Captive Prince - Tumblr Posts - Page 2

Yes! A big portion of Laurent's character is that he uses the fact that his looks make him seem incompetent on purpose! He's trained in secret to become strong enough to kill Damianos, and I think it's "But Green for a Season" that reveals how Jord discovered Laurent had gotten very good with his discreet lessons.

Even though he loses against Damen during their fight in the third book, he still proves himself to be a challenge; what he lacks in raw power against an enemy, he makes up for with his tactics and dirty fighting. He'll use the environment to his advantage, upset and anger his opponent, and he's not above a knee to the groin if it'll give him an edge. When Laurent is fighting Kastor at the end, Damen even considers that if Laurent hadn't been both injured from Govart and his mind clouded with rage - if he were actually focusing with his greatest strength, his mind - he might have even beat Damen in that very fight! Laurent had been on the defensive and a victim for so long that it's often easy to forget that the guy has been training and pushing himself to make up for anything he lacks in order to escape his underdog position.

The only weakness Laurent has is that for most of the books, he thinks he has to do everything alone. The idea that Damen would ever want to help him, wouldn't betray him the instant Laurent didn't have something to reign him in, and that anyone would actively believe in him - it's almost too much for Laurent to fully wrap his head around. He can't compete with his uncle, that's what's been drilled into his head from the most vulnerable point of his life. He's younger, and he can't do anything about it. He's smart, but the Regent will ALWAYS have more experience, will always have the advantage, and Laurent has had every person who might support him and believe in him either abandon him or be killed with every tiny misstep.

The second book, Laurent would have never managed to beat his uncle in this ONE maneuver had Damen not been there to A: stop him from trying to go off on his own and "play along" with his uncle to the point that he basically admits defeat, and B: has a partner who is offensively able to teach him everything his uncle refused to teach him when it comes to being a leader. The only reason Laurent even brought him along was because, begrudgingly, Damen could be temporarily useful. He knows Damen is Damianos from the very beginning, and so he uses their nights going over strategy to learn both the limits of his own people and how Akielons think. Laurent needs to learn how to be a king, something the Regent wouldn't have been keen to actually teach him while trying to outst him from the Veretian throne.

At the end of that book and the beginning of the third, Laurent plays like he's fully prepared to work independently of Damen - or if he is going to work with him, he'll not be reliant upon Damen in any way. He knows Damen a little better now, but that can't instantly erase the confrontation six years in the making when Laurent wants to lash out and beat the shit out of Damen to prove that he didn't spend all this time trying his hardest and it still wasn't enough. It wasn't - Laurent had to painfully confess that he knew he could never beat Damen, and if Damen hadn't been such a good person, he would have lost.

The fact is, Laurent's greatest weakness is being in the mindset that he has to be strong enough and smart enough to do everything alone. Laurent became extremely self-sufficient, deadly in both body and mind, but being with Damen and even falling in love with him was doubly painful because not only is Damen a reminder that he isn't strong enough all on his own, but now his greatest asset is someone who he's spent all this time trying to overcome. It's a really awful struggle for him to accept that maybe someone can actually understand him and support him and be strong enough not to be hurt in the process.

A person? Being on his side?? Willingly??? Someone he doesn't have to protect 24/7???? But someone he WANTS to protect????? AND IT'S FUCKING DAMIANOS WHO HE HATES?????? BECAUSE HE'S A GOOD PERSON???????

In the third book, Laurent actively gives himself up to the Regent, and by Damen’s account, he fully believes no one was going to come for him. He didn't have a plan, he knew he could save Damen maybe but not himself. It's a bit of a weird final move for Laurent to have been saved by a plan that wasn't his own and barely Damen's, but it does showcase his weakness of giving up when he doesn't have a definitive plan in his uncle's domain - by contrast to Damen who never gives up hope even when things around him seem hopeless and he doesn't know what to do, YET.

