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A word about Damianos of Akielos? 🎤

[stands on podium to deliver my sermon]

ladies and gentlemen, we gather here today to discuss the fattest ass in the known kingdoms. mans was so caked up auguste heard the thunderous clap of his ass cheeks from across the battlefield. it was like a death knell drum that foretold the french prince’s doom. edgar allan poe's "tell-tale heart" has nothing on this level of drama; the rhythmic clapping of damen's badonkadonk was the ultimate psychological warfare that made auguste falter in the mud and lose against an akielon teenager in a loincloth.

in the deluxe edition, laurent's first words to damen were actually, "nice derrière, sweetheart," but damen was too busy recovering from all the beatings to even register the compliment.

but who can blame laurent for his booty fever when this is the material!!

let’s not forget how laurent was gripping the armrest like his life depended on it while damen wrestled pallas naked. the akielon soldier had to learn the hard way that crossing laurent was a mistake. the croissant prince staged a grand display of ownership, ensuring pallas walked in on him clutching damen’s hot cakes possessively in the privacy of their chambers, like a chihuahua marking its territory—complete with crazy eyes and trembling.

but in all fairness this is what he was defending!!

when the vaskians came calling for damen’s legendary dump truck again, the feminism left laurent’s body and he nearly went full daenerys, loudly declaring he doesn’t share for all to hear. he said i don’t support all women, some of you bitches are very dumb!! his jealousy didn’t stop there, though. by the end of the series, laurent had to send nikandros to the farthest reaches of the kingdom just to keep damen and his bubble butt all to himself.

tl;dr: damen is the akielon helen of troy, and laurent is agamemnon and paris combined—except laurent wouldn’t need ten years to breach troy for damen’s caboose; he’d scale the walls within a day for dat ass. and that’s on romance.

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Hello everyone! Was so happy to hear a lot of people liked my book bind for captive prince. Started reading it to give it a chance, only ever saw snippets of it on tik tok and wow did I ready the trilogy so fast 😂 Just wanted to come on here to post all sides of book 1 and maybe start sharing some artwork and other projects I’m doing. First time doing this so I made some mistakes but always learning ❤️ Thank you to my sis for giving me the confidence to share 😂

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I am sick and tired of pretending that this isn’t the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard in a show like what

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I love how every week in post-episode interviews, jacob anderson is just chilling and pondering louis’ precarious psyche and being like ‘oh louis is so fucked up. that man is Not well, can you believe how unwell he is??’ while assad zaman kinda looks like he’s been up all night trying to absorb armand into his soul and he’s like ‘armand is a little scheming bitch, he’s always scheming and planning and also he’s lonely. but mostly scheming’ and then every once in a while a wild sam reid appears and he goes ‘btw whatever they’re telling you about lestat, they’re lying and my close personal friend lestat de lioncourt is NOT happy about it’

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If you, for some reason, still have a subscription to the Atlantic, cancel it

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yall KILL me. he is based off ancient Greek people/culture. just because the man is tanned doesn't suddenly erase his proximity to whiteness. the conflict between vere and akielos is xenophobia, not racism, and conflating the two is so dangerous. it's seriously so disingenuous to try and use Damen as some sort of POC representation. the Fandom fuels the baseless critiques calling capri slave porn because they conflate any big tanned man with blackness. pls just stop.

so you agree, you think pacat is asking everyone to stop white washing a white man?

that’s so embarrassing for you bestie. let's break this down, shall we?

whitewashing and authorial intent:

pacat explicitly stated that whitewashing damen makes him “uncomfortable,” and is a “terrible and oppressive act.” this directly indicates that damen is not white, as whitewashing concerns arise only when characters of color are misrepresented as white. if damen were white, there would be no basis for these comments.

pacat has unequivocally stated that damen is not a tanned anglo-european, emphasizing his olive skin, dark hair, and dark eyes. this directly contradicts your claim that damen's racial identity can be reduced to mere tannedness. 

pacat's portrayal of damen as a character of color is clear in his own statements and the descriptions in the books, emphasizing damen's non-white features.

