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indented text is from the book. some quotes have commentary, some do not. some comments are serious, and some are definitely not. most of them will only make sense to people who have read the series. and, like, there are spoilers. so please read the books first if you're interested!
also: part of the reason i'm doing such a close reading is to study cs pacat's style, especially in terms of how she does romance and erotica. there are "craft notes" that might seem weird, like i'm being redundant or restating something rather than analyzing, but those are more things that i want to remember/take away from the writing!
i'm going to tag these longer posts with "sam reads capri" in case anyone wants to read them all at once.
this is a google doc i wrote with overall content warnings for the captive prince series. it's not perfect, but i do think it's important to include.
Damen, who as a prince of the blood did not excel at wagon repairs, nodded knowledgeably,
love this slightly snarky oxymoronic moment from the narration. fake it til you make it!
‘Hey!’ Laurent called out. He was pulling himself up from the front wheel onto the wagon top. He had a swathe of yellow silk in his hand, and he stood on the wagon waving it colourfully at the squadron. ‘Hey you! Akielons!’
i think this entire bit is going to be so much funnier and rewarding after having done 2.5 books of intense analysis, which has made me essentially conclude that laurent and to a slightly lesser degree damen are a gifted and naturally-inclined improv comedy duo, even in the most dangerous and horrifying situations. horny despite the horrors? nah, “yes, and”-ing despite the horrors
It was too late to stop it. Too late to grab at Laurent’s ankle. The squadron had seen them. Brief visions of strangling Laurent weren’t helpful.
The officer in question was identifiable by his superior horse.
"superior horse"
‘You are merchants?’
‘We are.’
‘What name?’ said the officer.
‘Charls,’ said Damen, who was the only merchant he knew.
very thankful that they recycle the charls name from the inn but don’t bring up volo again. for reasons
‘You are Charls the renowned Veretian cloth merchant?’ said the officer sceptically, as if this was a name well known to him.
the absurdity here is perfectly escalated. of COURSE charls is well-known, they cannot catch a fucking break!!
also i just love the idea of these cultures essentially regarding merchants as celebrity figures. like is charls an influencer. he’s so popular that even people in the opposing nation have no choice but to stan
‘No,’ said Laurent, as if this was the most foolish thing in the world. ‘I am Charls the renowned Veretian cloth merchant. This is my assistant. Lamen.’
i like how laurent’s correction isn’t “of course he isn’t this public figure you know and like, neither of us are” in order to steer clear of having to prove their identities, but instead it’s ‘i’m the public figure you know and like, because i can actually sell this bit’
also admittedly some of the comedy in king’s rising does not work for me. especially the more fanfic-y stuff. but laurent using the ship name for him and damen in the text as a fake name is so fucking funny and i love it
(sorry i couldn't help myself)
The officer said, ‘We’re patrolling for Damianos of Akielos.’
‘Who’s Damianos of Akielos?’ said Laurent.
‘He’s the King’s son,’ Damen heard himself saying, ‘Kastor’s brother.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous, Lamen. Prince Damianos is dead,’ said Laurent.
Then, to the officer: ‘I apologise for my assistant. He doesn’t keep up with Akielon affairs.’
‘On the contrary, it’s believed Damianos of Akielos is alive, and that he crossed into this province with his men six days ago.’ The officer gestured to his squadron, waving them forward. ‘Damianos is in Akielos.’
To Damen’s disbelief, he was waving them forward to mend the wagon. One of the soldiers asked Nikandros for a wooden block to brace the wheel. Nikandros passed it to him wordlessly. Nikandros had the slightly stupefied look that Damen remembered from several of his own adventures with Laurent.
this scene works so well because of everything that came before it. just… absolutely perfect
‘When your wagon is repaired, we can ride with you to the inn,’ said the officer. ‘You’ll be quite safe. The rest of the garrison is stationed there.’
He used the same tone that Laurent had used when he had said, ‘Who’s Damianos?’
It was suddenly obvious that they were not free from suspicion. A provincial officer might not feel comfortable confronting a well-known merchant on the road and searching his wagons. But at an inn, he could set his men to investigate the wagons at his leisure. And why risk a fight with a dozen guards on the road, when you could simply escort them back to the waiting arms of your garrison?
‘Thank you, officer,’ said Laurent without hesitating. ‘Lead on.’
damen doing my analysis for me!
It was a common enough arrangement in the provinces: merchants and travellers of good birth appreciated and even subsidised a military presence, which elevated an establishment over the usual public houses where not even a slave, if they possessed a shred of respectability, would risk eating.
in akielos, it’s apparently more respectable to be enslaved than poor. boooooooo
‘Very well.’ Laurent showed no sign of hesitation whatsoever. ‘Come, Lamen.’
i think in-universe laurent isn’t using it as a ship name, but as a pun to call damen “lame.” because he’s a bitch
‘This is Charls the renowned Veretian cloth merchant.’
‘That isn’t Charls the renowned Veretian cloth merchant.’ The innkeeper looked at Laurent.
‘I can assure you that I am.’
‘I can assure you. Charls the renowned merchant is already here.’
There was a pause.
‘Who is this impostor claiming to be m—’
They came face to face with Charls the Veretian cloth merchant.
laurent is getting ready to “yes, and” the shit out of this
Charls took one look at the unmistakable blue eyes and blond hair of his Prince, who he had last seen in Damen’s lap dressed as a pet in a tavern at Nesson. His eyes widened. Then, with a truly heroic effort:
‘Charls!’ said Charls.
no notes. delightful situation.
‘If he is Charls, then who are you?’ said the officer to Charls.
‘I,’ said Charls, ‘am—’
‘He is Charls, I have known him these eight years,’ said the innkeeper.
‘That’s right. He is Charls. I am Charls. We are cousins,’ said Charls, gamely, ‘named after our grandfather. Charls.’
‘Thank you, Charls, this man believes I am the King of Akielos,’ said Laurent.
‘I simply meant that you might be an agent of the King,’ said Stavos irritably.
‘An agent of the King when he has raised taxes and threatens to bankrupt the entire cloth industry?’ said Laurent.
laurent in this scene is me like 70% of the time playing dungeons and dragons. yessss girl pull in local politics and economics to make people accept your credibility
‘There is no need to apologise, Stavos. Your vigilance does you credit.’ Laurent gave a stiff little bow of his own.
Then he drew off his riding cloak and passed it to Damen to carry.
‘In disguise again!’ Charls said sotto voce as he drew Laurent over to his table by the fire. ‘What is it this time? A mission for the Crown? A secret rendezvous? No fear, Your Highness—it’s my honour to keep your secret.’
charls deserves his celebrity status. i’m obsessed. he’s like, “oh goodness how delightful! i wonder what fun games of deception the king of vere and his little boyfriend are playing now!”
