lucky them."ALT

this still hurts a lot.

...she went to the window, peeled up the sniper blazing as quietly as possible, and stared directly up at the big blue sphere hanging in the sky. She so rarely got to look at it from here. It hung on the morning horizon, and as she watched the sphere made a low, voiceless moan—a wanting sound —but quiet, on the edge of hearing. A whispered vocalisation and nothing more. “Can you help me?” Nona whispered. “Can you do anything? Do you know where Pyrrha is?” But it only lowed sadly, like a cow. “That’s all right,” whispered Nona. “Sorry for asking.” Then: “Don’t do anything weird, okay? I’m having enough trouble right now.” ..........is it here for Nona, I wonder......... In Harrow, John said he can't actually be harmed by the Resurrection Beasts. I wonder............. I wonder if they could actually hurt Nona.ALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 10:23 PM I know we think they’d have the blue madness, but what we know is that we don’t know anything, okay? Angel definitely knows that not all necromancers GET the blue madness from the Hive exposure. Also. ..... is this how they've been rounding people up? Seeing if they start to go mad from the light of Varun and then tie them up and burn them to death? Is that the great reveal? Is that the formula? ..................Angel, you sure do know a lot about necromacy.... and about Lyctors. Sure is a lot. .....ALT
Chekhov — 08/26/2023 10:50 PM Nona peeked over, ready to apologise for another one of Honesty’s explicit anatomical sketches. “Oh—that one’s mine,” she said, wanting to break the spell, wanting to help. “It’s mine, don’t worry.” The Angel was speechless for a moment. Then she looked at the paper, then looked at Nona again, and looked at the paper. She said, “Sure,” as though everything were normal and she hadn’t acted like she had been knifed. I was wondering what Nona drew. She said in the past chapter that she drew what animals SHOULD look like. That's.......curious. What DID she actually draw? Camilla did something a little strange then: she tripped. She pitched forward on a raised bit of the carpet and stumbled into the Angel, tried to right herself with her hands on the Angel’s hips and front, and stumbled upward, saying “Sorry —sorry," ......................is that. The best you can do. Is that really the best you can do. What did you plant on her, Cam? Or is it Palamedes? No, Cam would have done it properly. Good lord. .....what did Nona DRAW IT'S KILLING ME “It’s a cradle creature.” WHAT. DOES. THAT. MEAN. Pre-resurrection?????ALT
Noodle had gotten up from the basket and the hair right at his flanks was standing up as though it had been electrocuted, and he was growling. Nona had never heard Noodle growl before. He broke into a volley of barks, with his lips pulling back from his sharp yellow teeth. :monkeyglance: .........can noodle. sense. necromancers. Or is he just being a good boy and protecting Angel? Then a huge, rippling sound entered Nona’s head. She was aware of a tight, hard noise, pop—pop, distant and then much much closer—as though her whole head was exploding. THEY'RE SHOOTING MY GIRL Where;s Palamedes?! Where's Hot Sauce???? I only know of Angel and the bodyguard and Nona and I'm PANICKING CAM'S OKAY, THANK GOODNESS Chekhov — 08/26/2023 10:58 PM Pash's No Good Very Bad Day 😂 Nona, no, Hot Sauce saw your brains blown out--- she'd gonna try to kill you again-- “I saw you die,” said Hot Sauce. :knittedfear_anim: :knittedfear_anim: :knittedfear_anim: “You’re out of the gang,” said Hot Sauce, and squeezed the trigger. ......yeah I saw that one coming.ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 9:13 AM And it was P— of all people who said, First things first. If they’re going to let us fix the world, you’ve got to make them take us seriously. Get some leverage. If they want to make you into a bad wizard, be a bad wizard. We can write the history books to say you were a good wizard. Or at least an okay wizard. They’re not going to listen because we talk nicely, they’re going to listen because we scare the shit out of them. (GIF of Travis Willingham taking a sucker out of his mouth and staring disapprovingly into the camera) PYRRHA. PYRRHA. MA'AM.ALT
Wow, sorry guys, I don’t really know either of these two, they’re very unexpected and mean. I came here to have a good time and I think they’re being very harsh. I think between Bad Cop, Worse Cop, and Sorry Cop Here's what I'm getting. John is basically the face of the operation. And Mercy and Augustine have run things on the brain side from the very beginning. The face of god, and the two hemispheres of god.ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 9:27 AM ...............the tantrum is possibly the one part that merges Gideon and Harrow. Although I'm tempted to say it's both THEM and NOT THEM. She trembled so hard that she thought she would die then and there, that this was what dying was finally like. Inside the hood she heard her mouth say, savage and distinct and cool despite the trembles: “Fool. You’re killing her.” HARROW??????????????????ALT

Okay now hold on a second. Coming back to this passage and I’m NOT doing just fine.

IS this Harrow? It technically cannot be, given what we know. But also, why would it speak like…. THIS……. and not how it did in the Epilogue? Also, why would it say ‘you’re killing HER’ vs ME? WHO IS SAYING THIS? Is Harrow actually partially aware when Nona goes under? Or is this indeed (redacted) who has a subconscious stream of full comprehension?

I think, given how Harrow’s own body reacted to seeing Gideon on the screen, and given how there IS at least a partial awareness of that body’s memories, it COULD still be Harrow reacting???? Because (redacted) doesn’t know nor care about Gideon. Nor would she, arguably, speak in such a manner upon being choked out.