the very first marker we’re given about damen’s skin is in chapter one, when jokaste is taunting him. she says,

“I see why you prefer pale skin. Yours hides the bruising.”

meaning damen’s skin is dark enough to hide bruises. it’s also deliberately contrasting his own tone to paleness – he is not pale. later, after he’s been beaten, we’re told,

“his olive skin did not hide all the bruising”

meaning, he was beaten badly enough that these bruises, unlike the earlier ones, can show through. the detail that damen’s skin is so dark it hides bruising further emphasizes his deep, rich skin color.

against this, we’re told constantly about laurent’s “very fair” skin. we’re meant to picture laurent as being very, very white, and damen as noticeably darker. damen’s skin is also described as

"brown as a nut"

which is a significant indicator of his non-white identity. this description highlights a darker complexion that is distinctly non-anglo-european.

in prince’s gambit, a veretian woman distinguishes damen as akielon based on his accent and skin tone alone:

“He realized that she had heard his accent. He knew that he possessed the coloring characteristic of Akielos, especially of the southern provinces.”

this passage specifies that damen's foreign accent and darker complexion are key factors in his recognition as akielon. it also emphasizes that in akielos, particularly in the southern provinces, people tend to have darker skin tones. damen’s origin from the southernmost city further reinforces that he is meant to have a significantly darker complexion. this is an important textual clue that damen does not have stereotypically eurocentric features and cannot be mistaken for a white man.

to ignore all of the above is to ignore the author's intent and erase damen’s racial identity.

historical and modern diversity:

while akielos may draw inspiration from ancient greece, it remains a fictional world distinct from historical reality. damen's portrayal as a character doesn't rely on mirroring ancient greek demographics.

however, this point becomes moot when considering that both ancient and modern greece have been incredibly diverse, boasting populations that include individuals of various ethnic backgrounds, including black and brown people. the ancient mediterranean was a melting pot; rome conquered carthage, which is in north africa; various roman emperors were black, and the egyptians certainly were.

ancient greeks:

modern greeks:

your narrow and ignorant view of ancient civilizations overlooks the rich diversity that existed then and continues to persist today.

american context and projection:

your argument reflects an attempt to impose american racial categories onto a different context. racial identities and constructs are not universal. the insistence that damen must be either white or black ignores the complex spectrum of racial identities that exist outside of a binary american framework.

the term "w*g" is recognized as both a racial and ethnic slur in australia. to dismiss damen as white based on american racial categories overlooks the complexities of racial identity in other countries.

in the context of the series and the way pacat intended, being called a 'w*g' specifically indicates that damen is not considered white within his cultural framework. it is crucial to understand it within the series' cultural and historical context.

ignoring this context and imposing american perspectives on damen’s identity is both ignorant and disrespectful.

here’s a greek australian talking about their experience being labeled a w*g:

pacat joins in on the conversation and reaffirms that it is indeed a harmful racial slur used against ethnic groups:

your baseless accusation that i'm introducing race into the series is not only ignorant but absurd. pacat purposefully integrates this racial element into the story, crafting damen's character around his belonging to this ethnic minority, and consistently addresses it both within the narrative and beyond the confines of the books.

the flawed "proximity to whiteness" argument: damen’s culture in the fictional world of akielos might share similarities with ancient greek culture, which some perceive as part of the foundation of western civilization. this cultural proximity can lead to a false assumption that he is closer to whiteness. however, this view overlooks the racial and cultural diversity that existed in ancient greece and continues to exist today. ancient and modern greeks can have a range of skin tones and features. a perceived proximity to whiteness does not equate to being white, especially when pacat and the text clearly position damen within a context that marks him as non-white.

