#tfota asks

[clockworkbee]

Jude waking Cardan up in twk after the undersea or Cardan waking Jude up in QoN

Jude waking Cardan up <3

Jude thinking Cardan shouldn't relax like that esp. when she's told him she's there to murder him and Cardan just thinking ‘yeah well, if you really were here for that purpose, i wouldn't have woken up’ I just love love love that, and the fact that it's just them, alone, having a real and honest conversation (in bed)? Cardan as much as saying ‘I like how your mind works’ and “Perhaps I am foolish, but I am not a fool. You like something about me,” and then him nervously taking his most fantasized chance at commanding jude to crawl to him, like??? And then Cardan ordering food for Jude because he cares? I love that part most of all because we got to see Cardan show his concern for her in that scene. He could see her condition the moment she was released from the Undersea and ofc. he believed Madoc about Jude having to rest afterwards, but him ordering stuff for her because his strong girl seemed so weak, like wow...

I mean, I know that's like half a chapter I've mentioned above but I'm crazy about the detail we got here, to this day, and I love their scene in qon but ugh the circumstances, the shortage of time, the quick words of hurt, complain and concern leading to yet another misunderstanding (I eat it up, I wouldn't change anything there tbh) but I love twk scene of Jude waking him up more because we got more, yk?

for tfota ask game

[grendel-menz]

Do you think both jude and cardan wants kids or does cardan have to beg jude for children? Since Oak is confirmed to not being needed as heir.

Hm I'm not sure! I wouldn't have thought Jude would want a kid since the court is so dangerous and she's high enough strung as it is.

It could be possible that Jude and Cardan are scheming and they aren't having a baby and are going to nominate leander or something, or that they're just planning a different kind of succession that doesn't need a blood heir or any heir. Cardan and Jude did allow people to have a voice in their crowns, so maybe it's something else. I genuinely don't know what to expect.

Howeverrrr I like babies so I drew their baby if they were to have one:

[chappellrroan]

I have soft spot for pathetic hopelessly in love men who try so hard to pretend they're so unbothered

[starrynightsxo]

✨️TAG GAME TIME✨️

a song you associate with a book character or ship (name the character/ship please and thank you)

reminds me of cardan. no I will not elaborate you either get it or you dont.

npt: @ant-thebooknerd @agirlwiththoughtsandnegativity @bookish-phile @cookieswithforksandknifes @cromulentreader @fantasyfangirling4ever @graaaaaayy @highladyofterrasen7 @his-littlefox @jesyverse @kazbrekkerbitespeopleandsodoi @motherfeyre-archeron @mrswarnerxo @starlightbooklove @sweetvillainjude @thenightmareinyourcloset @thejudeduarte @veswe @viivdle @booklover2389 @annamatix

[highking-cardan]

you and locke have good enemies to lovers potential. forbidden love, maybe?

I do not like any of the words that you just said.

[thejudeduarte]

I believe Cardan was described to have some muscles, even though he's not bulky. Jude tells us he broke the crown with his bare hands like it was a toy and she was like fascinated by it cuz...its hot

Yeah, probably very lean muscle. I didn't actually read the book to type that post as I couldn't be bothered so I did it all from memory so I apologise for some errors lol 💀💀 here are the actual pages from the book if they help at all;

I apologise for any mistakes or miscommunication. This is how he is described on the tfota wiki as well which is probably a bit more accurate than what I can supply you with. And also I agree, I think Cardan is just.... hot in general. I mean I suppose he still had lots of training even if he wasn't very good at it so he's bound to have some muscle on him.;

Thanks for the ask again!! <3

[naughtnixnothing]

me @ jude:

[the-way-astray]

okay wait if you don’t mind me asking why don’t you like incorrect quotes?

