#captive prince did it in the... third book?

[lennyjamin]

i'm a big fan of scifi/fantasy romance novels and it's really tickling me how many of the ones i've read over the past year have involved Confessing To The Murder(s) as a major relationship development milestone

[letteredlettered]

Hello!! Firstly, I'd just like to say I've recently discovered your drarry work, and I have been reading your entire catalogue of it for the last week. Pulled all nighters can't stop reading it, reading it. I devoured The Boy Who Lived Twice in one sitting and I couldn't believe how well crafted it was. Blew my mind.

Now, all of this is to say, your prose has this elegant straightforwardness that is so succinct, so clear and so evocative. Your dialogue is absolute *perfection*. What are your influences? Books or authors you feel made an impression on you? I'd love to know what you read, because god I love what you write.

Thank you! I'm so glad you like my fics.

Jane Austen is a huge influence. Whenever my prose feels indistinct and overburdened, I return to her. She says things extremely sharply and cleanly.

Sarah Rees Brennan was a huge influence on me in terms of POV. I tend to write a very tight third person, so tight that the reader can generally see things the viewpoint character cannot. Check out the first book of The Demon's Lexicon series for one of the best examples of this I've read.

I spent a lot of time with Robin McKinley as a kid. I don't think that our styles match very well; she can do an ethereal, fairytale tone that I've kind of given up on. But what I loved best about her was that she could do that tone but then write something incredibly down to earth. I would check out Beauty or Deerskin for my favorite examples of this.

I actually also came into the style I write now writing for Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS) fandom. While most of the stories I wrote in that fandom didn't have very sharp dialogue, I remember writing a story (a WIP still languishing on livejournal, sadly) where I realized I had "found" my voice and style. It was extremely dialogue-heavy. BtVS was famous at the time for its extremely fast-paced, idiosyncratic, snappy dialogue. The dialogue is now considered dated, and the creator is a douche, but imo it's still great writing, especially the early shows. I still go back to it sometimes to figure out a conversation with multiple people, or to work on my humor.

As for authors that have made an impression on me, I'd check out George Eliot. My favorite book is Daniel Deronda. It has wonderful dialogue, especially for an older book. Dickens, Dostoevsky, and Hugo all made pretty big impressions on me as well; I think these big, hefty books with really big ideas really influenced my language, even though I would by no means call my style 19th c.

I'd also check out Rainbow Rowell. I wouldn't say she influenced the style I write with now, because I had it before I read anything by her, but she's one of the few contemporary authors I read and think, "Yeah, I'd write it like that." I think anything by her is a great read that can give you a lot to think about in terms of style.

In my mind, Sally Rooney is a little like Rowell in terms of a cleans style that packs a sharp analysis. I'd call Rowell more comfortable, funny, and genuine, while Rooney is a bit aloof and literary. I actually don't like the stories in her books very much, but I found Conversations with Friends particularly refreshing in terms of writing style.

C.S. Pacat's Captive Prince series also left an impression on me. It has a clean, simple style, with a narrator who doesn't see everything the reader does. And I also did learn a lot from the use of the word "said," in those books--it was something I already knew! and yet.

I think some fanfic that made a big impression on me is The Paradox Series, by wordstrings (Sherlock/John, Sherlock BBC), Spice, by eimeo (Kirk/Spock, Star Trek TOS), Children, Wake Up by hollycomb (Kylo Ren/Hux, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Tarnished Gold, by prim_the_amazing (Shen Yuan/Luo Binghe, Scum Villain's Self-Saving System). The styles in these fics vary, but each bowled me over at different points with how beautifully something was articulated or how spectacularly a scene was crafted. I think about Spice all the time in particular.

I'd also say that if you're thinking about dialogue in particular, I also love both Oscar Wilde's and Tom Stoppard's plays.

If you are a writer, I did write a series on writing dialogue. Check out the tag "lettered writes dialogue". The first post is here.

[rs-hawk]

Something something, the beast saunters into the library and hears his captive frustratedly trying to pleasure herself, a smutty book cast to the side as she leans back onto his reading chair. And maybe his name slips out her mouth as she fingers herself. And maybe he peeks through the shelves and strokes himself as he watches her fingers desperately stretch herself to mimic his girth…

I had an out of state concert yesterday so I forgot to schedule an upload for Day 2 yesterday so I'm going to do a double upload today. Sorry everyone!

Here's the fic for Day Two :)

CW: obviously this fic contains smut and graphic depictions. It is intended for an 18+ audience

Belle was ecstatic when Beast showed her the library. There were more books than she could ever read there, and it was the one, singular room in the entire castle that she had found where there were no servants. Of course, if she called for them, they would come to her, but they did not come of their own accord, and there were none who resided inside the spacious library. She wondered for a moment if no one had been in here when the curse happened, so that was why no one was in here, but she had no idea. Not really.

One day, she had found what was described as a great love story. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she settled into the Beast's chair. She was content and happy, even. It surprised her how at home she had begun to feel here, in this place. Her prison. Pushing that thought to the side, she began to read her book. To her surprise, it quickly turned from a sweet romance to one of the dirtiest books she had ever even heard of.

Her cheeks flushed and her chest heaved as she continued reading. A burning in her core made her overly aware of just how long it had been since she had touched herself. The book was just so enticing. It was making her mouth water and her empty hole pulse and squeeze around nothing. Vaguely, she wondered how Beast would feel. He was so tall. So big. If it was proportional...

Her mind spiraled down as she kept reading, now imagining her and the Beast in the characters' places. When the Prince held the Princess down, stuffing his fingers into her virgin hole, Belle whimpered, bunching up her blue dress in her free fist. She was so needy and empty that it was making her so hot that she was ready to cry. Yet, she couldn't stop reading it.

Beast had asked everyone where his beautiful captive went, but no one seemed to know. After checking everywhere else, he knew that she had to be in the library. It was the last place he had to check, and while he was surprised she would be in there for so many hours without even coming out to eat, it wouldn't be completely unheard of for her. Maybe she had brought in a snack or a spot of tea to enjoy.

However, as he entered the library, he heard whimpering and moaning. His entire body froze as he listened intently to the sounds. What... was that? Curious, he hid amongst the bookshelves, making his way as silently as he could towards his reading chair, where he could now smell Belle. She smelled different, but he couldn't place why. Not at first.

"Beast, please," she whimpered, the sound of her trying to fit a third finger inside of her dripping hole filling the quiet room.

Her book tumbled from her hand as she gripped the arm of the chair, her legs spread to be able to have better access to herself. Beast watched from behind the shelves, his cock hardening. His tongue darted out to wet his lips as he watched her pretend that he was fucking her. Using her pretty, wet hole for his own pleasure.