additionally, as a prince and a person of high status, damen might be seen as having privileges that align him more with whiteness, particularly in societies where whiteness is associated with power and privilege. however, racial identity is not negated by socioeconomic status, and to claim so is highly ignorant. moreover, the idea that a character’s "proximity to whiteness" negates their non-white identity is flawed logic. racial identity is not solely about skin tone but also about cultural, historical, and social contexts. pacat has clearly stated that damen is not white and has explicitly opposed the whitewashing of his character. ignoring this direct statement in favor of a misconstrued idea of damen’s “proximity to whiteness” disrespects pacat’s intent and damen's identity. pacat actively engages with w*g identity in the series: he wrote damen as a prince to counter the working-class connotation that w*gs are associated with in australia. when damen enters a northern or anglo-european country, he experiences a class shift and is viewed as a person of low status and culture, despite the high classical culture of his home – again the w*g experience in australia. his being marooned in a northern-european country and feeling a sense of ethnic/racial difference as well as a sense of cultural isolation is an analogy for the w*g experience living in australia.

none of this supports a “proximity to whiteness”, rather it only supports damen’s “otherization” in the text. pacat discusses how w*gs are othered in australia, illustrating the deep ethnic divide between w*gs and anglo-australians:

the argument that damen somehow has a “proximity to whiteness” and that it negates his non-white identity overlooks the nuanced racial and ethnic dynamics within the series.

damen's otherness is central to his character, highlighted by his experiences in vere. damen is frequently abused with racially loaded language by veretians that’s still used to vilify people of color in the real world (“cur,” “animal,” “brute,” "dog", “barbarian,” “savage”) and which has deep associations with the justifications used to enslave and oppress people of color in the modern era.

these terms, intentionally used by pacat, highlight the racial dimensions of the vere-akielos conflict, confirming that the series engages with themes of race and w*g politics, and that damen is meant to be read as a non-white character.

xenophobia vs. racism:

xenophobia and racism can and often do intersect. the argument that the conflict in the series is purely about xenophobia and not racism is a false dichotomy. the series illustrates how racial prejudice and cultural hostility can coexist and reinforce each other. by dismissing the racial aspect, you simplify and misrepresent the narrative.

discomfort with non-whiteness:

the insistence on damen’s alleged “whiteness” and "proximity to whiteness" reveals discomfort with engaging with non-white identities. it is an attempt to sanitize damen to fit a more comfortable, palatable narrative because you are uncomfortable with racial complexity and the implications that may have on your reading of the text or of other white characters.

engaging with complexity:

readers have a responsibility to engage with the text thoughtfully and acknowledge the racial and ethnic implications as intended by the author. ignoring these aspects isn't a valid interpretation, but a refusal to engage truthfully.

your remarks reveal a cognitive dissonance: fans acknowledge damen's darker skin but deny racial implications, selectively engaging with aspects of his identity to avoid criticism. this selective approach denies and erases essential elements.

fans should embrace the full complexity of characters and themes, including discomfort in addressing race and identity, as they do with other sensitive topics like abuse, incest, rape and trauma.

conflating issues and denying representation:

claiming that portraying damen as a character of color sparks baseless critiques confuses the issue entirely. acknowledging damen as a character of color is not just about ticking boxes — it's about respecting the author's intention and embracing the diversity in the world of captive prince, whether some like it or not.

for many readers who share the same ethnic background, pacat's creation of damen as a character for w*g representation holds significant meaning:

suggesting that recognizing damen as a character of color is "disingenuous" ignores the positive impact that diverse representation can have on readers.

pacat said he intentionally wrote damen as a positive representation for w*gs:

ignoring damen's racial and ethnic identity not only disrespects the author's vision but also diminishes the importance of diverse representation in literature. accurate representation matters for readers who see themselves reflected in these characters.

tl;dr

pacat firmly establishes damen isn't a tanned white man and emphasizes his otherness in the narrative. he cautions against whitewashing damen, explicitly labeling him as a w*g from a w*g country and vere as an anglo country. descriptions within the series accentuate damen's dark skin and features, contrasting him with fair-skinned veretians. the racially charged interactions directed at damen and other akielons by veretians throughout the narrative emphasize this. it all contributes to a specific racial construction that is taking place within the series.

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Epic of Gilgamesh /  The Queens of Persia at the Feet of Alexander / Alexander and Hephaestion / Phidias Showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to his Friends / Achilles Lamenting the Death of Patroclus / King's Rising

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top 3 laurent is 3 seconds away from turning damianos into bottomianos scenes from the books?

