#( a kingdom or this ; laurent & damen )

[absolutedestinyapocalypsse]

laurent ascended the throne at 21...he should have been at the club

[captaindamianos]

I love it so much when fanfic authors make Damen fall for Laurent over the most convoluted, out-there scheming in AUs

[nasthepotprincess]

i think one of the hottest fucking parts of kings rising is when they sword fight for the first fucking time MARY JESUS AND JOSEPH

cus not only do i picture it so fucking vividly but like IT’S THE FIRST FUCKING TIME LAURENT GIVES IN AND SHOWS SOME REAL EMOTION WITH DAMEN. he just gets so fucking desperate to prove himself, to show how he could have avenged his brother but fucking damen is BETTER and for the first time he’s outdid by someone other than his uncle and he can’t get over that. he starts doing shit that’s childish and dishonorable in a fight but he doesn’t care because HERE’S THIS STUPID FUCKING BOY WHO HE THOUGHT HE KNEW BUT DIDN’T AT ALL AND IN THE MIDST OF TRYING TO SAVE HIS KINGDOM HERE HE COMES WITH HIS DIMPLES AND HIS LOYALTY AND ALL HIS FUCKING EMOTIONS AND LIKE HE SHOULDVE JUST KILLED HIM BECAUSE THEN MAYBE HE WOULDNT BE IN LOVE BUT ITS TOO LATE NOW AND HERE HE IS THROWING SAND AT HIS FUCKING EYES BECAUSE HE DOESNT KNOW HOW TO SAY I LOVE YOU

all while laurent is flushing and damen is sweating and they’re thrashing each other around like WHAT

[elettraml]

ᒪᗩᑌᖇᕮᑎT Oᖴ ᐯᕮᖇᕮ

A bit of our favourite cold prince inspired by the cosplay of @ovsyan_art on Instagram 🌻.

[the-limp-linguine]

hi hello capri fandom, I have an AU

ok ima need y’all to go watch kingdom of heaven ok? Got it? yea ok so KoH type Au where Auguste as Baldwin, Laurent as Sibylla and Damen as Balian…idk I think it could fit

[livingasaghost]

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!!!!

[chronicallyweirdlady]

I think the reason I am so obsessed with Damen and Laurent is because they are like true enemies to lovers. Like these two mfs had absolutely NO BUSINESS FALLING IN LOVE. They just did lol. AND... they go on to have a really sweet and pure relationship after everything as well. Like it's literally wild from start of book one to the end of the epilogue/short stories. Went from a toxic nightmare to basically married ruling two kingdoms together HAPPILY. WILD.

[eatsbooks]

people complain about c.s. pacat’s writing in capri being sparse and informal, often claiming there isn’t enough access into damen’s head. i have many thoughts on this, but there are two that i need to put into words because they keep just swirling around in my brain.

one being that i think the writing style is simply true to damen’s characterization. the trilogy is almost exclusively from damen’s pov. damen, who is straightforward and blunt. damen, who does not allow himself to sit in his feelings because then he would not be able to take the action he needs to. damen, who, when he does give way to his feelings, often ends up with a sword in his hand and blood spattered on his face. things he cannot risk if he wants freedom, if he wants to protect himself and his kingdom and, eventually, laurent. would it not feel so strange if the writing waxed poetic from damen’s militaristic, straightforward, assessing mind? like really the only times the prose is more fanciful is when it comes to him loving/admiring laurent or him loving/admiring akielos, which just shows the way the writing style accords to the character we’re in the head of. even when he does begin to process his trauma in the epilogue, it’s largely unspoken, just now beginning to wash over him because to engage with it is to be overcome by it. so of course we aren’t wallowing in his emotional state; damen himself can’t even reckon with it.

two being that this style also just puts trust in the reader, which many authors don’t. in my recent experience, i feel like i’m being spoonfed obvious things in a lot of books, which detracts from my experience putting things together while reading. but the thing is, even with the writing being more pared down, you’re never uncertain how damen feels, despite it not being explicitly stated. you’re never feeling gaps in what’s going on because you’re given all that you need to understand the stakes, the world, the connections. there are layers to every word that is written, and there is weight to the ones that aren’t.

i just really love this trilogy so much and think it was so masterfully written and it hurts my heart to see ppl dog on the writing style

[marzipanthots]

Pet Laurent 🔥🔥✨✨😌

Adventures of Charles bonus 💕-

FAN FIC WRITERS OF CAPRI IF YOU CANNHEAR MY PRAYERS I BEG CAN I HAVE A AU/switch OF LAURENT BECOMING KING DAMIANOS PET!!! I NEED IT CARNALLY

as rabid and feral and naughty as possible !!!🔥🔥🔥 I find it interesting that this fandom has been around for almost a decade, but there’s less then 10 fics on AO3 about this AU. but understandable as there’s are just so many cool interesting ideas out there to explore with damen and Laurent world and supporting cast 💕🧎🏻‍♀️ BUT PLEASEE I NEED ITTT!! ILL DO ANYTHINGFF!!