When she began pleading for him to go faster, her breathing hitching as she let go of the arm of the chair to begin playing with her clit, still stuffing her fingers inside of herself, he started stroking himself. His huge cock was straining in his pants before he took it out, slowly pumping his hand up and down as he watched the object of his obsession play with herself, the smell of her arousal almost overwhelming. He sped up when she started begging for him to cum inside of her, to make her his.

Fuck he thought as he clawed at the bookshelf, bucking his hips roughly against his hand, his knot swelling. How badly he wanted to give her what she was begging for.

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[luckycheesefoodie321]

Look idk what the new Narnia tv show will bring, and I can absolutely see it improving upon the second and third films… but the first movie was truly something special.

The vision of the director, the wonderful young core cast, the score, the visual and practical effects, the truly elegant cgi, all really bringing the original story to life in the most beautiful way.

I was just as captivated by the film after not having watched it in some 10-15 years, as I was the first time I watched it.

The war scene???? THE WAR SCENE. THE MUSIC. THE BUILD UP. THE TENSION. I CANT.

The way it allows for the quiet moments to enriched the big moments. Peter and Aslan talking for the first time? Peter looking to Oreius “are you with me?” “To the death”???

Even Prince Caspian was such an engaging film, even if it did deviate from the book, bc the cast was so good and the story followed on so well from the first. The understanding of the script writer’s that the characters were now adults flung back into young bodies and their skill level, their mannerisms, their confidence and countenance would all be drastically changed from the first film, and the cast do a wonderful job of projecting that. And obv Ben Barnes was a fantastic addition.

It’s the way that Susan and Edmund had very minimal roles in the first film’s war and leaned heavily on Peter to lead the charge. By the same token, Peter took most of the responsibility upon himself. Susan used one arrow to kill in the first film. Whereas Peter’s first kill was kind of incidental. Edmund used his strategic abilities for the first time in going for the Witch’s ice sceptre.

Cut to Prince Caspian.

Edmund is absolutely and clearly the strategist between the two. He’s the negotiator. The master manipulator. The diplomat. And proves to everyone involved he is a more than capable swordsman - we don’t need to see Peter fight before he needs to. We need everyone to mentally catch up to where Edmund is in his skills. Then Peter leads as he always does at the front of the action. He duels Miraz. He proves his mettle once more.

Then Susan, while initially paired up once more with Lucy, goes with them in the initial raid on Miraz’s castle to fight, demonstrating her expert archery and combat skills. She solos about 7 or 8 mounted soldiers from the ground with her bow. She leads the archers before entering the battlefield herself.

It’s the DEVELOPMENT.

And while Lucy is not involved in the fighting, it’s the way she speaks against the stubbornness of her elder siblings so openly. Who holds firm to her beliefs even when everyone else doesn’t. She doesn’t run away and cry anymore. This is a Lucy who knows how to counsel her fellow kings and Queen.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third film, is where it falls apart story wise, in direction, and in vision - it forgets where the characters were previously. Like I hate when Caspian and Edmund are duelling on the Dawn Treader, and they end in a draw and Caspian says the line “you’ve improved, my friend” “I suppose I have” because BRO. Edmund is a skilled swordsman and several hundred years Caspian’s senior. While he may be in a younger body that doesn’t show the experience, and he doesn’t have opportunities to practice it, he has several wars and combat engagements under his belt and only a year since his previous visit to Narnia. That doesn’t go away. A better line would’ve been “the rust is starting to shed, my friend” “I’m finally warmed up” would’ve been a far less condescending line, even if sweet baby boi Caspian would never mean it that way.

so I definitely would look forward to how the show might improve upon it IF it gets that far.

[ltrllynbdy]

So a few years ago I bought this trilogy called captive prince but after reading a few chapters of the first book I kind of gave up on it. I normally don't have a problem with exploring darker themes in a story but captive prince in particular was unenjoyable for me at that time

Later, I was bored with nothing much to do, so I decided to check my bookshelves, found captive prince and started reading and boy I am so glad that I did! I finished the books in a few days and proceeded to read all the short stories.

First of all, before I get to praise the book, I want to say my main criticism about the books: "the slavery stuff in the first book is badly written". Don't get me wrong, Captive prince does not glorify slavery like some haters suggest. I'm not exactly opposed to writing slavery in fiction and there are many political/historical fictional stories that have main characters trying to abolish slavery. It's a common theme.

Captive prince is not much different from the main character ,Damen ,who used to be a slaver himself, gets turned into a slave and tries to abolish it by the end of the series.

It's a fine idea on surface level but there's one big problem with it , I'd like to call it the "Erasmus problem". The first book of captive prince heavily suggested that there were slaves like Erasmus who liked to have a master and I want to believe it's Damen being biased and bigoted because of his privileged upbringing but the story itself still falls apart. There are also instances where sexual slavery becomes apparent and uncomfortable. So if any of these bothers you like it bothered me, the first book of CP is definitely not for you.

OK now for the positives:

From the second book onward, this trilogy becomes a masterpiece.

This story is truly an enemy to love. Most of the other enemies to lovers stories that I have read are just characters either having a simple rivalry or a petty misunderstanding. They dislike each other because one character ignored the other when they were kids , or because they are simply on a different sports team. Captive prince does not shy away from giving the main characters good and logical reasons to hate each other and even hurt each other to an extreme for great and understandably human reasons. They have hurt each other a lot and have no business ever falling in love and still somehow manage to grow and understand and develop something special and unique and I think it's beautiful.

The slow burn: The romance starts only after the entire first book (in which they just hate each other) and most of the second book (where they get to know and understand each other), it's not the slowest burn I've ever read but for a book with characters like these two, it's necessary. and well written

Captive prince's author is extremely brave in making the first book and one of the main characters deliberately hateable with a seemingly unreliable narrator: I don't think I've ever read a story where I hate the first book and enjoy the rest. First impressions are very important and when people don't like an entire first book they probably wouldn't try to continue. I have no idea how and why this author managed to make people still invested enough to publish the second and third book but I'm glad that it happened. It was so enjoyable reading the story from one character's perspective and going from absolutely hating the other character to loving him and understanding him. with the unreliable narrator that is Damen.

The world building, writing and the political story: This may not be the greatest political story with the greatest worldbuilding I've ever read but considering the genre that is m/m romance, I think it's excellent. Let's face it, it's not common for m/m romance to do worldbuilding and politics well. I don't want to seem mean but I've read a decent amount of books and m/m romance and very few of them were actually satisfying to me in terms of politics. Captive prince was one of the rare gems. There might be a few plot holes for me here and there but seeing the characters struggle with each other and plan things out , helping each other or getting fooled by each other in a romance story focusing on mostly only two characters was great to see. I also found some aspects of Homonormativity in the world hilarious. Unless you are married, you are not allowed to be straight in Vere because they hate bastards lol

Despicable villain: This story has the worst and most hateable villain I've ever read in an m/m story. This again goes back to the author being brave enough to write the story the way it is since a lot of romance writers don't dare tackle some really darker aspects.

