#the cruel prince spoilers

[sweetvillainjude]

There’s something so raw about the image of Cardan with his sleeves rolled up washing the blood off Jude’s hands, after he’s ruined his velvet jacket to stop her bleeding. It’s one of the moments where we clearly see how much he cares for her. He wouldn’t let the guards touch her, despite—from his perspective—not having any way of knowing she wasn’t there to kill him. On top of that, he declares to the palace crowd that Jude is the rightful Queen of Elfhame, who is not in exile, stunning everyone. And then later tells Jude that he had been terrified, not of her but for her.

“It was terrifying,” he says, “watching you fall.”

“Mortals are fragile,” I say. “Not you,” he says in a way that sounds a little like a lament. “You never break.”

Jurdan are wild because they may not have been able to verbalise what they felt for each other, nor even admit it to themselves, but it showed through their actions anyway.

[book-girl4evaaa]

Jude: *holding a literal knife to Cardan's throat*

Cardan:

[360iris]

just spent the last two hours kicking my feet and giggling while explaining the plot of The Cruel Prince + The Wicked King to my mom

and not her instantly becoming a Maddoc hater and a Jude supporter shdhdh

It was insanely hard to explain what Fantasy-Romance book Fae are in the year 2024 to a sixty-six year old woman

BUT she thinks Maddoc is evil for what he did to Jude’s parents, and she was just as gagged as I was about Prince Dane’s coronation and the ransom Cardan paid for Jude’s release from The Undersea

and when I explained the Balekin / Jude duel and how it ended, she went “That’s a bad bitch move.” at Jude stabbing him in the throat when he tried to surrender

she was also against Cardan extending his deal with Jude for another ten years when they were already in a ton of shit after what happened with the Court of Termites and Jude owing them a favor lol

we are explicitly Lord Roiben supporters in THIS house !!

also we laughed at how funny this post is ⬇️ especially after I told her about Jude getting exiled directly after getting married to Cardan 😂

[tothestarsinvelaris]

My unhinged reactions to the chaotic ride that is The Folk of the Air series ((first two books only bc I'm only 30% through The Queen of Nothing soooo ---- no spoilers plsss))

The Cruel Prince Worst Betrayals:

TARYN - MA'AM!!?????!??? You knewww?? you knew Locke was playing both of y'all??? and you weren't even ensorcelled or whatever?!?!? GIRL?! "if you let me seduce your sister in front of you and keep your mouth shut it proves that I love you" I'M sorry?!?!!??? I absolutely cannot. Someone will need to give me some serious break down of why tf I shouldn't jump in there and smack the bitch myself for being so stupid and betraying her sister like that smh ((more on this bs later bc i've made it far enough through TQON to know things))

JUDE!!!!!!!! - Girl why tf are you gonna do my boy Cardan dirty like that???? He finally TRUSTED YOUR ASS okay?! he is clearly a lil bby who has never had a hug and never felt loved and is v much into you so maybe you should be NICE TO HIM (or mean bc hes into that obvs) but like -- you put the damn crown on his head when he SPECIFICALLY ASKED YOU NOT TO?!??????? oof

The Wicked King:

I sat there really trying to figure out who tf betrayed Jude already when Nicasia's jealous ass said that and like I knew it was not my boy Cardan bc he has never done anything wrong in his entire life and he has a plan and reasons and you can't tell me any different okay!? someone ((JUDE)) just hug the damn boy and pat his lil head and tell him everything is gonna be okay pls?? and I knew that boy Locke and stupid idiot Traitor Taryn were sus. Obvs Madoc is a dumb murder bitch so like?? DUH he was gonna do something stupid since you know, he already fucking committed treason. I just sat there from page one waiting for those three to pull some stupid shit to betray Jude and OBVS I WAS RIGHT ! those stupid idiot dumb dumbs can't help themselves but betray Jude! hate them allllllll hate hate hate

but the scream i screamed when the Ghost of all damn people - (me picturing him as some kinda cute lil spy cutie) - called for Jude in that tower and was like "naaaahhh I worked for Dain bitch, not your ass" I'm???? sorrryyy??? betray ME?! the READER OF THIS BOOK?!??! excuse you!

