#orlant
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laurentspeach Ā· 1 year ago
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captive prince as random tweets iā€™ve saved
damen:
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laurent:
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lazar:
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nikandros:
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ancel:
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vannes:
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orlant:
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tschulijulesjulie Ā· 2 years ago
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i miss Orlant so much šŸ˜­šŸ’”
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hennike Ā· 2 years ago
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just realized i said i never imagined him burly when it literally says he was ā€œa big manā€ right there šŸ˜­ anyway i miss my ugly man
I genuinely can not recall any kind of description of Orlant in the books, so I have little mental physical formation of what heā€™s supposed to look like. With that- Iā€™d love read what you think he looks like lol
here are some excerpts from gbfas (aka the best short story of the three no this is not up for debate) that clue us into orlantā€™s appearance (from jordā€™s perspective at least)
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i cant be bothered rn to scour through the main trilogy but im pretty sure there werent any descriptions of him in there - damen wouldnt care enough LMFAOO
in my head orlant is a ginger with a square jaw and facial hair <3__<3 probably a big flat nose too. cant say ive ever imagined him burly, hes always been the same size as jord to me - honestly though like you he really only exists in my head as a concept
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x-xhiro Ā· 9 months ago
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You know Jord and Orlant were besties because Jord is like yea we're a pretty ugly crew but that motherfucker Orlant is the ugliest, caved in, ox faced animal I've ever seen
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ninicaise Ā· 2 years ago
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i will never forget that one tag i got in one of my first posts on this blog i dont even remember which post or the user in question but i know the tag was, word for word: ā€œorlant slayed and jord is a hagā€. and i just keep thinking about it bc well. it's kind of iconic
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gottalovethegeeks Ā· 8 months ago
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I think it's funny that Damen just assumes Laurent can't fight? Because, like, why? 'Cause he's young and pretty and Damen thinks that he's been sheltered his entire life? It doesn't help that when Laurent saw Damen fight Orlant all he says is "you're better then I am." And then refuses to spar with him. So when Laurent challenges Govart, Damen panics.
Laurent: "Draw."
Damen: "Oh fuck, he's going to lose in front of everyone"
*Laurent runs Govart through*
Damen: "Oh he's good...........uh-oh"
Like the fact that Laurent is good with a sword quite literally changes the whole trajectory of Damon's life. The man is not immune to a pretty boy with a sword.
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tototalks Ā· 5 months ago
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Two thirds into Princeā€™s Gambit and it is NON- STOP šŸ¤©
I am having an excellent time and brain is firing on all cylinders!! šŸš€
- ā€œNo one expects me not to be a snake, so in a dramatic turn of events, Iā€™m not gonna be a snake.ā€ Gotta respect Laurentā€™s self-awareness and reputation lol.
- ORLANT??!! Damn bitch, you didnā€™t last five minutes. No way heā€™s the real snitch surely?!
- ā€œBro, you may be a slave but you saved the wine. YOUā€™RE ONE OF US.ā€ - Honestly, I remember a similar conversation happening back in uni with bottles of vodka lol.
- Laurant first initiating contact with Damen and ordering him to sleep šŸ„ŗ
- Ooooh you know that blue dress is coming out on EVERY anniversary at some point in the far future. What a gift. Respect sex workers folks.šŸ©µ
- If Jord is the traitor Iā€™m gonna actually cry and yā€™all will NEVER hear the end of it.
- I keep hearing about Nikandros!! VERY intrigued about Nikandros!! Already sensing I will be a big fan of Nikandros from the way Damen speaks about him. Plz tell me we meet him!??
- Damen somehow manages to always end up in Jord and Aimericā€™s business. They could literally decide to screw on the moon and Damen would be there accidentally poking his head around the corner.
- Iā€™d work for Halvik. Sheā€™d give me health insurance. What a girlboss. - I appreciate that she looked at Damen, then looked at Laurent and went ā€œoh yeah, he needs to fuckā€ - later solves their heir problem I suppose! šŸ˜‚
- My only gripe is that youā€™d think sheā€™d provide a bath after, because sex without washing is NASTY. Damen is gonna regret it when that UTI hits.
- I also like how even though Damen just had sex with however many women, it still manages to be a bonding moment for him and Laurent afterwards. In many ways, I think the coupling fire was a way for Laurent to ā€˜test the watersā€™ and learn about Damen in a way heā€™s comfortable and safe.
