#orlagh

[viivdle]

cardan to himself when orlagh wanted punishment:

cardan after jude finally came back:

[madockisser]

Do you think Orlagh might've tried to marry Eldred at one point but was of course rejected?

orlagh x eldred?

hi! Thank you for the ask!

Nothing about their scenes really shows me that they may have had some sort of history, romantic nor sexual.

however, seeing as orlagh was willing to marry off her daughter to eldreds son, it could be an indicator that she tried the same thing and failed? this could be true for even balekin or dain tho, not just eldred. BUT. she’s a busy lady, corralling the undersea folk and killing the lords. don’t think she had much time for romance above the sea.

Orlagh rise to power is VERY different from eldreds. eldreds crown was passed onto him, orlagh forced the undersea to bend to her, and struggles maintaining order beneath the waves.

meanwhile, above land, eldred has many insufferable children and also struggles to maintain order above land, while smaller kingdoms trick him and do not swear to him. also his kids are all plotting against him.

Eldred also is pretty blatant w not caring for his kids. meanwhile, orlagh really loves her daughter and demands respect to be given to her.

it’s no secret eldred kicked cardan out of the palace, and cardan is pretty vocal abt disliking him, I’m sure nicasia told her mommy so after coming on land. it’s likely orlagh wanted to make the most out of Cardan’s hatred for eldred.

But yeah. it’s likely orlagh holds some sort of dislike for him just bc they are SUCH opposites. eldreds a nepo baby that didn’t have to earn his title it was handed to him. then they went to war a lot.

I’d be annoyed if the king of the land had a bunch of annoying kids that were all trying to deceive one another- and including her and her daughter in their schemes. also getting in the way of HER schemes.

but besides that, i just don’t think it’s likely. orlagh and nicasia seem to think VERY highly of themselves and their species, i wouldn’t be surprised if they thought they weren’t equal w the fae and eldred, but above them.

if orlagh and eldred had any sort of romantic or sexual relationship, i wouldn’t be surprised if it were to undermine or gain power over the other. doubt they were lovers, but if they were, it could explain the dislike toward one another.

if i were orlagh, i wouldn’t want to marry someone w a bunch of evil kids, just saying.

maybe eldred fell in love w orlagh and couldn’t have her, so he resorted to never settling down and just screwing half the kingdom lol. but i doubt it. it’s kinda cliche, and eldreds not entirely an idiot, why would he fall in love w his enemy? unless it truly is the greenbriar curse to fall for women who are very dangerous.

add on: i feel like it would’ve been mentioned in twk, during the council meetings. Madoc would’ve known im sure. also when eldred died, i don’t believe orlagh was mentioned, so no hints of any grief from her.

can’t know for sure, just speculation! if this is the case, it may be answered in the next book, seeing as it looks to be undersea themed! lmk if there are any typos or mistakes in grammar, I’m too tired to reread this. anyway I’m answering old asks that I’ve been putting off lol. Sorry for the wait!

And ofc feel free to add on, ik i missed some stuff like how she was weirdly connected to elfhames politics which could play a role in their potential relationship.

[rainboopz]

short lineup, but yes that's right some more minor characters though some of which are so.... SO plot vitol as;dfkj

If you must know more though...

Aisling and Borgia run an orphanage and Aisling was a newer higher and had taken care of Cerulean, Dusk, Lucy, and Lionel when they were babies. Orlagh is a magical and eccentric "entrepreneur" and her son Garbhán just really wants a friend haha :3

[itsmissing]

oc sketches part...2!!!

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

Hi I’m sorry for all my anti-Jurdan tantrums lately… but I’m not anti-Jurdan more anti-Nicasia yet I can’t make peace with the fact that Cardan still cares about Nicasia despite the fact she tortured Jude. So I have to ask, do you think Nicasia and Cardan are still friends despite the fact she tortured Jude?

to answer your main question: maybe not friends, per se, but i think there will always be an understanding between Cardan and Nicasia. they are each other's longest standing allies/accomplices, that kind of bond isn't one broken lightly.

but i want to talk about the rest of your ask because there's a lot to unpack there.

you seem to be hung up on this "Nicasia tortured Jude" narrative. and while that may be your reading of it, i don't really see it that way.

