#nona the ninth i need you right now

[ifyourereadingthisblinktwice]

return of the king messes me up every time i watch it. like. you can’t go home, home will never be the same because you have changed. you will never return from this journey. physically you may go back, but mentally a part of you is left behind. something is missing. you become changed by the grief and it never really leaves you. there was something i told my mom a while back. i told her i hadn’t felt truly happy or excited for anything in a long time. she told me that was part of being an adult. even if she didn’t mean it this way, i think i understand.

[corpsesoldier]

trying to work out gideon’s motivations at the end of ntn got my brain chugging like a steam engine

obviously she can want two things at once, but I’m trying to sort out how much of her desire to get into the tomb is her stated reason—kill alecto and become god’s cavalier—and how much is directly related to harrow’s well-being/getting harrow back.

her being there because john is manipulating her into opening the tomb by using her desire to belong to someone makes sense, but did john actually “send her”? she says twice she snuck onto ianthe’s shuttle which was headed to new rho; how did she plan to get to the ninth from there? did she know ianthe was going looking for harrow?

she claims herself as john’s child and heir and states her desire to be his cavalier, but the moment harrow’s body starts falling apart she drops all (if any?) pretense. her priorities shift instantly. she tells paul to take all her blood if they have to; she tells them to kill her, if that will open the tomb and get nona’s exploding soul out of harrow’s meat. but even before nona starts bleeding, right after ianthe accuses gideon of kidding herself, she calls ianthe out for only caring about herself and, specifically, not about harrow—“don’t open the tomb, leave harrow to die, mneh mneh mneh.”

I guess my question is: does gideon even know what she wants? she’s obviously deeply, cosmically miserable about her situation, and yet she probably does believe that if she can make herself indispensable to god then she’ll finally have the security and even love she’s always wanted after losing literally everything else that’s ever mattered to her. but how much does she buy that that’s what she really wants? how much is she lying to herself and how much is she lying to everyone else?

[theriverbeyond]

how do we know in the books that john is indigenous? can you say more about how his indigeneity is important to his story?

hello! so there is a word of god post on race (doesn't mention John but mentions that Gideon is "mixed Maori"), BUT I frankly don't think word of god statements are worth any weight without actual in-text support (see: the "dumbledore is gay" situation). SO!

Specific evidence that John Gaius is Maori, as revealed in Nona the Ninth:

When he is listing his education, John mentions having gone to Dilworth School (John 20:8). Dilworth is an all boys boarding school in Auckland and accepts students based on financial need instead of academic or sporting achievements. Demographics appear to be about 70% low income Maori boys, indicating that it is highly likely that John is Maori

John reports that P- said he looked like a "Maori-TV pink panther" (John 15:23) when his eyes turned gold. Maori TV is a TV station that is focused primarily on Maori culture & language revitalization, with presumably all or mostly Maori hosts, and tbh I don't see why P- would say this unless John was himself Maori

John uses a te reo Māori phrase ("kia kaha, kia māia") (John 5:20) when he is saying goodbye to the corpses in the cryo lab before the power is shut off. Though it is possible he said this as a non-Maori kiwi, but in combination with the previous two points of evidence I think this all very strongly points to him being Maori

He also renames his daughter Kiriona Gaia, "Kiriona" being just literally the name "Gideon" in te reo Māori

TLT is not a series that hands you anything on a silver platter but to ME this is all pretty solid proof

Why is this relevant to The Locked Tomb?

In Nona the Ninth, we learn that before he completed apotheosis and ate the solar system, John was basically trying to save the earth from capitalism-caused climate change. Climate justice and the rights of indigenous people over their own land are deeply tied together, in the same way that climate catastrophe and capitalism/ imperialism/ colonialism are linked. disclaimer that this is NOT my area of study and others have definitely said it better; this is just the basic gist as I understand it, but on quick search I found some sources here and here if you want to do some reading.

TLT is not a series that hands you anything on a silver platter, but i don't think it is a stretch to see John as an indigenous man trying to save the earth and getting ignored and shut down at every turn by primarily western colonial powers (PanEuro, the USA) who declare him a terrorist and then as a reader thematically connecting that to the experience of indigenous climate activists IRL

there are absolutely TLT meta posts that have discussed this before me; tumblr search is nonfunctional and I have been looking for an hour and a half and cannot find anything specific even though i KNOW i reblogged multiple posts about this in the first few weeks following NTN's release. sad & I am sorry

I think that by the time the books take place, John is 10k years removed from the cultural context he grew up in, with the Nine Houses having become a genocidal colonial power in their own right (with more parallels to be made between John's forever war for the resources of literal life energy and like, oil wars), but I also think that John Gaius is a fictional character who can represent and symbolize multiple different things in service of telling a story. (not to mention the potential thematic parallels being made to how oppressed people sometimes are pressed into replicating the power dynamics of their oppressors and continuing the cycle--now that is a tumblr post i KNOW i read last year and definitely cannot find right now, once again sad & I am sorry)

How Radical Was John Gaius, Really is a forum thread that was locked by the moderators after 234534645674564 pages of heated debate

[sundayswiththeilluminati]

I’m spilling over my thoughts on Nona the Ninth and John’s behavior and here’s the thing, John has always had good intentions; but good intentions are not enough. You have to listen. It’s not about the help you want to give, it’s about the help someone needs to get.

There’s the surface layer of “John dumped Earth’s soul into a Barbie doll” of like “of course a man dumped a woman’s soul into a Barbie” but to stop there is, no. We’re doing the man the myth the legend a disservice. It’s so much worse. Because he doesn’t want Alecto like that. He doesn’t want her in a sexy way. It’s not about the Barbie. It’s about the toy. He says, I wanted Galatea, I wanted a Christmas tree fairy, I wanted a Renaissance angel. I wanted an icon, I worshipped you, I thought you were the most splendid thing that ever existed, the only way I could wrap my head around you was to frame you in every concept I had of beauty and power. But I did all that because I wanted to have you. “It’s human nature to want something.” That’s the only excuse he gives for eating the Sun. “It’s human nature to take.” EATING THE SUN. DOOMING THE SOLAR SYSTEM. “I wanted it. I took it. It’s human nature to take.” He had to put her in a body because he was scared she would get away. “I thought you would escape before I was done.” He thought of Hollywood Hair Barbie not because that was his ideal of beauty and sex and not even just because that was his favorite possession but because that’s the relationship he wants to have with her. “She got to have all the adventures.” He wants to be with the Earth! He wants to have adventures with it! He wants it to be his. He wants it. “It’s human nature to take.” It’s not about fitting Alecto into a body, it’s about fitting Alecto into a story. 

