Nolan Thair

**Nolan Thair** is the lover of Ricou Chapman. He is invisible and a generational covenant of Noptlinopt Who Walks Unseen. This heritage comes from his mother's side, as she was also invisible.

## Personality

Nolan suffers from solitude and loneliness; this has affected his confidence in talking to new people. His relationship with Ricou has influenced this for the positive, however, and he has come out of his metaphorical shell. He’s gained enough confidence that he was willing to leave Ricou on a quest to broaden his social life, which has been successful.

## Description

Nolan Thair is invisible, and thus his physical appearance is unknown. Although he is 32 years of age, shorter then Ricou, and has neglected to wear any form of clothing stating that it makes him feel vulnerable.

## History

Nolan Thair grew up mostly alone on account of his 'ability'. He does recount childhood playmates, and says they probably though him an imaginary friend or childhood haunting. He had a supportive mother, who could relate to his struggles on account of her sharing his ability, though it is assumed that she is dead. He has had many relationships fall apart from his partners paranoia at not being able to see him, even being accused of stalking and watching his partners sleep. Nolan was 12 when The Black Rains began, and at the time of his first appearance in HFTH, he had been implied to have been traveling for quite a while.

### Season 1

Episode 6 - Frogs: Nolan succumbs to his loneliness and chooses to kill himself via drowning in a pond that he stumbles across. But before he can be fully submerged in the water, he is attacked by Ricou, a '*Creature From the Black Lagoon*'-esque fishman. Nolan manages to kick him off, only to realise that Ricou can see him. He points this out, and the two quickly bond over their mutual strangeness and exclusion from society. Ricou invites Nolan for food, stating "*There is no hurry to join the sleepers*". Nolan accepts.

Episode 15 - Cards: Nolan assists Ricou in gaining his freedom back from Barb at The Resting Place Hotel. Ricou challenges Barb to a game of poker. If he wins, he's free to go. If he loses, his contract with Barb is extended indefinitely. Ricou wins, by having Nolan look at the other players’ cards and signal their draws to him. The two leave the Resting Place Hotel in high spirits.

Episode 31 - Anchors: Nolan and Ricou have retreated to Walt Pensive's cabin up in The Shuddering Peaks. Nolan is sitting in the hot spring below their new residence with Ricou. Nolan asks him what he was, and how came to be that way. Ricou tells him of when he was young and went swimming in the black water. He then continues to talk about his time with Barb, and how he served as his watchdog. Ricou ends with saying that he does not regret spending time in dark places, because no other moment would have led him to this one. He then talks about the storm building over the forest, and how they should go back inside.

Episode 41 - Waters: Nolan and Ricou are, once again, flirting, when they are interrupted by The Omen, who is looking for Walt's collection of Indie influenced books. Ricou tells it that they weren't his to give. The Omen then informs him of Walt's death. Although this at first shocks Ricou (The Omen having not realised that Nolan is there) he stands firm and kicks The Omen out. Nolan comforts Ricou as he mourns, and Ricou explains to him how he met Walt.

Both Nolan and Ricou were accounted for at the storming of Solomon Reed's House.

### Season 2

Episode 53 - Rivers: Nolan begins asking Ricou about other people like them, after having seen so many at the storming of Solomon Reed’s house. Ricou tells him “*‘Different’ does not mean ‘kind*’,” and that if he was simply looking for 'ugly' friends he should return to the resting place. Nolan tells him that there was no need for them to be alone. Ricou asks if he made him feel alone. Nolan reassures him that he was happy with him, and that it wasn't Ricou's fault that Nolan wanted more out of life than him. Ricou tells Nolan that they are living a small life, but that it is a safe and happy one. Nolan says that he's leaving back down the mountain, that he hoped Ricou would come with him, but this was a decision he'd been sitting on for weeks and would not change his mind on.

Ricou turns his offer down, instead choosing to reside in the cabin and wait for when Nolan "*grow[s] tired of this*".

Episode 59 - Friends: Nolan returns to Solomon Reed’s house, and finds Elena and her father excavating the remains, including the second Cabinet. Elena announces that she's going on her lunch break, and Nolan takes the opportunity to approach her and try to introduce himself. Elena is completely unphased by the sudden appearance (or lack thereof) of an invisible man. When Nolan points this out, Elena states that growing up she'd had a ghost living in the grand piano of her childhood home, and she asks him if he was one of Solomon Reed's victims. Nolan tells her the truth: that he's not a ghost, just invisible. Elena is intrigued by this, and comments on how “*Having an invisible baby would suck,*”. Nolan asks her where he should go if he wants to make friends, and she tells him to go to the Dry Market to try and find Winona Carline.