anon, i swear this was not meant to be this long

my reasons are 100% subjective. over the years, i've dabbled in several different fandoms. and i find that the same incorrect quote format is used to describe relationships between characters in different series that i find to not be alike at all. for example, i've seen multiple of the same incorrect quote formats used for both percabeth and sokeefe, when i don't find the relationships to be that similar to one another at all. it's just that people see one dimension of sophie and annabeth (let's say smart) and one dimension of percy and keefe (let's say funny) and then the entire incorrect quote becomes about that. i find sokeefe and percabeth to be two entirely different relationships with few things in common (which i've talked about), but the incorrect quotes flatten them to those qualities only and i don't like that.

the sokeefe-percabeth thing is just an example, by the way, one i picked because i feel most people i'm talking to would understand it, but i've also seen the same incorrect quote formats used to describe relationships like jurdan or kanej . . . and if you've read tfota or soc you know how drastically dissimilar jurdan or kanej are to either sokeefe or percabeth (and each other). and i find that these indirect comparisons drawn between relationships like this flattens certain characters quite a bit. this is how we get stuff like "sokeefe is basically kotlc percabeth" and stuff like that.

then, once a character has been given a "role" (i use the term loosely) they have to occupy all the aspects that come with that "role". so then they're only allowed to be that "role" in the incorrect quote, even if the quote requires them to say/do things they would never say/do, because they've been slated into that role based on that one aspect. take this quote for example:

keefe has been slated into the role of "one that has a crush on sophie" for the purposes of this particular quote. but keefe doesn't ramble like this. he doesn't like his dad and would never discuss a crush on sophie with him (but this one i'm not that mad about since you could as easily change cassius to ro or something). he doesn't use exaggerated metaphors to describe things and he doesn't speak in purple prose. he does a pretty good job hiding his crush and would never inadvertently reveal it like this. do you see what i mean? because of the fact that the format requires him to be "one with a crush on sophie", he now has to fulfill all the other aspects the format requires, even though they don't apply to him. and it no longer feels like keefe. it flattens him down to this one aspect.

i feel like this flattening aspect of incorrect quotes does have a (very small, sort of indirect) effect on the way characters are perceived in fanon. and i don't like it? it's very weird to me. so i prefer to stay away from it. (best examples i can think of are cardan and kaz, who are both morally gray, but lots of incorrect quotes portray them as hopelessly in love with their love interests or malewives, and while that's true, them being slated into that role for the purpose of the incorrect quote often makes them out to be the kind that would doodle hearts around names in notebooks or blush or be in that sort of cutesy-teenager-with-a-crush kind of romance. and . . . uh . . . yeah, they love jude and inej, but that's like. not at all what either relationship is like. it's just not.)

also some incorrect quotes are so desperate to slate characters into certain "roles", as i call them, that they forsake crucial aspects of the character in the process, or actively make them do/say things that go against something that is a core aspect of that character. and i don't like the way the quote is willing to misinterpret something so crucial to the character for the sake of the incorrect quote exemplifying something much less important like "the funny one" or "the one with a crush on ___".

incorrect quotes also have a tendency to portray what a character actually wants to do, rather than how they would realistically behave, given the circumstances. take this quote (and ignore the weird anti-sophitz-ness for the moment, i'm trying to make a point):

in canon, it's kind of a point that sophie "isn't aware" of her crush on keefe, so to speak. she knows she has a crush on fitz. she may subconsciously want to kiss keefe, but remember, she thinks she likes fitz. so this incorrect quote just frustrates me because that's not what sophie would do!!!!!!! she would kiss fitz. actually, she would get all nervous and blushy and try to worm her way out of it. and if this is a post-stellarlune quote, and she knows she likes keefe, she wouldn't address fitz directly like that??? she would trying so hard not to look at fitz because omg omg omg i have to kiss my new boyfriend in front of my old boyfriend who appears to still not be over me. like the quote requires you to change fundamental aspects of sophie's personality/behavior to buy it. my analysis brain can't handle that. my problem is that i can't enjoy the quote for the quote, because my brain is always instead picking apart how un-character the incorrect quote feels.