I have one version of this AU idea where Laurent is a pet sent as a disguise he is really a spy to get more info of the rival kingdom as his cruel uncle send him to akielos to be torture used base of the rumors the new king damen obsession with blonds and is blood thirsty- in reality that’s Kastor, ) and of course damen is kind king but blind to his brother treachery. Laurent fall in love with damen as kastor want to own Laurent bc he hate his brother. Laurent help damen see the truth of kastor side . And they have endless nights of feral nocturnal activity together 😌😌🔥🔥🔥

I suck at writing but I will dream and hope one day🙏🏻🙏🏻😔😔🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[ninicaise]

i know ppl talk a lot about laurent's endless struggle with his barely contained attraction to damen but also damen in vol. 1 & 2 is so funny hes shaking crying throwing up saying NO i am NOT attracted to this crisp cunt baby cow french fry of a man. im THE PRINCE of the best kingdom in the world. i am an adonis. i had a harem. i could have ANYONE i want. i am a capable respectable warrior and i'm oh my fucking god he's wearing a blue earring

[patroclusdefencesquad]

top five iconic Damen moments go. If there’s too many give me top ten. This is urgent scientific research.

oh my god you are so lucky i have a long train journey today so here we go, in no particular order because hell if that is possible :

when he threw a mf broadsword. a sword that is meant to be swung with two hands (!!). and he just casually yeeted it from the back of a horse. into a guy who was about to kill his enemy who wasn't even his lover yet

kingsmeet. kingsmeet was the Pinnacle of the man. he broke his country's most sacred rules without even fucking hesitating out of sheer rage and love at what had been done to laurent get this man fucking husband of the year

obviously it has to be "i speak your language better than you speak mine, sweetheart" no man has ever been so stupid and yet so sexy

every moment in book three where he's like "did i fucking stutter."

"damen rose from the throne, and put his hand to the gold brooch at his shoulder. his garment dropped, and the crowd roared their approval" cock out and thriving. king

when he chose laurent he literally chose laurent over his kingdom he was prepared to sacrifice it all for him this MAN

when he was screaming crying throwing up at having to tell laurent who he was and laurent was just like "i know." sksjsks you dumb fucking bitch OF COURSE HE KNEW everything you now know about this man and you think he doesn't know the man who killed his brother god i love you how can a man be so smart and yet so. so

"i think if i gave you my heart, you would treat it tenderly" sobbing. literally sobbing on a train. he's so sweet he's so gentle he loves laurent so much. he's so. so. also that scene where he tells laurent if auguste hadn't died he still would have courted him. once he starts loving laurent he literally cannot conceive of a world where he does not love him i'm crying

he's beefy. it's not an iconic moment it's just his natural state of being but it's iconic to ME. his arms could hold me so good. his tits are as big as his heart. his ass? bouncing. his thighs? could crush me and i'd welcome it

his dimple :')

there we go it started out as a list of iconic damen moments it ended as me rambling about everything i love about him what can i say he lives in my head rent free i'll never find a man like him

[tiredsunrisesmeta]

Damen's Trauma, Akielos, & Cultural Community

I've been thinking about Damen's trauma & the ways he changes because of it and how it connects to his cultural identity: Damen's trauma & experiences in Vere under Laurent do come to strain & complicate his relationship with his past, his country, & his countrymen. His realization of Akielon violence on the border, his growing horror at slavery, his questioning of his father's rule, his acceptance of Kastor's duplicity, his anger at Jokaste's betrayal & his disagreeing with Nikandros's misguided exasperation & confusion at his choices in Kings Rising are some examples of this.

Another conflict ofc is the famous "a kingdom or this" conflict. His singular, unique love for Laurent clashes with his loyalty to his role as king, his country & its customs as particularly illustrated by Damen's actions at the Kingsmeet. An even earlier example, happens in Prince's Gambit after Damen kills an Akielon soldier to protect Laurent. He asks Laurent: "Don't try to use me against my own people." This conflict between his loyalty to Akielos & his loyalty to Laurent is already present relatively early in Damen & Laurent's association. Thankfully, Damen never truly has to choose because Laurent honors Damen's request. 