Chekhov — 08/27/2023 9:42 AM John, the pettiest, most sentimental bitch that has ever lived, seeing that no one is listening to reason and deciding that, above all else, they MUST not surrender to beurocracy, smearing on eyeliner: I’m a necromancer. Necroslut Prime indeed. Do you ever think like. Mercy and Augustine and all the original saints sat down and talked about how THEY enabled this? THEY had a hand in it all? They encouraged him and prodded him forward? Do you think they sat in silence, staring at the title plaque Necrolord Prime and went 'this is decidedly silly' But like, if you're immortal...........what IS silly, really? Give it a century. It might come into vogue.ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 9:55 AM “Well, I thought I was only going to be sick for not much longer, maybe a few weeks or a month,” said Nona, trying to organise her thoughts. She licked her lips and whispered up to the ceiling: “But now I think I only have a few days. Oh, thank goodness, I said it. Wow, that’s a relief.” :espurr_flashbacks: excuse me ............her friends were telling her she looked terrible. HER FRIENDS WERE TELLING HER SHE LOOKED WORSE. I'M GOING TO SCREAM. “Not so little that your framework should have gone into thalergy metabolism. You’re eating your own reserves. You’ve got the level of retention I’d usually only see in palliative care. Nona—your soul’s trying to leave your body.” :nooo:ALT
“Lyctors can,” said Palamedes, “or at least—they thought they could; in fact all they became were half-dead cannibals. I think a true Lyctorhood is a mutual death … a gravitational singularity creating something new. A true Grand Lysis, rather than the Petty Lysis of the megatheorem … Oh, God, Nona, I’m rambling, I’m very sorry. I hate it when I’m like this.” I don't know if I agree (that this is what Nona is). But it's a fascinating theory. But somehow. I don't know. The math isn't adding up. I don't know why. I mean It makes SENSE. It does. Narratively, it echoes Camilla going 'we were happy' when she and Palamedes were acting as one. But that act of being one actively killed the two individuals. And if Nona IS that, it means that despite her absolutely blissed out state, she is, in summary, a deletion of the things which made her so happy in the first place. They do not exist inside her except as a battery to her own life. And something about that is tragic to me.ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 10:02 AM who are they sending in.... Pyrrha? Did Pyrrha volunteer? .......Corona. They're sending in Corona. “Listen to me,” she said. Every word was like a rock dropped into a tide pool. “This is a trap. It won’t get you intel. It won’t get you what you’re calling the key. You walk her in there alone, she won’t walk out. She’s giving in, not fighting.” :monkeyglance: :monkeyglance: :monkeyglance: “I cannot believe this girl would kill her own twin sister.” “Kill her?” said Camilla. ................it's about to be lunchtime innit. Oh no. Is it even Ianthe anymore? Is it not Naberius? “Oh my God, you’re so cold. He’s so cold.” “He’s dead, sweetheart. It’s me in here. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Oh it IS Naberius. Why is she in NABERIUS' body???? DID EVERYONE PLAY MUSICAL CHAIRS？？？？？ She’s going to be absolutely crazy in the coconut until Number Seven leaves It IS seven. So wait, did they figure out that the only way to be unaffected by the Resurrection Beasts is to be inside out Lyctors? Is THAT the trick we're all pulling? oh wait, I'm an idiot. Corona loves the Lieutenant. That was the thing Nona almost said. Gods I'm dumb.ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 10:09 AM “Don’t freak out, darling. He’s a tame Lyctor … he won’t hurt you. He can’t really hurt anyone anymore. You and your little firebrands took him in as a pet, didn’t you? Well, I’m taking him back to Poppa as a gift … that is, if Poppa can look up from his mid-dismyriad crisis long enough to pay attention.” A new and wonderfully familiar voice ground out, in tones that were unfamiliar— “Silence.” (GIF of a panda on a lawn chair holding its head in agony) Pyrrha............................... G1deon. but IS IT GIDEON? Or did Pyrrha decide to go back under the pretense that she WAS gideon still? how how would she fool them? She doesn't have any sunglasses. Chekhov — 08/27/2023 10:39 AM “Explain,” said We Suffer, after a pause. Nona thought We Suffer was being pretty slow. “Pyrrha just told us that everything’s fine,” she said... Ah, right. The signals they practiced. Deadweight.ALT
“You know that tantrum you had? Do you remember attacking the guards with that chair?” “I’m really sorry.” “No, I mean—your stance was good,” Camilla said slowly, as though trying to figure out how to say something. “Good grasp … two-handed.” “Just like practise,” said Nona. “With the sword.” Camilla said, “But we practise one-handed.” Aww, Cam's praising her for the chair--wait..............:stare: :espurr_flashbacks: :notes~1: :chek_ohyes: Nona felt something strange. There was a hot trickle from her nose, and when Camilla wiped her face with her sleeve it was revealed to be a bright red streamlet of blood :chek_ohno2: Crown’s boyfriend said he wants everything, especially Camilla and someone called Harrowhark Nonagesimus Love that Nona cannot remember how to read a clock or which button to click on the recorder but has no issue remembering Harrow's full name. Chekhov — 08/27/2023 10:46 AM None can get at that corpse. :squint~2: None....a? “A pair of scissors,” said Camilla. “Iris dye.” She looked at Nona’s button-up shirt, which was unbuttoned to show the T-shirt underneath. “And the blackest clothes you can find.” Oh, excellent! It's time for Nona to play dress up.ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 12:09 PM It even scared A—. He was all, Matter doesn’t play by these rules! You’re doing bone parthenogenesis! I told him his mum did bone parthenogenesis. A— told me he’d kill me one day. Well, he ...............gave it a good effort, ey. He said, I was getting so frustrated trying to figure it out. The soul. Element X. I knew the only way I was going to get closer was to see more people die. ...........completely normal things to say as you're building up your necromantic abilities for your cult. I said I swear to God, I didn’t know what I was doing. Seeing this evolve in motion is a beautiful narrative thing and I kinda really love it despite how absolutely horribly dark this is. She said, “Did you ever find out what happened? With your accident?” Harrow, come on, you're too smart for that. And he said, “Come on, love. Guys as careful as me don’t have accidents.” (GIF of Oprah spreading her hands as if to say 'see?')ALT
...she was only meant to turn her head and answer if she was called “Harrowhark,” or “Nonagesimus,” or “Ninth.” Her complete inability to answer to “Harrowhark” or “Ninth” meant that Camilla had given up on anything other than “Nonagesimus,” and a sigh of— “Remember not to smile.” “I won’t smile at the time,” Nona promised. .............oh this is going to be a beautiful disaster, I can already tell. 😂 Nevermind on Nona being able to remember the name. I guess my hopes were too high. Chekhov — 08/27/2023 12:19 PM “I am glad you did not tell us this. We had no idea there was any recourse from Varun the Eater’s effects, nor any Beast.” “It’s pure theory,” Camilla said curtly. “Something’s being transmitted in the light spectrum. Absorption through the eyes is worst for the brain.” Interesting....... This made Nona think of something. It tugged at the edges of her memory and stayed there, nagging. ........................is this about Gideon's eyes on the video screen....? 🤔 “Look at me like you’ve worked out how to kill me,” and then, “More eyebrows,” and then, “Good God, perfect. Do you know, I miss Harrow terribly." Palamedes, about Harrow: Murder, with extra eyebrows. Perfection. I also miss Harrow. :crycatmic: she was such a miserable wet little rat with a head full of murder and a heart full of regrettable lack of violence. she was the best. Pash leant against one wall and pared her thumbnails with a knife; Nona’s heart throbbed romantically. The fact that Pash wants NOTHING to do with Nona while she's over here making heart eyes is the best development. You can take the soul out of the lesbian, but you can't take the lesbian out of the soul.ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 12:33 PM She wanted to let her nose wrinkle, but Harrowhark Nonagesimus did not seem the type to wrinkle her nose. Arguable. Me, watching Ianthe try to converse with Nona like she's Harrowhark: (GIF of Patrick Star from Spongebob sweating, while his eyebrows play windshield wiper) I thought you’d come in here demanding the body of your cavalier.” This was dropped into the conversation like a bomb. Nona let her gaze fall straight forward, blindly, not reacting at all and not knowing how to. The room was silent. Someone get ME a necro, I'm having a heart attack It’s called the boot, my darling,” the Prince said patiently. “Did they teach you nothing in that terrorist cell of yours? It’s called applying the fucking boot, and I’m going to teach God all about it. He’s been very hands- off for the past myriad … lazy, frankly … Mmmm yeah. So John basically resurrected stuff, and then walked away? But still instated himself as Jod. Like, he's TRYING to not become what he hated, but he ends up becoming a sort of twisted version of it anyway. Or at least allows Ianthe to become it in his stead.ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 12:44 PM "If he hears that yet another one of his duplicitous sluts betrayed him, he’s never going to come back from it." The balance of the universe is that not only is Jod a duplicitous slut, all the lyctors are, too. They are what they all deserve.ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 1:03 PM Nona stared. Camilla sprawled on the carpet. Her empty right hand was grasped round the Prince’s right wrist; the Prince’s right wrist turned into the Prince’s right hand and then into the Prince’s lovely thin sword, which ran all the way down into Camilla’s belly. The point was somewhere quite far inside Camilla, and Nona couldn’t see it anymore. “You really don’t know when to throw those things, do you,” said the Prince a little sadly. Camilla said, “Match to the Sixth.” Ianthe said, “What?” and then her eyes rolled backward in her head and she fell. Whatever that thing was for disabling necromancy that Angel apparently had installed........................was that. Something Camilla Palamedes planted inside Ianthe? THat's my immediate theory. An anti necromancy thing that disables her piloting Naberius' corpse.ALT
Image of a title heading that shows a skull with the IX on its head crossed out. It wears aviator shades like Gideon Nav's. "When I tell you I screamed."ALT

