impenetrable

Laurent is such an emotionally repressed cunt he's like "nooooooo I didn't melt under the ministrations of the first man to ever touch me gently I was totally just faking it cause I'm such a master manipulator and I'm playing 5D chess with everyone including God himself I am NOT horny for this swarthy thicc thighed grass fed Italian adonis and I'm definitely not aroused by the fact he can rip metal grates out of walls with his bare hands. I am so not in love with the man that killed my brother it's crazy, you would not believe how not in love I am right now. Don't look at me I'll fucking kill you."

sorry i'm still just so hung up on the fact that captive prince is portrayed by the general public as a series that glorifies slavery and sexual assault (aka the pinnacle of no consent) when in actuality the core theme is that the most important thing you can give someone else is their freedom and their agency and their ability to consent. like even though laurent has all this power over damen at the start of the series, even though he abuses that power a handful of times, ultimately those two spend the entire series figuring out how to best serve the other in order to overcome the violence that was done to and by each of them - not because they're in a master/slave relationship, but simply because they care about the other person and they know that neither of them was allowed the consent they deserved in previous relationships and situations!!! and at the end of all of it, they accept not only that they have been hurt by lack of consent but they acknowledge that they have been abusers in their own ways, perpetuating a system that is harmful and cruel, and when they join together to create a new kingdom they make a point to put an end to the slavery that brought them together in the first place!!!!!!! what the fuck!!!!