#tcp analysis

[madockisser]

cardan/nicasia: why they’ll never happen again analysis/speculation

a while back i saw someone (or rather, a thread of ppl saying that they hope cardan and nicasia don’t get it on in the next book which is supposed to be nicasias book (supposedly) and i even saw someone say they WISH THEY DO ?!

so here’s your fun reminder of what nicasia put cardan through!

I’ve gathered together all the shit nicasia did to cardan: being the first girl he loved then breaking his heart w his friend, allowing cardan to catch them ON HIS BEDROOM FLOOR. (not entirely her fault but she totally had shits and giggles abt it when cardan confronted her) then when Locke screwed her over, she got CARDAN and his power as prince, to harass the girl(s) locke chose over her, one of which cardan liked, then later on was trying to manipulate him to marry her (which i think is when cardan realized they weren’t rly even friends anymore), THEN kidnapping and torturing the girl she knew cardan loved, AND befriending his abusive neglectful mother!

like damn. how u even fumble that bad, not just romantically but as a friend.

also I’d like to add her consistent entitlement, not just the whole “i bully girls bc I’m a princess and i can!” but the “cardan take me back even after i emotionally ruined you multiple times!” 😐

poor cardan

anyway, I’ve read lots of holly black books, and she is VERY mindful w abusive sort of relationships. and cheating relationships. she writes about them a LOT and each time they are pretty irredeemable.

note(the only exceptions):Taryn and hazel (darkest part of the forest) who sorta cheated on accident/ it wasn’t their fault-> but didn’t end well

add on note sorry: “but nicasia cheated on cardan on accident bc Locke was a gancanagh!” false! nicasia admitted that what her and Locke were doing was prolonged, the scene that cardan finds them is not their first time screwing around. nicasia KNOWINGLY cheated on cardan. then she was like “ok but i still care abt u! take me back” ?

now you can say that it could sorta be classified as an accident due to lockes natures (which are actually really disturbing if u think abt it) and that’s true, i never blamed nicasia for that relationship, but i do blame her for all the utter dogshit she not only put cardan thru, but Jude.

and this is cardan we are talking about. he who killed half an army for Jude when madoc tried taking his daughter back (sounds funny out of context).

we must remember that cardan does not want Jude hurt and humiliated and that’s exactly what nicasia went and did to Jude. through all the books bro. nicasia literally kidnapped and tortured Jude in the undersea so there’s 0 chance of cardan touching nicasia unless maybe to turn her into a tree again (but he can always just do that at a distance 😛)

anyway back to the cheating:

which is why i know that holly would never pull any sort of bull w cardan and nicasia, and you may be thinking (well that’s bullshit what do u know?) 3 separate books w cheating tropes, and 5+ diff relationships that involve cheating w no redemption. LOL

anyway black and i certainly agree on that front, and the way she uses the trope so consistently, and makes it so the cheaters are never endgame, or have a horrible death (Locke AND his mom, also Eva Duarte 😭the dude Ben dated from dpotf, and Kaye and that guy Janet was dating, Val and Tom and dave and lolli (modern faerie tales)) is pretty telling!

holly is great at writing healthy relationships, and she knows that tcp is her biggest hit w the media, so she won’t go and fuck that, not just bc she would never and it’s out of her writing style and character and literally moral compass when it comes to writing relationships, but also bc her publishers/editors would NEVER let that slide.

but i can’t wait for her book! i love knowing that nicasia will never have a chance w cardan again, it’s no less than what she deserves 😋

anyway sorry for ranting! I just feel so strongly abt this topic, cardan would never cheat on Jude, since he’s been cheated on before, and it was heart wrenching, and bc of his upbringing, he would never. if you haven’t, go thru my masterlist in my pinned and find the cardan /nicasia thing where i explain why he wouldn’t cheat far better there!

