nesta331917

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"we need more complex female characters!"

you couldn't even handle Wren and Taryn.

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soooooo i just finished the folk of the air trilogy and basically this is how it felt reading it

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found this quote and it made me think of them immediately 😭😭

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I'm so sorry if somones already made this but....

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cardan is convinced the bubbles in boba tea are magical and of course jude supports his beliefs (even if it’s just to tease him about later😅)

another little chibi cardan and jude enjoying boba tea in the mortal world @hollyblack 🧋✨

follow me on instagram! @/illustratinghan

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ARTIST: elithienart

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ok this beautiful fanart in the litjoy crate special edition by gabriella.bujdoso (on insta) holds a special place in my heart. look at her dress, oaks cute hooves, cardans pissed face, and THEIR SIZE DIFFERENCEE!!! brb going feral

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100% this!!

The Death of Violet’s Worldview

I just saw @nesta331917’s post about how Violet being unable to trust Xaden in Iron Flame makes complete sense and I just wanted to spit out my thoughts on that, and Violet’s characterization, because I completely agree!!

When I’m rereading I tend to fixate on Violet’s difficulty grappling with failure (to uncover the truth sooner, to save Liam, to protect her friends from the bitter truth & dangerous rebellion, to raise the wards in Aretia—whatever defeat she is internalizing at the moment) not only because I’m in this photo and I don’t like it, but also because it is such great characterization.

Violet previously protected the people she loves (and herself) by weaponizing the wealth of information she had, but now the very foundation she used to define herself has been ripped out from under her. Not only was she unaware of the reality of venin, wyvern, and the truth behind the attacks on Navarre’s wards, the entire rebellion that she (and her dad!! her favorite person!!) has studied and analyzed for her entire life was censored and propagandized by her government to shape public opinion and she was none the wiser.

For someone who is centered by facts, information, and truth, to learn that you’ve been on the wrong side of history at no fault, or choice, of your own is devastating. It’s a feeling of utter powerlessness and betrayal; no matter how many hours Violet had explored the archives, no matter how many times she reread the death tolls, maps, and battle strategies, no matter how ferociously she believed in the power of information, nothing could change the dismal reality that the truth was simply not accessible to her.

Not only that, but the discovery that her own mother was complicit in the death and destruction of entire provinces for the benefit of her country and children introduces a whole new burden of guilt and hypocrisy Violet didn’t know she complied with. Add in that (1) the man she’s just fallen in love with is leading a revolution against these terrors she knew nothing about, (2) Dain, Violet’s best friend since she was a child, stole her memories to aid in the hypocrisy of their government and nearly get her killed, and (3) her brother Brennan, whose death completely altered the fabric of her whole family and may have contributed to their father’s own death, is fucking ALIVE, and it’s the perfect (onyx) storm of disillusionment. Absolutely everything Violet held true came barreling down in a matter of weeks, and no amount of rereading or reanalyzing could mend the hurt or justify Navarre’s (and, from Violet’s perspective, her) lack of intervention.

Violet is selfless to a fault, and being misinformed about the horrors outside of the wards robbed her of her choice to defend the defenseless. Of course we saw her escape Basgiath/the “safety” of Navarre to join the revolution as soon as she could, but the feeling of failing not only those you love, but also countless others you didn’t even know were in peril is still so heavy. She also has consistently been targeted for being The General’s Daughter, and now the full implications of that association is branded on her like a third relic.

Of course Violet’s relationship with Xaden has been affected by the guilt, betrayal, and disillusionment that are ingrained within it, whether either of them has accepted it or not. Even if Xaden had nothing to do with the revolution and they were living happily ever after before graduation, once the truth about the dark wielders came to light and Violet didn’t know up from down I’m sure the identity crisis still would have (at the very least) strained their relationship.

Anyways.

I so desperately need Violet and Xaden to finally be able to finish their fight and figure out how to move forward while trusting each other.

Give Violet (And Xaden) A Break 2025, Pleeease Rebecca

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Jurdan hug you heal something in my heart💕

Also does anyone have a link to that fanart of the hug scene where Jude and Cardan are in the center of the piece already hugging and with a setting sun blurry background. Because that is my favorite fanart ever of this scene but for the life of me I can't find it right now!

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jude working at her errand job in the mortal world after getting exiled:

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“jude and cardan and bully x victim!”

WRONG! let me tell u why! since this cmmt makes my blood BOIL. obviously spoilers for whole trilogy!

first of all, and most importantly, you cannot call them bully x victim bc jude and cardan were not romantically involved til the last book(or the end of the 2nd if u include their marriage), and were only sexually involved in the second.

by the time they were romantically involved, meaning, a consensually formed romantic relationship, was by the end of book 2, which by then, cardan had not in fact been bullying jude.

he had not “bullied” jude at ALL during the second book. i could argue that CARDAN is the victim of jude’s bullying in the second book because she quite literally enslaved that man!(consensually ofc!)

i agree that cardan treated jude poorly in the first book, but he consistently went out of his way to ensure her safety all the while his “friends” actively humiliated and attacked her.

ex: he freed her from her faerie fruit glamour so locke wouldn’t go anywhere with her while she was under the influence, he kicked valerian off of jude while he was trying to kill her, he sent her a coronation dress so that taryn and locke wouldn’t further humiliate her when they announced their engagement, he also sent that dress to protect her from faeries that may be unaware of her social status and try to hurt her, he warned locke against persusing her, he ensured she didn’t drown when his dumb friends tried to drown her. and that’s just the first book.

yes, i agree, cardan put her in shitty spots, but holly black herself said that cardan was “all talk” and he only acts this way so she can finally leave his mind and he can stop having feelings for her. i don’t recall the exact quote but it was in htkoelths, “every night jude haunted him, an absent bite of her lip…”

when they kiss in the first book, that is jude, HUMILIATING him back. “u rly do want me and u hate it” no, they are not madly in love w each other at this point. no, all is not forgiven on cardans part since they’ve kissed.

she weaponizes his feelings for her so she can use him in a plot to protect her brother.