First he wants her to be his companion, his solace, his other half; then he wants her to be Alecto the avenging Fury, the devil, the beast, his unmaking; then he wants her to be Annabel Lee, buried by the sea, the tragic lost love whose grief he must always carry; but it’s always about the story he’s writing in his head. Why do kids catch butterflies? They see this beautiful, fascinating thing, and they love it, and they want it, and so they need to have it. To catch it so it doesn’t get away. John had to chain Alecto because she might get away. She was a liability. She held too much of his heart, metaphorically, and his soul, literally, and he couldn’t stand the idea of not having her. What if he chained Alecto because she wanted to leave? Or, worse, because she wanted to go back? What if Earth was doing a lot better now, a few centuries on, and she was tired of being meat? And John just couldn’t stand the idea of losing her? “It’s human nature to take.” It’s human nature to love, and to not want to let go of what you love, and to take it, to make sure it can’t leave, because you can’t risk the idea that it might not love you back. It might not want to be part of your story.

Compare that to Nona’s life. The very first time we meet Nona’s caretakers, they’re listening to her. Camilla turns on the recorder and asks Nona to describe her dream, and then listens. That scene so wonderfully establishes what’s the most important about Nona’s life: she has people who take care of her, protect her, but also leave room for her. Pyrrha and Cam and Pal order her around. They keep secrets from her. They do things that might harm her right now or go against her wishes and justify it as being for her protection. They use her, too: they’re listening and watching to see what she might become, to know how she might play a role in their war. They do everything John does to his lyctors. The difference is, they also listen to her. They don’t make her follow the story in their heads. They change themselves to accommodate her, the way they expect her to change to accommodate them. Nona doesn’t always get what she wants, because often it isn’t good for her. The people raising her need to keep her safe and fed and well. They don’t take orders from her. But they listen to her. 

And Nona tells them. Nona doesn’t want to be a Renaissance angel, she wants her hair in braids and a cheeseburger t-shirt. John would have given Alecto every thing of great beauty and power, every thing he thought might ever be appropriate to the grandeur he’d built in his mind, but he would never have bought her a shirt from Salt Chip Fish Shop. Pyrrha doesn’t give her anything of beauty and power. Pyrrha makes Nona eat her eggs because she needs food to keep that human body going, even though Nona whines and complains and demands pikelets and birthday gifts; Pyrrha says, eat your eggs, because it’s good for you, and go to school, because it’ll keep you occupied, and don’t come to my dig site, because it’s dangerous for you. Then Pyrrha sells her cigarettes for cash to bribe someone, sure, but what do you want to bet some of that money also went to buy the pikelet mix she makes for Nona the next day, and the shirt she buys for Nona’s birthday too? She doesn’t give Nona exactly what she wants, because Nona is a child and needs protection and guidance. But she doesn’t give the gifts she wants to give; she gives the gifts she knows Nona wants to get. She listens.

And that’s what saves them all. Blood of Eden wants Nona to be Harrow, or Gideon, or both, or a lyctor; an ally, an enemy, something they understand, and if they’d been able to force that on Nona things would have probably gone catastrophically wrong. Instead Pyrrha, Cam, and Pal let her tell them who she is. Tell me your memories. Try out this sword. What do you think about bones? And as much as they want her (or don’t want her) to react to those things, to have certain answers, they listen to the ones she actually gives and react accordingly, and that saves them from making the terrible mistake of not realizing her true identity.

Now finally look at Harrow, handed, over and over again, everything she could ever want: power, immortality, freedom, family, god’s favor, answers, even a way to finally win the love she believed impossible. And all she has to do is take. Take Gideon Nav’s soul. Freely offered! Again and again! All she has to do is take it. And she won’t. She will not take, not even what’s given to her. She won’t take the help of the other Houses because she thinks it will destroy the Ninth - because they won’t listen to the Ninth, even as they help it. She won’t take Gideon Nav’s soul because she won’t take another life to save her own. She will not concede the idea that power can only be gained by one by taking from another. She will not privilege her story above others. She will not say, it’s human nature to take. That’s why Alecto loves her. That’s why she’s going to kill God. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[shouldhavebeenpersephone]

So I was re-reading Nona. And. Have we talked about this yet? Have we gone through the implications of this section?

NtN John 5:4. Analysis under the cut.

I always assumed the tower was a part of the Ninth because right after this chapter Nona sees the tower in the River and after that drives the truck everyone is in to the Ninth. But nowhere does it say that the tower is the Ninth.

I mean, looking at the description it certainly sounds like it - all grey and death, which is why I assumed it was. The Ninth is tall even if embedded inside of a planet, one could argue shafts are towers. But why would a tower of the Ninth be in the River?

First things first; the tower in Tarot stands for sudden change, confusion and awakening - I don't feel this needs further explanation on why it's relevant (I might, however, someday do a Tarot Locked Tomb analysis because there is A LOT there). It also refers to the Tower of Babel, which was destroyed by God along with the uniform language of Earth so that people would not come so close to Him again, so that they stayed vincible. Sound familiar?

John did make a uniform language technically, but he also separated the population to different planets, rendering them unable to unite and overcome him not only due to instilled nationalism but also due to the faults in the Houses. We know that the Sixth is struggling to keep up their lineages and population number - we know the Fourth die too young to really leave anything behind - we know the Second is too busy fighting wars.

