#valancy trinit

The House of the Shining Dead.

Cyrus and Valancy.

Points of consideration:

In HtN, Ianthe inherits Cyrus's old room and there's a ton of stuff still in there, including paintings of Cyrus and Valancy, and a ton of Valancy's dresses, which Ianthe steals.

The Tridentarii are arguably implied to be transfem, most notably by John asking Harrow if she and Ianthe are being careful (when Lyctors wouldn't need to worry about disease) and offering a little book about babies. The twins being over 6ft and all the implications Ianthe has modified both with flesh magic either way and Valancy's dresses on Ianthe being both "tight where they should have been loose and loose where they should have been tight" could all be Incidental but don't hurt. (My read there too is that Corona thrives as the most gorgeous woman alive while Ianthe is only recently starting to accept that she's nonbinary / that she and Corona don't actually match. Some see Babs as "forcemasc-ing" Ianthe but I'd like to think it's more that his presence shone light on existing parts of herself she'd tried to ignore. His presence does seem to be an influence though.)

Saints are named for the sacrifice of their cavaliers. As far as we know, the original disciples weren't saints, the Lyctors became saints. So she might have just been using the term loosely but...

Tamsyn Muir apparently said today that Valancy was the hottest saint.

TLT is full of cycles and of past and present parallels.

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Potential conclusion?: Transfem Cyrus who just outright stole Valancy's name and maybe even modeled herself after her. Like straight up that meme of "why do you look like me" hjxuydjyc.

Maybe a blend of Corona and Ianthe's vibes, as the original Lyctor of their House. Bigender or fluid like Ianthe seems to be, still using both names, Corona's level or even beyond it of unnaturally radiant when she's Valancy, also insanely pretty but in a different way when he's Cyrus. (Hence some lines still saying Cyrus.) Cav-Valancy's influence also being a factor and a push, though not the only reason. Cyrus-Valancy also doing it partly as a way to cope with losing her cav and trying to feel closer to her, but not just for that.

Five pages earlier:

Valency’s description from her portrait:

Thank you for your proper address. This is a complex question, but one which I have been pouring over numerous tomes and records to resolve.

The question itself is a flawed one, for while Tamsyn certainly said there would be a “wedding” in Alecto, I have evidence to suggest that it will not host marriage of any sort. (See ¶7 of my short dissertation: “What’s in a Name - The Locked Womb”). To not deride your intelligence, and for the sake of brevity, we’ll assume that you have read this work, and that you understand how chastity pertaining to the Schoß des Geistes bars all forms of emotional connection.

Cyrus & Valancy on their way to paint their 3000th nude painting