“jude falling for cardan didn’t make sense!”

idk if anyone who has said this just didn’t pay attention or what bc the ENTIREE book jude’s just thinking of cardan LOL.

“wonder what cardan would think of this”

“cardans the hottest faerie ever he’s way better looking than the rest but i hate him sm i can’t breathe” like babe u want him cmon now. oh and not to mention her literally sucking face w locke just bc she wants to get back at cardan since she knows he doesn’t like her w him. plus her kissing locke while her and cardan are having staring contests like ok delusional

“jude didn’t even get revenge!” yes. i HAVE heard this 😭.

jude killed his friend, her father killed nearly his entire family, then jude was like “oh! missed one, dad! haha!” then kills cardans brother, his abuser, but also the one he cared for the most. then again w her placing him on the throne which he desperately didn’t want, and also yknow, their year and a day vow in which she commands him to do her bidding. like ???!

“but cardan exiled jude!”

yeah! he sure did! to PROTECT her! from orlagh! u really think the queen of the undersea would let her ambassador being killed and her only chance at ruling both the sea and the land slide like that, ESPECIALLY after cardan completely put her in her place in front of all of elfhame?? like cmon people!

but he also does this to trick her. “i thought you’d admire me a bit for it.” bc jude tricks ppl. jude tricked him into sitting on the throne. so he tried to impress her by tricking her back in a way that could ensure their futures. and he’d thought she’d understand but babe was blindsided by her feelings of rejection since she likes him sm and is pissed that she for once let her emotions get the better of her. and when she didn’t come back cardan was devastated.

but, all the while knowing exactly where she is but not wanting to invade her private life and wanting her to come back willingly, he grovels like crazy!

“come home and shout at me, come home and scream at me, just come home”

jude and cardan both, against all odds, hated and desired and loved each other, lost each other, and when they were reunited again, they cleared the air and forgave each other. anyway, i could go on, but i’m still finishing my reread so!

but bully x victim my ass.

(these are holly blacks annotations(canon))

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'I press the tip of the knife against his skin so he can feel the bite. His black eyes focus on me with new intensity. “Why?” he asks. Just that.'

Illustration for 'The Cruel Prince' book by the deliciously magical Holly Black for the illustrated box set by @litjoycrate - available September 29th. And! This version with the shiny gold leaves will also be an art print included with the set. :D

The original painting was done in pastels, pencils, acrylics, watercolour, (and gold leaf for the art print version) on paper.

I loved drawing this *so much*. :3 Details I wanted to include:

Jude's (very specifically described) dress with the ombre colour and wintry trees; as well as her hair down, her black velvet mask, her dark(ish) gloves, and her general (slightly blood-spattered) appearance);

Cardan's crown, curls, silver-powdered cheekbones; his excess of jewellery; his silver fox mask (in his lower hand so we can see his face); his crow-feathered collar, and 'silly white shirt' underneath the doublet; and his hair being turned 'bronze' by a nearby brazier;

The palace itself looking underground and 'rooty', with a host of stairs, tunnels, interesting alcoves, and sweetly grotesque details (like the goblins carved into the wall there).

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A few of the experimental sketches of Cardan Greenbriar, from 'The Cruel Prince' by Holly Black for LitJoy Crate.

They asked me to illustrate the tense scene where Jude holds a knife to Cardan's throat and reverses their positions of power. I hoped to capture something of his emotions at that time: drunken disdain shot through with a growing genuine fear, and yet over everything a sort of reckless despair.

I also had to figure out what to do with a character who's described as wearing fabulous makeup, a crown, *and* a mask - so the mask ended up in his hand. And then I had to pinch myself that I was officially being asked to draw a faerie prince with cheekbones forever by one of my favourite authors, bloody hell. 

Sketches are in pastel on paper.

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this is me if you even care

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okay Im about to defend iron flame violet's honor. like girl was going thru it in that book but can u blame her?? it's established in fourth wing that her stability and confidence come from her intelligence and just the sheer amount of knowledge she has about the history of her country. like whenever she gets nervous she starts rattling off facts and it helps her focus.

bearing that in mind, it makes so much sense to me that she starts falling apart when she realizes how much of it is censored/a lie. that's literally like her whole world falling apart. there's nothing for her to tether herself to or trust, considering her whole family is involved in the military and (somewhat) complicit in covering everything up. like thinking about her mental state going from fourth wing to iron flame just makes everything click for me. so when people complain about her not trusting xaden for the entirety of iron flame, I get it but she totally has her reasons for doing so.

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I wanted to draw some kind of Tarot/Card for Jude, I feel like it suit her very much✨👑

(I did for Cardan too and it's coming soon too)