‘This is my assistant Guilliame.’
‘This is my assistant Lamen,’ said Laurent.
laurent gets to be himself but damen doesn’t. lmaoooo
Laurent found a seat close to Charls and the silk merchant Mathelin. Lamen was relegated to a small three-legged stool at the table end.
loving how the narrative is now just calling damen “lamen”
It was decent wine and there were no flutists or dancing boys, which was the best one could hope for at a public inn, Damen thought.
WELL DAMEN I THINK THAT’S PROBABLY BETTER THAN PEOPLE SPECIFICALLY ENSLAVED AND GROOMED TO PROVIDE ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE RULING CLASS BUT MAYBE THAT’S JUST ME
Guilliame came to talk to him, since they were the same rank.
‘Lamen. That’s an unusual name.’
‘It’s Patran,’ said Damen.
‘You speak very good Akielon,’ he said, loudly and slowly.
‘Thank you,’ said Damen.
picturing him like yzma in the sombrero
Nikandros had to stand awkwardly by the end of the table when he arrived. He frowned when he realised he had to give his report to Laurent. ‘The wagons are unpacked. Charls.’
nonconsensual improv
‘We usually operate in Delfeur, but I’ve been forced to come south. Nikandros is completely useless as the Kyros,’ Laurent said, loudly enough for Nikandros to hear him. ‘He doesn’t know the first thing about cloth.’
‘That is so true,’ agreed Mathelin.
Charls said, ‘He disallowed trading in Kemptian silk, and when I tried to sell silk from Varenne he taxed it at five sols a bolt!’
this is the best day of laurent’s life
nikandros private twitter vent #15. obviously. also does this count as an hr complaint? gonna say no—but i think nikandros would still file it out of spite
‘Charls met the Prince of Vere once,’ Guilliame said to Damen, lowering his voice to the conspiratorial, ‘in a tavern in Nesson, disguised as a,’ lowering it further, ‘prostitute.’
Damen looked over at Laurent, who was deep in conversation, letting his eyes pass slowly over every familiar feature, the cool expression tipped with gold in the firelight. He said, ‘Did he?’
‘Charls said, think of the most expensive pet you’ve ever seen, then double it.’
‘Really?’ said Damen.
‘Of course, Charls knew who he was right away, because he couldn’t hide his princely style, and nobility of spirit.’
‘Of course,’ said Damen.
two possibilities here:
1) charls is lying about recognizing laurent immediately as a flex for his friends (most likely)
2) charls did recognize laurent and was just like “go off i guess”
Across the table, Laurent was asking questions about cultural differences in trade. Veretians liked ornate fabrics and dyes, weavings and ornamentations, Charls said, but Akielons had a sharper focus on quality, and their textiles were in truth more sophisticated, every aspect of the weave revealed by their deceptively simple styles. In some ways, it was harder to trade here.
‘Maybe you could encourage Akielons to wear sleeves. You’d sell more cloth,’ said Laurent.
Everyone laughed politely at the joke, and then speculative looks crossed one or two faces, as if this young cousin of Charls’s might have stumbled by accident onto a good idea.
this is perfect for several reasons:
1) laurent using his political intelligence to make a genuinely helpful suggestion, foreshadowing that he will be a great leader
2) laurent dunking on akielion fashion in front of damen, which he has done several times before, but this time damen can’t argue
3) laurent further mocking damen, who dropped a fucking pitcher because of his exposed arms, by suggesting that his entire culture start wearing sleeves en masse so such situations would not occur again. iconic.
4) we actually get a sense that it might have worked. because laurent really is just That Bitch.
the wagons where Jokaste was spending the night, along with Guion’s wife, Loyse.
so we’ve got an akielion noblewoman, who had the bastard child of one of the two princes as a means of social mobility, having a hostage sleepover with the mourning and resentful wife of a veretian noble whose son died as a result of her husband’s unforgivable choice of letting said son be assaulted as a means of social climbing. very fun girl’s night circumstances
Damen the assistant checked in on both the soldiers and the wagons,
so he’s called damen again? but he’s called lamen in like two paragraphs. did someone else get the name damen? i don’t see that on the page. maybe it’s just distinguishing based on who’s perceiving him? i don’t know it’s fine i don’t need to understand every little detail (this is going to bother me until i find a coherent pattern or forget entirely)
One of the inn men came out with a lantern in his hand traversing the courtyard to tell Lamen that his room was prepared, second door to the right.
okay so i think it’s “lamen” when he’s interacting with the inn people, “damen” with his own people, and a mixture of both with charls and the merchant’s guild
He ascended the stairs. Without the lantern, there was quite a bit of unlit gloom,
He had exchanged his Akielon cotton for an oversized Veretian bed shirt, loose and trailing laces. And he had dragged all of the bedding from the small Akielon-style bed and heaped it in front of the fire, even dragging the clean mattress down to join the smaller pallet there.
didn’t they do something similar with the fireplace in the nesson inn scene? i get that we’re getting a lot of parallels and it’s great
Damen looked at the bedding, and said, carefully, ‘The innsman sent me here.’
“carefully” he’s like “uhhhh i don’t want to be presumptive but am i about to get laid”
‘At my instruction,’ said Laurent.
“yes. yes you are about to get laid."
Damen felt his heart begin to pound, even as he held himself still and tried not to make any dangerous assumptions.
damen i can read you like a book (literally)
Laurent said, ‘It’s our last chance for a real bed before the Kingsmeet.’
this is brutal, knowing that laurent almost certainly intends to turn himself in at this point :(
‘I need to bathe.’ He said it into Laurent’s ear, let his lips find the sensitive skin just behind it.
They were kissing again, deep, heated kisses. ‘So go and bathe.’
He found himself pushed backwards, looking at Laurent across a stretch of space. Leaned against the wall, Laurent indicated to the small wooden door with his chin. His pale brows arched. ‘Or do you expect me to attend you?’
unlike previous sex scenes, they’re actually taking a breather and considering it beforehand. making the conditions how they both actually want them to be. i like that a lot, as opposed to the last sex scene, where it was all very sudden and impulsive. my guess is that i will love this scene for the reasons i disliked the last—they represent the two different ways damen and laurent respectively experience and prefer to express desire. damen’s is overwhelming and raw and primal (“you like it simple”), while laurent’s well-considered and gradual and within his own control. i think it’s very clear which my preference is, and i do stand by the suggestion that the last scene wasn’t as Good as damen felt like it was—but i also acknowledge that i’m just more on the laurentian side of things, and part of a relationship is indulging things that your partner desires that might not be your exact preference. in chapter 12, laurent is indulging damen. in this chapter, damen is more indulging laurent.