This leads me to believe that whatever the tower represents will be the end of the world as they know it - maybe through a new God and an end to the Houses, maybe the end of Godhood and Lyctorhood in general. Either way, something is piercing through the River - something that has the power to change it all.

NtN Chapter 30. Nona's mind knew what it was "above" and "below". Does this refer to Harrow and Alecto?

Now let's go back to that first passage from John 5:4. The parts that stand out to me are 'speared-through and mute', 'a tower that soared, impossible and deadly grey', and 'lurching out of the River as though gasping for air.' All of this sounds like Gideon.

GtN Chapter 37. Very much speared-through and mute.

NtN Chapter 16. Ramrod posture? Soaring, impossible and deadly grey.

NtN Chapter 25. And Gideon knows what's in the River. Chances are that the tower is a construct created by John for whatever purposes. Gideon is also a construct created by John - at least Kiriona is.

I obviously don't know how accurate this connection my brain jumped on is, but it honestly makes a lot of sense to me. There is something below the River, just like how 'reality' is above the river. Especially when considering Nona referred to a thought above and below that knew what the tower was, it appears to me like the below is a plane much like reality and the River where things exist and can continue to exist. I have not yet sat with or developed an opinion on what exactly might be there, but there is something there. I think it might be the cavaliers.

So what if Gideon ended up there? What if, when she ended up in the River at the end of HtN, Gideon ended up in the below once Alecto was forced into Harrow's body? What if John knew all along how to reach there and he finally decided this was the time to bring something - no - someone back?

But you can't really reach the other plane without the River, can you? We have seen it with the Resurrection Beasts - they travel through the River and exist in it while simultaneously being above it. And, if we look at Palamedes, one who has passed and is part of the River needs a container of sorts to be above. Perhaps, then, one can sink while tethered higher in the three layers, but one cannot soar from below without a container to carry them up. An integrated cavalier is forced down, not reaching up - they are buried in the below.

So let's say John brought Gideon back. Her corpse would obviously be the container for her above. The tower, then, could be her container for the River. Ianthe could be using Gideon's aberration in the River as a means to anchor herself as well. That could be why they are the Tower Princes.

Alecto would know the tower was a gateway of sorts. She would understand, like presumably any other Resurrection Beast would understand. But Harrow. Harrow.

GtN Chapter 36. I cannot let go of this passage in relation to the tower. "Instead, she was Drearburh." "She took the whole putrid, quiet, filth-strewn madness of the place, and she opened her doors to it."

Cavaliers' tethers are shown through the eyes, through altering the look of that which binds them to above - so, maybe through being Gideon the tower became Drearburh. Maybe Harrow saw it, and felt it, and she saw Gideon, and she saw home. So she walked, and she walked, and she knew that it would lead back to her.

The tower - Gideon, then, will be the changer of things in the end. Maybe Gideon and Harrow, but definitely Gideon.

[lemon-natalia]

Nona the Ninth Reaction - John 5:4

Harrow!!! ❤️❤️ my girl is back!! i know she’s technically been here all the time in John’s chapters, but like. it’s nice to have actual confirmation 

i’m pretty sure i have a grasp on the soul-swapping shenanigans here: Alecto’s consciousness/soul as Nona has been in Harrow’s body, and vice versa. meanwhile Gid’s soul is back with her original (but still dead) body. okay, it was hard to figure out throughout the book but doesn't actually seem too complicated i don’t think 

‘“What does it mean to love God” “Decent dinner and a bottle of rose” why is John quite literally the worst person to discuss theology with

that being said, his description here about the love of God being essentially trusting that you won't be alone is interesting. i’m mildly sleep deprived right now and not really capable of thinking about the significance of it too much honestly, but this description really reminds me to some extent of how the bond between a necromancer and a cavalier is kind of shown to be in GtN - trusting someone absolutely, having someone that you can rely on 

‘Even G—. In fact G— will be the easiest - he won’t remember the compound’ ohhhh is THAT why he needed G—'s arm??? so that he could still resurrect him even though he got nuked. i wonder if the fact that John didn’t have to wipe his memories has anything to do with how Pyrrha can apparently remember something about the past, given she’s in G1deon’s body rn 

and the slight contradiction Harrow calls him out on here seems like a nice hint about how John might not be the most reliable narrator. i don’t know if he’s outright lied about anything, or he’s at least telling what he believes to be the truth, but i don’t trust that what we’ve heard is the full story or exactly how things went down 

the contrast between Alecto only being afraid of dying vs Nona who has her own complicated feelings, but has largely accepted it, is really striking

‘There can be no forgiveness for those who walked away’ buddy the people that you want revenge on are dead and gone. also to add to the parallels of the Lyctors being his ‘fingers’ while the Heralds are the extensions of the RB’s and their ‘Hand [and] thumb’, John’s whole ceaseless and unsatisfying quest for revenge sounds a whole lot like the Resurrection Beasts themselves. which i do have to wonder, obviously John wanted revenge prior to absorbing Alecto’s soul, but how much of that now is due to him and how much is due to having literally partially eaten the soul of a Resurrection Beast 

it is a dream sequence, so i can get that its going to be hazy and make no sense, but i’m curious about what John’s perspective is here, and his motivations for talking about this to Harrow. at certain points throughout these chapters he sounds like he’s talking pre-Resurrection, but then here he’s having a full on conversation with Harrow and knows it’s her

wooooh time for Harrow to go on the necromantic equivalent of a yoga trip of self-discovery

i also like that it’s Harrow’s own decision to walk away from John here. she’s a character who has had this very rigid belief system in large part due to her upbringing, and its nice that she’s deciding to find out what God means for herself

and yep, the final message from the chapter title numbers is ‘THE TOWER HAS REACTIVATED’. and now Harrow’s walking away from John towards some kind of mysterious grey tower. i’m assuming there’s going to be something significant at the top, but i can't for the life of me guess what

and there’s an awful lot of questions surrounding it’s existence even. here Harrow is turning away from John to walk towards it, but him naming Ianthe and Kiriona the Tower Princes suggests that he already knew about it, or even had some kind of hand in creating it? or maybe it’s something to do with what went down at Canaan House with the og Lyctors, which is still a remarkably vague/mysterious period of time. and if it’s reactivated, why now of all times - something to do with Alecto’s soul being moved to Nona? and of course on top of all that there’s Judith’s extremely ominous comment about things coming out of it 

despite being nearly another full book into the series, things Harrowhark Nonagesimus presumably still does not know after the events of HtN:

that John is Gideon’s dad

presumably, that the weird ghost that was haunting her via Cytherea was Gideon’s mum

both Mercy and Augustine are dead

that Pyrrha, yknow, still exists

that Gideon is still around in the form of Kiriona Gaia, and has fully joined the Cohort and John