- Guion, Ambassador to Akielos, turning up and going ā€œew whatā€™s an Akielon doing here?ā€ āœØDiplomacyāœØ no wonder thereā€™s a fuckin war.
- Aimeric sees ONE SUGGESTIVE THING and is immediately like Dearest āœļø Gentle āœļø Readers āœļø and the whole camp is up in their business. Payback I guess šŸ˜‚
- Damn. That dying Akielon managed to rip the heart out of Damenā€™s chest before accidentally putting it back in calling him the true heir. And he was so right. My king šŸ‘‘
- AYO DAMEN WITH THE SWORD THROW!!!šŸ—”ļø But wait! Thereā€™s more! The symbolism of him taking a Veretian sword against his own countrymen for Laurent! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Iā€™M CRYING NOW THANKS C.S. PACAT!
- And okay weā€™re getting kidnapped now??!! What an evening.
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laurents-laces Ā· 1 year ago
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It took me 84 years, but here's the notes for Pacat's Instagram live on January 22, 2022! You can find previous summaries here. This time I added a section for things that involve both capri and dark rise because there was a lot of that.
ā€œItā€™s funny, I tend to write, as I think back on Dark Rise and then before that, Captive Prince, I tend to write these book ones that kind of don't necessarily reveal themselves until the end or cohere until the end or maybe are written for the re-read rather than necessarily for the first readā€¦ I kind of have this philosophy that difficult pleasures are the most enjoyable because you have to work to achieve them, and so you know, I like the idea that you get rewarded at the end of Dark Rise for reaching the end.ā€
Important Updates
There has been some progress on the capri Newsā„¢, though it was epically delayed by the pandemic. Itā€™s not a fourth book, hardcovers, Laurentā€™s POV, or a TV series
There were updates about Dark Rise and Fence too but none of it is news anymore because this happened so long ago. The capri fandom is just unlucky like that
Pacat has a new project! Itā€™s very different and is more adult in tone than his previous works. Itā€™s kind of monster-horror-gore, heā€™s been wanting to do something with a shounen horror vibe like Berserk or Attack on Titan. Itā€™s coming in the distant future, not soon
Captive Prince
Pacat hasn't heard of the capri fandom term Smaurent (small Laurent) but thinks that the idea of him does exist in the books as he was a very different person as a young child. Pacat likes writing characters who explore the idea that oneā€™s past leaves fingerprints on oneā€™s present self and Laurent is the most extreme version of this that sheā€™s written
A fan said that they think of ā€œDamianos Vā€ as being a roman numeral, so that Damen would be the fifth King Damianos. Pacat really liked the idea
Pacat cried for a really long time while writing Nicaiseā€™s death scene. Got a few strange looks as he sat in the Melbourne State Library with tears streaming down his face for a few hours. Nicaiseā€™s death was planned from the beginning, he was always a bittersweet character to write
Laurent is such a private person. Writing more from his POV would risk exploding the mystery of his character and might kill some of the tension in capri
The capri News is like a missive from Rohan- it's on its way and it'll arrive at some point, just when you need it most
A fourth capri book isnā€™t completely out of the question but there isnā€™t one planned for now
The Brazilian capri covers are their own thing but they donā€™t represent the books well. They have a very dark-ages-hard-masc-medieval aesthetic
How tall is Damen? Laurent thinks that heā€™s a foot taller and that sometimes it feels like more
Orlant: Rough exterior, heart of gold, didn't deserve what happened to him
Pacat pronounces Vere like Veer (veer off course) but that is not the correct pronunciation that Laurent and the Veretians use so feel free to pronounce it how you want
Pacat wasnā€™t really involved in the art for the Japanese edition but has been a fan of Chinatsu Kurahana for a long time. Usually the author doesnā€™t get much input for foreign editions. The Japanese publisher was very welcoming and let Pacat have some input, but he was such a fan of the artist that he let her do whatever her vision was. He gave a bit of a description for clothing but didnā€™t tweak any character concepts once they were drawn because he likes having different versions of the characters in different media. We shouldnā€™t think of it as an official version of the characters or as Laurentā€™s canon hair length
Dark Rise
The submission date for the Dark Heir manuscript was June 2022. At the time of this live, Pacat was just past writing the midpoint of the first draft, heading towards the climax. The climax has been planned for a long time
We absolutely get James's POV in Dark Heir. Pacat had just finished writing one of his chapters when this live happened
How would Anharion describe Sarcean in one word? The answer would change depending on whether Anharion was wearing the collar. If he was wearing it he would say whatever Sarcean wanted him to say
James is not named after the gay king james (James I of England)