The evidence of planning was in fact very like Laurent, though Damen had never experienced it from him quite in this context before.
congrats buddy, you’re about to
(also i love and am saddened by the idea of laurent having a list of things he’d like to do with damen before turning himself in, and just kind of methodically assembling the circumstances to make sure he can experience it all)
Laurent didn’t follow him in, but left him to wash, a utilitarian task.
damen’s bath trauma is definitely an ongoing thing, and i like how we’re seeing how it can slowly heal. we’ve gone from Very Bad associations to Neutral associations—utilitarianism. eventually we’ll get to Good, but there’s still a way to go.
Here, too, was evidence of planning, and he could see it now for what it was: the lit candles, the joint bedding, and Laurent himself, clean and dressed in a bed shirt.
He thought of Laurent, waiting for him expectantly. It was charming, because it was clear that Laurent was unsure exactly what to do, yet, typically, had acted to take control of everything.
it better be charming or else i’m personally screwed. who said that
‘First time to entertain a lover?’ Just saying the word made him flush, and he saw Laurent flush too.
cheesy ass line
Laurent said, ‘Are you bathed?’
‘Yes,’ said Damen.
Laurent was standing on the other side of the room, near the stripped-down bed. He looked tense in the flame light, a nervy steeling of himself.
Laurent said, ‘Take a step back.’
i like how we’re subtly seeing that laurent has been identifying the reasons that doing this specific sex act makes him anxious, and actively seeking to create circumstances where he can feel safe. he wants damen to be clean. he wants to be the one giving verbal instructions. he does not want to be touched. verbalizing those things makes it slightly less overwhelming, and allows him to consciously experience this, rather than just saying “i don’t care, do whatever you want.” and that’s amazing.
‘Take off the towel,’ said Laurent.
dead girl walking…
Virgins and the inexperienced tended to get nervous, which he enjoyed as a challenge to be overcome, hesitancy turned into eagerness and pleasure. It pleased some deep part of him to see in Laurent the flickering of a similar reaction. Laurent eventually lifted his gaze from the place where it had, instinctively, dropped.
He let Laurent see him, see his nakedness was on display, the strident fact of his arousal. The flames in the stone hearth were too loud as they consumed the young cut wood.
‘Don’t touch me,’ said Laurent.
And dropped to his knees on the floor of the inn.
god this is SO fucking good. laurent puts himself face-to-face with a source of trauma and abuse, sets his boundaries so he can feel safe, and decides to challenge that trauma head-on (PUN NOT INTENDED)
(slightly related, i just recently wrote my first earnest sex scene ever in a self-insert fic for another fandom and it is a LOT like this one. which is funny, bc that wasn’t really was i was trying to do, but i guess it rubbed off on me when i read it back in may. and i’m a lot like laurent, soooooooo)
oh also, damen’s perception of laurent being a cute nervous virgin, when in reality he’s like fighting demons with his bare hands, is yknow. more of the same stuff i comment on, where it’s good that he doesn’t see laurent as a victim but also lacks the understanding that we have and it’s paradoxically frustrating and nice
Damen’s pulse escalated wildly, even as he tried rather desperately not to presume that any other action would necessarily follow from this one.
yeah damen he’s definitely on his knees to rearrange the rug
(it’s nice that he’s trying to show restraint, especially after the last scene. not that he did anything WRONG last time, but he seems to be noticing that this is something laurent wants and needs to control)
Laurent was going to do it. When you see a panther opening its jaws you don’t get your dick out.
i listened to an interview with cs pacat where she was commenting on the way people always portray giving head or being penetrated as an inherently demeaning activity, like it’s always showing that the person doing it is weak, but she pushes back like uhhhh no. when you see a panther opening its jaws you don’t get your dick out
also telling is that one of laurent’s first (and arguably most memorable) acts of dominance over damen was forcing him to have someone else give him head, which very much made him the weaker and demeaned person in the situation, even if damen ultimately kinda just shrugged it off bc he was already so casual about sex before meeting laurent and also like. had sex slaves
The idea of the frigid Prince of Vere sucking his cock was impossible.
was
Laurent’s eyes were very dark, his chest rising and falling with shallow breaths, clearly struggling with something, as he leant in again.
i am very grateful that laurent exists as a character and is written the way he is
He hadn’t imagined it like this. He knew Laurent’s mouth, knew its vicious capability. He knew it as Laurent’s primary weapon. In his daily life, Laurent held his lips taut, repressing their lush shape into a hard line, his mouth cruel curves. Damen had seen Laurent eviscerate people with that mouth.
Now Laurent’s lips were given over to pleasure, his words traded for Damen’s cock.
this is one of my favorite lines/paragraphs in the entire series. definitely the best one related to eroticism. it’s so much more rewarding for damen to have laurent, who he genuinely respects for his brilliance and sharp tongue, willingly and mindfully taking him despite his anxieties out of desire and determination, than for a slave with no personality to do what they’ve been groomed to do, or someone damen only shallowly understands like jokaste to basically use him for social clout. it’s also more rewarding to me personally as a reader for this to happen, as opposed to laurent just being like “i don’t care, do what you want” with very little mindfulness or control and damen just taking him like that, which is what happened in chapter 12. ultimately i think it’s more of a matter of taste and personal preference, which of those situations a reader prefers. both make sense for the characters they feature in control, and tell us useful things in understanding who they are and how they feel.
It was clear that Laurent didn’t know how to process the fact that he was turned on, and that part of his wariness was that he was uncertain what was next, one of the strange gaps in his experience that Damen couldn’t predict.
fuck… that’s so sad. but a really good detail and i’m glad it’s there.
In the dim light, Laurent said, ‘A fair exchange, is it?’
‘I don’t know. What do you want?’
i’m trying to figure out what exactly this means. is laurent asking for something in return, as a way to minimize his own vulnerability here? what does the “i don’t know” mean, then? it almost sounds like laurent is referring to some previous conversation between them. ughhh i feel lazy. is it just bc damen gave laurent head in a previous scene? laurent being aware that he gives really good head (because [redacted]), basically teasing damen that he (laurent) gives better head and they both know it, and therefore a true fair exchange would include damen giving him a little extra? and damen teasingly being like “mayyybbbeeee, depends on what you want ;)”
‘Show me,’ said Laurent, ‘how it could be.’
damen understands this as “how it could be if we were together as we’ve fantasized about, without any of the war shit and courting conventionally”
laurent means that, but also, “how it could be if i’m not being assaulted or dissociating. because with what i’m about to do—turning myself in to be killed—i’m never gonna have it”
‘I would court you,’ said Damen, ‘with all the grace and courtesy that you deserve.’
He undid the first lace on Laurent’s shirt, and the fabric began to open, a glimpse of the hollow of his throat. Laurent’s lips were parted, his breath hardly stirring.
Damen said, ‘There’d be no lies between us.’
He opened the second lace, felt the low throb of his own pulse, the warmth of Laurent’s skin as his fingers moved to the third.
