thinking about. the tritendarii. thinking about “dad wanted a matched set” and “we didn’t want anyone to seperate us” and “i need you” and the responding “i need you”, and “i wont tell her” and “she could have taken me” and “she can insult me as she likes”. i’m thinking about “try taking coronabeth’s memories from me, i’d kill you myself”. and god. fuck. whatever the fuck is going on in their dynamic we have only scratched the surface. ianthe might have been the necromancer but i don’t believe for a second that it was such a simple power dynamic.
one flesh, one end – that’s the THING with twins, isn’t it? they had spent all of three nights apart in what, 21, 22 years? before ianthe killed naberius and left coronabeth crying on the floor and saved her life. it makes sense then that ianthe has such distain for harrow’s choice to forget gideon. telling harrow she’s running away, etc. i don’t think it’s just ianthe being mean and having a crush. i think ianthe really does think it cruel and horrible that harrow chose to forget gideon, and she doesn’t understand harrow’s decision as one of love. it’s not compatible with how she views the world. she could never kill coronabeth, but she would never, ever forget her. and because of naberius, ianthe was able to neatly sidestep the terrible requirement of lyctorhood, that says you kill and consume the person closest to you. because ianthe only ever cared about coronabeth. other ppl have already written abt ianthe probably knowing the necro-cav dynamics as consumption from the start, so she prevented the person closest to her from becoming her cavalier, and prevented her cavalier from becoming the person closest to her, etc etc, so i won’t re-trod it here
and i think coronabeth probably relates to gideon “i already gave you my flesh, and i already gave you my end” “all i ever wanted you to do was eat me” “you rolled a rock over me instead of giving up your own damn aganda” nav a LOT. i’m sure coronabeth offered to be ianthe’s cavalier. im sure she begged ianthe for it, in secret, and im sure ianthe refused. corona (and gideon!) want to be consumed, it’s the ideal kind of love that has been modeled to them by society, that’s what they offer to the person they care about most in the world, and that is exactly what is denied to them by those same people.
“it’s for your own good”, harrow and ianthe say.
“that’s not the point”, gideon and coronabeth reply
im obsessed.