We’ll save the rest for the next one. Cheers!

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Nona Liveblog. (4/5)

Warning: THIS LIVEBLOG WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE BOOK. I have finished reading and am posting these notes after the fact. Therefore, it will also contain blurbs about things I missed on my first read. Please be cautious.

Once again, big thank you to @elexuscal for reading my rants and reacting with frustratingly vague emojis~

She kept saying, “Stay with me, Camilla. Stay with me,” until Cam murmured, wetly and thickly— “Not going anywhere.” “I’m holding you to that,” said the body of Ianthe Naberius. :emoji_35: WAIT IT'S PALAMEDES????????? "You kept the faith, and were the instrument of both my vengeance and my grace. And now I have fought through time, and the River, and Ianthe the First—fought and bested Ianthe the First, and I hope I never fight her ever again … Will you not look at me now, Cam, and know me?” Camilla raised her chin. She looked at the dead face. She said quietly— “Yes, Warden, I will always know you.” Their foreheads touched. :crycatmic: :crylove: :flushedcry: :lovecry: I'm in pieces. Fuck., Someone.hold me how long can this last? I don't think Palamedes can possess a corpse forever. Nor would he want to.........ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 1:37 PM “It’s a shit version of Mercymorn’s old entropy trap,” said Pyrrha. “[...] And I’m sorry, No-No, but that’s where you come in.” I don't LIKE it but I understand. Nona found herself sighing again, like her body wanted to let out all its sound at once. One of her ears felt slightly blocked, and when she tilted her head and blew her nose and pulled at her earlobe a little trickle of water came out. This child has one leg in the River, to the point where River is coming out her dang face holes. Please someone help her. STOP HURTING THIS POOR CHILD :catyell:ALT
What happened made her think much better of the corpse. It opened its eyes—and its eyes were yellow, the gold of the old sky, like hers only much foggier. Those were beautiful: Nona had always adored her eyes, and here they were again, on the corpse, only partially spoiled for being dead. They looked like treasure at night. I wanna be surprised pikachu but I'm not all that surprised, after all that happened. The corpse looked at her in such mute, helpless appeal—spoke to her in her first language—that Nona did not have to think about what she did next. She leant down and laid a kiss right on that cool, dead, crooked mouth. When Nona turned to the girl, she was taken aback: the corpse’s eyes were closed and she lay completely still on the bed—arms loose, limbs heavy and untidy, the very picture of deadness. I can't decide what's funnier - that seeing dead people is just a Feature, Not a Bug of Harrowhawk's body, or that Gideon got kissed by someone who looked like Harrow and just immediately decided to die as a reaction.ALT
“It is her. Poor Gideon…” Everyone keeps saying it's Gideon with such conviction that I'm beginning to doubt it's actually Gideon. She was always like a corpse that had been dead for only minutes. They wrapped her in plex and dropped her in rivers, trying to see if that would do anything … I was there. It was awful at first,” she added, “and then it simply started being very funny …" Interesting how much it echoes John's own discovery of necromancy. Chekhov — 08/27/2023 1:44 PM Also: funny how? Did they also prop Gideon up and pretend to play chess with her? “One, that’s not going to work. Two, I fucking hate needles,” said the corpse. “Three—Sex Pal, if that’s how you get a lady’s pants off, holy shit, no wonder I stole your girl.” GIDEON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 1:57 PM oh ym god imagine being gideon nav, playing dead on the bed, and somehow who looks like a Much Nicer Harrow comes in and kisses you and then says a bunch of things that make little sense and you decide that the best course of action is to just ragdoll it “Nope, and nope,” she said. “I’m Prince Kiriona Gaia the First, Her Divine Highness, First Lieutenant of the Cohort, Emperor’s Life Guards, non-auxiliary—honorary title but who cares—heir to the Emperor Divine, first of the Tower Princes. And I’m mega dead.” Incredible. I'm inTRIGUED The corpse prince tilted her head to one side, like a curious bird. “You haven’t been in the River lately, have you?” she said. :squint~2: what's with the river? “My father has made my skin turn away bullets. I am the perfect sword hand and the final expression of the art of the Nine Houses. Don’t you get it? I am the Emperor’s construct.” ....................Gideon Nav has finally lost it to the same degree as Harrow had lost it in HtN. Absolute fuck all. “Those are my speed holes. They help me go fast,” said Kiriona quickly. good old Nav.ALT
“Come on, boy. I’m Gideon version two. I know up to five necromancy facts now.” I swear that like. When Gideon and Harrow's souls were put in the Distiller of Teen Angst, all the goodness went into Nona, and all the Piss All went into Gideon, apparently. Nona had never seen anyone so sad in her whole short life. It made her nearly afraid to die. :( Griddle.......................... EDit: Coming back to this after re-reading the scene........ I'm thinking about the horrible tragedy of Nona saying "You just looked like someone who wanted to be kissed." Nona can read body language extremely well. It's safe to say that her assertion of Gideon then was correct. Gideon opened her eyes, saw someone who looked like Harrow at a glance and her instinctual reaction was to want Harrow to kiss her. And then she DOES. Except it's not Harrow. Except it's not what she wanted at all. Harrow isn't kissing her. Harrow isn't there. Fuck. Griddle. You poor meow meow.ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 2:51 PM “How many underground sites—” began Palamedes, but Nona’s neck hadgone stiff of its own accord. Her short-term memory, never very good, had developed a sharp picture in her head: she could hear a high, frightened voice saying fucking nuts man, fucking nutter; she could taste little green fruits. Were the Sixth's House.... in the Caravan???? “We’re cool,” she said, and, awkwardly: “I’ll always love you, Nona.” Nona found that huge tears were dripping out of her eyes, making it hard to see Hot Sauce. “Can I be in the gang again?” she whispered. Ther'es tears in my eyes too. Dang these KIDS. Just because the convoy was in one place last week doesn't mean it'll be there though?????ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 3:07 PM I'm completely entranced by this whole thing. Varun, the beast, and Nona, and the Captain. My brain is trying to rush up, understand how it all ties together. Is the Captain channeling Varun itself? Is Nona a part of it somehow?? Nona lay on her back atop the stretched canvas, and Nona’s mouth said—“Just wait. Just help me … help me do this. I might be different … soon.” what does that. mean. (GIF of a dog looking around nervously) She closed her eyes. “No,” she finally admitted. “And I never was.” (GIF of an even closer shot of a dog looking around nervously)ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 3:25 PM You have thirty minutes to tell Pan-Euro that there is no way those gates are opening for those ships. They said, You wouldn’t. It would be nuclear war. I said, I’d do anything. You know I would. Cows exhibit mourning behaviour for other cows. Absolute madness, this is compelling. She said, Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. And she shot herself. Is the nun. ...........Is the nun The Body? Is that who it is..............? The first one he brought back???????? When I touched her soul, I touched you. The soul..........is attached to a soul of the planet? You cannot start the necromancy without flipping a planet.................... so to be able to manipulate souls, you must first kill the mother in order to be able to free everything attached to it through umbilical cords. That's.........why the other worlds call the Houses zombies.ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 4:19 PM "....And my favourite out of all of them…” He gave a long, shuddering sigh. “My favourite was her old Hollywood Hair Barbie,” Jod, walking into the remains of a theatre: two--sigh..... one ticket to Barbie, please............ ‘I picked you to change, and this is how you repay me?’ I'm fascinated, held aloft by this line like a tether. The implication that.........the earth itself had given John the power. The earth itself gave him a look into how it all worked. And he had taken it and, in his grief and rage and drive for vengeance, had twisted it into a cataclysmic mutation. I want to sit with this chapter for a long time. I think I'll come back to reread this again and again and again. It's true what they say. This book keeps on giving. Each chapter is a new color in a spectrum. Your eyes change the more you understand. And when you turn around to read once more all that you HAVE read, you realize how much there was to see, which you did not recognize, because you were colorblindALT
Dragon — 08/27/2023 4:57 PM THIS BARBIE IS A PERSONIFICATION OF MOTHER GAIA HERSELF Chekhov — 08/27/2023 5:01 PM YEAH I ACTUALLY GOT THAT LATER. I think in the moment it didn't fully hit me and thenI was like 'OH, ALECTO LOOKS LIKE THAT BECAUSE OF THE---OH.'ALT
The corpse prince looked at her, and her expression was flat, and cool, and metallic. Kiriona said, “Where is she?” Nona didn’t know what to say. The corpse prince urged— “Come on. Where’d she go? Where is she?” Oh Griddle. You were always really bad at pretending, in a pinch.ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 5:06 PM But from some hole in the back of Nona’s cupboard behind a fake plank of wood in Nona’s brain, her voice said roughly: “Don’t touch me.” (GIF of kitten covering its mouth with a paw as if in shock)ALT
Update: I love Palamedes' mother. Dragon — 08/27/2023 5:10 PM SammmeeALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 5:12 PM “Whatever you think we’re doing, we’re not,” he said. “Whatever you think you’re doing,” said Pyrrha, “you shouldn’t.” Camilla said, “Just watch us.” Are they trying to achieve Lyctorhood? Or something more? :emoji_35: Camilla Hect stared at him stolidly, and then burst into tears. She made very little noise, but the tears were violent anyway; Palamedes took her hands and said in distress, “Cam—dear one—don’t.” (GIF of a child banging on glass as tears roll down their cheeks) are they.... are they trying to perfect lyctorhood? Merge their souls??? “Palamedes, yes,” she said. “My whole life, yes. Yes, forever, yes. Life is too short and love is too long.” Not me bawling my fucking eyes out. He demanded: “Tell me how to do it, and I’ll do it.” Camilla said, “Go loud.” :uglysobbing: :uglysobbing: :uglysobbing: :uglysobbing: :uglysobbing: :uglysobbing: :uglysobbing: :uglysobbing:ALT
Calamedes...... Pamilla? Is interesting and I'm sure they did what they needed to, but also. That's still losing two people Nona loves. A death of id, for that kind of power. Is it a kinder death than Lyctorhood? Indubitably. But what is it but a complete erasure, instead of half? What is it but another sort of death? ........PAUL.............. I'll never let them live that down.ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 5:25 PM “But I exist,” said the Angel. “Pardon—we exist. And as long as we exist, we are a terrible liability. The commander will get some breathing room if she doesn’t have to take us into account with every movement.” :squint~2: ..........is. Is Angel..............a Lyctor? I thought the she-they discrepancy was stylistic for the sake of pronouns but now I'm. Not......sure. Is it Noodle? Is it herself and Noodle she's talking about? Emma Sen......... Aim. .......... :Thinking:ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 5:47 PM JOHN 5:4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water Anyone I feel had no part in it. Anyone I can look at the face of and forgive. And my loved ones … The ones I left, I’ll bring back. I know I can. Even G—. In fact, G —’ll be easiest—he won’t remember the compound—none of them will have to remember anything. I know where remembrance lives in the brain, and he won’t have any of it. You know that too, don’t you? It’s the easiest thing in the world … to forget. The stage is silent. The actors all lie dead, (for now). Until the single man remaining decides to prop them up and enact a play of his own devising. He will wipe the slate clean and parody all that he has burned with his own wrath. It's eerie and tragic and horrible all at once. Compels me though. “They are still out there. There can be no forgiveness.” :reaction_yikes: maybe you could have just like. Let it go. You already killed the entire damned solar system.ALT
“But that’s the grace of it, Harrow. If I’m God, I can start over. The flood, you know? You can wash things clean. That’s all the end of Earth was … making things clean. It gets dirty again, you clean it again. Like those old power-washing ads. Spray and walk away, right?" (GIF of the guy from Parks and Rec going UH OH)ALT
Your energy is limitless and you can sustain your theorems without a thought—forget about them—because she is so enormous, and you and she are one. She understands at this point that she does not have to die—that she can never die, if you’re alive. And she’s scared to die. You’re afraid of so many things, but she’s only afraid to die. Then, when the disciples come to you and say the word Lyctor, she does not understand that they want the thing you did to her—she watches as you watch … watch them misunderstand the process.” ..............I am still so confused about how the Resurrection Beasts fit into all this. If Alecto IS the cavalier, but she is also.........earth? Reincarnated? Then what soul does she possess? The Ressurection Beasts are the revenants of the planet, right? So then how? How is Alecto different from them?ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 5:54 PM Gideon Nav asks "where is she" Well actually, she's in the River, at a youth camp, and she's about to go climb a tower. So maybe swing by with your truck and pick her up or something? Chekhov — 08/27/2023 6:18 PM There was a thought above and below that knew what it was, but the moment she looked at either thought she’d lose the game. ...........god fucking damnit. :angorsponge: Tamsir Miur........ How to say that she wanted to go as Nona—with all her thoughts and feelings being Nona feelings, which might only be about six months old and therefore not very good, but were still her own? What could she do with the little selfish thought that now Camilla and Palamedes were gone—even if they had left behind Paul, which was probably quite nice of them—and Pyrrha was broken somehow, it was hard to want to live, hard to want everyone else to live, even lovely Crown? :,(ALT