And to the next point, Damen. We see everything (except one tiny chapter) from Damen's POV, and so by necessity, Damen has to be behind in most of Laurent's plans so that he can figure things out at the same time the readers do. In the first and especially the second book, Damen really is Laurent's slave. Laurent is in charge, Laurent calls the shots, Laurent's the one fighting this civil war with everything to both gain and lose. Laurent is the one to go somewhere, with Damen demanding to follow and help, and proving himself useful in the process. Damen really is just reacting to things happening around him, with the point of that book being him growing Laurent's trust to actually be allowed to do shit.

Damen's only "dumb" quality is that he simply recognizes things as facts, rather than hypothesize about what could be done in the future. He really is a reactive character, but it's entirely realistic if you think about how Akielons are compared to Veretians. Akielons think very straightforward; they take in what they know, work out something from it, and then conclude with a plan to execute - take in the new information gleaned, then rinse and repeat. Veretians think five steps ahead, ensure every action has at least two different purposes/meanings, make sure that even when they lose one thing, they can still gain another. Damen has the problem-solving and experience to react in the moment to Laurent's actions, but only when he sees the plan executing before his eyes.

Ever heard that symbolic thing about their culture designs? Akielons are very stripped down and simple with their clothing, Veretians have complex ties and strings that Damen complains are overly and unnecessarily extravagant? It's like that.

However Damen spends SO much time keeping up with Laurent's patterns that he actually starts to think like him. Damen is good at taking what he knows and making use of it. To be the King of Akielos, he had to know how war worked, how people worked, what customs and traditions and practices were common, what could be weapons and what could be problems. He simply adds Laurent's new perspective on life and the ways of the Veretians to his list of examples to pull from.

To be fair, Damen BEGINS the story slightly naive and spoiled. The whole reason Kastor shipped him off to Vere as a slave was because he refused to believe Kastor was anything more than the brother he had known. Before that instance, Damen didn't believe people could be more than they appeared on the surface. That's just how Akielon culture is. Heck, Damen even admits that he blindly followed his own father's perspective on life - he was the shining king, who could never do wrong, who fought and won battles with glory and grace, and always with honor. He beat back the slimy, conniving, distrustful snakes of Vere who could never be trusted to keep their word or worry about anyone other than themselves.

It's really good worldbuilding, because it's true that's how Veretians can be - not all of them, certainly, but it's also just a human thing, not exclusive to any culture. Some people are good, some are bad, and it's just normal for some people to have built a society where outsmarting others and building a reputation is the way you survive.

But after all his time actually getting to know Laurent and his people and their culture? Damen admits that though he would never speak ill of his father, he can't agree with the kind of king he was; Theomedes was a king who conquered, rather than tried to understand. Damen's father would have never tried to think like the enemy did, to differentiate one Veretian from another. Damen was only forced to see the differences when he saw Laurent and the Regent - Laurent was ultimately a good, kind person, but he was crushed under the weight and expectations and attacks from all sides, forced to become someone else entirely to play their game.

And it's ultimately Damen who has to convince Laurent that playing the game under his uncle's terms is always going to be how he loses. Laurent is thinking five moves ahead to try and keep up with his uncle who is six moves ahead. Instead, Laurent needs to forge his own path, not to be a piece on his uncle's board, but the king of his own. Where Damen is forced to learn Veretian cunning just to keep up (and he does so successfully, if not as good as Laurent who's been doing it much longer), Laurent is forced to learn Akielon straightforwardness and the simple fact that if he wants to win, he has to go into it believing he will - however delusional it seems to barge in, acting first, thinking later.

Veretians can be good people, use their cunning minds to do good things, to fight their enemies and maintain good and evil even within their own kingdom. Akielons can be loyal and headstrong, and if pointed in the right direction, they'll be paragons who'll fight for what they believe in even against all odds. Regardless of the kingdom, there are good and bad people inside it. Both princes need to learn it if they want to be kings, and though it takes a lot of pushing, they ARE willing to learn for their own survival.