Subversion of Tropes and Exploration of Power Dynamics : This one was a little hard for me to put into words but basically the series delves into power dynamics in relationships, politics, and society, offering nuanced portrayals of domination, submission, and consent and I don't necessarily mean sexually. In most romance stories, whenever character 1 goes to character 2's kingdom as a lover or sex slave (usually character 1 is the female character in a straight romance) you'd almost always see them have one specific power dynamic. In Captive prince, their characters and their dynamics clashes and changes rapidly and as the story goes on, Damen as a king becomes almost equal to Lauren (I would argue he even becomes politically more powerful than Laurent during certain parts of the story considering Laurent remains a prince for the most part but I digress)

Flawed and human characters who hurt each other without actually romanticizing toxicity: One thing that some people criticize about captive prince and I disagree with, is that it has a toxic relationship. I have to mention that there's basically no actual relationship between the characters until the end of the story and when they do get into a relationship they are a very sweet couple. I think people call them toxic because they were flawed and literal enemies who hurt each other because of it but that's not what I call toxic. Toxicity implies that them being together (they were not together) poisons their life. Both characters manage to grow and understand each other. Damen in particular is a character who you don't see his flaws at first but it becomes more evident how privileged and naive he was and he changes a lot as well as Laurent.

Overall I think excluding the slavery aspects of book 1 which are badly written, this story hits the mark of everything I need in a romance book and I just needed to talk about it. Thanks for coming to my ted talk!

[izartn]

The thing about the Captive Prince and Dark Rise comparisons is that ultimately, I think despite the YA thing, the ages of the protags, and not having the third book yet, Will and James are more into kink personally than Damen and Laurent.

It's been a while since I read Captive Prince so I could be wrong but I swear our main pairing there is not that into it as the povs in Dark Rise. They are adventurous of course, but something bout how Will and James think and react to each other, like. There's clearly a power dynamic they both look at each other for, you know? Outside of, and liked to yeah, the sexy stuff.

Like Will directly tells James that he will give him orders later if he likes (when denying him the collar at the throne room) and is so pleased and turned on by his submission hello (and James is also like, directly asking for the collar they think would enslave him bc he trusts Will more than anyone else to not abuse that power over him which like, ñom), between other infamous scenes.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I remember anything that directly from the dom/sub kink playbook in Laurent and Damen relationship. Like their circumstances when they met and all that stuff yes, but their relationship for each other? They don't give the same vibe.

Just look at Sarcean and Anharion oh good. The queen general chained at the feet of the throne with the magical ruby collar and decorated for all to see, bc they were into exhibitionism as well oh good. (Will and James getting memories of that and being like. Oh gods why is evil past me life so hot. What a way to discover what are you into)

.... Which is to say. Will and James bring that out on their interactions even when they're not sexual (Will daydreaming about how James uses his magic for him, on his orders, and how both scary and pleased he is by that trust, James looking at Will for guidance and support or backing off when Will tells/makes him to, etc) bc their dynamic is kinda inherently playing by those rules since they met, while I feel like Laurent and Damen doesn't have that. Yes including the slavery thing.

CS Pacat, sir how did that happen. Dark Rise is nominally YA, how did that happen. Like. I'm not complaining but I want to meet the editorial team who gave green light and thank them lmfao.

[ihavedonenothingright]

Captive Prince: Historical References and Naming Conventions

Part 2

And I'm back! Last post I looked at Vere and Akielos; today we're onto Patras. I was originally going to tackle Isthima and Artes here as well, but then things got. Long. So we'll save them for next time. You might notice I'm not touching Vask or Kempt—that's because I lack the background to do so properly. I'm currently studying Greek and Latin, and I speak okay-ish French, so I feel pretty comfy looking at names derived from those three, but not other languages. And with that little preamble, let's jump right in!

Patras

Patras' historical inspiration is a little less cut-and-dry than Vere and Akielos. We're told it's culturally similar to Akielos, and it shares its name with Πάτρα/Patras—the regional capital of the Peloponnese and one of the largest cities in Greece—but the two Patran given names we have access to—Torveld and Torgeir—are both Scandinavian. You could also probably make a good case that its capital "Bazal" is a slightly corrupted version of "Basel," the third most populated city in Switzerland. I don't really think we see enough of it to fully label its culture one thing or the other, but for my purposes here, I'm going to label it a mix. So then, why do I feel fine analyzing the name?

I did a quick search to see if any words similar to Patras pop up in Old Norse or derivative languages, and came up empty. So I feel pretty comfortable assuming that the country name is Hellenic/Romantic in origin, regardless of its other names. Feel free to correct me in the notes if that's not the case. But with that in mind, where does Πάτρα come from?

Well, first, from its Ancient Greek name, Πάτραι (Patrai). And that comes (supposedly; we're dealing with mytho-history here) from this guy, Patreus, who conquered it. I have not been able to find anything solid on where his name comes from, but what it reminds me of is the noun πατήρ (pater), or 'father.' This is partially because the word for one's native country in Greek is πάτρα, itself derived from πατήρ, and that is, I think, one possible interpretation of the country's name.

Patras' role in the story, from start to end, is to remind Damen of his home country. In book 1 this is a positive association—Patras' cultural similarities to Akielos are what allow Damen to 'save' Erasmus and the other Akielon slaves—and in book 3, when Torveld and Erasmus make their appearance, it's negative. Patras and Torveld effectively function as foils for Damen and his attitude towards Akielos, so having the country's name evoke that idea is nice. It works.

The other thing I associate it with is kind of related, but not entirely. It's important to note that Greek and Latin share a word for 'father'; πατήρ and pater. And particularly in Latin, the word pater lends itself to several other terms and associations that are, I feel, relevant to Patras's role as a foil. The main one I'm going to talk about is the patrōnus-cliēns relationship, which played a very important role in Roman society. 

Patrōnus, derived from pater (stem: patr-), can be translated as patron, advocate, or protector depending on context. The most common usage of it that I've encountered is in describing a social designation in which a wealthy Roman (typically a man) would take on clients and dependents (called cliēns) in exchange for some form of benefit. That benefit might be monetary—"I'll give you the money to maintain your farm if you trade xyz on my behalf"—or social and political; clients were typically obligated to vote for their patroni or his immediate family in elections. While not a legal institution, this kind of relationship was deeply ingrained in Roman society. And it was also the default relationship between freed slaves and their former masters. 