We will find out about Jamesā€™s mother at some point, either in book 2 or later
Pacatā€™s current favourite Dark Rise character to write is a new character from book two
It was important that the stewards were racially diverse. When Pacat was pitching Dark Rise he had little pictures of the characters to show what the aesthetic of the book is, it was art that he found online. Things might have changed since then but this was three or four years ago and it was really hard to find fantasy imagery of non-white characters. If you wanted to find mages or warriors in suits of armor, all the artwork had white characters. So he wanted to include different types of people in the traditional western fantasy aesthetic
Favourite part of Dark Rise #1 is the ending because it was all of the pieces falling into place
Cyprianā€™s surname is not St. Clair but saying more than that would be a spoiler
Stewards have family in the outside world
Pacat would love to write short stories for Dark Rise like the ones for capri but sheā€™s a slow writer so it would be some time in the future
Dark Rise/Capri
Justiceā€™s appearance wasnā€™t specifically influenced by danmei, he has long hair because all the Stewards have long hair. The Stewards have long hair because everyone in the Old World had long hair and the Stewards carry on the sacred traditions of the past. This was inspired by the delightful long-haired-Laurent contingent in the capri fandom because they were so underserved by Captive Prince. No one in capri other than Ancel has really long, butt-length hair so Pacat wanted to change that in a new series
Where do you get inspiration for jewelry like Nicaiseā€™s earring or Jamesā€™s collar? Pacat has been thinking lately about the importance of creating a strong visual aesthetic for a character. The earring was created as a plot device. Itā€™s long because it had to be very gaudy and noticeable because Laurent would use it as a disguise later, and it has blue sapphires because blue is Laurentā€™s colour. It's one single earring instead of a pair because it felt more poignant as a memento. The earring was more about purpose than aesthetics, but Pacat paid more attention to aesthetics in Dark Rise. When working on Fence, Johanna is so good at creating characters with an iconic visual look, and Pacat was thinking about that when he created James. He started with the idea of red because it's the colour of blood. The collar started off as a necklace that was a drop of blood, but it was changed to be more interesting and to have more of an impact. Pacat often thinks about the scene from the Hunger Games when Katniss is about to prove herself to the sponsors and they're not paying attention to her so she shoots the apple in the boar's mouth. A lesser author wouldā€™ve had her nail the bullseye but Suzanne Collins souped it up one more level, to come up with something slightly cooler or more imaginative. So Pacat goes through his finished drafts and thinks, is there anything I can turn up to 11? And the necklace wasn't at 11. So he thought about making it a choker, then a collar. A choker with rubies looks like a slit throat and thatā€™s a very cool image, so thatā€™s what it was changed to
Pacat is an only child so Tom and Auguste as older brothers arenā€™t based on personal experiences, but the idea of siblings has a strong importance to her. Dark Rise is dedicated to her half-sister Mandy who committed suicide when she was 15, which was the year Pacat was born
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Fence Comic
The process of creating Fence: First Pacat writes the script, then it gets sent to the illustrator Johanna. It goes through a few rounds of notes where the two of them talk about the kinds of things they want to see happen, what would be cute or great in the upcoming storyline, and then Johanna does sketches. Then art edits happen, but usually the art is so incredible that it doesnā€™t need many edits so the only usual change is to make sure that Nicholas is left handed when heā€™s fencing. Then Boom (the publisher) looks over it before it goes to inks, then to the colourist Joana Lafuente, then to Jim Campbell for lettering. Jim places the speech bubbles and fits the script onto the page. Where the bubbles are placed and which words are emphasized makes a big impact on the flow of the script. Then everything gets sent back to Pacat for proofreading and editing of the lettering and then itā€™s done
Pacat worked very closely with Sarah Rees Brennan on the fence novels. They talked a lot about how events would play out, biographical details of the characters, made canon compliance edits, saw the books at every level and loved them. Itā€™s impressive how Sarah can turn on a dime between two sets of opposing feelings when transitioning between emotions. Her books have a lot of wit and charm but also a lot of hard-hitting emotion
There was information about Rise and a preview but I'll skip over that part because it's already out now
Personal
