The Are The Same Picture, Oww

QoN, ch.25

Lady Asha and Lady Nore, introduced by Jude:

“I have heard that you wish for a new role in the Court,” I say to her. “I am thinking of making you an ambassador to the Court of Teeth, so it seemed useful for you to meet Lady Nore.”

There is absolutely no truth to what I’m saying. But I want Lady Asha to know that I have heard of her plotting and that if she crosses me, I am capable of sending her away from the comforts she prizes most.

...

Lady Asha looks as though what she’d really prefer is to stab me in the throat. I turn away from her and Lady Nore. “Enjoy your conversation.” Maybe they will. They both hate me. That gives them at least one thing in common.

What if Lady Asha is in cahoots with new Court of teeth? And I could definitely see her being leader of the "afraid Jude will kill Cardan" circle, as stated in spoilery chapter.

There is some sort of agreement that "The Cruel Prince" refers to any of the three princes. As well as "Stolen Heir" is both Suren and Oak.

But what about "The Wicked King"?

For the majority of the book Jude is the ruler. At least Cardan believes so, with the king lover's quarters and having limited crown magic.

Murderous, scheming and lying mortal could definitely be called wicked (or a sweet villain 😉).

There is this kind of Western narration that pisses me off, major time.

The Russian-angle narration.

I listen to some US news in the morning, and what do I hear?

There is a win for Ukraine? Yes. Is it because Ukrainian Army kicks ass? NO. It's because Russian Army is old and badly organised.

A village gets recovered by UA? Yes.

Do we get even a sentence that's NOT related to Russians? NO.

What we DO get? "Put yourself into the shoes of these Russian soldiers, poorly armed, abandoned by the command, running away..."

NO.

There is no fucking way I'm putting myself into some rashist's shoes. I absolutely decline to commiserate, to empathise or to even consider how much their life sucks.

Because you know whose life sucks more? Their victims. The people they klilled, raped, tortured, starved. And yes, maybe someone will shoot one Rusek or another. But it's not like the Ukrainians went to their neighbourhood too look for trouble - the rashists came over to conquer and colonise. It is their fate to get their asses kicked in retaliation.

Why is this narration persistent? Is it because people from the US can only commiserate with an invading army who is on enemy territory, and gets they arses handed to them, but not to someone who is actually DEFENDING THEIR MOTHERLAND?

Is it because all the wars that US of A has waged in the recent memory were fought on someone else's land? And never touched the continental states? Is it why you are unable to form a meaningful empathic connection to a civilian population whose lives have been upended so completely - because this never happened to anyone you know, or to any place that's close enough to home, for you to understand what it means to be INVADED, instead of being the INVADER?

what the fuck did I just download

Omg, same!!! Somehow Emilia feels completely powerless in the beginning, and then instantly completely open to everything. Like if she just got Mary Sue'd, but for funny times

I'm around half way in Kingdom of the cursed and I just... nothing will beat the folk of the air series when it comes to lust and holding power against someone like Jude and Cardan. and I'm not sure if it has to do with the fact that they had a tit for tat that slowly escalated in to the "your gonna have to beg for it" energy because chapter 17 of the Kingdom of the cursed is kinda giving me the wrong vibes...

and when I paused the first thing that came to mind was if I read ch15 of TWK(I am fully aware of my obsession) without context will I have the same icky feeling? is it Emilia lacking power or her lack of participation in this game of provocation that I dislike

DELICIOUS OR IMPRESSIVE? DELICIOUS IS IMPRESSIVE.

the bear / james baldwin / barry jenkins / sam sifton / joan tierney / ella risbridger / joyce carol oates / cesar chavez / ruby tandoh / aimee nezhukumatathil / jenny slate / sue zhao / ron padgett / christopher citro / crystal wilkinson / joy harjo

Map and poetry pages in Holly Black's Elfhame series The Folk of The Air ✨️

From The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King and The Queen of Nothing.

Hilda by Duane Bryers

cardan in tcp, randomly dancing with jude, avoiding her question as to what he wanted and avoiding insulting her with a fake excuse, lowers his hand on her hip, then (obviously) trying to get jude to say she hates him: “you really hate me, don’t you?” ends up leaving after judes response because buddy almost lost self control there (when you read the cardan in twk you’ll understand). let us not forget later that night he was watching her because just after his family was murdered (yikes), he found jude where she was hiding, telling her it’s not safe for her in that current situation. SOMEONE couldn’t get their mind off her especially after what she had said.

cardan in twk when jude says she hates him, showing signs of his kink: takes judes chin in his fingers, tilting her face to his. “say it again” his voice is l o w

cardan another time in twk, when him and jude are getting it ON: TELL ME AGAIN WHAT YOU SAID AT THE REVEL THAT YOU HATE ME TELL ME THAT YOU HATE ME (she does) he proceeds to kiss her harder (she says it again) he makes a harsh, l o w sound. takes off from there

this is just cause i love how longggg cardan has been wanting her, unable to control it and other great shit like damnnn fucking favs

His most ostentatious decoration, however, is his soft, sullen mouth.

It makes him look every bit the jerk that he is.

👑 The Wicked King Quote Thread 🌊

go!