[so-many-ocs]

user so many ocs, my beloved, fellow Locked Tomb enjoyer, I am about to finish Nona and I am losing my mind because nothing will fill the Gideon Nav sized hole in my heart (lol). do you perchance have any recommendations of what I can read next that's similar to TLT?

ok i wanna preface this by saying i've only read GtN (i needed time to recover after the first one and left HtN at my parents' house for the semester lol but by virtue of Existing On Tumblr i know most of what happens in the series + i plan to read HtN asap)

BUT LET'S GO!! (storygraph summaries linked)

if you liked gideon the ninth, try:

This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone & Amal El-Mohtar - maybe i just read these 2 really close together but Time War has time travel, space fuckery, gut-wrenching sapphic yearning, and a drily humorous tone all packed into the span of less than 200 pages.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan - historical fantasy, rich worldbuilding, one of my All-Time Favorite Books (right alongside Time War and Gideon the Ninth lol)

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang - historical fantasy, political intrigue, silver possesses the ability to manifest any meaning lost in translation between languages.

Cosmoknights by Hannah Templer - graphic novel (2 books out now); princesses, politics, and gladiator-style fights, but in space!

now for books i haven't read (on my tbr) that others have recommended for fans of TLT:

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark - fantasy, desert empire, a soldier and a princess "haggling" over the price of a nation.

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri - fantasy/romance, one seeking revenge, one seeking family.

The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix - fantasy, girl who is a monster (favorite trope of Ever btw), witches, kingdoms, and assassinations.

Crier's War by Nina Valera - fantasy with some sci-fi elements(?), humans vs. robots but with a twist! i want to read this so bad but have not found it anywhere

this list has some of the books i've recommended here, as well as a couple others i haven't! most of the books i've recommended are sapphic or at least lgbtq as well if that's something you're specifically interested in :)

lastly, storygraph does have a "browse similar books" feature, though i'm not sure how accurate it is as i've yet to really try it out!

i hope that was helpful !!!

[legaltrashgoblin]

My review of Nona The Ninth

Spoilers below the cut

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Chewing on the bars of my cage for the next book.

Nona was such an intriguing character to read about, and, much like the quote on the front - "You will love Nona, and Nona loves you" - I truly did love Nona. She was inquisitive, charming and so brutally kiddish it hurt me to see her go, and to see her in pain, and to see her so eager to stop. She loved herself, thought she was beautiful, much like many little girls do, and her ending very nearly brought me to tears. I know, probably a few days from now it will finally sink in that Nona won't be entirely Nona anymore, but she'll be someone new after this, and it feels like a tribute to little girls growing up and realising that shit hurts, that you lose people you love and people give themselves up for you, people become new people, friends are lost, new friends are gained and you just have to love them for something.

Nona The Ninth was such an incredible switch from Gideon and Harrow, with the new environment, the new character dynamics, and the new absolutely fucking radical action.

Much like Nona, I loved everyone in this book. I loved Pyrrha (she and Gideon the First will be one [and some] of my favourite characters I've ever read about. I felt so much for Gideon the First in Harrow, and Pyrrha left behind in his body after he died. I loved Camilla, I loved Palamedes, I loved Camilla-and-Palamedes, and think I'm beginning to love Paul.

Plus, I love the complete disregard of gender and gendered terms: Prince Kiriona Gaia, Daughter of God; Prince Ianthe Naberius; The Angel being referred to as "Sir"; Pyrrha being a woman in a man's body, quite literally; Palamedes and Camilla sharing Camilla's body; and Nona's general acceptance that it's the conscience and the soul that matters, not the outside.

I need to get my hands on Alecto the Ninth right now, else I shall surely die.

P.S. I'd so love to be friends with Nona.

P.P.S. what was that with Nona kissing Kiriona?! The only griddlehark full fucking mouth to mouth nec-romance (see what I did there) kiss and one of them is dead and the other is not the right person?!? Scammer.

P.P.P.S. I love you, Tamsyn Muir, for Nona and Gideon and Harrow and every single page of these books that have now overcome my whole brain.

[apostleofgreed]

It's here, the finale - my friends thoughts throughout Nona the Ninth (it's a long one)

Right which one of these idiots is stuck in Nona's body

Signs point to both

I think more likely Harrow and shes just removed the massive stick up her ass

Most other signs thus far do point to Gideon though- lack of aforementioned stick, finds herself attractive, loves ass jokes, wants to pet dogs (Harrow seems like a don't work with animals or children type)

Also these other kids have names like they're gonna be running in the fucking grand national

Honestly what the fuck is going on with child conception in this series???

Someone has five dads, God was asking if Harrow and Ianthe were being 'safe' sexually and I'm just confused

Okay so I've only listened to half an hour today but if Crown isn't coronabeth I will eat my own arm

My theory is that neither of them are in Harrow's body and that she's being possessed by The Body

Maybe I should follow in Harrow's footsteps and ask you to fucking lobotomize me

No beta we die like Babs

"what do you think is sexy?" "Eating breakfast" Me too, Camilla, me too

Maybe someone needs to lobotomize Judith, has anyone thought of that?