‘We’d have time,’ Damen said, ‘to be together.’
And in the warm flame light, he lifted his hand and cupped Laurent’s cheek, and then leaned in, and kissed him on the lips, gently.
figuratively and literally undressing him. also this is so hot. anyway
He felt Laurent’s shock, as though he had not expected to be kissed after what he had just done.
stopppp
The way Laurent kissed was nothing like the way he did anything else. It was simple and without artifice, as if kissing were serious.
this scene is interesting, because it’s kind of written like they haven’t done stuff like kissing and intimacy together before. is it kind of an indication that damen subconsciously recognizes that this is the first laurent has allowed himself to be fully present? bc i think that is what’s happening here
The kiss deepened at Laurent’s bidding.
“at laurent’s bidding” let’s fucking gooooooo. man who has struggled to prove he’s in control of a world that hates him for 2.5 books has been willingly given control by someone who deeply respects and cares for him, who has said that he trusts him to treat him well
the sort of proprietary touch he wouldn’t have dreamed of before tonight, and still half expected Laurent to kill him for. Laurent made a small sound of encouragement, breaking off the kiss for a moment and closing his eyes, all his attention on Damen’s touch.
yeah this works for me. lol. in chapter 12 it’s like, there damen was getting off on laurent’s lack of control or mindfulness, the fact that his defenses had just completely fallen and he was being “honest,” so much so that he almost acted like a slave. but here, laurent is mindful about his choice to make himself vulnerable, and damen both sees and respects him for the complex and snippy and very un-slavelike person he is. the amazing thing here is that laurent isn’t pushing back or away, but he’s also not dissociating or pretending to be someone or something he isn’t—in fact, he’s pushing himself to be there despite his hesitation, and trusting damen to treat him well.
‘You like it slow.’ He dipped his head near Laurent’s ear.
‘Yes.’
I FUCKING KNEW “YOU LIKE IT SIMPLE” WAS GOING TO CONTINUE TO BE RELEVANT
do i even need to spell it out, how that line so perfectly works with "you like it slow"? holy fucking shit.
Laurent’s overfine skin was more sensitive than his own, though during the day Laurent ruthlessly strapped himself into the most severe clothing possible. He wondered if Laurent repressed sensation for the same reason that he struggled to admit it now, his jaw taut.
i love this little observation, wow. laurent represses feelings because he tends to experience them more deeply or sensitively than other people. this means that when he protects himself from harm, he’s also protecting himself from pleasure—because to laurent, as a victim of sexual abuse especially, pleasure and harm come hand-in-hand. we get to see damen figure this out on the page, even without the context of the regent, and accurately suspects that laurent’s “struggle to admit it” runs deeper than just being a flustered virgin, which is what he had previously assumed.
It was Laurent who pushed him down onto the bedding. Laurent’s hands were on him. Laurent touched him as if to learn the shape and feel of his body, as if to catalogue every part of him and commit it to memory.
HMMM I WONDER WHY HE’S TRYING TO CATALOGUE AND MEMORIZE HERE
Laurent broke off, and appeared to have come to a decision, his breathing quickened but controlled.
‘Make me come,’ he said, and placed Damen’s hand between his legs.
checking another thing off the bucket list! i feel like laurent had almost an intimacy contingency plan here: if i do a and still feel comfortable and present, then i’ll try to do b. and then c, if i haven’t been overstimulated or triggered yet. all the way down the list
‘Like that?’
No. Slower.
remember when laurent gave very similar directions to ancel as he gave damen head back in book 1?
“You’re more likely to win a game if you don’t play your whole hand at once,’ said Laurent. ‘Start more slowly.”
turns out the key to pleasuring laurent really was hidden in plain sight the entire time ;) it is the game he likes, after all
His own body’s renewed interest had grown from lazy arousal to primed, heavy; ready to mount, even as he put it aside to watch Laurent attempt to let his guard down.
“ready to mount” damen don’t be cringe
He felt the repression when it came, the hard restraint that Laurent exerted over his body, his stomach clenching, a muscle moving in his jaw. He knew what it signalled. Damen didn’t stop moving his hand.
so he didn’t come? am i reading that right?
‘Don’t like to come?’
‘Is that a problem?’ His breathing shallow, Laurent didn’t quite manage the approximation of his usual tone.
‘Not for me. I’ll tell you how it was when I’m done.’
damen: you seem to be having a weird time with this (teasing to ease the intensity of whatever dark shit is going on in laurent’s head)
laurent: is the matter of how one does or does not come a problem
damen: not for me, i come all the time and i’m awesome at it. how about we come together and compare our experiences
they’re ridiculous. i love them
Laurent swore, once, succinctly,
he took Laurent in his hand and said, ‘Come on, then.’ It felt ridiculously daring to tell Laurent in any respect what to do.
The first thrust against him was deliberate, a push of heat into his hand. Laurent’s eyes were on his. He could feel that it was new for Laurent to do this, just as it was new for him to feel like he was receiving it. He wondered if Laurent had ever fucked anyone in earnest, and he realised with a jolt of shock that Laurent hadn’t. The flood of heat that came at that wasn’t comfortable. And then like Laurent he was suddenly somewhere he had never been.
cool way for the playing field to be evened between them—the idea of bottoming makes damen feel similarly confused and inexperienced but undeniably aroused to laurent in like most sexual situations
‘I’ve,’ said Damen, ‘never—’
‘Nor have I,’ said Laurent. ‘You’d be my first.’
damen jots that down for later (laurent doesn’t think there’s going to be a later)
Laurent said, ‘I thought that in Akielos, a First Night was special.’
‘For a slave it is,’ said Damen. ‘For a slave it means everything.’
“you like it simple”
damen has realized there is so much more to loving a real person than the simplicity of having semi-ritualistic sex with slaves groomed to only care about his pleasure and not their own, for whom the pinnacle of existence is getting fucked. laurent has a lot more going on than just his sexuality, and so does damen. and they truly know and love each other, and demonstrate that in ways that aren't just sexual.
for a slave, this means everything—everything in the absence of any other purpose, because slaves aren’t allowed to have any other purpose. for a person with purpose beyond sex, this means SOMETHING. and it’s something they’ve actually chosen to care about and pursue, because they want it without having to be groomed. and that’s why free will is sexy.
Climax hit even though they were not inside each other’s bodies, but joined together, one.
it’s dangerous to come alone
He felt Laurent shifting, too soon.
‘I’ll get—’
i like how his trauma responses don’t like magically disappear once he lets himself get off. in fact were are reminded of them immediately
He knew that Laurent was fastidious after lovemaking, and he liked that he knew it, liked that he was learning Laurent’s idiosyncracies. Laurent paused, touching his fingers to the wooden edge of the table and just breathing in the dim light. Laurent’s post-coital habits were also an excuse, covering a need to take a moment to himself, and Damen knew that, too.
