cromulentreader

[cromulentreader]

About Cardan and his mother

I was re-reading the comments on my fic Deniere Danse and most of them are against Lady Asha, which may be proof that she's just as hated by the fandom in the "parents" category as Madoc and Balekin (Or maybe it's bc of the plot I've created, sorry). So one unanimous question is: why does Cardan still allow her to stay in the brugh?

My pov: From Twk to Tpt we can see that Cardan is not as insensitive as he makes himself out to be, on the contrary, he has a lot of love to give (😭) (a side of him that probably only Nicasia had access to🙄). He's admitted to still liking his mother a little and if we look closely, that despite having a strong personality, Cardan is no longer a hateful person. After losing his entire family, he wouldn't throw out his mother, the second only person left of his blood, for bad things in the past. In Tpt we see how he's very happy with Jude and probably, thinks about the future instead of holding grudges about things from the past.

Okay, Cardan isn't the boy with the heart of stone, but why would he still like Lady Asha? Why didn't he lock her back up in the tower of oblivion like he did with Balekin? First of all it's obvious, she never committed any crime. But although the books say very little about their relationship (a shame because I've always been curious about it), I think there are some clues:

In the prologue to Tqn we see the discovery of Cardan's curse. It's said that Lady Asha doesn't seem to know how to hold a baby, but she hugs he when Eldred seems to be considering parting with the child and holds he tighter when she leaves. Perhaps she was just afraid of not having privileges, but it's the only gesture of affection we see from her.

Still in Tqn, Oriana tells Jude about Cardan's childhood:

"It wasn't as though she didn't dress him in velvets or furs; it's that she left them on until they grew ragged. Nor was it that she didn't feed him the most delectable cuts of meat and cake...."

Now, in Htkoelths, when he meets Aslog in the stables, despite being there because of her (bitch) Cardan thinks that if he called his mother she would beat Aslog up and throw her out. I found this passage strange bc Lady Asha is described as delicate and thin, yet Cardan knows that she would protect him from a much bigger and stronger woman. If he's so sure of this, has Lady Asha defended him before?

And finally, just a guess: when he travels to the mortal world in Tcp's time to save Balekin's mortal slave, Cardan travels on a giant moth owned by Lady Asha. It's said that the creature was personally tamed by her and he still remembers how, so he was probably there when it happened. Which means that perhaps Lady didn't leave him completely abandoned, there were moments that the two of them spent together, when she dressed him, fed him and perhaps took him for walks and played with him.

What does my monologue mean? That if we compare, Cardan seems to have more feelings for Lady Asha than for Eldred, because despite so many bad ones, he has good memories with her too. It's not just a blood bond.

It's sad and unfair, but Cardan has a much more forgiving heart than it seems.

There's probably something else too: guilt. If I'm not mistaken, in Twk's deleted scenes, when Lady Asha meets him to talk about Jude, it's said that Cardan didn't free her because he didn't think he had the power to, after all, Jude was the real High King.

Now, if we stop to think about it, Lady Asha had never committed a crime, (if we don't consider her to be the worst mother in the world), yet she probably spent about ten years trapped in the tower of oblivion, starving and cold, completely alone. Not even Balekin or Madoc suffered so much. Can we feel sorry for her for that? Idk, if you're a good person and can even like Madoc, that's fine, but I think it's well deserved. But not from Cardan's point of view, not least bc from his perspective it was his fault. Now, as High King, the best thing he can do to be fair is to reward her for all that time of suffering. So it's understandable that he lets her live in the palace and have everything she ever wanted.

Jude pov: I think that since she would like her mother to be alive and by her side and Cardan has that opportunity (which I would frankly pass up), she would never take it away from him, even for revenge. And like him, she's too happy to worry about the past and people who aren't worth it.

#food for thought #HC that Eva was more like Asha than Jude recalls #admonishing Vivi for being a faerie while she was just bathing as an infant #basically unclaiming Jude in front of Madoc #running while leaving her children behind

[cromulentreader]

so im reading the queen of nothing and tell me why i wanna fuck madoc😕 like i genuinely don’t care, i just wanna do him.

#no I can see it #madoc tfota

[cromulentreader]

Jude: *OMG the Land accepted me as Queen!* The Land: Girl! One, you married the King. Two, I sent you a White Stag about 45 chapters ago. Were you paying no attention?