HELLO DEAR ANON!!! 💖💖💖 I normally don’t have the poster’s temperament but this is a topic I hold dear to my heart and have decided I am willing to investigate.

What I have discovered is that it all starts with the fact that Laurent has two eyes…

NUMBER THREE: POST-ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT MEETING

Laurent has escaped a high adrenaline situation and is now seated slouched on the throne, a powerful aphrodisiac in his system, gazing at Damen so intensely that Damen starts wondering if Laurent is checking him out: 

I do believe Damen’s slut senses were warning him that Laurent wanted to take him right there on the floor. The circumstantial evidence is pretty damning that Damen barely escaped Laurent’s clutches in this scene with his First Night intact. 

NUMBER TWO: RAVENEL

Laurent at last has his mortal enemy exactly where he wants him, in a four-poster bed with soft-lit candles romantically arranged around them. He sets up the ideal conditions to ravish Damen asking him to hold still and goes wild: 

We all know how matters progress. It is fair to say that I believe when a man climbs on top of another man and starts humping him into the sheets his thoughts have taken him in a certain direction… 

By this point in the story Laurent also reveals his true romantic predilections. He wanted to hold Damen’s hands and call it making love. 

NUMBER ONE: MELLOS

It couldn’t be any other moment but their last night together in Mellos. 

I can't add much to this one because it's self-evident how much they want each other. Laurent thinks he's going to die. He spends their night together trying to have as much as he can with Damen. It really is the ultimate almost moment for them which brings me to…

BONUS: TOP ONE MOMENT BOTTOMIANOS WAS DOOMED

Laurent was twenty years old, madly in love and preparing to die for the love of his life. He lasted two seconds after Damen said that to him. RIP.

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What sort of world do we live in when we’re told to be grateful that the IOF has ‘only’ murdered 30,000+ civilians, ‘only’ injured over 80,000, ‘only’ starved 2.3 million people, ‘only’ destroyed 70%+ of infrastructure, ‘only’ destroyed the lives and dreams of 2.4 million Palestinians. A world where traumatising over a million children is justified.

A world where those that claim to value ‘human rights’ will tell this father, and thousands of other Palestinian parents, that the lives of their children is a price that needs to be paid for ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’. The irony. It’s a society that does not value life. "pasted from linkedin profile"

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damen & jokaste : a doomed love story

“national anthem” monologue, lana del rey | “cocoon”, björk | sue zhao | “rabbit heart”, florence + the machine

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i'm so confused about all this discourse about damen being an evil character. not a single thought along those lines has ever crossed my mind. he's flawed, sure (as all good characters are btw), but he's inherently good, empathetic, warm-hearted and therefore a great leader to his people, and all of those characteristics are the reason laurent falls in love with him, soooo what's going on lol

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for the ask game: 30?

unfortunately i don’t have any current wip 🥲 so i’ll go with an old wip of mine aka the unhinged laurent au!

“Hey,” the guy says, voice smooth as silk and yet husky in the most masculine way. Laurent subtly crosses his legs to hide the fact they started shaking slightly. “I’m Damen.”

Damen, Laurent thinks venomously. Damendamendamen. You will be my first kiss, first fuck, first boyfriend, first and only husband.

Laurent isn’t a religious person by all means but at that moment, he sends a prayer to any higher being for blessing him with a poker face. “Hey.” he replies casually, the amount of slutty “y”s he uses at the end of the word only visible to his ears.

Or not. When he painfully draws his gaze away from Damen to avoid combusting, he locks eyes with Auguste, whose eyebrows slightly went upwards.

Well. Mama didn’t raise no coward, so Laurent just lifts his chin and stares back at his brother. After a moment Auguste shakes his head, like chasing away a delusion, and gestures to the empty spot next to him. “Come, sit with us. Nicaise wasn’t very polite so I need you to prove at least one of my brothers is decent!”

Oh, Laurent would be better than decent for Damen. He would be the goodest boy, the best boy, the most obedient boy for Damen.