But feel free to add on, i probably missed a few things so lmk!! 🫶

[sleepy-timaeus]

It is so embarrassingly blasphemous that there’s characters who think Jude loved Locke

Like when Cardan’s mom said Jude loved Locke at the trial, I went feral for her cause AS IFFFFFFFFF

[maingh0st]

is this too niche

[wh0reforfantasy]

Why is Jude Duarte the perfect morally grey character…

- Her parents were brutally slaughtered at a young age, and while hating Madoc, she also had a soft spot for her “father.” Since she was small, this man raised her and taught her everything she knew. Of course she had memories from her own parents, and could never forgive Madoc for what he did, but she also saw the fatherly side of him and appreciated it. Jude Duarte was created in a morally grey environment.

- Jude Duarte will do anything for her power/pride, even if it means risking everything and everyone she has. She could have easily brushed off petty insults and kept temper during her brutal bullying/harassment she was going through, like Taryn and the rest of her family insisted, but Jude never let it slide. Even if it was simple revenge that might earn her a dip into a creek, Jude always stood her ground. Later into the series, we see her completely and utterly invested with the little power she gains and how she uses it. There are considerable more risks with every power move she makes, especially everything concerned with the crown. Her family is usually an afterthought, and rarely an emotional case. Even with Oak, Jude is more concerned about the use of power and where she stands, then she is for his safe-being. Not to mention the time Jude almost killed Taryn in a squabble over Locke, which in its entirely mocked Jude and what control she had over someone close to Cardan. Jude loves her family, and will protect them, but not unless it suits her in some way.

- Everyone/anyone is her enemy… no matter how much she “trusts’ them. We see it with her relationship with Taryn, where Jude cares for her sister, but never really trusts her. Even with Cardan, while Jude was infatuated with him, she never once trusted him. All of her friends and family becomes pawns in her power game, and she will always back up herself first. This was taught to her by Madoc, who put battle/power first above his own important people and morals. Cardan was a known enemy to Jude, but he showed her a vulnerability/empathy that she showed no one else. Instead of being emotional and falling for him harder, Jude convinced herself it was an act and to use it to her advantage. Most people wouldn’t shackle a boy that was being beat by his own brother, trick him into having a crown he did NOT want to have, AND witnessed his whole family being slaughter in front of him… Jude didn’t care, she wanted the crown and her revenge.

Nonetheless, Jude has a side of her that is very protective and loves harder than the average person. Her strength and determination could be used for something more than her own gain, and she shows she is capable of that later into the series. We understand why Jude acts the way she does because we witness the pain of her character first hand. Who wouldn’t want revenge against the very people that hate her for her existence? Being human means your weak, can be controlled… a creature owned by the fae. Love was wired to be thought of as a weakness, something to make you lose the battle. In this series, we see her struggle with the choices of to love, or gain more power.

I think Holly Black made an AMAZING female lead that wasn’t written for love, but for feminine rage and power. Love didn’t stop her from gaining what she needed, what her goals were, and instead make her stronger. Jude fought most of her battles alone and failed, but got up regardless. Cardan wasn’t her knight in shining armor, it was quite the opposite. And let’s just say, the best series I’ve read so far.

[thebestbrunettee]

locke’s death (he deserved it lol)

so i feel like many people in the tfota fandom were angry when locke’s death was off-page, however i think this was beautifully planned and executed. locke is a performer, he loves drama, he loves over exaggerated theatrics, it’s his whole schtick. but here’s the best part, after all his scheming to essentially dramatize jude, taryn, cardan, and even nicasia’s lives- his death isn’t even worthy enough to make it onto the page. locke wants desperately to be the start of the show- kind of the ultimate pick-me when you think about it. and now he is killed but is so unimportant to the story and reader that he doesn’t get a single scene. i really love this because if locke were to know he died without a dramatic exit he would be so pissed.

[beware-of-the-light]

Taryn is Madoc's daughter

I think she's meant to be his narrative mirror.

They both killed their spouses after they turned out to be something that they didn't anticipated. Both do so by blade. They are left to deal with a child that their spouse left behind.

Madoc doesn't go to trial for his crime. But we don't forgive him, not really.