Episode 71 - Trials: Nolan is having tea with Alice, who he found instead of Winona. They talk about what brought them to "[that] neck of the woods]". Nolan summarizes his story for her, and she explains to him hers. She starts to talk about her house, and how when she'd moved into it she'd expected to be alone, but due to Winona and 'neighbours', who she implies to be like her and Nolan, she's kept in company. Nolan asks how she knows Winona, and she responds that she'd be surprised if someone didn't know Winona. She expresses her love for her, although specifies that it isn't a romantic love, and the two begin to talk about relationships. Nolan asks Alice about 'what the real estate market looked like around [there]', and they start discussing residence. Nolan mentions how he’d like a garden.

Episode 77 - Rebels: Alice had taken Nolan to the now abandoned and partially submerged remains of Zelda Duckworth's house. Nolan comments on how it 'didn't look very inviting' and Alice tells him that if he couldn't build a house himself before winter, he was going to have to make some compromises. She makes a metaphor in the form of a call back to Nolan's want to grow a garden saying “*If you want a house with a garden, Nolan, you’re going to have to plant it yourself*.”. Nolan points out that there were still someone's things inside and asks about potential corpses. Alice tells him there was no guarantee that the house was dead body free, but she'd help him get rid of them if there was. She points out that a home half submerged would be ideal, given Ricou's specific living requirements. Nolan takes this into consideration and decides that he liked the house. Nolan asks how he was paying her, and she tells him she'd like him to pose for a few portraits. This naturally confuses him, as she cannot see him, but she says that'd just make him interesting to paint. She does warn him of the lakeworm infestation in the walls, but they'd leave as he made noise. Nolan asks what to do if the previous owner returns, and she tells him that she'd be sure they'd be happy to see their old home going to a good purpose. Nolan sets about cleaning.

Episode 90 - Tests: Nolan finishes his final check for lakeworms in his new house, having just finished the last of the cleaning. He'd moved all of Zelda's belongings that had gotten wet, and dumped them all in a pile on the side of the porch, though he chose to keep some building blocks and a toy boat. This gets him thinking on whether or not he wanted kids. He immediately cancels out having any children that were biologically his, as he didn't want to pass on his invisibility gene, but decides he could potentially adopt if he were able to warm Ricou up to the idea. He once again checks the house to see that everything was in order, and hears a knock on the door. He immediately assumes it was Ricou come to apologize, and he swings the door open only to find The Omen on the other side. It instantly barges into the room and happily proclaims that it'd found him, quickly surrounding him so that it'd have rough approximation of where he was. It shouts out, telling him that it'd come to collect Nolan for Ricou in exchange for Walt's books. Nolan tries to stay quiet as to not give away his exact location, but caves in and asks The Omen what it was talking about, exclaiming that Ricou was trying to drag him back up the mountain. He's quite heartbroken by this, thinking to himself that Ricou wanted to keep him shut away in some little dark cabin forever. He tells The Omen that he wasn't going with it, and that it could tell Ricou that they [Nolan and Ricou] were done. The Omen attacks him at this in an attempt to capture him, but Nolan manages to escape, running away from the home, and the future, that he'd lost yet again, and cries, without even the solace that someone in the world might see his tears.

Episode 95 - Homecomings: Nolan has since returned to the house and attempted to patch up the worst of the damage caused by the Omen. He is nearing the end of cooking his dinner, when he is made aware of the arrival of Riou, opening the front door to greet him. He tells Ricou that he was beginning to think that he wasn't going to show up, and that he wasn't sure if he even wanted him to show up. Ricou comments on Nolan having found a home for himself, and that this was a good thing. Nolan brings the topic back to Ricou having sent the Omen after him by saying that the house looked a lot nicer before The Omen had scorched it. Ricou asks if he was alright, and Nolan begins chewing him out for not respecting his wishes. Ricou agrees with this, but tells Nolan that he didn't want to be alone in Walt's cabin anymore. Nolan asks if he was there to drag him back, but Ricou tells him no, he was there to see if Nolan was okay, and to apologize. Nolan tells Ricou that his travels would have been easier had Ricou come with him, that he would have felt safer. Ricou tells him that he'd missed him, but Nolan tells him that this was no one's fault but Ricou's own. Nolan invites Ricou inside, telling him that he'd finished making dinner, but Ricou turns and begins to leave, saying that he'd done what he'd come there for Nolan then grabs Ricou, almost tackling him to the ground, and tells him not to go. Ricou tells him that he had to go, as he'd put him in danger and that he didn't deserve to be there with Nolan. Nolan agrees that Ricou didn't deserve it, but:

"*No, you don’t,* ... *But nobody deserves anything. And I think if you find something you like in life, you keep it. You don’t have to be good enough or something. If you feel like you could belong here, then stay with me. And if you really don’t care anymore, then leave.*"

Ricou tells Nolan that he did care, but he'd made an irreparable mistake. Which Nolan once again agrees with, but he also says that everyones made irreparable mistakes every now and again. He once again invites Ricou inside, and his offer is accepted this time.

Episode 96 - Horizons: At what was formerly the Duckworth house, Alice paints a portrait of two—Ricou, and Nolan, and the lake and the cold mountains beyond.

### Season 3

In Episode 99 - Sentries, Nolan books a room in the Grand Crossroads Hotel with Ricou for a spa treatment, going under Nolan's last name. It is unknown if Ricou is aware of what happened to Barb (see Episode 83 - Hopes), and the pair does not appear in the episode.

Episode 102 - Decadences:

## Known Abilities

* Invisibility (constantly and unwillingly)

## Relationships

### Ricou Chapman

Ricou Chapman is Nolan's lover and partner of close to a year. First meeting when Ricou stopped Nolan from committing suicide, and running away together shortly thereafter. The two went on break a few months into their relationship due to differing opinions on other people and Nolan's desire to explore contrasting Ricou's desire to settle down. This separation lasted several weeks. Nolan temporarily broke up with Ricou (which Ricou was unaware of) upon finding out that Ricou sent The Omen after him. The two have since made up, and are attempting to restart their relationship and are once again living together. Ricou is the first, and, as of current, only person who can see Nolan (via his ability to see in thermographic vision). Ricou suffers from body image issues, and frequently speaks of himself as 'hideous', and Nolan constantly reassureshim he isn't. The two frequently share life stories.

### Alice

Nolan met Alice while looking for Winona Carline. The two enjoy each other's company, and Nolan seeks Alice's advice on almost all the problems he's facing in his life, even making the joke “*You’re sure you were a flower counter lady and not a philosopher?*”, which leads to a discussion on gender identity. Alice is the one who suggests that he and Ricou move out of the cabin up in The Shuddering Peaks to a more populated area (though the spot Nolan chose is much friendlier then The Resting Place Hotel).

### Elena

Elena gave Nolan a helping hand when he was looking to make some friends. She at first mistook him for one of Solomon Reeds ghosts, but wasn't phased in the slightest at the fact that Nolan is just some guy who happens be be invisible, but she does quip a threat. The two seem to have parted on good terms.

### The Omen

Nolan met The Omen in Episode 41 - Waters, but the Omen didn't meet Nolan, having not noticed he was there due to his invisibility. It learned of his presence that day from Ricou in Episode 81 - Fears, who then sent it to find and retrieve Nolan. In Episode 90 - Tests The Omen was able to find Nolan, and attempted to capture him with a great deal of violence after telling him of Ricou sending them. Nolan managed to escape and The Omen returned empty handed.

## Trivia

* The name ‘Nolan Thair’ could be a play on words as it sounds like ‘no one there’, referring to his being invisible
* Nolan and Ricou (along with Mort, Diggory Graves, and Percy Reed) were some of the first characters imagined by William A Wellman for Hello From the Hallowoods
* Nolan recounts having used his ability to "Prank" several people by stealing their hats and pretending to be the wind. Having never had the opportunity to return them, he wound up accumulating a collection of stolen hats over the years.

## Episode Appearances

* Episode 15 - Cards
* Episode 31 - Anchors
* Episode 41 - Waters
* Episode 59 - Friends
* Episode 71 - Trials
* Episode 77 - Rebels
* Episode 90 - Tests
* Episode 95 - Homecomings
* Episode 96 - Horizons