On the one hand, such an arrangement does help keep new freedmen (liberti) from becoming destitute; on the other, continued obligations to one's former owner meant that, functionally, the freedom afforded by manumission was never true freedom. Akielon attitudes towards slavery are, in my opinion, more in line with Roman sensibilities about slavery than Greek ones (take a peek at Martial's Epigrams if you want to understand what I mean, but it's not pretty), and Patras is the picture of Roman slavery. Torveld embodies the ideal of a Roman patrōnus: by the standards of his society, he is a protector and an advocate, and we see him exercise his power on behalf of dependents like Erasmus… but he is still, ultimately, in an unearned, hierarchical position that gives him the power of life-or-death over everyone he owns. And that's what really stands out to me about the name Patras: its associations with this state of protection and exploitation that are themselves associated with Damen's homeland. It's very, very good.

That's it for today's analysis; tune in tomorrow for Isthima and Artes! Please let me know if there's anything in particular you'd like me to look at. I'm open to anything linguistic or historical; in fact, I'll probably make a more comprehensive post about the similarities between Akielon and Roman slavery at a later point in time anyway. For Part 1, see below.

<< Part 1 Part 3 >>

(Note: for convenience, I'm making a tag for these posts. You can find them all on #capri name analysis)

[metalandmagi]

I need the third Dark Rise book to come out right fucking now because I really want to make a post describing how each song on The Tortured Poets Department would fit into the story as if it were a musical like I did for Reputation and Captive Prince.

[ridleyandthebeast]

I just realized all of the parallels between the Dark Rise series and the Captive Prince series!

Dark haired powerful dude has an enemies to lovers arch with smart bitchy blonde hair dude with a lot of sass. It is literally them in a different font!!!! In this essay i will ....

Damen and Will are practically similar characters. To start with the basics like before they are both very powerful dark haired dudes. One has warrior strength, one was god like in sorcery powers. Everyone wants to be fucked by them and are mad about it and try to kill them because that was their best lay. But they only had eyes for some snarky blonde bitch. Their own siblings tried to murder them each! They both are hiding their identities from their new friends and love interest because their friends will react badly when they figure out who they really are.

Laurent and James are the same person because like I said blonde, bitchy, smart, and sassy. Both were raised by hypocrites who preached to be the saviors of their worlds. One was a prince ruled by his hypocritical uncle, the other was raised by his hypocritical father. Everyone wants to dominate them sexually or for power! Jame's is through the collar, Laurent's is through taking over his kingdom. They both fall for the puppy dog brute everyone ends up liking because he doesn't cross their boundaries, doesn't want to take away their power, and respects them.

Joakste = Visander

Violet = Nickandros

Katherine/ Will's mother = Kastor

Laurent's uncle = Jame's father/ light side

Captive Prince themes: slavery and child SA

Dark Rise themes: religious trauma and child abuse

I have a sneaky suspicion that the third book of the Dark Rise series will have similar plot twists and overall story arch and conclusion in a similar way that fits the narrative of this series. In Captive Prince, we thought Laurent's uncle was a little skeptical until plot twist after plot twist confirms that he orchestrated Damen's family's downfall and the death of Laurent's family. Not to mention he was a child predator. We already learned about the hypocrisy of the knights with the cup and how they are now tied to Sarcean with the shadow. I think we will soon find more bad things the light side has been hiding into how they brought down the "dark king". And lets not forget Laurent was revealed to know Damen's identity at the end of book two, beginning of book three. At the end of Dark Heir James now know's Will's identity and will now be further explored in book 3. It is not all gonna be rainbows and sunshines in book 3 for Dark Rise just like it wasn't in book 3 of Captive Prince. But like in book 1 they hated each other and finally decided to work together for a common goal, and in book 2 they started to fall for each other and would not act on it due to personal reasons. I think in book 3 they are gonna have to work through personal trauma and trust issues before they can truly love one another like they did in Captive Prince book 3.

All in all to say history was written by the winners so thats why each side has different perspectives and until the whole truth comes out like in the other series we will not know true piece for our characters. However, there is hope following those similar story arches because how well it turned out for the other couple. Also remember Damen was Laurent's slave and now the roles have reversed and Will is now James's master. But like Laurent said, Damen could never truly be a slave....

(Sorry this was long but I have been thinking about this all day, I don't know if anyone will read this but let me know your thought!)

[kira-mori]

Hello <3 a strange question about Capri, what was the moment when Laurent knew he had fell in love with Damen and viceversa? I'm reading the third book and it is literally killing me their divorced era, I know it's all part of Laurent twisted beautiful sexy mind but still I want to die so I'm thinking of romantic moments in my head :( especially Laurent having Auguste as his favourite person in the world and saying to Damen that he reminded him of his brother

This is a tough question, (but I'm happy to answer!) as both Laurent and Damen struggle with their emotions and internal conflicts, making the acceptance of their feelings a gradual process. Animosity slowly shifts into admiration, acceptance, trust, and finally, love.

There’s definitely an initial animalistic attraction from the very beginning, but the moment Laurent and Damen consciously realize they are in love definitely happens in Book 2.

Damen's Realization:

In the early chapters of The Prince's Gambit, Damen still uses reptilian comparisons to describe Laurent and hates the man who is responsible for his captivity and punishment. But gradually, a thin thread of respect starts to form.

Their visit to the inn could be seen as a turning point. Laurent teases Damen while disguised as a pet, catching Damen off guard. Here, Damen begins to struggle with conflicting emotions. On one hand, he sees Laurent as dangerous, "it was like feeding a predator" when he feeds him bread like a master would do with a pet. On the other hand, he battles the urge to touch Laurent tenderly, “He fought the urge to press against Laurent's lips with the pads of his fingertips.” He tries to keep his feelings in check, “He reminded of himself forcefully of who this was, Laurent, his captor.”

Despite this internal struggle, Damen accepts his feelings more quickly than Laurent. He even finds himself reminiscing about their wild night, “that memory was inextricably tangled with the glints of Nicaise’s sapphire earring, the murmur of Laurent’s voice in his ear, the breathless brilliance of the chase, rooftop to rooftop, all of it woven into a long, mad, endless night.”

Afterward, Damen becomes more protective and affectionate toward Laurent, even admitting to himself that “any man would have been roused by Laurent playing pet in his lap”. Damen already gazes at Laurent in a new light, noticing that “it was impossible not to look at his mouth” as his yearning for him deepens.

When they are captured by the Vaskian raiders and the leader slides his hand across Laurent’s body, Damen’s possessiveness unleashes: “This man had his hands on Laurent, and Damen was going to kill him.” Damen then goes on a killing spree, despite being bound (wtf Damen, lol). This, I believe, is the moment when Damen fully and consciously realizes he’s in love with Laurent, feeling protective and ready to slice down anyone who dares to lay even a finger on him.

Laurent's Realization:

In the inn, Laurent is mischievous and teasing, clearly attracted to Damen but not yet aware of his crush.