When creating characters, Pacat often thinks of them in terms of dynamics theyā€™ll have with other characters, or what they want to achieve, or what kind of archetype they resonate with, or how to build a backstory that gives them layers. Characters are interesting when they have more than one motivation, when they look one way on the surface but then different aspects of them from the past are revealed
Pacat was an Earth sciences major
Pacat chooses all the fanart friday posts himself and then his assistant Hannah sends a request to the artist
Least favourite book trope: band of misfits who save the world through a hail mary pass. Pacat likes a highly confident crew, not a small rabble of people who fluke their way into saving the world. It's not a bad trope, he doesn't know why he doesn't like it. He doesn't like Firefly because of this trope
He often reads fanfic on ao3 for more of a story than was in the original or more of a dynamic that was underserved in the original. But authors canā€™t read fic of their own works for copyright reasons
Owns multiple copies of the Lymond Chronicles. Book four is her favourite because the ending is so intense and devastating. Pacat often thinks of that ending when deciding what to do with her own works because most authors wouldā€™ve chickened out of writing an ending like that. She read book one for the first time in a restaurant at 9:00am and stayed there until she finished the book. She probably looked like a mess because of all the laughing and crying, and at one point one of the waiters came over to bring her a handkerchief and said ā€œare you okay?ā€ and Pacat said ā€œIā€™m just at a really intense part right now"
Pacat does brainstorming sessions with friends to come up with ideas for books and looks at art books for inspiration
Heā€™s reading the BL manga Twittering Birds Never Fly
Danmei dramas/web novels are really long so he isnā€™t familiar with most of them, but he ordered MDZS and heā€™s looking forward to reading it because heā€™s heard a lot of good things about it
Pacat doesnā€™t usually like love triangles, whenever he ships something in a love triangle he ends up choosing the unlucky guy. He liked Gale more than Peeta and liked Edgar more than Heathcliffe
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lady-forest-1142 Ā· 3 months ago
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okay I just read the summer palace for the first time and holy. fuck. I donā€™t know why I waited so long to read it but god am I glad I finally did.Ā 
green but for a season: I fucking love jord and aimeric and they are SO underrated. second fave ship of the series and Iā€™m not kidding. aside from getting to see my babies again, I really loved how this explored the loyalty of the princeā€™s guard to laurent, and how devoted they were to him even before princes rising. also. orlant and huet and the hat. iykyk.
the summer palace: my fave story of the whole book we been KNEW. I am such a sucker for sweet soft joyful epilogues and this was no exception. literally have nothing to say about this except that I was giggling and kicking my feet the entire time.
the adventures of charls, the veretian cloth merchant: listen I know I said the summer palace was my fave story but the LAYERS of this one?? the banter. the fucking dramatic irony used for comedic effect. LAMEN. and everything coming together to show just how calculating and skilled and BRILLIANT laurent is, how he can execute a political plot and have some fun with his husband at the same time?? icon. I loved this. already need to reread.Ā 
pet: okay the slave-related stories (intentionally I think!) give me the ick, so this was my least favorite, but I still thought it was really interesting to see deeper into ancelā€™s motivations and the machinations of the veretian pet system, especially in contrast to the way the akielon slave system worked in the training of erasmus.Ā 
all in all, completely essential reading. again, cannot believe it took me so long to get to. if you havenā€™t read this yet, get yourself to a kindle asap.
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lucky-clover-gazette Ā· 6 months ago
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prince's gambit highlights & annotations
chapter 4
indented text is from the book. some quotes have commentary, some do not. some comments are serious, and some are definitely not. most of them will only make sense to people who have read the series. and, like, there are spoilers. so please read the books first if you're interested!
also: part of the reason i'm doing such a close reading is to study cs pacat's style, especially in terms of how she does romance and erotica. there are "craft notes" that might seem weird, like i'm being redundant or restating something rather than analyzing, but those are more things that i want to remember/take away from the writing!
i'm going to tag these longer posts with "sam reads capri" in case anyone wants to read them all at once.
this is a google doc i wrote with overall content warnings for the captive prince series. it's not perfect, but i do think it's important to include.
Damen 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 laurentā€™s
The men returned to camp boneless and exhausted with no energy to complain that their leader was a blond, blue-eyed fiend, curse him.