having said all of that, i fully understand that anyone who likes incorrect quotes or engages with them frequently knows all this. i don't think you all are stupid. obviously keefe would never say something like that first example i showed in canon. that's understood! the point is to make fun of his crush on sophie. i get it. it's all in good fun. i just prefer not to engage with incorrect quotes because the flattening aspect makes me personally want to scream that the character would never do or say that, because at this point the character doesn't even feel like the character, so what even is the point of the quote anymore??? and then i get stuck in a loop.

and like i said in my original tags, i would never want to completely get rid of incorrect quotes. they're easy to make, fun, easily digestable, and in general sort of a safe way to get started in fandoms. they're the safety net of fandoms, and i think they really are crucial for smaller/more obscure fandoms where nobody wants to do hardcore analysis stuff but people still want to talk about their favorite media. so i think, for the purposes they fulfill, they're alright.

[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

[viivdle]

how everyone hopes the next book is gonna go:

[madockisser]

Why do you wanna kiss Madoc?

not sure if ppl are actually weirded out by my user or not, which most certainly is not my intention, but i feel the need to rant abt my thoughts on madoc! i also don’t wanna deter anyone bc of my user 😭! btw i totally understand if u hate him w all your guts like truly i get it but don’t hate on me for not! my user is mostly a joke! (also i LOVE cardan and jude sm more than madoc obviously just the “madockisser” user is funnier and so few ppl talk abt madoc so i feel the need to 😭)

madoc raised 3 children that weren’t his, was willing to risk quite literally everything to become king so his poor mortal daughters will be treated like princesses in a world where they’re treated like garbage. madoc has his faults(like trying to make poor oakey pokey king), but a lot of them can be chalked up to his redcap nature, being bloodthirsty and power hungry and just not understanding jude and her morals since their morals and life experiences are just SO different

him and jude have the same goal, except madoc and his nature, his morals, make the execution of that goal and the endpoint a bit different. jude is trying to save oak from being king so he won’t have to grow up bloodthirsty and drenched in blood like she did, while madoc is trying to make oak king, which he thinks is obviously the best thing he can do for him since madoc is so power hungry.

in their own eyes, they each think what they have planned for oak is best, and obviously to madoc making his son king after slaughtering nearly the rest of the greenbriar bloodline which solidifies his succession to the throne is a great boon, and in his eyes, jude isn’t trying to keep him from doing that to protect oak, (since he doesn’t understand that jude grew up so miserably) he sees jude trying to take/keep oaks throne from him.

jude says in her inner monologue at some point that she’s sure that madoc would relinquish the throne to oak when he’s of age, since he’s a man of honor or wtv, and madoc obv thinks this is just the best course for oak. why wouldn’t madoc want his children powerful and bloodthirsty? he wants them to be like him, and more than that, he doesn’t want them to slave away for a greenbriar like madoc did to eldred and balekin and dain(which he reveals in the stolen heir duo)

another thing is his morals when it comes to dain. he was livid in a way oriana had never seen when he heard about what dain did to oak and liriope. which makes perfect sense for him because he has honor enough to not slaughter a woman for being pregnant and by extent taking the life of the child inside just to remain in power and in favor.

dain did something that madoc inherently disagreed w. so madocs decision was obviously to betray him and run him through after replanning. it’s just in his nature. he replans, betrays, and resorts to murder when it matters lol. he does the same (sorta) w balekin by using him as a ploy to get oaks throne. balekin who has human slaves treated terribly, while madoc had a human wife and human children. i’m shocked balekin didn’t see madocs betrayal coming.

and even tho jude did something he inherently disagreed w/ and didn’t try to understand (which frustrates me sm) he gives her so many chances to come back to his side, he gives her advice, he gives her chances, betraying his nature for his daughter until qon, when he finally resorts to murder. fucking devastating.