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These murderers are admitting they lied only after the damage has been done and is STILL ongoing, and I am beyond pissed.

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VIA Palestinian Youth Movement

Walid Daqqah left the world today due to medical neglect by Occupation Forces in Israeli prison 7/4/2024

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Thank you @niniblack for speaking the drunken truth in 2017 🙏

The ultimate unpopular opinion about CP, that I'd like to get your opinion on but understand if you don't want to open the can of worms. The series isn't some profound meditation on the evil of slavery. CS Pacat set out to write a kinky slave fic, and the series shows its kinky slave fic origins right to the end and through the short stories.

Oh, I’ll open that can, Nonnie. I’ve had three glasses of apple cider sangria and I dyed my hair yesterday and got a new job so I am feeling invincible on this fine October evening.

I think it’s pretty clear that the series started as master/slave kink fic. I’m always surprised by the people who try to say otherwise. BUT THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. That’s the real key, I think, and why this is a “can of worms” in the first place. Why do some people hate the kinky bits so much? Why do they try and make them more profound than they are? Erasmus is basically the embodiment of the uke!slave trope and y’know what, that’s okay. He can be that and still be interesting and have an interesting back story. It can be kinky and still have plot, and interesting nuance. You don’t have to dismiss or disregard or explain away the kinky parts in order to justify the series’ as being worth something.

There seem to be two camps to the fandom, those that are okay with the series’ kinky origins (and, honestly, it’s leanings even through the end, of which The Summer Palace is a good example) and those that reject it entirely. Now, I understand the reasons people have for rejecting the kinky master/slave premise of the series. There is a LOT more to it than just that, and the series really did grow into something much larger than I think even Pacat expected when she started writing it. (I strongly suspect she was writing Lymond fanfic at the start, but that’s a different discussion and there are people better informed in both series than me to have it with.) And, given what it grew to and what some of the themes regarding recovery from abuse represent to people, I totally understand that one might latch on to that and reject the more unsavory parts of the series in favor of highlighting the good parts. Especially when there are always antis in the tag attacking CP purely on the basis of the slave fic aspects that ignore everything else about it. If you’re trying to defend the series against those types of people, then of course you’d downplay the kinky slave parts and emphasize the things the series does right.

But I don’t know, I’ve never felt the need to downplay the kinky slave parts of the series. Maybe I’ve just been in fandom too long, and seen it all or something, but I don’t see anything wrong with a bit of kinky slave fic, and there’s no reason that CP can’t be both kinky slave fic and a great love story and a story about overcoming abuse. It can be all those things. I also don’t feel the need to defend it to the antis and try to convince them otherwise. They can continue living their sad little lives not knowing about much Laurent and Damen love each other and united a kingdom to be together and that is their loss, no skin off my back. Let them think what they want. I know that CP is awesome. Who cares what they think?

What I’m saying here is that I’m halfway through my fourth glass of sangria, and we should all love each other, and love CP, and love it for what it is. Also Damen and Laurent love each other and united two kingdoms and their love is beautiful and will live on long after they’re gone and they definitely sometimes roleplay as master/slave because they are both secretly kinky bastards. I love them so much. *sobs*

Bring it in guys. Let’s hug it out.

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you’re not a real fan and you don’t actually like damen if you don’t admit he:

-doesn’t stop nicaise from trying to drink wine = promotes underage drinking

-grew up in a slave nation = invented the concept of slavery

-thinks laurent is rude and spoiled = internalized homophobia and toxic masculinity

-once said guion had an “indoor figure” = fatphobic

-has premarital sex = sinner

-touched laurents butt in the baths while washing him = rapist

-tried to kill the regent = abuses the elderly

-didn’t like veretian wine = xenophobic

-breathes air = supports environmental pollution

-wears veretian clothes in vere = invented cultural appropriation

-likes the color red = reinforces gender stereotypes

-has a sword = advocates for violence and weapon proliferation

-walks on two legs = promotes ableism against quadrupeds

-speaks more than one language = colonialist mindset

-enjoys songs and ballads = endorses noise pollution

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