He sipped from the shallow cup that Laurent provided, and poured water for Laurent in turn, which Laurent didn’t seem to expect.
too easy to point out the metaphor there
Damen stretched out comfortably, and waited for Laurent to do the same. That took minutes longer than it would have with any other lover.
he likes it slow!!
‘You’re still wearing it.’
He couldn’t help but say it. Laurent’s wrist was heavy with gold, like the colour of his hair in the firelight.
‘So are you.’
‘Tell me why.’
‘You know why,’ said Laurent.
i think this might be the closest thing we get to an “i love you”
‘There will be no Patran princess, or daughter of the Empire.’
THERE'S NOT GOING TO BE A PATRAN PRINCESS, YOU STUPID SLUT
‘It’s your duty to continue your line.’
damen is projecting. he’s realizing how much he wants to marry laurent and truly Have Him, but it’s in conflict with his obligation as king to create an heir. so i guess that’s also why we have plot device baby
He didn’t know why he said it.
don’t worry man we’ve got our people (me) on it
‘No. I’m the last. My line ends with me.’
Damen turned, to find Laurent was not looking back at him, but also had his eyes on some point in the dim light. Laurent’s voice was quiet. ‘I have never said that to anyone before.’
a few implications here. most likely perceived by damen: he’s ashamed of his bloodline and the bad people in it, including himself. probably intended by laurent: he’s not going to have a chance to continue the bloodline even if he wanted to, because he’s going to turn himself in and get killed
‘I’m glad you’re here,’ said Laurent. ‘I always thought that I’d have to face my uncle alone.’
i hate it here. just TALK TO HIM AND FIND ANOTHER SOLUTION (something laurent has been unwilling to do several times in this series, and each time it has been a mistake)
laurent has gotten so comfortable conferring with damen re: plans and strategy, as long as the goal is to protect other people. what makes this different is that the only person who will be “harmed” by this plan is laurent himself, and laurent doesn’t believe that he deserves to live, especially if his death means everyone else can win. strong vs weak stuff is still deeply internalized. he does not expect himself to be able to get out of this one by killing a guy with a chair—he’s walking into the situation knowing the regent is stronger, and the best he can do is pave the way for damen to exercise his own strength in opposition
‘You’re not alone,’ said Damen.
Laurent didn’t answer, but he did give a smile, and reached out to touch Damen, wordlessly.
yet
it is interesting how we went from laurent keeping secrets from damen in order to punish him and limit the amount of intimacy and care they can show each other, to laurent keeping secrets from damen in order to save him and relishing every second of intimacy and care they have left
Charls’s wagon train lent them respectability
literally an influencer
When the days got too hot, they retreated to inns and wayhouses, and once a large farmhouse where they ate bread, hard cheese and figs, and Akielon sweets of honey and nuts that attracted wasps in the sticky heat.
do you think akielos also has slaves to provide fine goods and foods for the ruling class? is it just a sex thing?
‘So you ministered to his household.’
‘And to his boys,’ said Paschal.
Damen said nothing.
i think damen definitely suspects [redacted] deep down, maybe he thinks laurent would have told him already if it were true?
‘I see that you used to be a slave, and that Charls has freed you,’ Guilliame said to him, as they prepared to part ways. Guilliame spoke very earnestly. ‘I want you to know that Charls and I have never traded in slaves.’
Damen looked out at the weird beauty of the gnarled landscape. He heard himself say, ‘Damianos will end slavery when he becomes King.’
LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Nikandros was looking at Laurent.
‘He’s very—’
‘You get used to it,’ said Damen, with a little wellspring of joy inside him, because that wasn’t really true.
AWWWWWW this is a love confession too
And that was strange. To be here, so close to the end of his own plans. So close to the end, really, of everything.
oh my god laurentttt
To be where he’d never dreamed he would be, and to know that by morning, this would be finished, or at least, his part in it.
STOP
Then, because there should be no witnesses to this, he dismissed the guards. All bad things were done in the dark.
Jokaste watched all of this happen and didn’t flinch from it, nor did she scream or plead for help, as he had thought she would not.
i really like “as he had thought she would not”
He said, ‘I think it’s Kastor’s child.’
Jokaste didn’t answer him, and there was a silence in which her gaze was on him. Laurent regarded her in turn. Around them, the camp stayed quiet, no sounds except for the breeze and the night.
‘I think you saw it clearly, in those twilight days in Akielos. The end was coming, and Damianos wouldn’t listen to anyone. The only way to save his life was to persuade Kastor to send him as a slave to Vere. To do that you had to be in Kastor’s bed.’
is laurent accusing her of loving damen and trying to save him, in a very manipulative and roundabout way? because that is what he’s doing right now. which is neat. i like these two together
It gave something away. And she was angry about it, and for the first time she was afraid.
He said, ‘I think it’s Kastor’s child, because I don’t think you would use Damen’s child against him.’
“because you love him. i know this, because i’m just like you and i love him”
‘You mean, the only difference between us is that I chose the wrong brother?’
As the stars began to drift across the sky, Laurent thought about Nicaise, standing in the courtyard with a handful of sapphires.
‘I don’t think you chose,’ said Laurent.
WOAH okay gotta unpack that. is laurent thinking of nicaise in regards to what he (laurent) didn’t and couldn’t do to save him? at this time where he’s doing something to save people he cares about? or is he comparing jokaste to nicaise, in that they both had to fraternize with nobility in a way that was technically their “choice” but very much informed by money and society? or is he comparing the baby that he’s giving himself up to save to nicaise, that’s why he cares so deeply about saving it, and he has no choice? none of these feel quite right.
“nicaise in the courtyard with a handful of sapphires” i forget what exactly this refers to. is it when nicaise is about to warn laurent, and fails to? is that the last time laurent saw him alive? is he likening nicaise’s lack of autonomy in the situation with the regent, and the efforts he took to help laurent despite it, to jokaste telling kastor to spare damen? these imperfect attempts at helping others within a situation that robs a person of their control, which an observer could identify as stupid or useless? just like what laurent is doing right now?? yeah. i think that might be it
Amazing as always. To answer your question, I think the scene with Nicaise is referring to the last time Laurent saw him alive, handing over the sapphire earring. Because in a roundabout way, I think Laurent believes that earring got him killed. It was a public gesture of affinity between the two of them in clear sight of the Regent; one Laurent clearly blames himself for because he instigated the bet, and he cultivated the sort of friendship that made Nicaise willing to see him off, but didn't actually help him.