#the faerie fruit chapter is such a hard read that I missed the white stag completely #jude duarte #high queen jude #the cruel prince #the queen of nothing

[cromulentreader]

Hi! I was wondering if one of my favorite authors had any new thoughts or theories on the new book know that we have a title in place?

I personally hope with the title we will get more xaden contain through dual povs throughout vs not just at the end!

howdy!! my first thoughts were just internal screaming tbh. I’m very excited. I pre-ordered both versions already. I’m locked in.

some of my (many) questions / worries / thoughts (more to come later probably)

onyx = his eyes, storm = her lightning… probably

I really hope we get more Xaden pov! I think we will, as the “special edition” doesn’t mention bonus chapters in his pov like the fourth wing special edition did. but it would be so sad to watch his thoughts slowly turn evil and watch him deteriorate 😭

are we picking back up right where we left off? if we are, my bet for the opening scene or somewhere in the first few chapters is gonna be the three siblings going through their mom’s office / burning her stuff 🥺

how fast does one “turn” after they become venin? like how long do we have to save him? he seems to be cognizant and “himself” right now, but what has to happen for him to slip and lose that control? is it only a matter of time, or is he gonna be okay if he just doesn’t pull from the earth again?

like, Jack touched Dain and he immediately broke down in pain and left dead gray handprints on his skin. how long until X starts doing that too, and he can’t hold Violet anymore? and is Dain okay? is he scarred for life now, or did it go away after a while? 🥺

speaking of Dain… what’s the deal with his dad? I don’t trust that guy literally at all. I would love to see Dain stand up to him more and stop being the perfect obedient and trusting son and give his old man the what for, like a real face to face confrontation and demand answers. I want him to be as ruthless with his dad as Brennan was with their mom (only Mr. Aetos truly deserves it)

and in general I want more of Dain’s redemption arc! but that’s just me, I know other people don’t like him as much as I do (which is a lot, so…)

we can’t forget poor Sgaeyl… I hope we see more of her relationship with Violet in this one, if Xaden is truly detached from his dragon now (how does that work?) she can’t be away from Tairn, anyway, so…

also… there are so many people who might not have survived the battle… :( we know the first years and Vi and Brennan are safe, because they were there fixing the ward stone, and I’m pretty sure sawyer made it through, but everyone else…? though I’m not too worried about that, it think it would be really cheap of her to be like, oh by the way, ____ died. I’d never forgive her lol

speaking of dead people, are we getting more Liam in this book again? I couldn’t handle it… but there’s a group of people on Reddit who are very convinced that Vi can see dead people as her signet from Andarna, which I don’t really believe (they disconnected her from Tairn at the time, so she probably couldn’t reach Andarna’s power either. and side note: think of how fucking haunted Basgiath must be. half the class dies before they can graduate, and it’s been there for hundreds of years presumably.)

that’s all I have for now. I’m sure I’ll reblog this later to add more / make this a kindof thoughts thread, but I’m always down to theorize with y’all in my inbox too! 🖤⛈

#onyx storm #the empyrean

[cromulentreader]

Although I pictured Jude a certain way (physically) while reading the books, it really doesn't make much difference to the romance aspect of the trilogy. They didn't struggle with their feelings because Jude was ugly/plain/gorgeous. They struggled because their stations in the social hierarchy were polar opposites, yet they both resented each other. Cardan was a prince who saw his station as a play. He had no support network, his guardian beat him for fun, his friends were just using his birthright to get away with being turds. When Jude looked at him, she saw a spoiled prince who did whatever pleased him, blessed with being born into it and reminding her she would never be like them. And then Jude, who saw herself as human/weak/lesser than. Who spent 10 years letting insults slide and hiding under tables in hopes of raising enough in the hierarchy to - even if not truly belong there - at least be left the fuck alone. Cardan looked at her and saw the General's favoured daughter, raised as Gentry, never in rags or forgotten if she were to sleep on stables. Jude reminded Cardan what he did not have despite being a prince.

#this is a bit random but I wanted to write it #I could go TED Talk mode on how I pictured Jude #but at the end of the day I don't think it mattered too much #we all find people we are attracted to appealing looks and personality wise #and there's always someone out there who thinks the same person has the appeal of cardboard for lunch #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #tfota #the cruel prince #the wicked king #the queen of nothing

[cromulentreader]

Why is everyone so upset about the idea of Jude having a baby ten years after the end of her story? You do know that a woman's personality and mind don't get vacuumed out when they get pregnant right? She wouldn't change into some simpering caricature with no agency, Sarah J Maas really did a number on you guys...