Thing is I feel like I'm supposed to think John is really bad and is the villain here but I just don't

The worst thing he's done is lie to his friends for a few thousand years

Finally, the baddest bitch in all the nine houses (it's Ianthe)

What a power move honestly first she steals Babs' soul now she steals his body, absolutely inspired

She could literally kill another 200 babies to resurrect Harrow and I'd be like what a babe 😍 at this point

I'm bored of shooting can we go back to swords and doing weird things with your body please

I just think it would be great if Harrow could hop back into her body and have a full meltdown about how to function in this world

Erm Corona darling can you please try to stop them bombing your sister in the body of one of your lifelong pals pls and thanks

Y'all better sTOp

Fucking marry, kill, reanimate I can't hahahaha

"that's not actually crown's boyfriend Nona, it's her sister but I don't think anyone could blame you for getting confused" Fair hahahahah so very true

Don't know how they think this is gonna work seeing as though Harrow and Ianthe literally lived together for like over a year and had an interpersonal relationship but ok

Maybe it's because pash has the accent of a rudeboy from Oldham and suffer is weirdly French (on disliking We Suffer and Pash)

Palamades in Ianthe in Babs is sending me west

Abigail died too soon and really she did all the legwork in Harrow

Can't help but feel all of this drama could have been avoided if Harry had just done the job properly in the first place and just let Gideon die properly

All of this just because an 18 year old gave herself the brain scramblies

Cam has just burst into fire wtf

Can't believe Crux hasn't dropped dead tbh

I've got less than an hour left I feel like we're cutting it fine to get Harry back in her body here

Big flex to be waiting for everyone to arrive smoking a ciggie with your golden skeleton arm

Fucking friendship bracelets and a secret handshake hahahahah

Gideon needs to stop being such a bloody himbo

Who has shouted "get in line thou big slut!" Hahahahah

There we have it, the full series. Hope y'all have enjoyed this.

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

Personal rant ahead✨

okay, so. I'm not sure anyone's reading, but I'm writing this. Maybe putting it in words will help, you know?

I've had a fucking terrible time lately, there's no denying it – I'm not even sure how long it went on. For sure, the last half a year–

Guys, I didn't think I'd survive it.

I'm not lying. God, I'm not lying.

Looking back, I'm not sure how I did survive it, but I did. Somehow. I just kept going. (Till Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes; till Nona the Ninth translation; till Rise of Red; till The Umbrella Academy 4). I fucking kept going even though I was fucking exhausted.

I ended up in the emergency two times, with a panic attack that had me sure I was dying.

I ended up in the psychiatric emergency two times, too, when the emergency personel said taking me to the hospital wouldn't help.

I asked my roommate to send me photos of chemical reactions and formulas to the emergency psych ward. I broke down bad enough to end up there and it continued: two two Exams the next day, final labs and test the next, another exam three days after and two days after that and chemical engineering with about seven hours of prep time. I did these on sedatives that didn't even take away all of the anxiety.

On the weekend then, I crashed at my friend's, completely crashed. I was afraid to stay alone. I was so out of it I was sure i'd die if alone.

(If you're reading this, thank you. Really.)

This doesn't need to be coherent, right?

I've been struggling with food too. Namely, eating enough.

(I tell you, one of the days I ended in emergency: for breakfast, I got half of a pastry, some cottage cheese and handful of cherry tomatoes - that doesn't sound too bad, but it was only half because I was supposed to eat it for dinner the day before. For lunch, well, I decided I'd go swimming, physical activity is supposed to help, right, maybe I'd buy something at the pool? (Spoiler allert, I didn't). I bought one (1) slice of pizza at the subway when getting home from the psych clinic.)

Fun time, right?

With a track record like this, I've managed to lose five kg (about ten pounds?). Problem with this, of course, is that that was a tenth of my total weight.

I'm better now, almost back at my original weight, but sometimes, my brain still screams at me that the food is poisonous.

You know, I've got a pretty strong catalogue of venoms and poisons and alimentary ilnesses. The toxicology and microbiology courses didn't really help. God, I freaked out over soup one time, I was sure it was full of botulotoxin. (It was not. Botulotoxin is termolabile.) (I cried over this for hours anyway and I'm not sure I'll eat that soup again.)

But, you know. I'm trying.

I'm trying.

I got some meds, but - the first ones - it was bad. It was so bad. It was supposed to help, but first, it got worse. I could do nothing but cry for four days, I remember I felt nothing but terror.

It was only a bit better when I went to a summercamp as a councilor- nothing much to say about the camp. But, there was a storm, we were waiting it out outside under an altan with the girls who slept in tents - god, we were all scared. I kept telling fairytales for an hour and then more at curfew for the little ones, I almost lost my voice. (There was a boy with us, about fifteen, helping counsilor. He slowly inched closer as I was telling the fairytales, it was cute.)

Still, the girls were crying, I'm not surprised, the storm was bad, and then there was some scandal among the younger kids about some video, and more people cried. In the end, at least ten people cried. I didn't break down only because I took xanax in between.

I'm not sure if I want to say anything more; I've said enough already.

There's a new school year soon and I'm scared.

[paradoxcase]

Chapter 27 of Nona the Ninth

Looks like the Nook app had a character encoding issue, haha. Going into the ebook file, it looks like it was supposed to be Takṣa, which seems to be the name of a person who's important to Hinduism in some way. I'm guessing the rest of those names that I don't recognize are probably also random Earth references

That's pretty interesting, and makes a lot of sense, and follows on from Pash talking about being in BOE from a young age. And I guess maybe also explains why We Suffer tolerates Pash and gives her important assignments in spite of the fact that they seem to clash a bit, personality-wise

Man, so many people have come back that I hope G1deon does come back at some point, both for Pyrrha's sake, and also, I'd like to actually learn what kind of person he was. I know that G-- there is probably just her saying [g], but it makes me think of the way he is referred to in the John sections, like she is saying his original name? But even if she knows what that is, I don't think there's any reason for Nona to not hear it here

Manifesting cosmic spider Alecto

She just, like - she's not having a tantrum or anything right now, she just sticks a sword into her leg because it's inconvenient to carry it and she's only worried about damaging her shirt

Also, I don't think it is ever clarified in this chapter what she actually needs the sword for? Was she planning on fighting the Heralds?