It’s not until Damen saves his life at the river, rescuing him in a spectacular way.

“He hefted his sword, changed his grip, and threw. It was, emphatically, not a throwing weapon. It was six pounds of Veretian steel, forged for a two-handed grip. And he was on a moving horse, and the man was moving too, towards Laurent.”

In this moment of vulnerability, Laurent begins to see Damen not as an enemy but as someone he can trust with his life.

After this, Laurent starts to become more aware of his feelings. When he declares to Halvik (at the women's Vaskian camp), “The slave lies in no bed but mine,” it’s the first time Laurent asserts his claim over Damen.

By this point, Damen shifts between treating Laurent like a feral cat and giving in to his urges to touch him in a more intimate way. He says and does things that catch Laurent off guard, like lifting his fingers to touch the bruised edge of Laurent’s jaw: “The man who did this to you…” Damen is surprised by his own actions, not even himself knowing exactly what he’s doing, yet he continues to tear down Laurent’s defenses like a bulldozer. Damen being damen.

Laurent’s acceptance is slower due to his guarded nature and traumatic past. It is a process. The river rescue deepens his trust in Damen, and by the time he claims Damen at the Vaskian women's camp, his defenses begin to crumble. By their first kiss, Laurent is already fully aware that he is in love with Damen.

Hang in there, anon! Great things await you after the divorce era🖤

[cyberphuck]

It peeves me a little that most fanart of Laurent Captive Prince makes him into this soft, uguu pantybottom boy-- (spoilers for the entire Captive Prince trilogy under the cut and discussion of sexual assault, torture, grooming, suicide and incest)

--when in the books he's a ruthless vessel of hatred and vengeance who is super okay with torture, rape, and torture involving rape for the first two books and only didn't get around to ordering the rape-torture of anyone in Kings Rising because he was too busy having a shitload of people publicly flogged to death. I love Laurent, I love his character, I love his story arc, I love his development through the books, but I feel like so many people forget that he becomes a more open person by the end of Kings Rising, not a softer one. The guy who knew Aimeric was being groomed by the Regent but threatened him with his go-to type of torture (the rape kind), publicly humiliated him, then goaded him into and enabled his suicide is the same guy that defends Damen in the third book and the same guy who immediately commits regicide afterwards. He's still ruthless, he's still dangerous, and although he'd feel conflicted about it, I think that he'd still order the rapetorture of anyone who stood between him and his goals. Do you think that he'd hesitate for one second to order a bunch of dudes to fuck Kastor to death (or at least pointedly look the other way if dicks started pouring in through the windows) if he'd thought there was time for that? Laurent isn't like Damen, and never becomes like Damen: not only does Laurent kick people when they're down, he keeps kicking them until they are dead of Kick and makes sure everyone knows who killed them and why. Pacat is asking you to consider all of Laurent in the last book, not just the parts that are nicer now that he's had non-incestuous sex and discovered clothing that doesn't take two hours to put on. Nik comes in to remind you what Laurent had done to Damen in the very recent past when he sees the Scars From The Time Laurent Tried To Have Him Whipped To Death While Also Keeping Him As a Slave and goes ballistic. Oh yeah, you say, Laurent did do that. Damen made a choice to forgive him for it, but the scars are very much still there to say right, right, Laurent is dangerous. We forgive him for it, he is making changes, holy shit he just killed someone with a chair. That Damen acknowledges that Laurent has done terrible things and still loves him shows what kind of man Damen is and how his opinion of Laurent has changed as they've grown closer and also had sex. He's not surprised when Nik points out the scars, and he doesn't try to hide them from anyone. He didn't forget about them. He just chose to forgive. Pretending that none of that happened, or that none of that is a part of him anymore, and turning him into Damen's Arm Candy is doing everyone a disservice. Laurent, Damen, Aimeric, Nicaise's severed head, everyone. Laurent killed so many people to get here and he deserves recognition for it.

[scarletsxnss]

open to women!

characters: victor "conway" reed , 55 , he / him , & bruce laurant , 33 , he / him 

plot: fantasy au ! lowkey just started reading a court of thorns and roses and want a plot based on that ( but make it poly ) . doesn't have to be exact , but victor captures ym and takes them to his mansion/castle . for any reason u choose , she's now fated to live out her days in this new place but is given a home by victor and bruce . i'm just gonna say they're demons so i'm not completely ripping off the book lol up to u if u wanna go full fantasy but im also down for ym to be from the modern era.

food was spread out on the table. with a wild display of wealth and abundance, victor opted to have the servants cook food from every corner of the earth—unsure of what type of food this particular human would want. his stoicism shines against the bright warmth of the nearby hearth. one by one, servants pour in bringing golden plates and goblets. victor's eyes barely look at his captive, since the journey from the land of the humans has caused him fatigue. his clothes were still clean, despite a long journey through the eye of the universe. his clean grey tunic sat beneath demonic steel armor—the only armor that can keep him safe from the fatality of human wepons. "eat." his voice nothing more than a low growl. "you haven't eaten in days."

the large table is set for three, though the third guest doesn't enter until he's fashionably late. servants begin shuffling out of the room and leave the two in silence. the quiet doesn't last for long before the doors swing open and the pompous arrogance can be smelled off the royal that enters. bruce dons a luxurious leaver outfit, lined with the nicest of white threads to accent the rough warrior clothing. "conway." the prince speaks, calling victor by his nickname. "i heard the pet is here. how is she—" his tall figure pauses when he sees the girl. "oh." a dissaproving tone mixed with a judemental look. "victor... you didn't... dress her? did you?" he finally takes his seat across victor and observes the woman. "when i heard we were finally recieving a guest, i honestly imagined her prettier. though i bet if you'd wear a nicer dress than you'd look lovely, sweetheart."

[jadejedi]

Fantasy Book Review: The Captive Trilogy by C.S. Pacat

JJ’s rating: 4.5/5

How feral did it make me: 5/5

My book reviews

Ahh these books. What can I possibly say about these books that hasn’t been said before? I first read these books not long after the third book, Kings Rising, was published, back in 2016. If I remember correctly, on that first read, I was sort of like, eh, these are good. I like these. And then a bit later, maybe like a year later (?) I went back and reread them and was like “oh my god?? oh my god?? OH MY GOD??!” And now they have become one of my more frequent rereads (like almost once a year), and they are easily the fandom that I most frequently return to in between hyper fixations. I only have these books on Kindle, and they are pretty thoroughly annotated at this point. Book two, Prince’s Gambit, is genuinely one of my favorite books of all time. 