As to the heir thing... I think the reason that feels extra weird is that we know the baby is just going to disappear, and Damen doesn't seem to perturbed at the loss of his only potential heir, so...?
love that the supergirl movie confirms that kryptonians aren’t weird ubermensch fascists and clark’s parents were just weird. Like they were just Scientologists or something
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foaming at the mouth over this panel . especially after the issue where steph confronts her own moral compass with tim . oh my god steph helena you are the only two foils ever . THEIR SUITS ARE INVERTED VERSIONS OF EACHOTHER . look me in my eyes.
steph who HAS to be good she has to be good and follow the moral code and be on the bat's good side despite thinking everything helena does she needs their approval
helena and steph who are both presently and past being shunned by the batman club who both get told that if they just be good...
except steph still believes it, and helena is fed tf up. in this comic at least shes lost her faith in ever being good enough
ohhh my god they make me insane !!!! steph with the clue master and helena with the bertinellis . what if the only person who understands you is a broken mirror with shards poking out of every edge that warps your reflection what then
and then they both get fired anyways despite trying so so hard holy shit 😭😭😭😭
(obligatory nudge to both hels and steph using "mooks". the only sisters ever im sick)
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I just think it would be funny if Dick and Donna ended up dating fraternal twins, but neither of them knew they were dating the same pair of fraternal twins.
The guy Donna's seeing mentions that he hates the guy his sister is seeing because the guy keeps making excuses to leave dates early, and he finds it disrespectful.
Donna's making fake looks of disapproval and internally panicking because she's definitely had to make excuses to leave early before because of life saving situations she needs to deal with, and she doesn't want this guy thinking badly of her if she has to do it with him (and she will have to at some point). What if it leads to her unraveling more and more until her bad luck swallows her whole?
Then the woman Dick is seeing mentions that she's not sure how she feels about the girl her brother is currently seeing. "She's really nice, but she's almost too perfect. Like to the point where it's hard to talk to her because it feels like I'm waiting for her to be her real self."
And then Dick panics because this woman should already know he's not completely perfect since he's already had to leave two of their dates early, but what if he's too imperfect for her to want to keep him around? What if she realizes that on top of being a workaholic, he's a little intense, and sometimes a little insensitive, and also kind of a big failure? What if his real self isn't enough?
So then both Dick and Donna are spiraling about whether they're good enough or not, and they don't realize that they're inadvertently spiraling because of each other.
I was recently reminded of the old “dvd commentaries” pacat had done on her livejournal about some of the chapters in the first two books that sadly got deleted when she purged the lj before the new published versions came out.
They used to be free for everyone so I thought it would be nice for the people who got into the series after to get the chance to read them since they show some interesting insight about her writing process and some character information. Also Pacat dragging her own characters and story lol
Just so you know, these are based on the old version of the books so some names are different: Vere is Rabat and Jokaste is Margaret.
Captive Prince: Historical References and Naming Conventions
Hi all! I've had this idea in my head for a while now, and I finally had some time (and an Ancient Greek dictionary), so I figured I'd give it a shot. I've always been fascinated by Pacat's worldbuilding, particularly the naming conventions, and as a classicist myself, I wanted to dissect them. So that's what this is. My focus is mainly going to be on Akielos since I don't have as in-depth a knowledge of French, but I'll go through some Veretian names too (je n'ai pas étudié le français depuis deux années, mais Arles… je voudrais parler d'Arles…)
I'm not approaching this with any kind of formal, academic structure, so if something wonky gets through, please let me know! And lastly, I have no idea how many of these are intentional on Pacat's part. This analysis is less about authorial intent and more about how the associations inherent in these names can lend to our interpretation of the work. I'll also be doing this analysis over a few different posts since there is a lot I want to cover. For post #1:
Country Names
This post will solely feature Vere and Akielos since that's already a lot, but I will tackle Patras et. al. later on. There's some very interesting stuff there that I would be remiss not to look at. Of our subjects for today, Vere is the simpler, and the one I am absolutely certain Pacat intended, so I'll start with it.
Vere
Disclaimer: I am in love with this choice. The word itself is actually a Classical Latin adverb derived from the adjective "vērus," meaning "true," and in Latin it's spelled "vērē" (though you will not see those macrons in extant texts, those are a modern pronunciation and differentiation aid). Vērē can be translated a handful of ways; often it's used for emphasis, and in that case it's usually translated as "indeed," but "truly," "rightly," "exactly," and "truthfully" all work in different contexts. Extrapolate vērus and its derivatives for around a thousand years and you get the Old French word "verai" (ouah c'est vrai !) which means, well, "true."
It's also close in spelling and pronunciation to the modern French "verre," which means "glass," which isn't entirely relevant, but is cool. It makes me think of shiny, fragile displays of opulence like the Galerie des Glaces in Versailles.
The first reason I really like this name is that it calls back to Artes, the Roman-inspired kingdom that we're told once encompassed all of Vere and Akielos, while still fitting current Veretian (aka half-old-half-modern French) grammar and pronunciation. The second is, naturally, that it fits so well into the series' themes of truth, deception, and verisimilitude. The second we're introduced to Vere, and by extension Laurent, there's a subtle hint there that both he and his country are, at their core, more real, genuine, and truthful than Damen and Akielos. We're already building towards Damen's Kings Rising line, "I have never known a truer man." Even if you don't recognize the Latin, your brain will make the connection between Vere and verisimilitude later. It's perfect, 10/10 Pacat, could not have done it better.
And just for fun: a Latin example!
Commentarii de Bello Civili, 2:27. Latin and English available here.
Hi, sive vere quam habuerant opinionem ad eum perferunt, sive etiam auribus Vari serviunt…
Loeb Translation: "Whether they convey to him the opinion that they really held, or whether they only flatter his ears…" (165)
Slightly more literal translation (by me): "Whether these ones truly convey to him the opinion as they held it, or rather are subservient to Varius' ears…"
Akielos
The name "Akielos" is a lot more… nebulous. I don't know if there is a Greek print of Captive Prince, but my guess is it would be spelled Άκιελος (modern Greek speakers please weigh in, I'm only a year or so into Ancient Greek so I haven't really touched accent marks). That doesn't map neatly to any modern or ancient greek word—at least that I know of. What is does remind me of is Ἀχιλῆος (Achileos) from Ἀχιλλεύς (Achilleus), aka, Achilles. They're so close that I actually realized lately I had unconsciously been pronouncing Akielos as "Akileos" for a while; and in fact, this makes the Veretian spelling "Achelos" make a bit more sense. English and French both use a hard "ch" to represent χ in Greek words; so I imagine, in universe, that the word might actually be spelled Άχιελος. It wouldn't even surprise me if this was the way Pacat originally wanted to spell it, but had to change it for ease of comprehension.
I did have some other interpretations of the name, but I think this is the strongest. Because in addition to the obvious association, the name Ἀχιλλεύς is thought to be derived from the words ἄχος, "distress/grief" and λαός, "people," making it either "the grief" or "grief of/to the people" depending on who you ask (you rely on cases for that sort of distinction in Greek and they're not exactly present here. iykyk).