but also the way Cardan was like "tell me you hate me" and "i want to tell you so many lies" and "i'm a sad lil bby and nobody has ever cared about me" and "i trusted you" and "marry me" and "crawl to me" crawl to meee????? sir. and he sent her ass to the mortal world but did not deny her and did not revoke their marriage so likeeee??? jude girly use your damn brain okay babes i know its in there somewhere so pls just get back to your 4D chess game you had in book 1 and realize this man loves you and is trying to PROTECT YOU OKAY ugh!!!!!

Currently reading The Queen of Nothing so like.... doing my damn best to fly through this book so I can finally look at fanart and fandom shit okay? gh

[ineedtoventaboutbooks]

Eva Duarte really is that bitch and all her daughters are too.

Jude: mortal girl who is constantly underestimated uses her oceans of inner resources to stage a coup and take the entire crown of elfhame TWICE. Is literally my favorite female character ever written. Stands up to high ranking fae and beats fucking Madoc AND Grima Mog in one on one combat!!!

Taryn: Amazingly adapts to life in faerie and knows what she wants and gets it. Does she want stupid things and is awful? Yes. But she’s still kind of that bitch.

Vivi: stands up to the fae general she witnessed kill her parents for her whole childhood and is determined to live and love in the mortal way she grew up with. She has pitfalls but she does well.

Eva (the og blueprint): Goes to elfhame and MARRIES Madoc the big bad fae general. She isn’t his mistress which is so notable bc they were bound to each other. When she realizes he’s dangerous she runs away with the best mortal blacksmith around. And strategically burns a mother and baby alive (?) in his house so he won’t hurt her family. Literally burns it to the ground while he isn’t home. She had ambition and she was cutthroat and she was that bitch.

[best-nun-tournament]

Round 1, Match 2

Scar and Mufasa (The Lion King) vs Jude and Taryn Duarte (The Folk of the Air)

(Jude and Taryn art by @eerna)

Propaganda under break. Spoilers for The Cruel Prince (Book 1 of The Folk of the Air trilogy)

Scar and Mufasa

Scar literally kills his brother, and makes his nephew carry the guilt around, to take his throne because he is jealous and can. Honestly anyone 90s or younger kids gotta know this in their heart.

Jude and Taryn Duarte

No propaganda submitted.

Poll Runner's Note: But from what I've read, they start off being quite close but, in part because of the faerie Locke staging a love triangle with them (for fun? The guy sounds like a real class act, I hope someone stabs him right in the neck), they became enemies. Taryn stood by and let Jude go through a long term relationship knowing it would end with him going "No I'm leaving you for your twin sister". That's messed up!

Also here's the full version of eerna's art

[skullywullypully]

The Cruel Prince spoilers.

[straberryshortcake520]

I already post something saying I like valerian, but why I am also falling for Balekin…

Sometimes I keep amazing myself, like why will I fall in love with someone that literally chopped off all his family members because he wants a weird looking crown, made by a old man. (In my opinion I don’t think that the crown is pretty, like you are royalty and can’t take something better.( no offense))

Anyway… I just fall in love with him, like I said before I had realized I have very questionable taste in man. Do I think he’s a bad person? Duh, but still.

And yes I have think over my life decisions and I think talking to a therapist will probably be healthier, then traumatize random innocent strangers online.

He just sounds so caring in this part.

So if you have to read my text about Balekin is just so smashable, my deepest condolences✋😔.

Btw, this picture is from the wicked king chapter 23.

[fantasyfangirling4ever]

The Folk of the Air titles as Tropes with a Twist:

Enemies to Lovers Back to Enemies

Stockholm Syndrome but it's the Guy Who Has it

Fake Snake Death!

