#cytherea destroying gideon slowly into something unrecognizable and beautiful

[dykeseinfeld]

I feel like this is a safe space to say i don't see gideon and harrow romantically together AT ALL. if i were gideon i am still hung up on the attention from cytherea which harrow could never replace. MERCYMORN however,,,,

look i can’t say i don’t see gideon and harrow together at all bc textually they are so perfectly locked together eternally like they are inextricably linked from their moment on the page and i acknowledge that objectively their characters make little sense when separated from their devotion to each other

however personally. cytherea lets out just enough praise that i simply could not resist and could read their dynamic for about 3000 more pages. and in a lot of ways i think she DOES make gideon think for the first time abt what she could deserve from harrow (in the worst self sacrificial lamb way possible but) and throws such a beautiful wrench in their dynamic that i think def has a lasting effect and in a lot of ways i think gideon and harrow never would get to the level of trust they do if not for cytherea giving gideon even a little sense of self worth (based on the unhealthiest foundation ever. duh). she just brings out a side of gideon that is soooo interesting and although gideon as written could never abandon harrow bc the two of them. define themselves in opposition to each other at their core i think a lot abt how if she was shifted like three degrees to the right taking her and cytherea’s relationship further would lead to some interesting and terrible places for her in terms of finding new definitions (in the way that her relationship w john gaius created kiriona…but even sexier)

mercymorn….i can see the appeal ig but i just think mercy as we meet her is so much more focused than cytherea i don’t think she would find gideon’s goofiness endearing in the same way. like she considers harrow a silly child i can’t imagine her doing much more w gideon than using her as a tool where cytherea yes was interested in gideon the tool but also had a fascination w gideon the girl in a way that goes beyond her ultimate goal in overthrowing john gaius