ā€˜You just surprised me,ā€™ said Damen. ā€˜Sometimes I think I understand you, and at other times I canā€™t make you out at all.ā€™ ā€˜Believe me, that sentiment is mutual.ā€™
ā€˜The men think you bend me over inside the tent,ā€™ said Laurent. He said it in the same calm way he said everything. Damen fumbled the vambrace. ā€˜It would erode my authority. My carefully cultivated authority. Now I have really surprised you. Perhaps if you were not a foot taller, or quite so broad across the shoulders.ā€™ ā€˜Itā€™s considerably less than a foot,ā€™ said Damen. ā€˜Is it?ā€™ said Laurent. ā€˜It feels like more when you argue with me on points of honour.ā€™
laurent: i canā€™t promote you because everyone thinks youā€™re fucking me every night. it would make me look weak. damen: ?????? laurent: you appear to be surprised by this. maybe they wouldnā€™t think so, if you werenā€™t so tall and strong damen: iā€™m not that tall laurent: you seem to think you are, with how high and mighty you act
ā€˜I want you to know,ā€™ said Damen, carefully, ā€˜that I havenā€™t done anything to encourage the idea that Iā€”that you and Iā€”ā€™ ā€˜If I thought you had, Iā€™d have had you tied to a post and flogged until your front matched your back.ā€™
somehow, this is a positive interaction for them. laurent admits that he knows damen wouldnā€™t ever take advantage of him, or view/portray him as a sexual object like so many other people do. this almost certainly means a lot to laurent, even though he canā€™t/wonā€™t admit it.
Laurent wasnā€™t loved. Laurent wasnā€™t liked. Even among his own men, who would follow him off a cliff, there was the unequivocal consensus that Laurent was, as Orlant had once described him, a cast iron bitch, that it was a very bad idea to get on his bad side, and that as for his good side, he didnā€™t have one.
this has the same energy as regina george writing about herself in the burn book as a power move. laurent, to a degree, curates this image in order to maintain what little power he actually has.
actually, laurent has a lot of regina george energy. ā€œraise your hand if youā€™ve been personally victimized by laurent of vere.ā€ ā€œheā€™s a life ruiner. he ruins peopleā€™s lives.ā€
now that i think of it, laurent has heather chandler (the og regina george) energy too. "mythic bitch" "they all want me as a friend or a fuck" "well fuck me gently with a chainsaw, do i look like mother theresa?"
It didnā€™t matter. Laurent gave orders and they were followed. Men found when they tried to baulk that they couldnā€™t. Damen, who had been manoeuvred variously into kissing Laurentā€™s foot and eating sweetmeats from his hands, understood the machinery that confronted and compelled them, deep-buried individually in each circumstance.
"Dear Diary: Heather told me she teaches people 'real life.' She said, real life sucks losers dry. You want to fuck with the eagles, you have to learn to fly. I said, so, you teach people how to spread their wings and fly? She said, yes. I said, you're beautiful." - Heathers (1998)
Damen was aware that what he was witnessing was nascent kingship, the first flexings of command of a prince born to rule, though Laurentā€™s brand of leadershipā€”equal parts consummate and disturbingā€”was nothing like his own.
nice vs good theme! damen is starting to reconsider some thingsā€”okay, laurent is a bitch, but heā€™s actually doing something good here? like iā€™d want to accomplish the same things, iā€™d just go about it more nicely? hmmmm
The mercenary had enough of the sympathy of his fellows that there was the danger of a minor insurrection if Laurent ordered him put on the post. A crowd gathered. Laurent didnā€™t order him put on the post. Laurent flayed him, verbally. It was not like his exchanges with Govart. It was cool, explicit, appalling, and it reduced a grown man in front of the troop as utterly as his sword thrust had done. The men got back to work after that. Damen heard one of them say, in a tone of awed admiration, ā€˜That boy has got the filthiest mouth Iā€™ve ever heard.ā€™
HE IS REGINA GEORGE! HE IS HEATHER CHANDLER! HE IS THAT BITCH!
ā€˜Iā€™ve seen him. Last week he had half the camp at each otherā€™s throats.ā€™ ā€˜Heā€™s all right,ā€™ said Jord. ā€˜Itā€™s only that heā€™s highborn, and not used to rough company. Heā€™s doing the right thing by what he knows, itā€™s just that the rules are different. Like how it is with you.ā€™
jord you have no idea how right you are. also i love how he just casually implies damen is a nepo hire lmaooo
is this perhaps our second lamen hr complaint? laurent giving damen special privileges? jord isnā€™t really complaining, though, itā€™s more of an observation. but he would have GROUNDS to complain. iā€™ll count it. lamen hr complaint #2 (jord).
