Stories At Midnight @mysterious-things-we-cannot-see - Tumblr Blog

my sweet little bunny ݁ ˖Ი𐑼⋆

boba_fiish.

"Cardan looks taken aback. Or possibly I spoke so fast he's not even sure what I said. 'You need not say it out of pity,' he says finally, with great deliberateness. 'Or because I was under a curse. I have asked you to lie to me in the past, in this very room, but I would beg you not to lie now.'"

- Cardan Greenbriar, The Queen of Nothing

slightlyrebelliouswriter23

no one:

not a soul:

cardan greenbriar:

olgasaysso

In a way, the hate Cardan saw in Jude was the first actual validation he ever got.

I don't think it's talked about, but Cardans obsession with Jude started because he saw how much she hates him.

He never really got any actual attention, from the beginning he was written off as a useless, weak youngest prince. None of the people around him cared enough about him. No one he met even bothered to hate him untill Jude. Sure, people disliked him & were scared of him, which he aimed for in hopes that anyone would actually take their time to care and see him as a real person, even if they were to hate him.

In a way his cruelty was just a desparate attempt at grasping for at least some kind of resemblence of having agency in his life. Of being important. But no matter what he did, people around him remained carefully neutral.

Untill Jude.

Her hate for him was almost like seeing the potential in him. Recognition that he CHOOSES to act the way he does and he could be choosing better. I think many people didn't even bother to properly hate him and once that did hated him the way you would an animal that does cruel things.

What can you do? Snakes, cats, birds... predators who are meant to kill to survive. They are made this way, what point is there in hating them?

Judes hate meant she saw him as a real person who chooses to be awful.

Which meant that he is a real person and he does have agency in his life. And his choices matter.

Before Jude betrayed him by crowning him king in the first book, he had the biggest fun with her when he was scheming. Because there he was, the cruel, forgotten and unimportant prince, being useful. Being needed... and appriciated (regardless of how Jude showed her gratitude).

That changed his life.

queenofqueensarcheron

“The next time you want to make a point,” Jude says, “I beg you not to make it so dramatically.”

His shoulder hurts, and she may be right about the iron poisoning. He certainly feels as though his head is swimming. But he smiles up at the trees, the looping electrical lines, the streaks of clouds.

“So long as you’re begging,” he says

JURDAN EVERYONE 👏👏👏👏👏

captainwinterrsoldierr

I will never get over how Jude was sent by balekin to kill cardan and the moment he knew it was her he relaxed entirely and pulled her into the bed with him😭 and she goes he’s not suppose to relax like that? Girl he LOVES you!!!!

and then he caressed her cheek so softly?? These moments I die for

kaipaedyn

cardan greenbriar core:

anu-ca

I thought black nails would suit Cardan a lot 😌

ezziefae

Okay sooooo, why is no one talking about Cardan’s real voice?

I was looking back at my annotations and remembered an important detail about cardan’s development.

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“I don’t know,” Cardan says again, in a raw way that makes Oak think of being trapped in the royal bedchamber and overhearing him and Jude together. It’s Cardan’s real voice, the one he uses when he’s not performing.

(TPT, chap 20, pg 269)

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Here’s another quote:

“I have little experience of dispensing brotherly wisdom, but I know a great deal about mistakes. And about hiding behind a mask.” He salutes with his wineglass. “Some might say that I still do, but they would be wrong. To those I love, I am myself. Too much myself sometimes”

Oak laughs. “Jude wouldn’t say that.”

Cardan takes a deep swallow of plum-dark wine, looking pleased with himself. “She would, but she’d be lying.”

(TPT, Chap 24, Pg 347)

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This is such an important detail and a great development for Cardan. I love how deep Holly Black goes into her characters. In most of TFOTA series, we got to see this cruel, and angry prince who hid behind a mask to make himself look scary. Fast forward 8 years later, he slowly took that mask off to only those he loves and cherishes, Jude, and the rest of the family. Can’t wait to see more of Cardan in the future!