(I keep on thinking about this Above Thought and Below Thought thing. I think Nona is the sandwich entity between Alecto and Harrow. Because clearly there are two streams there, not one. It’s described as the two of those thoughts with her being the sandwich filling multiple times. I think there is a thread of Harrow in there as well.)

Paul looked at her, with those dark grey-brown pupils widening, slightly. “Nona,” they said, “Noodle’s in the back.” :crycatmic: NOODLE DO IT FOR NOODLE, NONA. FOR NOODLE!!! “Oh my God,” she said, in a panic. “I forgot about Noodle.” The windshield cracked all the way across the middle. Paul leant their full weight on the accelerator. Nona drove the truck home. It's not fair to make me laugh AND cry oh noodle......... Chekhov — 08/27/2023 6:52 PM (Image of Nona cradling noodle in her arms, while the dog looks up at her, a tongue flipping out to catch his own nose. The background is stained with oranges while the two subjects are in deep blue shadow. Lights rush past them like ash.) nwoodle......ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 7:38 PM Kiriona made a noise that sounded almost amused, and said, “Fine. I’m going. Keep up or you’re probably dead.” GIDEON DON'T SPLIT THE DAMN PARTY She noticed, vaguely, that Paul and Pyrrha weren’t talking to her anymore. They weren’t talking to each other either, just trudging steadily on through the darkness. Don't ignore her. :( don't let her fade away alone. Gideon doesn't care because she isn't Harrow. Someone please care about Nona. At least leave her with Noodle. “Don’t—that’s where my heart used to be,” :lovecry:ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 7:45 PM “Don’t—that’s where my heart used to be,” but the old soldier’s gaze had already fallen upon Nona. Nona cringed back in Pyrrha’s arms, because the expression was as bad as every single time Camilla had caught her putting a mouthful of chewed-up food in the potted plant or elsewhere. She could read this very old, very furious soldier like a book: the woman was angry, and blamed her. Aiglamene being angry at Harrow for allowing Gideon to die. Aiglamene, who convinced Gideon to go with Harrow. Harrow, who never WANTED Gideon to die for her, but lived because Gideon decided to anyway. Gods, the hurties., “Lady,” he said, in a much softer creak, “you’ve gone away again, my lady; where have you run? Remember your catechism and your lesson, and remember them well now: this is where you come back to—you have your little escape. You’ll feel better for coming back … you remember that, Harrowhark.” Nona whispered, “I’m sorry—I’m not Harrowhark.” “Ay, and you’ve said that before,” said the old man. “Who are you this time, if not my Lady Harrowhark?” :stare: She's. Done this. Before? Has this been a part of the unreality stuff that Crux previously helped her with? Is this a part of the schizophrenic episodes? Would she disassociate to such an extent? Is this not the first time???? Or does this mean......... does this mean Alecto has possessed her before???ALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 8:10 PM “Camilla and Palamedes were loved by Nona,” said Paul. “Pyrrha was loved by Nona. It’s finished, it’s done. You can’t take loved away. We loved you too. Palamedes and Camilla loved you.” why is the bloody Cheap Mustache Rides t shirt bit making me sob into a tissue it's not fairALT

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Nona Liveblog. (5/5)

Warning: THIS LIVEBLOG WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE BOOK. I have finished reading and am posting these notes after the fact. Therefore, it will also contain blurbs about things I missed on my first read. Please be cautious.

Once again, big thank you to @elexuscal for reading my rants and reacting with frustratingly vague emojis~