ā€˜Iā€™ve never bedded anyone highborn,ā€™ said Jord. ā€˜Is it different?ā€™ Damen flushed when he realised what Jord was assuming. ā€˜HeĀ .Ā .Ā . We donā€™t. He doesnā€™t. As far as I know, he doesnā€™t with anyone.ā€™ ā€˜As far as anyone knows,ā€™ said Jord. ā€˜If he didnā€™t have a mouth on him like a harlot in a guardsroom, Iā€™d think he was a virgin.ā€™ Damen was silent. He drained his mug, frowning a little. He wasnā€™t interested in these endless speculations. He didnā€™t care who Laurent took to bed.
i would like to believe that laurent has developed his creative vocabulary simply because he is clever, theatrical, and well-read.
however, i think the more likely reason is that those words were used towards him for years, thus becoming a part of his vocabulary.
so thatā€™s fun.
After a moment, Damen said, ā€˜Speaking of difficult men, thereā€™s something Iā€™ve wanted to ask you.ā€™
i wonder if damen meant this to be an insult to laurent, as well as a conversational transition to govart. either way itā€™s funny
ā€˜Why did you leave Govart alive?ā€™ ā€˜Why not?ā€™ ā€˜You know why not.ā€™
this is a great parallel to their dynamic in book 1. there were a few instances in the early chapters where damen challenged laurentā€™s morals/decisions, was asked ā€œwhy not?ā€, and took the question as laurent inherently disagreeing with his concern. but here, damen does not seem to assume the worst of laurentā€™s actions or questioning. he actually WANTS to hear his plan, and help to make it better. and heā€™s much more confident in calling laurent out on his shit, because he sees laurent as something of an equal.
ā€œyou know why notā€ = ā€œiā€™m not playing this game. weā€™re on the same page about what needs to be done. explain how your approach is supposed to work, or else accept my solution instead.ā€
ā€˜You were well within your rights after Govart charged at you. And there was no shortage of witnesses. Thereā€™s something else.ā€™ ā€˜Thereā€™s something else,ā€™ Laurent agreed, looking at Damen with steady eyes. As he spoke he lifted his cup and took a sip. All right.
context: laurent knows the regent is somehow indebted to govart, so itā€™s futile to try to use govartā€™s bad behavior to manipulate the regent
ā€˜It was an impressive fight.ā€™ ā€˜Yes, I know,ā€™ said Laurent. He didnā€™t smile when he said things like that. He sat relaxed, with the cup now dangling from his long fingers, and gazed back at Damen steadily.
ā€˜I was never a fighter,ā€™ said Laurent. ā€˜That was Auguste. But after Marlas, I was obsessed withĀ .Ā .Ā .ā€™ Laurent stopped. Damen could see the moment when Laurent decided to continue. It was deliberate, his eyes meeting Damenā€™s, his tone subtly changed. ā€˜Damianos of Akielos was commanding troops at seventeen. At nineteen, he rode onto the field, cut a path through our finest men, and took my brotherā€™s life. They sayā€”they saidā€”he was the best fighter in Akielos. I thought, if I was going to kill someone like that, I would have to be very, very good.ā€™ Damen was silent after that. The impulse to talk flickered out, like the candles in the moment before they were snuffed into darkness, like the last dying warmth of the embers in the brazier.
first of all, laurent, youā€™re so real for the swordfighting obsession. make that ptsd hypervigilance work for you.
second: the insanity of laurent knowing that damen is damianos, and saying this to his faceā€¦
this conversation is when, i think, laurent begins to perceive HIS damen and damianos of akielos as two different people. it indicates the splintering of something private and complex within laurentā€™s mind, that we can understand on a re-read based on previous and future characterization. left unsupervised, laurentā€™s main coping mechanismsā€”pretending, dissociation, and self-isolationā€”combine with his strongest traitsā€”force of will, calculated risk-taking, and overall commitment to the bitā€”to eventually place him in an emotional purgatory of his own design.
the delusion is both subconscious and conscious, in a way only an experienced overthinker like laurent can accomplish. he knows itā€™s impossible to actually separate damen from damianos, and that knowledge at this point in the story probably brings him comfort. whatever he says or does, theyā€™re still going to end up enemies in the end. and with that strong grasp on reality in place, laurent also knows he can start to play. he can pretend that theyā€™re not enemies, that they arenā€™t going to hurt each other, that they havenā€™t hurt each other already. if laurent is actively choosing to indulge the delusion, heā€™s not actually being delusional. as long as he knows that he is lying to himself, and has no reluctance towards the eventual truth, he remains in control.