But despite these many conflicts, I believe Damen's trauma & its resulting emotional transformation ultimately brings him closer to Akielos, not farther from it. Because of his experiences in Vere, Damen is at the crossroads of his past & future self as well as at the crossroads of Akielos as he knew it & Akielos as it will become under his rule. Yet, despite this transformation into a new Damen & a new Akielos, Damen's past & the relationships he had, including their good & bad parts, aren't something he ever completely sheds or ever really needs to.

There's a framing of Damen's character arc that could focus on how Damen's trauma has so fundamentally changed him it puts some kind of uncrossable emotional distance between him and his past life including everyone he knew in Akielos. In this framing, his trauma reveals fundamental truths that he can no longer reconcile. Kastor is not a good brother (& never truly loved him), Theomedes is not someone worthy of Damen's hero worship (& never truly loved him), Jokaste chose herself over him (& never truly loved him), Nikandros no longer understands him (& maybe never did). 

There's a truth to all these observations. Though interpretations vary widely, of course. I, for example, disagree that any of those characters never truly loved Damen. I also think Nikandros understood the old Damen and is capable of eventually understanding the new Damen as well. Nevertheless, this framing of Damen's character arc & past relationships, at its harshest and most extreme, essentially isolates Damen from all his significant loved ones that are Akielon, and not literally (by death or literal distance like in canon) but spiritually.

In this framing, Damen's transformation essentially causes him to "outgrow" these past connections & both the personal & cultural significance they once carried for him. But I think the books refute that framing. While there is strain in Damen's relationship to Akielos & Akielons there is never an outright cutting or diminishing of these bonds & this identity. Many parts of Damen have changed but this does not cause an emotional gulf & disconnect that Damen does not at least try to bridge.

Until the very end, Damen desperately wants to forgive Kastor & keep him as his brother. Until the very end, he trusts Kastor when he should not. Damen, despite his very real wounded rage and new self protective hardness when it comes to Jokaste, nevertheless starts to understand Jokaste's motivations. Damen accepts he does not want to rule as his father did, but he still loves his father & cherishes his father's love for him, and he is not punished for this. Laurent comes to symbolize this by being the one to comfort Damen as he finally lets himself mourn his father. Despite all Theomedes did that ultimately caused the death of Auguste & the destruction of Laurent's life as he knew it, Laurent & the narrative do not punish or disapprove of Damen's grief for his father. Even Damen does not punish himself for it. Laurent also embodies this same empathy when he encourages Damen to bury Kastor in the royal crypt, accepting Damen's true personal wishes no matter how they might come across politically.

Now to Nikandros. It is true that Nikandros does not and can not understand so much of what has changed in Damen when they meet again in Kings Rising. Him & Damen clash on many things, including Laurent, plans & strategy, and bed slaves. Part of this is because Nikandros symbolizes Akielos as it was before Damen was taken from it. Akielos, as it would be if Damen had never left it. Like a rock left in a garden & returned to after many years. This symbolic connection between Nikandros & Akielos is illustrated in Nikandros's introduction in KR: "Damen took in Nikandros's familiar, classically Akielon features, his dark hair and brows, his olive face and straight Akielon nose." Nikandros is the quintessential Akielon. In many ways, he symbolizes home to Damen.

But the familiarity of Nikandros's Akielon face & demeanor are contrasted with Damen's thoughts of his own transformation after his traumatic experience in Vere. Damen thinks "The self that he had been striving to return to was gone." 

Nikandros is Akielos as Damen knew it before his father's death & subsequent enslavement & abuse. And Damen can no longer be in perfect harmony with the Akielos he once knew because he is no longer the Damen he once was. Yet this distance is not meant to be seen as insurmountable because Nikandros is not an unchanging rock, despite his relatively rigid ways. He accepts Damen's changes & decisions, befuddled, disapproving sometimes, exasperated, yes, but he accepts them nonetheless. So as Akielos will change under Damen's leadership, so too will Nikandros. Nikandros (the last remaining Akielon loved one still actively in Damen's life) will stay at Damen's (and Laurent's) side helping transform the new kingdom alongside him. 

So yes, Damen's trauma and experiences in these books has deeply changed him. Has made him more empathetic to the lives & struggles of the lowest castes of society, made him less jingoistic, more critical of his country's practices, made him more discerning of duplicity. It has also caused him shame and continued mental distress & suffering. It's caused him to repress his emotions even more than he already did (something Laurent tries to help him work through in the Summer Palace). It's caused him to harden himself in some ways. But his trauma has not made him incapable of deeply connecting to his past. The new Damen is not one made bereft of Akielon community, connection or identity because of his trauma. Nor is he someone who can only be made whole again by Laurent or Laurent's community.

