#tinks tlt notes

[toughtink]

ONE MORE THINGGG

[it’s 2am and i can’t sleep and my mind is full of terrible things and tlt is my current refuge against those.]

what the fuxk is that tower anyway? the only biblical tower i can think of is the tower of babel, which of course was considered an affront to god so he made everyone speak different languages. so is this that? an affront to jod or perhaps instead to the natural order of things?

husband mentioned that lighthouses are towers associated with water, but they usually aren’t in the middle of the water, more like on the edge. i keep wondering if it could be related to my soul dam theory—maybe the tower is a prison and that’s why spirits seem to be missing from the river? or it could be related to those weird demonic possession, spirit-degrading things with tongue eyes—if those feed on souls, maybe the tower is a holding cell for souls but meant to quarantine/protect them??? or maybe they’re not inside at all—but like, something must be inside right? what’s the point of being a tower prince, anyway?

i’m sitting in the dark rn, so i don’t have the book in front of me. but i remember thinking that the souls had fled from the tower rather that towards it when i first read that scene. idk if the text hints at that or it was just my assumption, but i’ve learned to question every assumption made about this series—thus, my above theories.

EDIT: OOOOO OOOOO OOO!! what if!! the creepy tongue demons ARE the souls from the river???! the river is empty because the souls got infected, transformed, and started leaving the river to feed on the living? so maybe the tower IS a prison to put the demon things they catch??? idk, it didn’t sound like they had a solid method for fighting/catching/destroying them, tho gideon obvs had the most familiarity with them in ntn. maybe being a tower prince is related directly to fighting those things?

wait wait. tongues for eyes—speaking in tongues??? tongues as in different languages? is there any relationship there? like maybe these things are a babel-esque punishment?

[toughtink]

had a tlt epiphany. what if the john that is talking to harrow in all the john chapters of nona the ninth—the one who seems to know she is harrow but also treats her like alecto in his memories—isn’t just some weird alecto memory shenanigans happening but is actually a piece of john that alecto consumed for their “perfect” lyctorhood? not only that, what if it’s john’s truest and humanest self? god’s humanity. maybe even the piece of john that needs to be destroyed in order to properly end god.

i was talking to my husband about this, and he suggested that john could essentially be a type of RB himself, perhaps of the sun or something since if he dies so does the sun? or at least, whatever his godhood is, it’s left him with a monstrous soul. but the bigger connection he made is something that’s been staring us in the face: what if perfect lyctorhood means that both parties are actually dead? a mutual death for a mutual immortality. i mean, that’s very christian, right? christ offers eternal life post-mortem, and jod’s made his own version?? the spirits may or maynot be trapped in the river, but the place they’re meant to be flowing towards is the great beyond, which we haven’t even see jod talk about. hmmm much to consider.

[toughtink]

okay nona the ninth spoiler fandom annoyance time! all evidence points to not taking this word choice literally, but this is so common that i’m making this post since i reached this bit again in my ntn reread! 🙃🙃🙃

yeah, nona’s perspective describes “white teeth peeking out,” but then LITERALLY THE NEXT LINE is pal saying it’s consistent with reported injuries. if it were literal teeth and not just bits of rib bone sticking out a bit like teeth, don’t you think pal would have made a note of it? wouldn’t that be rather inconsistent with reported injuries?