speaking to damen in this specific moment, laurent is almost testing the limits of his own bit. "just how insane and delusional can i get away with being here, as the only person who understands the depths of my own insanity and delusion?ā€
the results of this testā€”damenā€™s lack of realization or responseā€”have given laurent a green flag to proceed. itā€™s almost as if heā€™s invincibleā€”heā€™s pushed the dramatic irony of the situation to its limits, and STILL damen has no idea. so he might as well just do whatever he wants now, because nothing matters anyway. he can get to know damen, and heā€™ll kill damianos later. it should be totally fine, as long as he doesnā€™t do something ridiculous like fall in love.
of course, we know that laurent does end up falling in love with damen, fully aware that he is augusteā€™s killer the entire time. thatā€™s the eventual emotional purgatory i mentioned a few paragraphs ago. laurent even has sex with damen under this ruse, which is probably the most vulnerable thing that he specifically could possibly do with anyone.
laurentā€™s intentional cognitive dissonance is good for us, as readers and shippers, and ultimately good for laurent himself. after all, itā€™s what allows him to find and eventually choose love. but he is setting himself up for a massive internal struggle for as long as the lie persists. which it will, for an absurdly long timeā€”because the more laurent indulges damen and distinguishes him from damianos, the more he knowingly betrays his brotherā€™s memory. laurent can handle the resulting guilt and self-loathing internally, but anyone else knowing would make that betrayal real.
meanwhile, damenā€™s just like, ā€œoh fuck. he has no idea. awkward. anyway.ā€
ā€˜You have to understand. Auguste was made to be the pride of any father. Itā€™s not that there was any bad blood between Laurent and the King. More likeĀ .Ā .Ā . the King doted on Auguste, but didnā€™t spare much time for his younger son. In many ways the King was a simple man. Excellence on the field was something he could understand. Laurent was good with his mind, good at thinking, good at working his way through puzzles. Auguste was straightforward: a champion, the heir, born to rule. You can imagine how Laurent felt about him.ā€™ ā€˜He resented him,ā€™ said Damen. Paschal gave him a strange look. ā€˜No, he loved him. He hero-worshipped him, the way that intellectual boys sometimes do, with older boys who excel physically. It went both ways with those two. They were devoted to one another. Auguste was the protector. He would do anything for his little brother.ā€™
damen hears these words, but he doesnā€™t actually Hear them yet. but we do!!!!! this pov style is so good.
Damen thought privately that princes needed seasoning not protection. Laurent in particular. He had seen Laurent open his mouth and strip paint from the walls. He had seen Laurent lift a knife and in cold blood slit open a manā€™s throat without so much as a flicker of his golden lashes. Laurent didnā€™t need to be protected from anything.
better start seasoning those words, damen, because youā€™re about to eat them
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tschulijulesjulie Ā· 2 years ago
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an (incomplete) list of things Damen calls Laurent all through Captive Prince (either to his face or in his head)
sweetheart (derogatory)
snake
an insufferable yellow-haired princeling (sounds like something Gimli would say about Legolas lmao)
sweetheart (again, still derogatory)
cold-blooded and honourless (to his face, after the first round of flogging)
(honourable mention: cast-iron bitch, by Orlant)
a nest of scorpions in the body of one person
reptile (indirectly)
and an (incomplete) list of things Laurent calls Damen
Sweetheart (derogatory)
little pet
(like a) puppy
my dear brute
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laurentposting Ā· 1 year ago
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Woke up to a bunch of servant twinks talking about me calling me a brotherfucking whore or something should I throw a glass on the floor of my chambers and make them pick up the pieces with their teeth or should I just Suck It Up. Surely this impotent rage won't bottle up within me and eventually force me to verbally and violently lash out or anything. What do you think Orlant.
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kusuriiuri Ā· 3 months ago
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He Who Bleeds
10.1.24
London. 1874.
Religious devotion was a learned skill, and even the most pious of men have felt the tug of The Devilā€™s influence. Lord AurĆ©lien Saint-Orlant found he was no exception, always toeing the line between being a true god-fearing man and a barbaric sinner who reveled in hedonism.