(Screencap of the 32nd Chapter heading along with a graphic of the tomb, with the rock now rolled away and the entry opened) uh oh spaghetti-Os.ALT
"...stay put, Sext." Unfortunately that one is gonna stick.ALT
“Friendship bracelets,” she fairly shouted. “They’re wearing friendship bracelets.” :pika_mad: I don't like it. Chekhov — 08/27/2023 8:18 PM “Yeah—same,” said Kiriona, with infectious good cheer. “Anyway—let’s open the Tomb and get out of here.” For a moment Ianthe kept laughing, and then she said— “Wait. What?” :pika~1: “Wants her? He told me to kill her. He said, Make it quick, but kill her, said me with my blood could do it—said me with my blood, I was the only one…” Ianthe rounded on the corpse prince, and she gave her a ringing slap straight through the face. Kiriona did not stagger. “He loves her!” Ianthe howled. “John loves Alecto John needs Alecto! Without that piece of goddamned fridge meat, he’s nothing—and we need to keep him that way!” I'm watching this whole thing like a tennis match. :chek_popcorn:ALT
The secret was told: the secret was out—the middle brain disappeared. Was it.... a secret? I thought-- Hang on Is Nona...........Alecto? (GIF of a dog sitting on the couch, looking shocked with an open mouthed expression)ALT
The ghost. The ghost that was haunting Harrow the whole time. She took Harrow's body? John loved her. She was John’s cavalier. She loved John. For she so loved the world that she had given them John. For the world so loved John that she had been given. For John had so loved her that he had made her she. For John had loved the world. (GIF of dog looking confused and terrified as it lays on the floor) THIS WHOLE TIME I FORGOT ABOUT THE DAMNED BODY. I FORGOT ABOUT HER. I DIDN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO HERALT
Chekhov — 08/27/2023 8:25 PM I don't...... know. I don't know what's going ONNNNNNNNNNNNN NONA IS ALECTO, REMEMBERING HOW JOHN LOCKED HER AWAY, AND NOW NONA IS BRINGING HER OWN SOUL BACK TO ALECTO'S BODY AND HARROWHARK IS FALLING APART AND THEY WERE SWITCHED, THEY WERE SWITCHED HARROW LAY DOWN IN THE TOMB IN ALECTO'S PLACE AND ALECTO'S SOUL???? BECAME NONA INSTEAD???????????? That's why she loved Varun. That's why she knew him. She WAS him. A revenant beast and whatever was left of the Resurrected Earth, made human. Made something that was not itself.ALT
To which a voice on the opposite side of the shore was raised, exceeding wroth, and Alecto heard it shout in a very great shout: Get in line, thou big slut. (GIF of Matthew Mercer, laughing while he pinches the bridge of his nose)ALT
god damnit, these fucking kids. this is chaos. damnit all. I have no idea how to even react. Apparently seeing her Beloved Corpse of Coping has woken up Harrow enough to stitch her body back together. And she immediately pledged herself to Alecto, because of course she would. Harrow pelase. I need you to be normal for once in your life. ALT

Post Read Reaction bonuses:

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thelockedtombstuff:

Gideon the Ninth, act one, Chapter 09

Gideon wakes up in her first morning at Canaan House and of course Harrow left instructions!

Im storyboarding GtN as I read along for fun, and to stretch my storyboarding muscles a bit, so have a very first draft! Im also working on chepter 6, but its so very rough I dont feel like posting it yet.

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A digital triptych of the 3 main types of Necromancy from the Locked Tomb series. The leftmost side depicts Bone Magic with a darker grey background and a skeleton laid out in a fetal position. From below, an ashy brown hand with dark nails is reaching out to it. The center side depicts Flesh Magic. The background is a saturated red fading into a near magenta. Laid in the same position as the skeleton is a fleshen figure, with muscles stretched across its limbs and ligaments coating the rest. Two hands surround it - one pulling up liquid that looks like blood, and another a yellow liquid that looks like fat. The right side depicts Spirit Magic. The background is an electric blue. The figure, which is in the same pose as the last two, is featureless and blue-white. In the center of its chest is a hole. Its eyes are wide open, looking at the viewer in shock or anger. There is A hand just above the nape of its neck, which is drawing spiritual stringers from the ghost, as though puppetting it. ALT

The 3 Main Schools of Necromancy.

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A digital illustration of Gideon Nav and Harrowhark Nonagesimus from the Locked Tomb series. Harrowhark, a thin woman with short cropped hair in skull-like facepaint, is sitting poised on a throne of bones, with Gideon draped casually halfway across her lap. One of her hands is loosely grasping a sword balanced against Gideon's back, and the other is tucked against Gideon's cheek. Her eyes peer directly at the viewer, glowering. Gideon is also looking straight at the viewer, though there's an easy and satisfied smile on her face as she curls up against Harrow's legs. The image is a GIF, and every few seconds, the golden hue of Gideon's eyes fades out and instead flashes in Harrow's irises instead, and vice versa. ALT

The Happiest Girl In the World

A digital illustration of Gideon Nav and Harrowhark Nonagesimus from the Locked Tomb series. Harrowhark, a thin woman with short cropped hair in skull-like facepaint, is sitting poised on a throne of bones, with Gideon draped casually halfway across her lap. One of her hands is loosely grasping a sword balanced against Gideon's back, and the other is tucked against Gideon's cheek. Her eyes peer directly at the viewer, glowering. Gideon is also looking straight at the viewer, though there's an easy and satisfied smile on her face as she curls up against Harrow's legs. Her eyes are a deep gold. ALT
A digital illustration of Gideon Nav and Harrowhark Nonagesimus from the Locked Tomb series. Harrowhark, a thin woman with short cropped hair in skull-like facepaint, is sitting poised on a throne of bones, with Gideon draped casually halfway across her lap. One of her hands is loosely grasping a sword balanced against Gideon's back, and the other is tucked against Gideon's cheek. Her eyes, which are a deep glowing gold color, peer directly at the viewer, glowering. Gideon is also looking straight at the viewer, though there's an easy and satisfied smile on her face as she curls up against Harrow's legs. Her eyes are dark and black, like Harrow's once were.ALT

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you guys are so kind, commenting about how I cut Silas’ hair for the portraits, and made him look like a shaved chihuahua, but the truth is much dumber

