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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!