It's not as if this is an interpretation people actually have of course. It's more that I think Damen completely disconnected from his roots is the natural endgame of the framing of Damen's trauma & transformation that I outlined above. Which is why Nikandros & his continuing friendship with Damen is absolutely integral to Damen & to Damen's story & character arc in Captive Prince. Nikandros embodies Akielos in many ways. All that it was, is & could & will be for Damen.

As an aside: I also find it interesting how this maintaining of the softer parts of Damen (despite his trauma), the parts that allow him to make & maintain connections, affects his relationships with the Veretians in his life. Not just Laurent, either. If Damen's trauma did manifest as insurmountable emotional disconnect or irreconcilable rage, what would his relationships with Jord, Paschal, Ancel, & Berenger look like (in canon & post-canon)? These characters either actively participated in his abuse or watched & did nothing to stop it. Yet, Damen's internal monologue affords them empathy, understanding, comradery, & even in some cases his own guilt at not being truthful about his identity with them. It offers them that when it could have offered them complete contempt or fraught disconnection. This is morally neutral. Damen's internal forgiveness is not necessarily an unquestionable good. It's just who Damen is.

There's a few fics that tackle the possible manifestations of Damen's trauma in relation to these characters, but it seems relatively less explored ground. But I think it's interesting to consider the similarities between Damen's reactions to the Veretians & Akielons in his life.

It's fascinating that Damen's capacity to forgive is mostly reserved for people that have hurt him & not others. (Kastor is one exception to this since Kastor has killed their father & killed most of the people in Damen's household. But, Damen's personal forgiveness is tempered with his understanding that Kastor can not go unpunished. Though I'd still argue house arrest in Ios is exceptionally generous and almost laughably lenient). He can be quite morally stringent about anyone who "hits someone who can't hit back" except if the person getting hit is himself ���. There's probably so much I could say, if I put my mind to it, about Damen's capacity to ignore and/or forgive violence done against him, starting all the way back to when Kastor stabs him at 13 to Laurent's abuse to Ancel's assault. But that's definitely for another time!

[mmilkovxch]

Captive Prince | Damen & Laurent

"A kingdom, or this."

[tototalks]

And so here we are, the final ramble! I just wanna say a huge thank you to everyone who has been on this lil reading voyage with me and put up with my dumb memes lol. You’ve all been awesome! Special thanks go to @evilovesyou for getting me to read! 💙

(HAHAHA WTF DO I DO WITH MY LIFE NOW?! 😂)

My final King’s Rising thoughts 👑👑

- Gotta love Damianos, King of Akielos, looking down at a broken cart and being like “I’m too privileged to know how to fix this” while Lazar and Pallas fuck unsubtly in the background.

- LAMEN. CRYING. 😭😭😭 Laurent really chose Damen’s high school bully nickname.

- Charls is an actual MVP. He took one look at Laurent and understood the assignment. He’s a cousin to the King of Vere now. He is actually a part of the royal family. Ring bearer at the wedding. I don’t make the rules. And the absolute best part about it is that he never fuckin finds out 😂

- Laurent is having the absolute time of his life. He’s sat there TRASHING Nikandros and telling all these Akeilon sluts to cover their arms and accidentally reinventing the cloth trade. What a legend 😂

- The night they spend at the inn is so so significant. Laurent realising that he’s allowed to have desires and finally being asked what he wants. But also the undercurrent of being scared and confused by what turns him on because of his history. Damn I love that his traumatic experiences don’t disappear just because he has Damen now.

- I also need a whole book about their trip through Akeilos - Laurent being too pale and northern for the heat is SO real lol

- King Damianos promising to end slavery 🥲

- I need Laurent and Nikandros to become friends who tease each other ruthlessly.

- Okay so the kid is Kastor’s. I have to admit, I really do appreciate Jokaste and her sacrifices to a certain degree - not the whole degree - but a certain degree.

- Laurent giving himself over for Damen’s sake and the child. Holy shit the symbolism. Damen hearing the Regent confirm what he already kind of knew about Laurent and going apeshit, and Laurent realising he’s defending him. 💔

- “Throw up quick, we need to go.” Nikandros, I love you.

- Damen just WALKING IN to surrender. He really said all eyes on me you’re not gonna forget this.

- He stands up for Laurent against all the odds and I cannot even imagine what that felt like for Laurent.

- GUION YOU RAT ASS MOTHERFUCKER (I should have seen this coming.)

- And this is why you NEVER cross a mother about the ones she loves - the Regent is being taken down by every child he abused and that is exactly how I wanted him to fall. So satisfying.

