By Anya Volkov, Digital Culture Correspondent
As one popular VK blogger (handle: @morozny_korol) put it: "Cardan is not cruel because he enjoys it. He is cruel because softness was beaten out of him. And Jude loves him not despite the scars, but because she has the same map of wounds." Of course, the phenomenon has its critics. Some literary purists argue that the VK fandom has "flanderized" the character, reducing him to a leather-clad sad boy who smokes cigarettes in the rain. Others worry about the romanticization of genuinely toxic behavior—emotional manipulation, public humiliation, and weaponized neglect. cruel prince vk
He represents a form of power that is earned through pain. In a socio-political climate of uncertainty, the idea of the "cruel" protagonist who manipulates the system from within, who wears a mask of indifference while bleeding out, becomes a parable. By Anya Volkov, Digital Culture Correspondent As one