I really like the idea of Akielos being associated with grief; we're first introduced to it as a country in mourning, and then later on, as the cause of grief in Delfeur. And then you have the association with Achilles, himself a prolific brother killer, who Pacat references later in 'The Fall of Inachtos,' our in-universe Iliad. Insane levels of grief on grief on grief. Plus, because it looks closer to the genitive form, I automatically associate it with the opening line of the Iliad:
μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
menin aeide thea Peleiadeo Achileos
Sing, goddess, the anger of Achilles, Peleus' son
So we can throw a little rage into the equation. As a treat.
Also important to note that the -os there is a masculine ending. It doesn't have the most bearing, but it does mean that if we want to be strictly accurate to Ancient (and modern!) Greek grammar, I have to throw a quick article in front of it, making our final "how do the Akielons spell Akielos?" answer: ὁ Άχιελος ("ho Achielos"). The ὁ here is equivalent to le in French, with the major distinction being that in French, you don't typically need an article in front of a proper noun, whereas you do in Greek.
That's it for today's analysis! See you guys next time around for Patras, Artes, and (maybe) Arles, Ios, and Delfeur/Delpha.
Hold tight cuz this is gonna be a long ass analysis.
.
.
Re-reading and at chapter 15 when they spend last night at the inn before kings meet.
I noticed this sentence:
It's just a description on the surface but it's a little too specific.
Young cut wood is a description that can fit Laurent as a newly shaped man and a leader.
And if Laurent is the wood, the flames-- too loud-- consuming him are obviously the Regent.
By what happens after, we know that Laurent thought this was his last free night, that he was going to die.
When he orders Damen to his room that night then, he is very very aware of his end, of the fire that is going to consume it.
It is not cynical but a fact for him.
I thought maybe this is a stretch so I decided to look at everytime fire is mentioned during their lovemaking.
There's two types of light consistently mentioned.
- Flame from candles and Fire from the hearth
The candlelight is almost always used to describe Laurent and his beauty.
E.g. "Laurent was haloed in the candlelight, all cream and gold"
" The candlelight turned Laurent's hair to gold, flamed in the dip of his lashes, the line of his throat" etcetc. You get the picture.
The candlelight is how Damen views this night, this moment. He is all focused on Laurent. He has forgotten the outside world.
In the candlelight we see Laurent as Damen sees him.
There are also specifically three candles.
Initially I thought the third candle was Auguste but no. The third candle is their future, how Damen projects their future, because Damen was never unsure of their victory.
The flames however are different and this is gonna be a more detailed analysis than candlelight.
1.
Obviously Laurents dismantles the bed because of his previous memories, and he wants to rewrite his experiences.
However, by now we know everytime Laurent has violently tried to get out of his uncles plans he would still play into his uncles hands (until Damen came along). Just like he would the next morning. The foreshadowing is a little insane.
2.
The flames are too loud. Laurent is extremely aware of his end,of his demise, of his death. He is doing all this not as an escape but to collect as much of Damen in his memory as possible.
His awarness of his end is the , "too loud fire*. And here we also have a direct contrast from Damen's perspective where "candlelight is reflecting the windows". Damen is under the illusion of privacy and by extension, the safety it offers.
While Laurent is acting as a man who has a complete and utter lack of safety.
3.
This is one of the billion times we see Laurent's past of being groomed.
At the same time, if the Fire is Regent, Laurent would NEVER give Damen or anyone related to Damen to the Regent. In fact, tomorrow, Laurent is planning to give himself up for Damen's child; his seed(hated using that word, ew). Even if it is Kastor's child, he is STILL related to Damen.
4.
As they get more and more intimate, Damen starts feeling the "heat of the fire". Damen has always been intuned with Laurent's moods. He can never figure out why (or never assumes) till Laurent himself tells him, but he is always aware to some level.
So it makes sense that he is aware of this too in Laurent.
Interestingly enough, Damen feels the heat when they finish and Laurent gets up.
Almost like it was Laurent who made Damen SEE the cruelty of the Regent; of how dangerous he is. And how much Regent has damaged Damen and still holds so much power to do more damage.
And if all of this wasn't enough and Pacat HAD to stab me. When Laurent comes back and lies down it says,
"Laurent was closer to the fire" as he always has been. Regent hurting Akeilos across border of course but Laurent has always been in the same castle as him. Always near to hurt and prick and cut.
And like a bird domesticated too well and wouldn't survive in the wild, leaving that castle meant death for Laurent.
So yeah, Laurent has always been too close to the fire.
And then twisiting the knife slowly,
"he could hear the fire again" becuase Damen is making future plans while Laurent is preparing his head for the guillotine. Because Damen has been shouting MARRY ME on top of his lungs and Laurent cannot tell him that he can't because he doesn't believe he will live that long.
Captive Prince: Historical References and Naming Conventions
Part 3
Aaand we're back at it for part 3 >:))
If it's your first time, welcome to my ongoing analysis of the historical references and potential interpretations in Captive Prince's names! Today's topics of discussion are Isthima and Artes, and oooh boy these are some fun (if lighter) ones.
Isthima
Etymologically, there isn't much of interest here; I have exactly one interpretation for the name Isthima and it's very succinct. That interpretation, however, ties into some very cool historical references on Pacat's part, and I really want to talk about those, so let's dive in.
There are very few words in Greek or Latin that Isthima could be derived from, and the only really plausible one is ἰσθμός—which we know in English as 'isthmus'. Just as a refresher, an isthmus is a narrow strip of land which links two larger areas of land together across a sea. Given that in the world of Captive Prince, Isthima is an island, not an isthmus, this choice might seem a little odd… at first.
I'll clarify out of the gate that I don't think Isthima is meant to be Corinth. I'm stating that explicitly because in terms of the ancient world, Corinth has by far the most associations with the word ἰσθμός; the Isthmian games or Ἰσθμιά (Isthmia) were held there, and that was one of the Panhellenic Games, so… safe to say they had the isthmus monopoly. The reason I don't think Isthima is Corinth is actually quite simple, and it goes back to Isthima being the birthplace of Isagoras.
If you'll indulge me a little, I have a few quotes from the (now defunct) interactive Captive Prince map that Tumblr user @hasensalat preserved here. We're told that Isthima "has its own dialect that is different to the Akielon language," but that is still celebrated because of its association with epic poetry. It was also, apparently, an independent city-state for most of its history. That immediately made me think of Ionia, a region on the western coast of Anatolia that maintained cultural and political independence from the Greek world at large for most of its own history (until Rome came a-conquering, but it actually maintained a good deal of independence then too). Now if you know a little about epic poetry, you might know that a certain poet was believed to be from the Ionian city-state of Smyrna—which, at the time, was itself located on an isthmus. That's right, folks! Homer was (supposedly) from Ionia: a region with its own distinct dialect that other Greek cultures celebrated in the context of epic poetry!