I simply forgor

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A black and white toned, manga-style comic of one of the scenes from The Locked Tomb series, specifically the Gideon the Ninth book. The first panel is open, with two speech bubbles. "I challenge the sixth for their keys. I name the time and the time is now," someone says, raising the blade of a weapon. In the below panel, Palamedes Sextus and Camilla Hect look up, glowering, at the figure, bracketed by his legs since he is looking down on them from the table. ALT
The middle panel shows Naberius Tern, who is standing at full height, pointing his rapier down at the two he challenged. From the sides of his panel are four smaller ones - the Fourth, Second, Ninth and Eight house look on in various flavors of shock. While the Fourth and Second don't bother to hide their indignation, the Ninth and Eighth are quietly observing. The next panel shows Coronabeth, looking a bit stupefied. “No, you don’t,” she begins to say. “Yes, he does,” replies Ianthe, who is mirrored in the opposite panel. “You need a facility key, don’t you? Here’s our chance. I suspect we won’t be given a better.” Judith Deuteros begins to turn to Ianthe, looking grimly alarmed. "You have no cause."ALT
The top panel focuses on Ianthe, still lounging on the chair. “Neither did you, if we’re all being honest with ourselves," she says to Judith. "Sextus was perfectly right.” The next two panels show Judith and Ianthe, their profiles facing each other as they argue. “If you want to cast me as the villain, do it,” says the captain of the Second. “I’m trying to save our lives. You’re giving in to chaos. There are rules, Third.” “On the contrary,” Ianthe replies, “you’ve amply demonstrated that there are no rules whatsoever. There’s only the challenge … and how it’s answered.” A small panel shows Gideon glancing over to the twins. Ianthe looks away and glances up at Coronabeth, who has been standing beside her chair, not looking at anyone else. She reaches out a hand to her sister and says, more softly: “This is for you, dear, don’t be picky. This may be the only chance we have. Don’t feel bad, sweetheart—what can you do?” Corona continues to stare ahead, a bit blankly. A shadow falls over her face. “I can do nothing,” she replies. Ianthe pulls her in, and they nearly tough foreheads, their hands tangled tightly. “Then let’s do this together. I need you," says Ianthe. “I need you,” echoes her twin. ALT
Another small panel shows Gideon looking back to the Sixths House. Camilla tightens a bandage on her arm, which is already bloodied. "Right," she says. "Second round." Behind her, Palamedes looks panicked and angry all at once. Gideon grits her teeth, suppressing a growl. A series of quick panels shows her gripping her sword and sliding her off hand into the knuckle knives. She looks as though she's about to surge forward when Harrow's speech bubble cuts through the panel: "The Ninth House will represent the Sixth House," she announces. Beside her, Gideon looks a bit startled. Naberius also starts, looking completely confused by the turn of events. Ianthe looks on, not surprised but annoyed. "The plot congeals," she says. "Since when has the Ninth been bosom with the sixth?" she asks. Harrow replies: "We aren't." Gideon's mouth begins to stretch into a grin. "Then--" continues Ianthe, but she is cut off. ""ALT
The page is dominated by a single vertical panel, showing both Harrowhark and Gideon, with Gideon standing firmly behind her necromancer, her rapier casually balanced on her shoulder. Her grin is wide, and her eyes shine through, even from behind her shades. In front, Harrow is pulling off her hood, her eyes narrowed. "Death first to the vultures and scavengers," she says. The background has grown dark, and both of the Ninth are lit from underneath, throwing them into rather appropriate spooky shadows. ALT

Harrow’s necromantic power includes the ability to create underlighting whenever it’s necessary.

Bonus:

A very quick and messy sketch of Gideon and Harrow. Gideon is lifting Harrow up with both arms and hugging her, a big smile on her face. "Thanks for backing me up, my midnight hagette!" she says. Harrow looks like a stick insect heading to a funeral. Her legs are awkwardly kicked up a bit, but she is otherwise stock-straight, and her eyes are wide and staring into the middle distance, though she is also visibly blushing. ALT

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cutetanuki-chan:

cutetanuki-chan:

so Alecto the Ninth

the arts separately cause why not

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waterlilyvioletfog:

Mildly obsessed with how Moira Quirk’s voice for Ianthe sometimes pronounces Harrowhark as “Harrowhawk”

I listened to the first book entirely on my drives to work and I deadass did not realize it was Harrowhark until I saw it written.

Imagine my little single-braincelled disappointment when I searched the ‘GriddleHawk’ tag and found almost nothing in it. Like “aw, I really expected it to be more popular :(”

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A digital illustration of Harrow from The Locked Tomb series as a pokemon trainer. She is wearing her regular black garb with some exo-skeletal bone bits for protection, including her typical ribcage corset. At the forefront is a Duskull with an IX etched into its forehead, which she is hovering a hand above, as if having just summoned it from the ground. In her other hand she holds a pokeball at the ready. Behind her, hanging on to her elbow, is something that looks like a Phantump, but instead of a tree stump for a head, it wears something metallic, with grating on the sides. From the vents of the grates comes a blue gas. ALT
A digital illustration of Gideon Nav from the Locked Tomb Series as a pokemon trainer. She is standing with her feet wide and her back to the viewer. Her head is turned, and from behind the sunglasses you can see a peek of her yellow eyes. She is grinning, having slung a Honedge over her shoulder casually. The Honedge looks standard, but with a darker coloring, and the flag hanging from its pommel has a dark color and a skull on it. Clinging to her foot, hidden in the shadows, is a Cubone holding a bone club. ALT


The Ninth House would like to battle!

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I actually ended up recording myself while I drew the Harrow/Gideon PKMN Trainer art, so if you want to spend some 40 minutes watching me draw and listening to me ramble aimlessly, here’s… an art video I guess????

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Not an ask but I just wanted to say that I think that your Locked Tomb art is incredible ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Thank you! The series in general is incredible and I’m more than happy to draw fanart for it. At the moment I’m in a small lull but rest assured I’ll probably end up doing more TLT art soon enough!

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sexybread-png:

The Nine of Swords

if u already saw this without gideons body in the first picture no u didnt

anyways i got gideon the ninth for christmas and read it in three (3) days. i am now impatiently waiting for harrow the ninth to drop on my doorstep from the poste (?)

credit to @bramblebea for the babies idea