I'm not sure exactly when she had this communication? She doesn't talk about it at all, the only time she really mentions Number Seven is when she said good night to it that one time, and she doesn't mention ever having had like, a conversation with it. I also don't think she knows it's possessing Judith at this point or she would probably have addressed Judith in the truck, I would guess. Number Seven also claims that she asked it for help, but I can't find anywhere in the story where she did that or mentions having done that

This has to refer to John, right? I don't think there are any other relevant male characters left in this story, except Palamedes, who is definitely not who's being referred to here. But John hasn't been present at all in any of the Nona-narrated sections of this story and is probably on the other side of the galaxy right now, so I'm not sure how he could be fleeing from Number Seven here

Again, I'm not sure when this happened, unless it's referring to something that happened 10,000 years ago? Or how a planet can somehow give "blood for blood", or what exactly it was supposed to help with, or how

Yeah, I think she knows what it means. She's standing up here begging Number Seven to not eat the planet and not kill all the people she cares about, so yeah, I think she does

So this was what Judith was talking about earlier:

And:

Alecto is a "green thing" I guess because Earth has plantlife? But if you see it from space, it looks more blue than green. I guess she is green-and-breathing because she has a physical body? I'm not sure who Number Seven saw in the waves, here. The people fighting it were G1deon, Mercy, Augustine, Ianthe, and briefly Nonius and co. Is it talking about how it noticed Ianthe arriving in the shuttle via the River and remembered that she was one of the people who had fought it earlier?

Here on truck, I'm not sure if Number Seven is talking about Nona expending Harrow's body or something else when it says "you eat yourself". And so far, we are to understand that the resurrection beasts do eat living planets and aren't interested in the dead ones, so I'm not sure what it means by "unliving marrow", either

I mean it did work on one resurrection beast

I don't know what the significance of this is

More references to whatever this tower is. Is this some new thing that John made to fight resurrection beasts now that he's down to just one Lyctor?

Maybe Judith is going to be ok, but she's not up to date on recent events, haha

[malatruse]

TSV finale thoughts

uh spoilers ovbiously

initial thoughts

Ok first of all WOW i am dehydrated from crying jfc. like I listened to Eskew, I knew what to expect, but DAMN.

Really lovely work all around. They did a really nice job with representation and making it feel natural and a part of the characters.

No skip kd song to close out the show, which is a little disappointing.

ok so down to the actual events

when faulkner's being all sarcastic about what will happen if he goes with carpenter i was just sitting there thinking 'well damn you can just say you dont wanna go'

they did a really good job of portraying faulkner as someone who's clearly sympathetic but also completely fucked up. who was he following in the water though? i guess it's implied to be an angel but idk. the callback to episode 1 was heartwrenching.

the fakeout at the end with carpenter felt so cruel, they let it go on for so long, she forgot the rest of the lyrics even! speaking of, why didn't that guy's truth come true? i guess it kinda did, but why didn't it happen right away during active wartime?

i love val so much.

it's so upsetting that everyone has to die alone. they couldn't even get back to each other before biting it like cmon.

couple of loose ends

the girl from the birch cult. i thought since they brought her back she would be relevant. maybe she was and i missed it?

the god or spirit or whatever that haunted carpenter when she fell asleep at its altar. she told it she was talking it with her. i hoped to see that manifest somehow

carpenter and paige never talking about how they both knew vaughn!!! cmon!!!

acantha....i guess we're meant to assume she died but :(

themes

strong vibes of 'if the system is this fucked up the only thing to do is abandon it' which is fitting considering the everything happening right now

no one's truly good or bad they just do things and they think they're doing them for a reason but it's not always the reason they think it is

the victors writing the history books. reminds me of in nona the ninth (spoilers for nona the ninth) when pyrrha tells john they can write the history books to say he was a good wizard, as a justification for doing questionable shit to get taken seriously. and we all know how that turned out

closing thoughts

we all need to be nicer to each other because we're all we've got

i love val ;;;;_;;;;

not forgiving yall for that hotel that feeds on hope. you can suck my nuts that kind of infohazard shit fucks people up for real

[jods-duplicitous-sluts]

Alecto the Ninth News

Part Two

If you haven't read part one, click here. If you are looking for part three, click here.

Another bunch of screenshots and links after the cut

If you enjoy this post please reblog so more people can see it!

Source: The Portalist Interview

• wonder who all this could reference...let's see: Gideon, Harrow, Ianthe, John, Judith, Coronabeth, Pyrrah, Aiglamene, and Sarpedon are who I can think of that match this in the literal sense of not being dead[well...] at the end of Nona. But if we start including souls we've seen in the river and deaths we've only heard about or were in any way ambiguous....it gets more interesting. I'd imagine the BOE who were on the Ninth will continue to be involved like AIM and Pash. I'd assume Paul will be a major player despite not technically appearing in two books and maybe Juno Zeta and Kiki?

Source: The Library Journal

• this kind of ties into the above but also ties into the harrowing of hell/what's wrong with the river plot line. I'm still saying John did something to damn the river and feeds off the energy of all the ghosts of the past 10,000 years being unable to cross to the beyond. I'd also venture that it has something to do with needing to restore the soulnof Earth as the rightful power/God of their universe. But eh. Maybe that's too simple. Again, all just speculation on my part.

Source: In the Margin

• This whole interview is great but this part about tragic figures in the locked tomb stuck out to me. It definitely seems like the third temptation will be a subject for Alecto and yet again heading into the Catholic allegories. Obviously referencing to the third temptation of Christ.