(I say supposedly because there's a whole debate about whether or not he ever existed, but the Ancient Greeks thought he did and that's all I need to tackle right now.)
I don't think I really need to justify or explain why Isagoras is our in-universe Homer; every Greek-inspired fantasy has its Homer stand-in, and Captive Prince is no exception. I do, however, want to applaud Pacat for giving Isagoras a similar cultural background to Homer. Little details like that give the world a bit more depth (and further demonstrate to me how much Pacat knows their stuff. Seriously, did they major in classics???)
Additional Information: Smyrna's modern name is İzmir, and it's the third most populous city in Turkey!
Artes
This one is nice and simple, which is good because I've somehow managed to bang out almost 3,000 words of Capri name analysis and my hands are starting to hurt.
I've said before I think Artes is heavily inspired by Rome, and that mainly comes from its influence on Vere. The ruins mentioned at various sites in Vere remind me of the Roman ruins we still have in France, and particularly the ones in Arles… but I digress. So naturally, I'm looking at Artes through a Latin lens (oooh alliteration). In Latin, "artes" is the plural form of the noun "ars," which has a few different translations. The most common are "skill," "craft," "art," "conduct," "character," "strategy" and "science." The last one might seem a little odd to a modern audience, but in the ancient world, science was generally considered an art; if you've ever read the Hippocratic Corpus, in particular the text often translated as "The Art of Medicine," you're probably familiar with that usage. This is also where we get English words like art, artisan, artificial, and artillery.
So at a base level, the name evokes this idea of craftsmanship, knowledge, and art: a sort of ancient ideal for Damen and Laurent to emulate when they combine Vere and Akielos. But I think there's also something neat about the way the many meanings of ars are reflected in Damen/Akielos and Laurent/Vere. Science was considered an art, but that didn't preclude it from being the pursuit of truth; it was its practitioners who labeled it an "ars" in order to legitimize it. And when used in reference to one's character and conduct, it really reminds me of Damen, whose changing views and ideals are central to the story. Not to mention its associations with strategy, in particular Odysseian tricks and wiles, which Laurent excels at. In a way, it's a combination of all the good parts of Damen, Laurent, and the countries they come from. And I think that's cool. So yeah.
Anyway, next time (so probably tomorrow or the day after) I'll finally tackle the cities! Tune on in for Ios, Arles, and Delpha/Delfeur (for real this time. prommy).
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Maturing is realizing that Damen was far from a perfect goody goody two shoes and he was quite as bad as Laurent maybe even worse.
There i said it!
Damen literally supported wars, killed people and had many slaves and sex slaves only because he was raised to do so. Just because Theomedes wanted him to. Just because it was his culture
If you think having sex slaves and iniciating and supporting wars is not worse than most things Laurent did then your morals are flawed.
This is why when Damed said "I don't want to be his type of king" about Theomedes is a huge moment of development for his character. This is why i like damen, because he is not the dumb himbo goody two shoes. He is a well written, well developed character
It was brought to my attention that this post has upset some part of the fandom so I wanted to apologise
First of all, I love Damen this post isn't meant to be against him. Damen is kind with a big heart. He was simply born in a bigoted culture as a privileged prince. I guess judging him based on this time and age is unfair when he lived in an imaginary version of Europe with some culture and wrong ideas of those times
Plus I know Laurent was worse simply because it's not his culture or his beliefs that hurting a slave (or even having a slave) is OK. Laurent did it out of pure malice for Damen.
I don't think it's unfair to judge Damen based on decisions he made that were influenced by his culture. After all, Laurent's actions are deeply informed by his experiences within the Veretian court and I think the fandom on the whole is fine judging him for them—acknowledging that they weren't a product of innate cruelty, but rather his specific hatred towards Damen, isn't actually all that different from acknowledging that Damen isn't innately evil because of his previous actions.
I feel like it would be especially egregious to ignore Damen's history as a slave owner in the series about slavery. Damen was a prince and a conqueror. Damen frequently had sex with slaves. He believed all of his partners were willing, but we know based on the bath scene in Kings Rising that that likely isn't true. And I think it's fair to say that even at the end of Kings Rising, Damen doesn't fully understand how much his position as a prince played into that—in direct contrast with Laurent, who is hyper-focused on how much respect, power, and influence he has at all times. And this goes for Damen's actions in war too. He (at least nominally) believed that his army gave innocents the chance to run before sacking their villages, but we know they didn't. Meaning Damen is also indirectly responsible for hundreds of other indignities and deaths because he believed he and his country were incapable of acting dishonorably. This is part of his black-and-white morality, and what makes him interesting as a character. He wants to be a good, honorable person. Had the events of the series not happened, he would be the historical figure people begrudgingly call "a product of his time."
And this contrasts him with Laurent, who knew exactly how cruel he was being to Damen—particularly during the garden scene in Book 1—but was ignorant about Damen's character. Book 1 Laurent, at least in my opinion, seems to believe his actions are justified based on how he perceives Damen: a man like his uncle who intentionally abuses power and authority for self gratification. Early on Damen challenges that belief, and Laurent keeps finding ways to reinforce it—in part, I think, because it's easier to believe everyone who hurt you is an irredeemable, intrisincally evil person, than it is to live with the knowledge that you are all, fundamentally, more similar than you are different. Laurent's acts of cruelty are usually aimed at people he thinks have wronged him, and after Book 1, most of them are not physical. The exception to this is the whipping scene in Kings Rising, and I think it's telling both that the Akielons approve of his actions then, and that Damen is not above handing down similar sentences when he believes they are deserved.
I don't mean to imply Laurent is morally flawless because his actions are done 'for the right reasons'—they aren't—but that Laurent and Damen both cause harm in ways their societies (overall) expect them to; Laurent's actions in Book 1 are only an exception because no one else knows who Damen is. The difference is in how the two of them conceptualize those actions, and in their different paths to personal growth. Damen has to realize his actions are wrong; Laurent has to recognize he's targeting innocents and bystanders. Both of them have to come together to find a different path. That path still has violence on it—Capri isn't a pacifist series—but it is both intentional and targeted. "The Adventure of Charls" is the payoff: the new target of their combined wrath is intentionally exploitative individuals (slave traders) as they work to dismantle a system that Damen once ignorantly benefitted from.
Just got a wartime flashback to the "Duke stays silent/bites his tongue" post and I'm still in a state of disbelief over a year later because that kid is chronically incapable of staying silent when talking shit to someone is an option like man couldn't even stop himself from roasting Black Lightning the guy who's built like a tank and oh I don't know controls electricity Duke basically had to crane his lil neck to meet Jefferson's eyes and still talked shit to his face
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