Taryn is meant to be trialed. We forgive her, sort of, Locke was horrible anyways.

She is clever, Madoc trusted her for his coup of the throne. Just like him, she hides her intentions until she strikes. Jude didn't believe that any of them would do such a thing, yet they both do so anyways.

Thinking about how when Madoc killed the girls' mother, he dripped his cap in his blood until it was coated red and hardened. About how when Taryn killed her husband, she ran to her sister for help and in the way found forgiveness.

Thinking about how they are the same, but Taryn chose life and Madoc chose death.

[viivdle]

The Joker And The Queen (Jurdan's Version)

"How was I to know? / It's a crazy thing" fits incredibly well for them. on one side, we have jude - all she knows is cardan hating her. he insulted her, kicked dirt in her food, almost killed (!!) her, how was she to know he loved her?? or tolerated her at all?? on the other side, there's cardan - for me, these lyrics represent how low he thinks of himself. his own family didn't love him, so why would anyone else do it voluntarily? with the two of them, it's anything but - though it still counts to him.  

"I showed you my hand / And you still let me win" they both showed their weaknesses during the series - behind the dais in TWK, jude's constant mortality, cardan's confession in TCP,.. there's more of these moments than one might guess. 

"And who was I to say / That this was meant to be?" it would've been fatal for jude to say it. she herself would've thought she'd gone mad. a mortal and a fae prince? yes, right. and cardan for, again, thinking nobody would want what was left of his heart. 

"The road that was broken / Brought us together" is there anything more jurdan?? there road was not just a bit broken, it was DESTROYED. betrayal, lies, deceiving, murder. come on.  

"When I fold, you see the best in me" for jude, folding represents her mortality, her weakness even when she is stronger than most. she can't escape it, no matter what. cardan on the other hand told her he always thinks about her, which was one of the first big steps to their end. he also involuntarily showed his cards when jude saw balekin and him in his room.  

"I've been played before" ironic considering most times they played each other.  

"So I kept my cards close to my foolproof vest" cardan hid his attraction to her with utter hatred, it was truly foolproof - at least it worked on jude.  

"And then you went all in / And we left together" to me, this screams the serpent scene in TQoN. she had to risk everything, but in the end they came out of it together. 

"And I know you think that what makes a king is gold / A palace and diamond rings" cardan knew next to nothing about ruling when he was put on the throne, but it's not the first thing that comes to mind. i can imagine jude telling cardan that when he has doubts, telling him that despite what he thinks, there's more to being a king than gold (i could get into the silver to gold pipeline but i promise i won't)  

"When I folded, you saw the best in me" cardan admires her mortal beauty like no other, he saw the best of her, the parts she despised most in her situation, when she decided to take that leap of faith. even when cardan was a serpent, she saw her husband, not just a monster. even when cardan was a serpent, he saw his wife, not just a target. 

"The Joker And The Queen" 

[virtualizationhowto]

Top 7 Netstat Commands you need to know

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[clockworkbee]

Oh, I love this

If I have to compare the Duarte sisters to the Greenbrier brothers I would have to say Vivi is Cardan, Taryn is Dain and Jude is Balekin...

Vivi and Cardan are the chaotic wild child, they (mostly) do what they want when they want to. Jude and Balekin are people that you do not want to mess around when you know their reputation. Taryn and Dain on the other hand have crafted their mask to deceive others and themselves of how awful they can be

[madockisser]

I just read How the king of Elfame learned to hate stories, the "So long as you are begging, he doesn't mind a bit." line at the end of the blurb stuck in my mind

He mentions begging in the books. Although he also begs Jude at some point iirc

Do you have any thoughts about how this almost power dynamic is important to him? Or why he'd be fond of it

I'm not sure how to word it properly, he's in a precarious position with the rest of his siblings for a good part of his life, Balekin manipulates him amongst other things.

why is cardan such a sadist?/ cardans struggle w power

hi! great question, i hope i answer it to your liking!