on a lighter note, i do think it’s funny tho that despite it all he was still a better father than eldred and dain, and better guardian than balekin. though i will say that i do NOT excuse so many of madocs actions (bc he causes my poor baby jude so much pain), and when i’m actively rereading esp during qon i do in fact hate that mf, …i just think he’s dilf-y.

unrelated but he’s like the lead of a monster romance. holly black actually has another green sweetheart-chemist murdery bf, in her book valiant, but he’s too niche like nobody knows abt him which is so sad bc he’s sooooo cute and sweet. “ravuskisser” would be my user

i love reading his and jude’s dynamic, i love reading abt him and eva and him and oriana. i love in tpt when he FINALLY says something abt eva, finally understanding why she left him, and him owning up to his mistakes, but then saying , “but if it were not for my mistakes, i would not have the family i have today.” 😭😭😭😭😭

ALSO, the exile. it was so necessary. madoc living amongst humans helps him realize so much about eva, jude and taryn. “since humans have a shorter lifespan, they would risk much for happiness.” he says (not word for word) in tpt when speaking of eva, but ofc it also applies to jude and taryn.

anyway i guess moral of the story i like madoc bc daddy issues ig and also his complexity, holly black is a genius at writing morally grey faeries w diff mindsets! also how jude describes him to be a “tall man” the second he’s on the page like damn i get it eva and ori! anyway even holly black supports madoc kissers like me so don’t judge me!

[clockworkbee]

hellooooooo random question but if cardan was a season what season would he be?

Hey! that's... an interesting question 😅

My first thought was Spring. And the more I've thought about it, the more I'm like, definitely Spring but also kinda Monsoon? I mostly see greens and other vivid colors (that's how his blacks look even cooler) 😅 let me know what you think?

thanks for this ask!

—bee 💗

[grendel-menz]

You x Grima Mog 🫶

erm... <3

[letmeliveinelfhame]

What's your favourite book set in faerieland?👀

Thank you so much for your ask! I love getting asks but it's very rare I actually get any 😅

GOOD QUESTION purely because I cannot choose just one book 😭😭 my favourite series is of course TFOTA, that's what started everything for me when I read it on my Kindle back in the summer holidays of 2023.

I'll do a ranking of my favourite to least favourite series:

1. TFOTA (The Cruel Prince, The Lost Sisters, The Wicked King, The Queen Of Nothing, How The King Of Elfhame Learned To Hate Stories)

2. The Stolen Heir + The Prisoner's Throne (it's part of TFOTA but it's a seperate series so it gets a seperate ranking)

3. The Modern Faerie Tales (Tithe, Ironside, Valiant)

4. The Darkest Part Of The Forest (I haven't read it yet, so I'm just going to put it here on the ranking for now)

AND CAN I JUST SAY I cannot wait for Holly's next faerie book, I'm curious on whether it will be Jurdan focused or Nicasia focused. Something tells me it will be Nicasia focused with Jurdan appearances here and there, BUT I WILL ACCEPT THOSE CRUMBS

[highking-cardan]

congrats to you and @ansanity2!! 🤭💕💕

Why?

[thejudeduarte]

Hiiiiii

Whose POV do you think the next holly black book will be in? Holly said it wasn’t Nicasia; but it’s Undersea based, so now I’m confused. Some people are saying it’s her husband but I’m like idgaf about her husband.

I WANT CARDAMOMMMMMMMMMM

lmk what you think

Ps:

I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you in a while, I miss you girlieeeee

Awhhh I miss you too!! :))

I've got so many thoughts rn. I was convinced it was gonna be Nicasia but now I'm not so sure, a dual pov Jurdan book would be great and something Holly hasn't done yet. I don't see Holly pulling out some random character out of thin air that we've never even met before (and I kind of hope she doesn't do that shhhh) it just seems pointless and a waste imo 😭 anyway I'm keeping everything crossed for a Cardan pov at least because I desperately need that in my life lmaoo