For the third and final temptation in Matthew (presented as the second temptation of the three in Luke) the devil takes Jesus to a high place, which Matthew explicitly identifies as a very high mountain[or a tower], where all the kingdoms of the world can be seen. The spot pointed out by tradition as the summit from which Satan offered to Jesus dominion over all earthly kingdoms. The temptation to assume leadership over the kingdoms of man. The kingdoms Jesus would inherit through Satan are obtained through love of power and political oppression. Barrett characterizes this "the old but ever new temptation to do evil that good may come; to justify the illegitimacy of the means by the greatness of the end." [From Wikipedia]

Basically the temptation to overthrow God.

Source: In the Margin

• A return to Canaan House and its mysteries. Is this in regards to the devils and the tower, Abigail and her theory about the secret private chambers of the Emperor, Palamades being systematically lied to about the ages and psychometric signatures in Canaan House or Harrow and her secret door theory? Or something else entirely...but I'm glad that we may get another glimpse into Canaan House.

Source: Nerd Daily Aug. 2020 interview

• Now this interview is pre-Nona as its own book, but I can't think of any 2 characters that interact in Harrow that would have had a moment that fits this in Nona. Brutal sincerity? It feels like it has to involve Harrow, John, Ianthe or Gideon in some way.

Source: The Nerd Daily 2020

• Again on the theme of love which relates to Nona, but TazMuir has said in other interviews to expect that theme to continue onto Alecto.

Also don't expect everyone to get what's coming to them which doesn't shock me.

Source: LA Book Review

• Pre-Nona interview. But talking about Gideon and Harrow’s relationship dynamic changing as their standing changes. Obviously we're going to see some fallout/paradigm shifts with Gideon being the heir aparent of God and Harrow basically becoming a heretic of sorts.

Source: The Library Journal

• Broad strokes here about character growth and a painful but begrudging happiness that some characters will find. But there is a chance at happiness. So that's something a lot of haven't been counting on.

Source: Vox Bookclub Podcast transcript

• while this is a reference to Harrow the Ninth it does mention to look out for more biblical allusion in Alecto. Now, I'm pretty sure this is pre-Nona announcement and obviously we got all the John biblical references but from the other interviews we've been talking about we know there is so harrowing of hell and temptation of christ in our future. Maybe someone more upon Bible study can chime in with other Biblical passages or stories that may come into play that fit the same theme?

Source: The Coode Street Podcast

• Paraphrasing but On episode 598 of the Coode Street podcast, Tamsyn Muir said that Alecto the Ninth was completed but hadn't been edited yet and that she doubted it would be out by the end of 2023 as it was a "chonky boy" or a "chungus" (her words). That podcast was released in December, so I'm assuming recorded in November or earlier.

Seems to me like any listed dates right now are probably placeholders until Tor announces an official release date.

PHEW! That was a lot so far. To be honest there are some other podcast interviews I know I've listened to in the past but haven't had time to revisit for this project so I may be missing some things.

We have one more roundup of interview screenshots to go, but it will have to be its own post. And the theme of part 3 of ATN news is: CW: Ianthe Tridentarius. Yep. There are so many mentions referring to Ianthe in Alecto that they will be their own post. [Yikes]

Click here to see part 3 of this post

[dragonologist-phd]

tagged by @camelliagwerm and by @gothimp! thank you both so much!

1. the last book I read:

A House Between Earth and the Moon by Rebecca Scherm, which i overall enjoyed but oh boy did it hit that mood of 'this is a terrifying future for the world and one that i can absolutely see happening given the current trajectory of society'. so yeah it was a little...anxiety-inducing (which it's meant to be, so good job!)

2. a book I recommend:

ooh that's tough because what i recommend depends a lot on who i'm recommending stuff to! hmm...first thing coming to mind right now is Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle. I really loved that one, and if you also enjoy queer horror, it's probably something you would enjoy!

3. a book that I couldn’t put down:

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir! the narration tricks and the reveals and the dramatic irony for that one are all so good, it's one of those books that i wish i could read for the first time again. it was so much fun that i tore through it all over the course of a weekend (though it also helped that i was on vacation at the time- i always read so much faster on vacation!)

4. a book that I’ve read twice (or more):

Quite a few, mostly ones i loved as a kid, but i'll go with Redshirts by John Scalzi- it's a short, goofy read and it's one of my comfort books when i need something light!

5. a book on my TBR:

*glances at the stack of books on my nightstand*. um. well there's a few. let's see...i got a nice copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde a while back that i still haven't opened yet, so that's one i want to get to eventually!

6. a book I’ve put down:

i have very little patience with pushing through books i don't like, so i'm prone to putting down a book as soon as i start to dislike it. i believe the last one i did that with was The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. that was a particularly disappointing one because it had such an interesting premise, but god was the fatphobia off the charts, and i'm so done putting up with that shit

7. a book on my wish list:

the latest one i've put on my wishlist is Coyote America by Dan Flores! it sounds fascinating and it's also probably gonna make me really sad!

8. a favourite book from childhood:

ooh there's so many to choose from, but the first one to pop in my head is Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. i loved that book- like, "i had a paperback version of the book that i carried around so much it was literally falling apart" level of loved. i think it single-handedly started my ongoing affection for classic fairytale re-tellings!

9. a book you would give to a friend:

Again, it depends a lot on the friend in question! But just going off the last book i lent out to someone, it would be House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson, which i recently lent to my girlfriend!

10. a book of poetry or lyrics you own:

i own a copy of Useless Magic, a lyrics book by Florence Welch! and a collection of Edgar Allan Poe poems which i haven't read yet but i swear it's on the list

11. a nonfiction book you own:

i just recently finished Hi Honey, I'm Homo! by Matt Baume (full title: Hi Honey, I'm Homo!: Sitcoms, Specials, and the Queering of American Culture) it was super interesting and had quite a few anecdotes i hadn't heard of, i'd definitely recommend it to anyone who's interested in those subjects

12. what are you currently reading:

i'm making my way through The King in Yellow by Robert Chambers! that one's been slow going, but i'm hoping to finish it up over the long weekend.

13. what are you planning on reading next:

i've got a few on the list, but i think i'll be starting Nona the Ninth once i get the chance!

no-pressure tagging, though i'd love to see y'all do this if you want to!

tag list here!