Okay, if you haven’t read these books or heard of them, here’s the summary: Damianos of Akielos, the crown prince of this world’s version of ancient Greece, is captured by his half-brother in a coup and sent to his country’s greatest enemy, Vere, which is this world’s version of, like, a more debauched version of medieval France. Damen is given as a sex slave to the frigid Crown Prince Laurent. The problem? Damen killed Laurent’s older brother, Prince Auguste, five years ago, and if Laurent finds out Damen's true identity, he’ll definitely have him killed. So Damen has to make his way through the complexities of the Veretian court, ruled by Laurent’s uncle, the Regent, while trying to escape before his identity is revealed. 

There are a LOT OF content warnings for these books, but some of them are spoilers, so if you want them, DM me and I will be happy to answer any questions about content. I will say that the first book has a fairly different tone than the later two. The first book really leans in more to the master/slave kink dynamics of the whole story and is more like ~oooh look! So sexy! So provocative!~ The second and third books are more like “here, let me stab you with these heart wrenching revelations and genuine emotions!!!!!” Like the kink dynamics are still there in the later two books, but the tone is much more serious, if that makes sense. I believe C.S. Pacat has sort of talked about how the Captive Prince series was kind of her practice trilogy before writing Dark Rise (book two out now!!), and I think that is most obvious in the first book. 

The relationship between Damen and Laurent is absolutely wonderful. I consider them one of my top two or three OTPs. The hatred. The eventual respect. The yearning. The pining. The LONGING. THE TRUST. Here are some of my favorite (non spoilery) lines (all from book 2 because 2 and 3 have the best lines but the best lines in book 3 are all spoilers):

“It was like being pleased by a thorn bush, feeling fond of every prickle. Another second and he was going to say something ridiculous like that.”

“To get what you want, you have to know exactly how much you are willing to give up.” 

“A kingdom, or this.” (this line lives RENT FUCKING FREE in my mind forever)

These books also have a fairly unambiguously happy ending. The author has published several short stories, which are all very enjoyable.

Due to the content of these books, they are definitely not for everyone, but for me, at least, I think they are brilliant. They are THE enemies to friends to lovers couple, in my humble opinion. Also, there is a fairly large fandom for these books, with some GREAT fan artists and fanfic authors. Truly we are all blessed.

[lucky-clover-gazette]

prince's gambit highlights & annotations

chapter 3

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.

The dispatch that Laurent had written the night before galloped off to the east with a horse and a rider.

this is to the guy at the inn, right?

He became aware of Laurent on the periphery of his vision, pale-haired and wearing riding leathers.

blonde man jumpscare

Laurent was apparently arrogant enough to do this without armour. He clearly didn’t think he was going to lose, not if he was inviting the entire troop to watch it happen. He wasn’t thinking clearly at all. Laurent, with his unmarked body and his pampered indoor skin, would be fresh from palace sports where his opponents would have always, politely, let him win. He’s going to be killed, thought Damen, seeing the future in that moment with perfect clarity.

again. “i hope she fries / i’m free if that bitch dies / i’d better help her out” (buffy the vampire slayer, once more with feeling)

Damen’s heartbeat was loud with the shock of his surprise: at the end of the first exchange, Laurent was still alive. At the end of the second also. At the end of the third he was, persistently and remarkably, still alive, and watching his opponent calmly, measuringly.

THE PEOPLE’S PRINCE!!! ✨

Laurent fought like he talked. The danger lay in the way he used his mind: there was not one thing he did that was not planned in advance. Yet he was not predictable, because in this, as with everything he did, there were layers of intent, moments when expected patterns would suddenly dissolve into something else.

glances pointedly at the book 1 garden scene

Laurent turned back Govart’s second surge with an easy grace and a particularly Veretian series of parries that made Damen itch to pick up a sword.

“he’s so competent i need to duel him so bad” this is attraction! to me!

It was not an even match at all. It was a lesson in abject public humiliation. But the one teaching the lesson, the one effortlessly outclassing his opponent, was not Govart. ‘Pick it up,’ said Laurent, the first time Govart lost his weapon.

now that we’re in book 2, we (and damen) finally get to see laurent’s laurentocity projected on an opponent who is not damen. and it’s like, oh, is that how everyone else has seen him the whole time? no wonder they were confused by laurent’s worst and most openly depraved behavior towards damen in book 1. especially since they didn't know that damen killed laurent's brother!

Damen knew the answer to that question. Laurent was not going to kill him. He was going to break him. Here, in front of everyone.

we all need hobbies. that just happens to be one of laurent’s

He looked first to the Prince’s men, instinctively expecting to see his own reaction to the fight mirrored on their faces, but instead they showed gratification coupled with a total lack of surprise. None of them had been concerned that Laurent might lose, he realised.

because he’s that bitch. catch up, damen

Lazar, who had thrown Laurent the cloth, didn’t look as though he was going to be mouthing off about Laurent again. In fact, the new way he was looking at Laurent reminded Damen unmistakably of Torveld. Damen frowned.

someone’s jealous againnnn

His own reaction had him feeling oddly off balance. It was just that it was—unexpected. He had not known this about Laurent, that he was trained like this, capable like this. He wasn’t sure why he felt as though something, fundamentally, had changed.

me when i realize that i have a crush on someone

In other words, the Regent was to be informed that his Captain had been well and truly turned off, in a manner that could not be painted as a revolt against the Regency, or as princely disobedience, or as lazy incompetence. Round one: Laurent.

hey, that’s kinda how my annotations look!

Damen was finishing with the fire when Laurent came into the room, still in riding clothes. He looked relaxed and fair, as though weathering a duel, cutting down his Captain, and following that up with a day-long ride had had no effect on him at all. By now Damen knew him too well to be taken in by it. By any of it. He said, ‘Did you pay that woman to fuck Govart?’ Laurent paused in the act of stripping off his riding gloves and then, deliberately, he continued. He worked the leather from each finger individually. His voice was steady. ‘I paid her to approach him. I didn’t force his cock into her mouth,’ Laurent said.

oh you KNOW laurent was holding back a smile here. also gloves 😮‍💨

‘You broke a man today. Doesn’t that affect you at all? These are lives, not pieces in a chess game with your uncle.’ ‘You’re wrong. We are on my uncle’s board and these men are all his pieces.’ ‘Then each time you move one of them, you can congratulate yourself on how much like him you are.’ It just came out. He was in part still reverberating with the blow of having had his guess confirmed. He certainly didn’t expect the words to have the effect on Laurent that they did. They stopped Laurent in his tracks. Damen didn’t think he’d ever seen Laurent caught completely without words before, and since he couldn’t imagine the circumstance was going to last long, he hurried to press his advantage. ‘If you bind your men to you with deception, how can you ever trust them? You have qualities they will come to admire. Why not let them grow to trust you naturally, and in that way—’ ‘There isn’t time,’ said Laurent. The words pushed themselves with sheer force out of whatever wordless state Laurent had been shocked into. ‘There isn’t time,’ Laurent said again. ‘I have two weeks until we reach the border. Don’t pretend that I can woo these men with hard work and a winning smile in that time. I am not the green colt my uncle pretends. I fought at Marlas and I fought at Sanpelier. I am not here for niceties. I don’t intend to see the men I lead cut down because they will not obey orders, or because they cannot hold a line. I intend to survive, I intend to beat my uncle, and I will fight with every weapon that I have.’ ‘You mean that.’ ‘I mean to win. Did you think I was here altruistically to throw myself on the sword?’