[sweetvillainjude]

actually wild of holly black to write cardan’s arc so powerfully that I went from genuinely hating him and never believing I’d like him to thinking “ok so maybe he’s not awful ALL the time” to desperately rooting for him and furiously wanting him to be loved and happy over the span of three books. like tfota was WILD for doing that (and doing it so well)

[wannabanauthor]

So I’m reading The Cruel Prince and browsing social media, and I see folks making excuses for Taryn and trying to claim misogyny as the reason as if Taryn didn’t intentionally cause Jude to be bullied, abused, and nearly killed by Cardan’s crew. And she even blamed Jude for Jude being abused by them, and was mad that Jude fought back against her bullies.

All because she wanted to fit in the Faerie land. Taryn allowed Locke to seduce and trick her sister, blamed her for Locke choosing Taryn over the one of the female bullies, stood aside and did nothing when they physically abused Jude, still expected a proposal after the royal family were slaughtered, got mad at Jude for feeling betrayed, and told Madoc about Jude possibly knowing where Cardan was.

Meanwhile, Jude did her best to protect Taryn from the bullies, was nearly killed by them multiple times, and it was all because of Taryn and Locke.

Locke is not blameless either. I spotted his betrayal a mile away because men like him who hang around bullies but play nice with their victims are the deadliest of the bunch. I can only assume how easily he preyed on Taryn and convinced her to turn against her own twin sister, but Taryn fucking knew why the bullies were torturing her sister, and she did nothing. She let it happen and victim blamed her own sister.

Wait a minute, goddamn it, Taryn is acting like an abused woman who isolating her family because her abusive partner told her to do so. That tamps my anger a little bit, but the audacity of that bitch is unmatched and I hope she gets what’s coming to her by the end of the series. I was rooting for Jude to kill her during that duel. Taryn was absolutely nasty to Jude for no seeable reason at the part I’m on. Even Vivi knew that Taryn was a bitch and backed Jude up in the argument.

Fuck Taryn and Locke. The reason why most folks hate Taryn more than the male characters who committed horrible acts is that Taryn is Jude’s twin sister. Her family. It hurts way more when the person who betrayed the main character is someone they love and have known their whole lives. It’s not rocket science.

[360iris]

reading an enemies to lovers story in a dark room and releasing hysterical witches cackles half an hour til midnight bc I got to the part where the male love interest says

“Most of all, I hate you because I think of you… often. It’s disgusting, and I can’t stop.”

[tothestarsinvelaris]

convincing your friend to read TFOTA series and they are STRUGGLING to get through the cruel prince and you realize that yall are not the same kind of reader bc you have been trying to figure out every twist and turn the whole time and she's like "this book is boring" likeee??? she's almost at the coronation and she's asking when it gets good???? like 1. it already is?? and 2. pls keep reading girly omfg????????

but also i'm like my girl?? did you not notice that Cardan was obvs not ever actually hurting Jude himself? did you not notice that in the water, he stepped forward when she almost drowned? did you not notice that when Nicasia slaps Jude, Cardan is NOT having it?? did you not notice that when Valerian was trying to kill her with the apple that he not only stopped him, but tried to get salt in Jude in like 3 different ways - then DID and sent her home bc they took it too far??? did you not notice that when Valerian got stabbed in the tower, Cardan was just like "hmm... bye. you should leave"?? i cannot!!!!!!!

trying to convince her to keep reading the series is gonna be a challenge fr.

i told her we should have read these before ACOTAR... she's not used to getting sucked into fandoms... she didn't know we would never leave Prythian... i tried to tell her...

[sirencipher]

Getting my sister into The Cruel Prince

[alwaysspeakshermind]

currently reading a much-recommended book that's been on my TBR list for a while and the protagonist really decided to challenge her twin sister to a swordfight over a loser-ish fairy boy they both like(d) even though she now KNOWS he was putting the moves on both of them at kind of the same time, and now I have to pause and cool off/find the will to finish reading.

[skullywullypully]

Valerian f*cked around and found out.