from what we can tell of cardan and his character, he doesn’t have much. he has his status as prince, and that is all that he can cling to. it’s his only advantage.

we know that he is not fond of courtiers, faking their admiration for him, allowing him to slap and use them; all while they can go home to someone they truly love.

all his life he assumes that cruelty gets him what he wants, it ensures that he keeps the little amount of power that he has, while his brothers scheme and kill for the throne, he hurts and humiliates those that question his power.

but any sort of dig against ppl, making them feel lesser so he can feel greater, making jude beg and submit to him so he no longer has to feel anything for her, so she won’t consume his thoughts with her disobedience, gives him that small amount of power, since a human girl opposing him, all while he sorta loses that battle against her, makes him look weak. in the eyes of his friends, family and the court/gentry

anyway, while he ofc can “fall out of favor” w his siblings, those sort of relationships w them do not matter to him, he insults caelia to her face in htkoelths, he does not care for dain, he cares a bit for rhyia, perhaps bc he sees most of himself in her, the way she is casual when it comes to her royal duties, and bc she is kind to him when the rest are not, when the rest have deemed him as balekins princely little monster, with an awful prophecy over his head.

what matters to him is his father, not that he likes him much but he still strives for what seems like attention from him. so he is cruel and sadistic for the sake of his father taking notice of him, bc thats all he knows

in twk, jude finds a crystal ball where asha neglects cardan until he hits another boy, and at that she laughs greatly and pays attention to him. being cruel is all he knows, the only way for him to be seen by his father, even if it is bad attention, atleast it is attention at all.

as for that power dynamic, again, he relishes in any chance to show ppl he is powerful, that he is important, even when he really isn’t.

so as jude opposes him, he is reminded time and time again that not only does jude have everything he wants, a loving family, but she has a strange sort of power over him, the power to make him feel not only desire but eventual care for her well being. which isn’t a feeling that he feels often

pair those feelings with the fact that she is human, and the fact that balekin encourages him to kill humans but cardan instead frees them, and takes beatings for them, he is very conflicted and angry and upset at his feelings for her.

he doesn’t want to care, it would be easier to act as those he has a heart of stone.

i assume his feelings make him feel awfully powerless, which is obviously a feeling he does not like, since he consistently goes out of his way to show his power to the court by acting without consequence and casting those that get in his way out of court.

anyway, later on he is begging to jude because at this point, i think he’s realized just how far gone he is in his love for her. he is vulnerable w her in a way that he never was w nicasia or anyone.

w nicasia he flaunted his power, pretended that he was more important and influential than he was, w nicasia he formed his group of friends that took advantage of his power and hurt him w it.

but w jude, he felt powerless bc of the powers she had over him, first off, his desire for her, second, his love for her, and third, ofc the bargain that quite literally made him her slave.

until jude, his sadistic power dynamics were used to hurt those around him, but then he learned that he’d much rather feel powerless so long as jude is there w him. he’d also learned that he can be useful, which he’d never thought before jude. he learned that he doesn’t have to hurt and lash out for a power thrill, that he can be powerful in being a good high king.

jude was the only person that taught him that he could be loved and worth something at all, without having to reach out and claw that love from someone’s hands.

jude and cardan understand each other in a way no one else in their lives ever bothered to.

and abt the begging part, im sure he also likes to simply see jude begging as well. after all they put each other thru, im sure they both like seeing each other beg.

hope this answered your question! if not, feel free to leave another ask!! 🫶🫶 and feel free to add on as always!

also i just want to add, i see everyone’s asks, and am working on quite a few, though i am still doing my reread, which is why it’s taking so long to get to my older asks! so sorry!! i answer the newer ones if they are easy to answer, w things that i already know w out having to grab my books to look for it.!

[imitationgame77]

Pinging and Tapping

In the world of the Murderbot Diaries, communication is often conducted via comm and feed. Generally, comm is used when internal network is not available, or when one is trying to communicate across space, and feed is used when people are on the same network and allow each other access.