context: damen accidentally hits the Laurent Vulnerability Button by comparing him to his uncle. in a rare moment of exhausted honesty, laurent admits his own helplessness and the dire nature of their situation. he doesn’t have time to do this right—doing it at all is already a daunting challenge. he then restates his determination to succeed, or at least die trying.

the last time something like this happened—“i can’t protect you as i am, trust me”—damen verbally eviscerated laurent and abandoned him in a vulnerable state. i wonder what will happen this time…

also. “i intend to survive. i intend to beat my uncle. i mean to win.” so this is how he’s survived the past 7 years: pure force of will. i love laurent so much.

Damen made himself face the problem, stripping away the impossible, looking only at what, realistically, could be done.

a strength of his! and often a weakness of laurent’s!

looks like damen isn’t going anywhere this time :)

Damen said, ‘I will help you in whatever way I can, but there will be no time for anything but hard work, and you will have to do everything right.’ Laurent lifted his chin and replied with every bit of cool, galling arrogance he had ever shown. ‘Watch me,’ he said.

I FUCKING LOVE LAURENT OF VERE!!!!

[ginsoakedgirl80]

Costume Cdramas I watched in 2023

My 2nd year with Chinese dramas as my love for costume drama continues.

The title links to where you can watch it (tried to find free legal watches where available)

The Blood of Youth (40 x 45min, filming started in Oct 2021, released Dec 2022) fun action drama with a good dose of comedy, not for people who want lots of romance because they are too busy (and the canon couples don't have enough chemistry, there I said it) to be making out. Good for bromance, ghost ships and/or ace character head canons. Xiao Se's fur collar wins fur collar of the year, Tang Lian is my blorbo of early 2023.

My Uncanny Destiny (24 x 30min, filmed in autumn 2021, released Jan 2023) My favorite comedy of the year. Don't get turned off by the toilet jokes, it's a gem that spoofs drama tropes, gives you a coherent plot, silliness, fun side characters, a ML that is not afraid of being silly and a FL that plays capable and silly well. This might be a low budget production but they put that money to work. Politics, cross-dressing, found family, sisterhood, enemies to lovers, third wheel bisexual who reminds me of Wen Kexing, over the top villain, himbo villain who works out shirtless all the time, it got it all.

Wulin Heroes (22 x 45min, filming started Nov 2020, released Jan 2023) I watched this for Li Hongyi and he is incredibly beautiful in this so props to his stylist and cinematographer. BUT it is a badly written and edited low budget romp. If you are not watching for any actor then do not bother. FL is bearable once you realize she is very much of a lets see where this goes kind of character. 2nd ML is a suffering captive prince turned whiny regent played by Zhu Zanjin. So if you want to see Jin GuangYao suffer, you might like his scenes?? It can totally be read as a throuple especially with the New Tales of Wulin Heroes mini series add on. The choppiness might also be a result of the dangai ban??

No Doubt in us (24 x 14min, 2021, donghua) saw this on netflix and it roped me in with the body switch trope. It's sufficiently entertaining. Though I didn't enjoy the animation style apart from the chibi scenes.)

Heaven Official's Blessing (season 1, 11 x 26min, 2020, Donghua) It's THAT story and the art style is so pretty. I haven't read the books yet but still got what was going on most of the time. Liked it a lot. Haven't watched the 2nd season yet)

The Journey of Chong Zi (40 x 45min, filming started in June 2021, released Feb 2023) This xianxia is a mess! But it gave Scorpion King Li Daikun another memorable role with being the FL's protector. Watching Wang Zhoucheng having a ball with his role was fun. Immortal turned demon Wan Jie is so handsome and tragic. It did draw me in but the main couple is just ick so every time they were apart it immediately got better. ML's refusal to take the antidote to ease his obsession was lmao, FL is naive but charming and her demon styling rocks (do not get the hate on the actress, she is selfmade and there are many bad pretty face actresses around but I guess antis attract antis). Oh and there is a bromance between two of Chong Zi's harem members

Till the End of the Moon (40 x 55min, started filming in Nov 2021, released April 2023) aka my brain rot drama of the year. Drawn in from episode 1 on. Bai Li and Luo Yunxi <3 Pian Ran, Ye Qingyu, Nian Baiyu and Si Ying. <3 I was spamming tumblr with my screenshots, it was a jolly good time to watch this epic tale of love and suffering and saving the world dilemma with a great cast, characters, costumes, sets and soundtrack with the cdrama ppl of tumblr. If this weren't too complicated for cdrama newbies I'd recommend it to all my friends. Do not skip the dream arc (I ended up liking it) or later stuff will make less sense. I'm still annoyed that we didn't get a good extra episode that wraps up some lose ends for the main side characters and that reunion of the main characters but Youku really went nah we better play it safe with censors not liking happy ends for morally grey characters.

My Queen (24 x 45min, filmed in 2020, released Jul 2021) An FL enters a romance adventure VR game drama that I watched because I needed some fluff between TtEotM episodes. Why pick this among any other sufficiently entertaining dramas that are probably better written and not as forgetable? Because I wanted to watch Hu Wei (rich nepo baby in The Blood of Youth) in another comedy role >_> and ridiculous overacting he did deliver

The Trust (30 x 45min, filmed early 2021, released Apr 2023) The life action adaptation of the manhua No doubt in us is based on. I dunno why I finished this, I guess I'm not a quitter and needed silly stuff to balance TtEotM angst. For some reason the director thought it would be a good idea to film this like a donghua and it is causing 2nd hand embarrassment. The ML cannot pull off being a woman in a man's body, not even a martial arts nerd like Xu Yu. Like Wulin Heroes it was filmed before the dangai ban but that didn't stop them from having at least two bromances.

Wanru's Journey (24 x 35min, filming started in Jun 2021, released May 2023) A mess. So IQIYI released this simply to ride on the wave of Ao Ruipeng's The Blood of Youth popularity. Because this got so chopped down because of the dangai ban and it probably wasn't good to begin with. Basically an actress transmigrates into a dangai screenplay and gets between the leads while also making money by writing fic about them (ok this is my reading but she DID release fic and drawings of them). Of course it takes an unnecessarily dramatic turn, instead of staying on the comedy side, cannot remember more of the plot, oops.