This monotonous life of his changes when his world crashes down around him and wolves in sheep's clothing are revealed, leading AurƩlien to discover his true origins. As one of many devilspawns, he is locked in a contract with a greedy human who uses him to commit unorthodox killings among the upper echelon. When his contract is partially broken, AurƩlien finds himself whole again, and his desire to create his macabre art only grows.
The spawn seeks retribution and craves the freedom to create his art in utter peace. With the help of his incubus lover, Lord AurĆ©lien Saint-Orlant will paint the streets red with that humanā€™s gore.
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ninicaise Ā· 1 year ago
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extended list of what capri characters turn into when i magically turn them into beasties (non-typical assignations)
damen: emu (big) (thick skull) (australian)
laurent: porcupine (porcupine's dilemma)
nicaise: cat (of stray variety)
nikandros: the only human like in a muppet movie
jord: wombat.
jokaste: cat (egyptian)
auguste: otter (mother otter floating with baby on top)
kastor: mouse (king of hamsters, mice and rats)
aimeric: hamster (evil variety) (not under kastor's rule)
ancel: goldfish (orange)
berenger: sloth!
lazar: rabbit (enjoys intercourse) (diabolical eyes)
pallas: funny little bat (specifically a bat eating a banana)
halvik: shepherd (thinks laurent is a farm animal)
govart: dolphin (if you know you know)
makedon: buffalo (big bull)
orlant: the only human before nikandros but also he is a bit like a frog
the regent: big ass mosquito
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hennike Ā· 2 years ago
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do i think jord and orlant were attracted to each other? No. do i think that they may have occasionally jacked off together? Oh yes
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tototalks Ā· 5 months ago
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Letā€™s go side stories!! āœØ
šŸ’š Green but for a Season šŸ’š
šŸŽµ Uptown girl, heā€™s been living in his uptown world. I guess heā€™s never had a backstreet guy, I bet his father never told him why šŸŽµ
- I really love a man from humble beginnings making his way in the world. Jord earned his place as captain through sheer competence and I respect the hell out of him for it. Iā€™d rather follow him into battle than some officer who got there by being a landlordā€™s son.
- Fun fact! When I imagined Jord as I read Captive Prince, he looked a lot like an ever so slightly shorter Aragorn.
- Imagine being the guy who slept through the fight with Govart. I swear youā€™d wake up and think everyone was fuckin playing you like ā€œOMG Prince Laurent absolutely MURKED Govart with a sword!!ā€ I swear Iā€™d need a solid 3-5 business days to make sure I wasnā€™t being pranked.
- Okay so my heart hurts for grieving lil Laurent asking why Jord stayed after Augusteā€™s death. He had so much faith in his brother and loved him so much.
- Haha! Auguste indirectly chose Jord to protect Laurent! Haha! Iā€™m crying!! šŸ™ƒ
- I love that Jord already knew about Laurentā€™s fighting ability and heā€™s there watching this fight about to happen KNOWING that Govart is gonna have his ass handed to him by Tinkerbell.
- Aimeric is out here doing his job and Orlant is like ā€œdamn, I canā€™t believe youā€™re gonna fuck him.ā€ And Jord canā€™t say shit because heā€™s absolutely right. His nice cheekbones and strong work ethic have bewitched him.
- Jord is the colleague you trauma bond with when youā€™re in a toxic workplace. Strong, dependable, has the courtesy not to use the work microwave for fish. The Regentā€™s HR should have known not to come for him.
- The mental image of Aimeric standing before Guion like ā€œbut daddy, I love him!ā€ Is enough to dull the pain of knowing what could have been.
- Jord telling Aimeric heā€™s not disposable vs. Aimeric always being told heā€™s the least important fourth son trying to prove himself and then remembering what eventually happens to him and why. No wonder he fell for this man finally treating him with love and affection. šŸ« šŸ« šŸ« 
- ā€œItā€™s not you Iā€™m trying to impressā€ - Layers. Itā€™s about the layers. Onion layers that will make you cry.
- Jord clocked onto Damen and his weirdly good tactical skill early and decided, respectfully, to keep that shit to himself.
- Nothing quite like kissing a noblemanā€™s son over the battle plans you canā€™t read.
- Jord is such a nice dude, and I love his character. Iā€™m still so devastated him and Aimeric turned out like they did. In another life I choose to believe they had a happy ending. Iā€™ll take one everyone lives AU with fries please. ā™„ļø
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