Orlagh was the one who kidnapped Jude. Orlagh was the one who held her captive. Orlagh was the one who gave her less than humane living conditions. she is the queen of the Undersea. if Jude had been meant to be treated with decency while there, she would have been under no one else's command than Orlagh's. instead, Jude stayed in a cold, dark unfurnished cell and drank sea water and was given very little food for weeks. because of Orlagh.

if you think Nicasia had any hand in Jude's treatment while she was kidnapped in the Undersea, if you think Nicasia is anything more than a pretty pawn to a cold and ruthless queen, i'm sorry but that is a plain misreading of the text.

anger at children who are literally trying to Figure It All Out, is often sorely misplaced in this series, and it breaks my heart that people wouldn't have a more nuanced understanding of their situations. we should be directing that anger at the people who are usually the ones directly responsible: the parents and guardians.

just to be clear, the only thing Nicasia did directly was punch Jude in the stomach once and take away her air bubble for five seconds. that doesn't exactly scream "torture". that was a brief altercation catalysed by anger, and perhaps also jealousy.

Nicasia thought Cardan, her ex-lover and longest known friend, was being romantically manipulated by Jude somehow. and though Jude wasn't manipulating Cardan's feelings for her, Nicasia was under that impression and was called to rock her shit for it. it's dramatic irony–quite a useful and entertaining literary device.

also, need i, for the millionth time, remind us all that Jude has done far worse than punch someone in the stomach.

–Em 🖤🗡

more theories & analysis

[snowingseptember]

IF YOURE CAROLINA ON YOUTUBE AND HAD A PLAYLIST CALLED “BY YOU I AM FOREVER UNDONE; A FOLK OF THE AIR PLAYLIST”

I DONT know what happened but your playlist got taken down and it was the only thing keeping me sane the last few months, please please come back!!!!!!!!!!

[probablytenderjourneys]

Jude and Cardan headcanons, taking place during and after Jude’s abduction part 3

• As much as Cardan wanted to think that Jude was completely recovered from her time in the Undersea, it was becoming more and more obvious that she was not. Cardan could see her hands shaking in a way they never did before; he saw her practice with her sword and her knives as she usually did but saw that her movements were slower than usual, like they caused her pain. When she watched herself in the mirror, the way she looked at herself mirrored the way she used to look at him in their earlier days as enemies- with loathing, and anger and challenge evident in her eyes.

• Jude could not stop overworking herself- she felt like she had to catch up with everything that she missed while she was away and worked until very late. Cardan started spending more and more time in her company, at first there just so she wouldn’t be alone and eventually, actually helping with all the work. Sometimes, when she fell asleep with her head on her desk, Cardan would gently wake her up so she could move to the bed. He didn’t miss how in the first second of being awake and looking at him, she always flinched, moved away from him, as if he were someone else.

• Cardan was desperate to ask Jude what happened to her, but he was also aware than Jude was not really the type to be vulnerable, especially not with him. So he didn’t ask, and he pretended he didn’t notice the changes in her.

• One night, when he was laying on her couch and she was sitting at her desk, he couldn’t bare not knowing anymore. She was going on and on about some political issue that needed to be urgently solved but his mind could not focus on anything else other than how she seemed to forget who he was sometimes, how her expression changed when he looked at him, how her eyes went glossy and unfocused, looking as if she was glamoured- it was only a couple of seconds and then she was back to being Jude, but it was enough to plant questions that he wasn’t sure he wanted the answer to. Not being able to take it anymore, he simply blurted ‘What did they do to you?’.

• When Jude fixed her glance on him, he felt suddenly ashamed and wanted to avert his gaze for even thinking of making her relive her time with Orlagh. But he had to know, and he thought that it would be good for her too.

• At first, Jude didn’t want to answer. She planned on ignoring him as if he said nothing, but then she realized that she had been hoping for someone to ask, someone to care, someone to comfort her. Because she wasn’t okay and she was so tired of not being allowed to be vulnerable.

• So she took a deep breath, and started talking. She told him about Nicasia’s punch and how it left her breathless, of her drowning Jude until she was unconscious, of her threats that she could do whatever she wanted because Jude wouldn’t remember anyway. Cardan’s face was unreadable, but his tail kept whipping side to side, as it usually did when he was agitated. She told him about allowing their humiliations so they wouldn’t guess she wasn’t glamoured, how they slapped her and made her sleep in a cage, surrounded by violent currents, and how she couldn’t get the sound of the water hitting whatever charm was surrounding her cage to keep it dry; how she sometimes saw the light from above and hoped and hoped somebody was coming for her. How they kept her in clothes that barely covered her and how vulnerable she felt. How scared she was that they were going to break her. She didn’t say that she thought they might’ve.