@bugdotpng @dujour13 @mordred9971 @orime-stories @transprincecaspian

@miseryscrowned @bladesmitten @big-cheesy-productions @arendaes @bezelusbubulez

@starlightcleric @vigilskept @thesolemnhour @ampleappleamble @herequeerexitentialfear

@rollofleaf @adozentothedawn @undyingembers @thefathersbride @milesmentis

@serenbach86

[griseldagimpel]

John Gaius Isn't the Ultimate Antagonist of The Locked Tomb Series

Alright. So this may be my 'Korra/Mako shippers are gonna be popping the biggest bottle of champagne tomorrow' post, but you can't be annoyingly smug about being Right later on if you don't put yourself out there. (If I'm wrong, I'm hacking tumblr to nuke this post from existence.)

Here's my Hot Take: John Gaius isn't the ultimate antagonist of The Locked Tomb Series, and the final book won't be about dismantling the Empire of the Nine Houses.

I'm working off the following premises for this:

While the conflicts of all the books can be described as One or More Characters Is Angry Because John Did Something Shitty, John hasn't ever been the antagonist of a book. That is, he hasn't been the character the protagonist is working against.

In fact, John is a protagonist character himself, being the deuteragonist of Nona the Ninth.

John is established as wanting to talk things out and not being the first to use violence in any given conflict. That situates him badly to become an antagonist because it'll require the protagonists to do violence first, which'll make them seem less sympathetic to the reader. (Yes, even in a series with necromancy and cannibalism, audience sympathy is still something an author will be deliberate about.)

Speaking of sympathy, while much of the fan base has zero sympathy for John, the books have a lot of sympathy for him, actually.

Alecto the Ninth will not only be the last book, but it was originally intended to be the second half of the last book. As such, I expect it to spend more time on resolution and reveals than on establishing new things.

The Locked Tomb series has been skimpy with its socio-political world-building. The first two books took protagonists who'd basically grown up in a monastery and shoved them in isolated locations with the rest of the cast. The third book shook that trend...but has a protagonist with the socio-political understanding of a golden retriever.

The Locked Tomb series has never had as a setting a colony of the Empire of Nine Houses that's actively under control of the Empire. While this is something that's happening within the series, it's happening in off-pages-ville.

In fact, the series has largely used the Space Imperialism setting as a backdrop for the interpersonal character drama.

The author has given the theme of the series as The Horrors of Love.

The books have a pattern of Resolution Through Reconciliation. It may play out in the negative - the climax of Harrow the Ninth, for example - but that's what's been at the core. There are exceptions - the fight with Cytherea in Gideon the Ninth and against the Sleeper in Harrow the Ninth - but think about Gideon & Harrow's relationship in Gideon the Ninth or Nona & Varun's interaction at the climax of Nona the Ninth. The Locked Tomb series has had as much if not more focus on "how do these characters talk things out" as "how do these characters defeat this really powerful villain".

Alright. For the Empire of the Nine Houses, there a might be a hand wave "and Paul led peace talks" at the end or something, but there won't be a focus on dismantling the Empire because there hasn't been enough time spent establishing the broader Empire as a setting. For that matter, there's not a protagonist character with "dismantle the Empire" as a driving motivation. (Remember: Alecto helped establish the Empire of the Nine Houses.)

Regardless of what happens to John, I don't think the book is going to tackle, "John dies and now the entirety of the Nine Houses needs to be evacuated" because a.) that's such a big thing that it would really have to be The Entire Fucking Plot and b.) evacuating refugees would require them to be a evacuated to somewhere, and the series doesn't have an established enough socio-political setting to do that.

I think the main antagonistic force is going to be the Devils. That, too, may be solved though reconciliation (particularly if certain fan theories about them are correct) but they were set up enough without having enough time to shine as antagonists. So Alecto the NInth will put a lot of focus on them.

I DO think that trying to fix the River will be part of the plot. That's something that's been established enough that I'd expect resolution.

I expect the series to continue to be about the drama between characters. Off the top of my head - and apologies if I forgot anyone's blorbo here - I expect that to be Kiriona & Harrow, John & Alecto, Ianthe & Crown Him With Many Crowns, John & the BoE members now on the Ninth House, and John & the Resurrection Beasts, plus (less contentiously) Alecto relationships with Pyrrha & Paul and Coronabeth's relationship with Judith.

Those all may or may not have a happy resolution, but I think they all need a resolution.

In conclusion, I don't know what will happen to John, but the more that I think about it, the more I lean towards believing that "What Will Happen to John?" is the wrong question. The last book won't be about "What Will Happen to John?" He'll get an ending - they all will - but I don't believe that the book will approach John as a Problem That Needs to be Solved. If he does try to do something shitty - and I'm fully on board with the theories that he wants to Reset the Universe - it'll be about John overcoming (or not!) his depression as one of our core characters, NOT as John being a threat that the other characters need to defeat.

And if I'm right, I'll be popping the biggest bottle of champagne.

[nebula--nix]

Productivity Boost

Rules: fill out the prompts!

thank you to @mk-writes-stuff for the tag!

Goals: right now, I'm working on outlining and finishing the first draft of Quantum Immortality! I'm also fiddling around with plot ideas for Heroic, my other WIP, but that one's on the backburner right now while Quantum Immortality takes priority.

Productivity tip: start small! don't set ridiculously high daily word count goals for yourself to meet, especially if you're just starting out or haven't written for a bit. set a goal that you know you can consistently (or at least most of the time) accomplish, and only increase it if it feels way too easy and you find yourself consistently wanting to write more. setting goals you'll struggle to reach is a surefire way to get demotivated.

Current project: first draft of Quantum Immortality, which I still really need to write a WIP intro for, lol

Exchange something: i'm always open to giving tips and advice if anyone needs it!

Quote: "Life is too short and love is too long." - Tamsyn Muir, Nona the Ninth

Tagging: @kara-wordsmith @themboty @leahnardo-da-veggie @minamaybe and anyone else who wants to do this!