King is not Easy (20ep x 30min, released Aug 2017) I watched this for the body switch trope and Bai Lu. Nice to see her actual face before the fair skin filter got her, entertaining enough, badly written silly comedy with mind mindbogglingly contrived final 4 episodes. It's Bai Lu's drama debut so it's nice to see how far she got

Destined (40ep x 45min, filming started in Jun 2022, released June 2023) Highly enjoyable. Fell in love with Bai Jingting. What's not to love about a playboy getting put on his path by his wife and them becoming friends, sworn siblings and then lovers in the process? No this is actually about FL finding her thing (trade) and being wildly successful at it, then it's also political, revenge and more. The leads are extremely charming and have great chemistry (the drama suffers every time they are apart lbr) and the writing is good, though people are too perfect and I wasn't into the whole palace stuff.

My Journey to You (24 ep x 60min, filming started Dec 2022, released Sep 2023) Had me from episode 1 on. Made me buy IQIYI VIP so I can watch it in good quality. Fell in love with Zhang Linghe. Yu Shuxin needs to do all the wuxia while she is still fit. Why waste being able to do the splits on some modern drama? The director sent her mud wrestling and she went for it. Everyone knows she is pretty no need for her to be beautifully put together on screen 24/7. Love the style, the character introductions, the characters, the cast, the chemistry, the story, the way you expect something and something else is going on. While it started out gloomy and remained so for the most part, it surprised me with throwing in more comedy than I expected. The good old idle manchild gets thrown into a position of power story but it's a murderous martial arts clan against another murderous martial arts clan. It's giving you some information but often just enough for getting what's going on just to play with your expectations later, FUN! And I didn't even mention all the other characters because surprise! this is actually an ensemble drama with several intriguing characters. Do not expect for the two leads to be on screen all the time.

Hilarious Family (24ep x 45min, started filming in June 2022 (?), released Sept 2023) A fun ensemble comedy I watched for Jackie Li. A widow moves to another city to marry off her 4 daughters (a silly man-crazy one, a homely one, a scholar one and a tomboy one). No it's not Pride and Prejudice but yes of course this is a romcom and all women have a love interest. It kind of drops off later on tbh, but still good for the characters and side characters. The success of this in China hopefully means that Jackie Li will get to be getting more comedies to work in after the Queen Lau disaster and people having a problem with her artist alias in 2022.

Hello There (20ep x 30min, released Jan 2023) I stumbled on this on IQIYI while looking for a light fast watch that will let my brain relax. The ML's best acting moment is when he plays a wooden robot. FL is fun. There are some questionable scenes, standard low budget action comedy fare.

An Ancient Love Song (14ep x 30 min, released June 2023) A wonderfully written and executed grown up time traveling story, that shows once again that you don't need a big budget to tell a story that draws you in. Ended my palace politics blockade. All this time traveling and no reincarnation in sight. ;_;

Story of Kunning Palace (38ep x 45min, filming started in May 2022, released Nov 2023) Tieing 2nd with My Journey to You for brainrot drama of the year. The cinematography is questionable, the story is not for teaching perfect courting behavior but those two are just such a good cp in their awkward messy way. Their friends/sidekicks are fun too and bring some comedy to that story though crazy in love ML is serving some comedy too. Props to ZLH for actually trying to grasp the basics of playing qin and not just waving over the strings like other dramas deem it sufficient. Bai Lu is Bai Lu-ing, gathering her harem. Coming into this right after An Ancient Love Song the idea to defeat destiny this time around seemed hopeless to me but this is one of those they are good at making plans and they turn out mostly alright dramas. I hope those two's material for the next years is as good as the two dramas with them I watched in 2023, fingers crossed!

Currently watching: A Journey to Love and Taoism Grandmaster as well as 2/3 through a LbFaD rewatch that I started in summer.

I also watched a handful of modern dramas (made in Korea and Japan) and some mini-dramas, but that is for another post.

And yes my most watched actors are probably those uncles stuck in Hengdian, might look that up another day.

If I got the time to blog about a drama I usually do it with screenshots so my tag for those posts is excuse my bad quality screenshots. In other cases I just reblog and put my thoughts in the tags.

[justabigoldnerd]

Thank you so much @cha-melodius for the tag!!!

Finally got my research book and I'm now listening to a Game of Thrones audio book, so "I Am Your Lover (I Am Your Jailor)" is making headway again!!!

Here's a flashback:

Illya swallowed past the lump in his throat. The wintery forest around them faded, replaced by foul-smelling cobblestone streets and loud, angry townsfolk. It was late summer, the humid air carrying autumn on its breath, and the harvest had been dreadful. According to what they overheard, it was the third dreadful harvest in a row. Blame was being thrown out like the contents of a chamber pot, and Solo had made the executive decision to move to the next town. One that didn't promise a slow, watery death in the nearby river for anyone deemed guilty. And three urchin children roaming the streets made for excellent scapegoats. So did, as it happened, a stray cat. Its fur, black as night, was patchy and stretched thin over its fragile bones and despite its sorry state, it hissed and spit at the men jostling the cage it was in. It wasn't angry at them. “It's scared,” Solo had whispered, then. “It's got e’ery right to be,” a man cackled beside them, “That thing in the baskets’ a mage, boy. It's cursed our crop. No more, say we! It drowns tonight.” Horror sparked into rage and Solo set his jaw, dragging his glare from the man to the cat. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, then he stormed away, back towards their shelter. “Solo?” Illya questioned, jogging up behind him. “I can't let them kill it, Illya,” Solo shook his head, “It's not right. Even if it is a mage.” “What if they are right? If it is cursing crops–” “And what if they're wrong? A poor cat dies for nothing.” As always, there was no changing Solo's mind. That night, while the townsfolk celebrated in the tavern, he stalked the horses tied nearby, searching through saddlebags until he found a ring of keys. Illya's heart pounded as he watched his friend creep to the cage holding the cat captive. Blindly, he felt behind him for Gaby's hand, holding it tight. She tucked under his arm, a shiver running through her. Solo checked his surroundings one last time before lifting the sack draped over the cage. The cat leapt back, slamming into the bars with a yowl and a crash. Illya's heart stopped beating. Solo tried desperately to hush the cat with soothing words as he fumbled with the keys. Finally, he was able to slot the right one into the hole and he ripped the barred door open. The black cat shot out like a bolt of lightning, vanishing into the night. Solo watched it for only a moment before sprinting back to them with a hissed, “Time to go, get the bags!” Hairline cracks were beginning to form in the Prince's visage. Remnants of the Solo Illya knew and loved were rearing their heads. The only question was just how much did remain.

No pressure tagging @pippinoftheshire @huggiebird @yallwildinrn @too-young-to-fall-in-love @times-up-alone-tonight

@heytheredeann @nicijones @the-golden-comet @thattripleabattery and an open tag for anyone else who wants to join!!!