• She did not want to tell him about Balekin. She did not want to think about what it was like to have to kiss him even though he was everything she despised. How he asked her to kiss him as if he was Cardan; how he twisted what he guessed about her hidden feelings into something ugly or how Cardan’s kisses were now associated with Balekin. How every time she thought about kissing Cardan, she was forced to remember Baleking. His voice was soft, and quiet when he found the courage to ask ‘Jude, what did he do to you? I can see how you flinch when you think it is him waking you up.’

• Jude closed her eyes and took a deep breath; ‘He asked me to kiss him’, she said and then went to explain how he seemed to be delighted with the idea that he was ruining one of his brother’s toys. He seemed delighted to have the chance to break her, the High King’s mortal. Jude did not say that Balekin guessed at their feelings for each other, and how he rejoiced in turning them into something that he could use. But she did tell Cardan that Balekin liked her kisses best when she was forced to pretend it was Cardan she was kissing.

• Cardan felt rage boiling in him. His brother took so much away from him- even when he was King, Balekin would not stop trying to take from Cardan what was dearest to his heart. He wanted to kill Balekin, carve him up and throw him in the sea for Orlagh to understand what happened when someone messed with what Cardan loved. But he couldn’t. He could not do anything; he was as powerless as he was when Balekin used to punish him. He was the King of nothing- he couldn’t even protect his people, couldn’t protect Jude, couldn’t protect his heart.

• Cardan did not know what to say, so he was quiet for a while. ‘I’m so sorry Jude,’ he said eventually. And then he apologized for not being able to protect her, and for taking so long to get her back and for the suffering Balekin caused her.

• When Cardan said ‘I understand if you do not want to be in my accompany’, Jude’s head snapped up and she fixed her eyes on his. His eyes might look similar to Balekin’s, but the look in them as they were studying Jude was completely different. Balekin’s have been hungry, a sociopathic gleam in them as he forced his mouth on Jude’s. Cardan’s were apologetic, soft, carefully taking in her features; there was nothing cruel in them, not now.

• ‘I’m glad you’re here, Cardan,’ Jude said, voice barely a whisper. ‘Your presence reminds me you’re nothing like your brother. The memories of him will fade, and they will be replaced with ones of you.’

• Cardan stood up from the couch, and walked to her side. Put a hand on shoulder, warm and secure, and for once, Jude did not overthink, did not shy away from being comforted. She leaned her head on the hand on her shoulder, while his other hand slowly came up and gently pushed the hair away from her face. ‘I won’t let it happen again,’ he said and because he couldn’t lie, Jude believed him.

• After that night in her room, Jude felt lighter. It was good to have someone you can be vulnerable with, she thought, and it was even better that Cardan behaved like his normal self- no weird awkwardness or tip-toeing around each other, no matter the vulnerability she shared with him.

• Which is why, when Jude could not sleep because of the sound of rain on her bedroom window, she felt comfortable enough to go knock at Cardan’s door. When he opened the door, she simply said ‘I can’t sleep’ and he moved out of the way to let her in. He asked no questions, and simply got back in his bed, watching her skeptically walking to the bed too. ‘Well, get in already’ he said and it was enough to make Jude roll her eyes and forget the strangeness that was starting to creep up on her.

• Cardan turned on his side, and so did Jude so they were facing each other. He raised a finger and pushed some of her hair behind her ear, tracing the curved part of it. It reminded her of a time when he wasn’t yet King, and she wasn’t his seneschal. She closed her eyes and sighed; his bed was warm and his presence comforting, the steady rhythm of his breaths reminding her that she was on land, on land, on land. She was alright. There was enough air for her to breathe freely, and a soft bed she was laying in, and a fluffy pillow under her head. Cardan next to her, not Balekin. ‘The sound of rain on the windows makes me feel as if I’m in that cage again,’ she admitted. ‘The cage was dry and I could breathe, but there was water all around me. I can’t forget the sound of it crashing all around me.’

• Cardan didn’t say anything, and she didn’t want him to. He just pulled her closer to him, and she nuzzled her head in his warm chest, one of his hands playing with her hair, and one hugging her to him. The sound of the rain was distant now, the beating of his heart the only sound that mattered. She focused on it, counting the beats, matching her own pulse to his, and gently fell asleep feeling safe and far away from the dangers of the water.

[snusbandxknifewife]

@jurdanhell saying they didn’t picture Orlagh as super skinny/waif-ish and me agreeing (because I always pictured her as Ursula) and then boom another dumbass revelation from Lex