- Paschal’s testimony and it all coming together. I ADORE how no character is forgotten or irrelevant once they die. Nicaise, Aimeric and even Govart were significant to the Regent’s downfall. The perfect evidence for the council to acquit Laurent and charge the Regent.

- I have to mention the 11 year old boy and how Laurent protects him when he sees him worry for the Regent upon his execution. He truly doesn’t understand what’s going on and the manipulation runs deep. Laurent broke that cycle of abuse.

- Kastor vs. Damianos - another fight that was always meant to happen and solidified that Kastor cannot be redeemed, even by Damen’s kindness.

- Laurent being the one to kill Kastor was only fitting. He’s fulfilled himself, Auguste, and Damen, and he used something so himself to do it. His wits. I really love that.

- And finally we have two legitimate kings, friends, and lovers. Ruling over two kingdoms that will probably end up one. An absolute perfect ending. ♥️

What an absolute ride. Shoutout C.S. Pacat for an awesome story ♥️…. I start the side stories Friday 😂 Y’all on tumblr have one more job, and that’s to fill my inbox with AO3 links 😉🥰 I have a character song playlist to curate lol

[elettraml]

Ⲁ Ⲕⳕⲛⳋ𝖽ⲟⲙ ⲟⲅ Ⲧⲏⳕ⳽

Just some Laurent and Damen, cause it was long time since I last draw them 🌟❤️.

[ch3rrybite]

captive prince feels #1

Laurent finds a stray white cat wandering around the palace grounds in Marlas and immediately takes it in, despite Damen’s teasing about his “soft spot for untamable creatures.” the cat is surprisingly fierce, fiercely loyal, and a little temperamental—Damen can’t help but think it’s perfect for Laurent. (they both act like they’re above it, but every morning, Damen catches Laurent feeding the cat extra scraps with a fond smile.)

Damen abolishes slavery in Akielos, a promise to his people and to Laurent, who stands beside him for every speech and announcement. Laurent dismantles the pet system in Vere, dismantling every cage and collar. together, they reshape their kingdoms with new values, reminding their people that dignity and respect are the heart of every citizen.

they build a new capital in Marlas, a city that reflects the beauty of both their homelands. Laurent ensures every wall, every courtyard is a blend of Veretian refinement and Akielon openness. they design a new palace, with towers and arches that combine Akielon warmth with Veretian elegance. Laurent’s hand in every detail makes it exquisite, but Damen ensures every room is just as warm and welcoming as the court of Delpha once was.

they train their Kings’ Guard to know each other’s languages—Akielon soldiers learning Veretian, and Veretian soldiers learning Akielon. it’s not just for communication, but for the respect that comes from understanding someone else’s words, their histories, and their struggles.

they spar together every morning, something of a ritual. Laurent’s speed and Damen’s strength match each other perfectly, and while it’s technically practice, both of them know they’re indulging in the thrill of each other’s skill, never really wanting to win or lose, just enjoying the closeness.

they commission statues for Damen’s mother and Auguste, honoring them as the beloved figures who shaped both kingdoms. Laurent’s heart aches, knowing Auguste’s name is now spoken with the respect he always deserved. Damen stands before his mother’s statue, feeling her presence, with Laurent’s hand on his shoulder, a silent promise that he’ll always have someone by his side.

Laurent gives coins to beggar children in the streets, slipping them into small hands as he passes. he rarely says much, but Damen watches the gentle smile Laurent tries to hide, the softness he always knew was there. Laurent’s not just giving coins—he’s giving a chance, a promise that he sees them, that their lives matter.

lazy mornings by the Akielon sea, with Laurent leaning against Damen’s chest, watching the waves and listening to the quiet. they don’t speak much, content in the silence, just being together. Damen rests his head against Laurent’s shoulder, and they’re at peace, feeling more at home than they ever have before.

Damen learns to cook Laurent’s favorite sweets, an ambitious project that the kitchen staff is not prepared for. but Damen insists, burning his fingers more times than he’ll admit, until finally, he presents Laurent with pastries that taste like home. Laurent laughs softly as he eats, smiling at Damen with a tenderness that makes every burn worth it.

Laurent commissions a unity portrait of them, a piece meant for their secret marriage—something small, private, hidden away in their chambers. it shows them standing side by side, hands nearly touching, each in their royal attire. they look regal, but the faintest hints of smiles play on their lips, capturing the love that connects them beyond any crown.

together, they’ve built a new world—a place shaped by their love, their sacrifices, and their dreams. and through every sunrise and quiet moment, they both know they’re right where they belong.