We also often see “pings” and “taps” as a way of quick communication.

Generally, pings are used for comm communications, and taps are used for feed communications, but there seem to be different purposes. Here are what we can gather from the story, and also from real life examples.

[Pings]

Purpose in the MB world:

Pings are typically used for signalling, checking connectivity, and getting responses from other systems or units. They act like a way to see if the other side is present and ready to communicate or respond.

Purpose in Real Life:

Network Connectivity: In computer networks, a "ping" is a diagnostic tool used to test the reachability of a host on an Internet Protocol (IP) network. It measures the round-trip time for messages sent from the originating host to a destination computer.

Usage in the MB World:

Status Checks: Used to check if systems, such as satellites, drones, or transports, are active and responsive. For example, pinging a satellite to see if it responds​​.

Communication Initiation: Used to start communication with other systems, often to establish a connection or share data. For instance, pinging a transport to offer media files in exchange for a ride​​.

Detection: Used by systems to detect the presence of specific units, like SecUnits, without direct contact​​.

Usage in Real Life:

ICMP Echo Request/Reply: The ping command sends an ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) Echo Request message to the target host and waits for an ICMP Echo Reply.

Network Troubleshooting: Used to determine if a particular host is reachable and to measure the latency between the source and destination.

[Taps]

Purpose in the MB World:

Taps are used more for internal communication within the network or feed. They serve as a means to acknowledge, signal actions, or provide private communication without verbal interaction.

Purpose in Real Life:

Internal Communication: In many systems, "taps" or similar mechanisms are used to signal and communicate internally within a network or system.

Usage in the MB World:

Acknowledgments: Used to acknowledge received messages or instructions. For instance, tapping back an acknowledgment to confirm receipt of instructions​​.

Private Communication: Used to send private or secure messages within the feed, often to communicate specific commands or information discreetly. For example, tapping the feed to communicate privately with another character without others listening in​​.

Control Signals: Used to signal or control actions within the feed, like tapping to instruct a character to fall back or take specific actions​​.

Usage in Real Life:

Signalling Mechanisms: Within computer systems, taps can be analogous to various signalling mechanisms like inter-process communication (IPC), which includes methods such as semaphores, shared memory, and message queues.

Acknowledgments and Control Signals: In networking, control signals and acknowledgments are crucial for managing data flow and ensuring reliable communication. For example, TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) uses acknowledgments to confirm the receipt of data packets.

Network Taps: In the context of network security, a "network tap" is a device that allows access to data flowing across a network for monitoring and analysis.​​.

[Comparison]

In both the fictional world of Murderbot Diaries and real life, pings are primarily used for external signalling and connectivity checks, while taps are used for internal communication and control within the feed network

-------------------------------------------------

[Something Worth Noting]

There are some instances where taps seem more reasonable, but pings are used instead.

In Artificial Condition when Murderbot was watching Sanctuary Moon, and ART was trying to get its attention, asking to watch World Hoppers together. (see Artificial Condition, Pings, 5, 6 my AO3)

In Network Effect, when Murderbot finds that a hostile vessel (i.e. ART) was approaching and notifies the team quickly (see Network Effect, Pings, 1 my AO3)

In Network Effect, when Murderbot was locking itself up in the bathroom (see Network Effect, Pings, 11, 12 my AO3)

In Network Effect, when ART requested a private connection (see Network Effect, Pings, 13 my AO3)

In Network Effect, when Amena comes along with Murderbot to investigate Barish-Estranza shuttle, but is told to wait outside. She offers to help to which Murderbot pings acknowledgement (see Network Effect, Pings, 14 my AO3)

At the end of System Collapse when Murderbot pinged Three to ask if it wanted to listen to Holism explain planetary infrastructure (see System Collapse, Pings 15 my AO3)

Of these, 1, 3, 4 are where ART was sending pings to Murderbot. This is actually quite sweet, because we can tell that ART is being very polite to Murderbot. ART is fully capable of slamming into Murderbot’s private feed, but in all of these occasions, Murderbot has been rejecting feed communication which it reserves for friends and clients. ART is respecting this.