Family has always been a major theme in this series, Jude was motivated in the first book by a need to protect her little brother. There has never been any suggestion from her that she doesn't want children, only an expression early in the first book that she's scared to always be powerless, and even her fairy children would be able to be cruel to her, which speaks to her desire to find her own power not a genuine drive not to have children.

It's completely understandable to be tired of all your characters having the same end, marriage to a guy, crown, babies, but I don't think this one character fate after the conclusion of her fantasy/romance series is the hill to die on.

Anyway I love the idea and every time I imagine Jude as a mother I think of Najwa Nimri's amazing performance in La casa de papel, it was sooo Jude

[cromulentreader]

#I never knew I'd click on demon so fast #mazikeen #if I got to chose

[cromulentreader]

Cardan: Always wanting to solve our problems via murder, wife. Jude: *shrugs* You've killed more on page than me.

#4 to 13? #were we just not shown a lot? #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #tfota #tfota incorrect quotes

[cromulentreader]

tysm for the tag @starrynightsxo Red for reading all there was to be read (so far). Another colour for reading the first book or DNF (only the POTOT, I hate giving up). For tagging: if you reading and want to join, consider yourselves tagged.

Anyone up for a tag game??

I’ve never started one so

Not mine

@starlightbooklove @motherfeyre-archeron @starrynightsxo @thejudeduarte @viivdle @darlingod + anyone else

[cromulentreader]

Jude (pre-TSH): You'll be a good king one day, Oak. Oak: *goes kill-mode activated in front of Jude* Jude: Yeah... You don't have to be king if you don't want to.

#the prisoner's throne #jude duarte #oak greenbriar #tfota incorrect quotes

[cromulentreader]

Valerian: hey Locke wasnt your mother one of the consorts to the king?

Locke: yeah

Valerian: and cardan, isn’t your father the king?

Cardan:

Locke:

Valerian:

#LOCKES MUM SLEPT WITH CARDANS DAD #<- #Jude's step-mother did as well #💀💀💀

[cromulentreader]

Jacks and Eva from ouabh

name a ship so good they got together at the end but you were ruined by the events of what happened previously

I'll start: jude x cardan (the cruel prince)

npt: @viivdle @thejudeduarte @agirlwiththoughtsandnegativity @ant-thebooknerd @bookish-phile @cookieswithforksandknifes @cromulentreader @fantasyfangirling4ever @graaaaaayy @highladyofterrasen7 @his-littlefox @jesyverse @kenjik1shimoto @kazbrekkerbitespeopleandsodoi @motherfeyre-archeron @sweetvillainjude @starlightbooklove @thenightmareinyourcloset @veswe

[cromulentreader]

Good points. When I was reading TPT, I thought there was a parallel between Locke's question to Jude if she could love him and Oak's existential crisis. He was also raised by Liriope until she died (IIRC he would have been 10 yo or so), she would know the downsides of forcing people to love her first-hand if she were doing it. The way Oriana described her first was not incongruent with her being a honey-mouth - but neither did it exclude her just being very charismatic.

So...Do you all think Locke was always meant to be a love-talker or was it added for The Stolen Heir plot?

#locke's a dick #<- I'd reblog just for this tag #I have no idea if Locke was always meant to be a love-talker #but all good points

[cromulentreader]

So...Do you all think Locke was always meant to be a love-talker or was it added for The Stolen Heir plot?

#this is very important before I go re-read twk 😸 #when I first read it I thought maybe #it's difficult to imagine Locke being able to make people love him and not going around making everyone cray cray #but his mother died from bad romance #and so did he #locke tfota #the cruel prince #the wicked king #tfota #the stolen heir

[cromulentreader]

Locke: Let's say I mess with your sister. What do you do? Jude:

Taryn:

#jude duarte #tfota #locke the dumpster fox #t*ryn duarte

[cromulentreader]

If the rule of three applies, Jude will be reverting a tree to a faerie at some point.

#Cardan didn't stay as High Snake #Heather didn't spend the rest of the days as a cat #jude duarte #tfota #the prisoner's throne

[cromulentreader]

This is their relationship now 😭

#I'd still take being a tree over being with Taryn any day