Nona the Ninth was a good book and it was actually really reassuring to see Muir commit to making another book with an unconventional narrative structure and POV character like Harrow the Ninth was rather than go for the more standard, simple style of Gideon the Ninth
ohhhhh I just realized the point of the fucking coffee shop AU. like, there's many points to the coffee shop AU. but...harrow in the coffee shop AU proves definitively that she would fall for gideon in any life, regardless of their relationship. no matter the circumstance - harrow would love gideon if she were nobody, if she was nothing more than a cute barista with a flirty smile. gideon, on the other hand, is quite clearly under the impression that harrow only loves her because she is her cavalier. she places being harrow's cavalier as evidence of her importance to harrow. as long as harrow accepts her as her cavalier, then she can never be nothing to harrow, because one flesh, one end.
even as kiriona, she's just waiting for the day she can swear to be harrow's cavalier again (get in line, thou big slut!). but harrow doesn't care if gideon is her cavalier at all - she loves gideon, just gideon.
guys if we're all feeling this insane about a 32 page short story that expanded a 30 second scene from Nona the Ninth. how are any of us gonna survive when the entire full length book Alecto the Ninth comes out. there is still an entire locked tomb book that we haven't read yet. what are we gonna do.
I know no one cares about Naberius Tern but that is exactly the problem.
Every single lyctor we have seen so far is undone by killing their caviller. Mercymorn makes it very, very clear that she has been carrying the grief of killing Cristabel for ten thousand years. Palamedes doesn't say he would rather die than kill Cam to become a lyctor because he is busy dying rather than killing Cam to become a lyctor. The unspoken rule is that lyctorhood can only be obtained by killing the person most important to you.
Unless you are Ianthe.
Ianthe is the only lyctor who isn't in a constant state of mourning. She has achieved immortality and cosmic power without losing the person closest to her.
Incidentally the person Ianthe loves the most is Corona, who also doesn't care what happened to Babs. Ianthe chats with Corona while wearing Babs discarded corpse and they banter about it.
Ianthe essentially made her Faustian bargain with counterfeit money and I think eventually she is going to have to pay up
I hope John gets to go back to the first house one last time before the story ends. He's tried so hard to keep his home unchanged, like it's another body he froze before he left, keep it in the state he knew it as. I hope when he returns it's not what he expects, I hope he gets the chance to see the nights sky and see that the constellations changed. And I hope when Alecto confronts him it'll feel like that as well.
I just think that they’ve probably practiced kissing in the Nova AU
(description and no paint under the cut)
[ID 1: page one of a two page comic. Panel one is a narrow frame of the Reverend Daughter Gideon’s mouth and shoulders. She is wearing skull paint and black robes with bone jewelry, including a labret piercing. She says, “that reminds me!” Panel two is Gideon pointing towards the viewer, her black robes billowing. She shouts, “I officially BAN you from hanging out with that slimy bean pole!” Panel three is a distant shot of Harrow’s head and shoulders. Gideon’s finger can be seen pointing at her from the bottom. Harrow looks slightly annoyed and says, “I’ll add it to the list.” Gideon shouts, “I’m serious!” Panel four is the only one with a background, and it is of an indistinct hallway that is lined with columns and is dimly lit from the far end by a wall sconce. Gideon and Harrow face each other. Gideon raises a hand imploringly and says, “Ianthe Tridentarius is dangerous. Harrow has a hand on her hip and says, “I tire of your preoccupation with her. She doesn’t even have any keys.”
ID 2: page two of a two page comic. Panel one is a bust shot of Gideon, from Harrow’s point of view. Gideon says, “And yet, she has knowledge of the theorems used in the labs! You don’t think that’s weird?” Panel two is a bust shot of Harrow, from Gideon’s point of view. Harrow says, “Everything here is weird! Especially your decision to make her the focus of your jealousy!” Panel three is distant shot of Gideon from the waist up. She looks off to the side and fidgets with her hands. Gideon says, “If you looked in the dictionary, you’d find that it’s envious. And I’m hardly envious of--” Harrow cuts her off by saying, “It’s one hundred percent jealous!” Panel four is of Gideon and Harrow facing each other. Harrow has come close to Gideon and touched her thumb to the labret piercing, her fingers curling under Gideon’s chin. She is smirking. Harrow’s other hand remains near her hip, holding the chain of Samael where it is looped off of her belt. Gideon is surprised and her head inclines slightly towards Harrow. Her visible arm is somewhat raised, as though unsure what to do.]
[ID 3: Panel four of the second page. Gideon and Harrow without face paint.]