Instance 2 is unusual, and I am not 100% sure why Murderbot chose to use ping here. But since it was emergency, and ping is a protocol where it receives automatic response if it had been received at the other end, it was sufficient for its purposes.

When we read the context in which 5 happens we notice that Murderbot is now inside the B-E shuttle, and for security reasons, ART had cut it off from the feed network. So, Murderbot has the options of either verbally answering to Amena, or sending a ping for acknowledgement, and it chose the latter.

In instance 6, Murderbot seems to be being polite to Three who is busy (?) watching educational media. They are cordial to each other, but because Three is still not used to being a free SecUnit, Murderbot is being more careful around it.

--------------

If you are willing to be bored to death, you can see my AO3 post for the list of all the instances where pinging and tapping happen!

[clockworkbee]

welcome to ✨️ the ✨️ moment ✨️

I hadn’t been listening. I hadn’t wanted to hear her; I’d just wanted to save her. And now, because of me, she is dead.

oh man this is the kind of shit i love. she wasn’t thinking, all jude knew was that she had to do something–for this one human, even though it wouldn’t make a difference. some part of her still holding onto the kind of naive optimism, a belief that something she could do might matter, if only to this one person, if only for a moment… and it ended tragically, in a way she probably could have foreseen if she’d stopped to pay attention.

because this wasn’t really about sophie, the human girl she was trying to save. it was about jude’s own power. it was about proving, to herself, that she could fight back. that she could be better than them.

except she can’t. not really. and then she shoves a knife through her hand, because she’s trying to prove something–to herself, even more than dain, and maybe more than a little is about punishingI herself too–and then valerian shows up in her bedroom and she kills him.

if i cannot be better than them, i will become so much worse.

she tried being better. she tried being human. it didn’t work. the girl she tried to save chose death instead. but maybe, just maybe, she can beat them.

and if she has to become a monster to do so, so fucking be it.

[maingh0st]

idk if holly has ever addressed the folk's origins but i have spent an unnecessary amount of time thinking about it and have decided they're immigrants

[ezziefae]

“I think of Cardan tied to a chair to cheer myself up. Then I think of the way he looked up at me through the curtain of his crow-black hair, of the curling edge of his drunken smile, and i don’t feel in the least bit comforted.” (Chap 23, Pg 279)

This quote is from when Jude and Taryn got into that fight after the failed coronation, when Jude found out about Locke and Taryn.

It funny how Jude’s thoughts go straight to Cardan. She attemps to cheer herself up at her accomplishment for having him hostage and as her prisoner. Instead she thinks of the way he LOOKED AT HER, and his SMILE.

Poor jude was head over heels for this man for soooo long, yet she didn’t know it and kept denying it the entire series until TQON. She confused her love for cardan with hate since the beginning of TCP. There’s so many quotes from Jude that the readers perceive are filled with hate.

For example:

“And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest, with black hair as iridescent as a raven’s wing and cheekbones sharp enough to cut out a girls heart. I hate him mora than the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breath” (Chap 4, Pg 30)

LIKE HELLO???

“When I look at him, I can hardly breath.”

Jude has had a crush on Cardan since the beginning of the book. But her drive was all directed to hate. She wanted to be better than him, she wanted to humiliate him.

AND CARDAN WAS GOING THROUGH THE EXACT SAME THING.

Cardan has had a crush on Jude for a long time (even when he was in a relationship with Nicasia, i’ll make a separate post on their relationship later) Yet, he envied her for being a mortal and having the things he couldn’t have even as the prince of Elfhame. He admitted to wanting her out of his sight so he could stop feeling the way he did.

Both Jude and Cardan were enemies because of their differences. There was a lot of misunderstanding. Both of them assumed things that weren’t true. Both of them were going through struggles. And In the end, they realized they were more similar than they thought.

(sorry for the typos! it’s really late, and im half asleep, and YES IM RE READING THIS BOOK AGAIN, expect more analysis post for the folk of the air series)

[thebestbrunettee]

cardan x jude pt 1.

so i mentioned in a previous post (here) that cardan is seemingly obsessed with with mortals/mortality in itself or at the very least is fascinated with pretty much anything to do with humans and their world, literature, artifacts, etc. in that post, i mentioned that this could be cardan’s method of escapism considering he despises faerie, lacking virtually any interest in his role in the court or as the high king. but i think this appeal towards mortals could be what led cardan to take notice of jude and eventually fall desperately in love with her.

in tcp, cardan’s favorite book is alice in wonderland, a story where a regular human girl is thrown into this magical and dangerous world so very different from her own. it’s there that she relies on her wits and own strengths to survive. is this not what happened to jude and taryn? so it makes sense that this could be another reason cardan takes interest in jude. (see this post)

also in tcp, it’s mentioned that one of the first things cardan noticed about jude were her ears and their roundness, how different they were from cardan and his friends’. i highlight this specifically because what jude sees as a massive insecurity, cardan is intrigued by and even takes a liking to.

part of the reason i think jude is so alluring to cardan is that she has the one thing cardan can never know, mortality. see, in faerie, cardan can have anything he wants, and if it isn’t already given to him he takes it. this is not the the case with mortality. cardan can never have it no matter how hard he tries, so in a way couldn’t he be partly jealous of jude? in tcp, cardan views her as a weakling, dirt. he and his friends called them the circle of worms- and even that isn’t a low enough ranking in his eyes. however, it’s later revealed that cardan would free the mortal servants at hollow hall and would even take beatings for protecting them. so could cardan’s initial hatred for jude stem from the fact that she is born with something over him? maybe he begins to hate her (i mean before she starts to stand up to him) because she has something he might deep down long to become familiar with.

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

in chapter 3 of tcp, there was a scene of cardan attacking then tearing a boy’s wings because he didn’t bow, do you think there are more meanings behind this action? it’s my 2nd time rereading tfota trilogy and this scene still baffles me

(i'm gonna copy/paste a lot from this post because i did answer this, but it was part of a reblog, and tbh it deserves its own post cos it's a damn good question.)

i don't think Cardan had a reason behind his actions in that scene so much as i think Holly had a big reason for including it.

i would argue that, from a character creation standpoint, the ripping of the faerie's wings provides the most important context for Cardan's character in TCP. foremost, it is our very first impression of him. he is truly cruel in that scene. he is at his worst.

one thing they taught us in Creative Writing school: always introduce your characters in a way that shows them doing something that is fundamental to their character.

the book is called The Cruel Prince, ergo we can only assume Holly wanted Cardan to be perceived as cruel. so the first thing we see him doing? something vicious and irredeemable, for no apparent reason (other than to be a dick). it makes us trust Jude's hatred for him; it makes us hate Cardan, too.

if we take that scene out, however, Cardan seems all bark and no bite. sure, he actively insults Jude. and he may even participate in his friends' more malicious bullying. but he's shit with a sword and clearly takes a more subdued role in the bullying scenes (see: watching out for the nixies to make sure they weren't getting too close, telling Valerian to stop when he was suffocating Jude, pricking Jude's finger to sober her up).

so what does Jude really have to be afraid of without that first scene?

certainly not Cardan specifically, but rather, his cohort as a whole. and tbh that's not much more specific than just saying "everything in Faerie is terrifying", which she does indeed point out multiple times. but she needed to be afraid of him, and therefore, she needed a believable reason for that fear.

there's a difference between being actively cruel and passively cruel, and the ripping of the faerie's wings transforms Cardan from the latter to the former simply and effectively.

so yes. he is mean and cruel and cowardly. i suppose it's fine for people to have qualms with him for everything he did/did not do in TCP.

but i happen to think growth is very sexy so i will not be holding any of that against him 😌✨

–Em 🖤🗡

In Defence of Cardan Greenbriar

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