Damen is a seriously strong warrior, that can't be argued, but he has EVERYTHING that makes him a born-leader. He recognizes strategies, opens his mind to new ideas, and in turn opens Laurent's mind as well. Laurent is cynical but extremely intelligent; he isn't lacking in any kingly quality beyond his own self-confidence, the belief that he can win after years of thinking all he could do was lose. The two of them really do work with one another, brains and brawn, as well as the potential to help the other recognize the benefits of their different ways of life.

TL;DR it's like this:

"My size," Laurent said, "is the usual. I am not made in miniature. It's a problem of scale, standing next to you."

What I feel the CaPri fandom sometimes fails to understand is that Damen only looks stupid compared to Laurent and Laurent only looks weak compared to Damen.

Damen is one of the few people who pick up on Laurent's schemes - sure, he picks up on things more slowly than Laurent, who has an insider's view of the situation and is actually the person in control of his schemes (in addition to his godlike intelligence), but Damen sees through what Laurent is doing more quickly than anyone else, even people who have known Laurent for years, and manages to keep up with his logic most of the time when no one else does. In book 1 he always manages to read a situation pretty accurately based on the knowledge he has - he can see what Laurent's options are and where the political lines are drawn, he just doesn't know how to mess with them as creatively as Laurent does.

Similarly, Laurent is one of the most competent fighters in the setting and only looks weak compared to Damen, the God of Warfare, who is like 2 meters tall and 2 meters wide. He's not some helpless uwu smol bean, he can hold his own, gives Damen a damn good fight even though he's been recently injured and fucks up several other people described as very strong fighters during the course of the series.

The summer palace

Their growth is something that can be so personal

these were a hit on twitter so figure i’d share on tumblr dot com. context = everyone was making fun of a book that was marketed with this same format. enjoy the capri versions

"Even before Laurent had hit the ground, the man had drawn his sword. Damen was too far away. He was too far to get between the man and Laurent, he knew that, even as he drew his sword—even as he wheeled his horse, felt the powerful bunch of the animal beneath him. There was only one thing he could do." -Prince's Gambit by C.S.Pacat

and a continuation of the same scene with more spoilers:

Gorgeous gorgeous girls cry over fictional characters everyday

Reading List: September

The start of the month was all about Drarry Hurt/Comfort fest (recs are here), oldschool Marauders era fic (wolfstar, starcest & jily) and quite a bit of HP character meta, linked at the end. Then I started a reread of Captive Prince so I wanted fic. ❤️ denotes favourites.

>> August recs <<

Captive Prince

💆🏼 The Tall Kingdom I Surround by yekoc (Damen/Laurent, E, 3,7k)

The first time it happened, in the midst of battle preparations at Karthas, Damen had dismissed it as a momentary lapse. Laurent’s voice, issuing curt orders, and his own involuntary reaction: nothing more than force of habit, the instincts he had trained into himself, deliberately, in order to survive.

Nikandros had noticed then, and had let it go with the circumspect silence of a kyroi to his king. That was as it should be, Damen thought. It was not worth discussing. It was not even worth thinking about.

An exploration of the private, intimate power dynamics post canon. I love the thought of Damen

🌿 Bright as Lightning by blacktofade (Damen/Laurent, E, 33k)

Laurent, Prince of Vere, has always been promised to Damianos, Prince of Akielos.

Lovely arranged-marriage fic where Laurent comes to Akielos to fall in love and uncover plots.

📧 (Not) Meant For You by Holly_Golightly (Damen/Laurent, background Ancel/Berenger E, 151k)

Laurent is just trying to keep himself together and forget about what happened. Damen is trying to keep the press at bay and ignore the scandalous headlines. Auguste isn’t trying at all.

When Laurent sends a hookup text meant for his ex to his brother’s worst enemy, he unlocks a door to their shared pasts that might have been better left closed. With secrets, lies, and betrayals threatening to bring everything crashing down, Laurent has to decide how much he’s willing to risk and whether or not it’s a price he can afford to pay for his chance at a happy ending.

Modern nobility AU with high-octane emotions, blindingly hot smut, toxic exes, drama and secrets, a (very) complicated Damen & Auguste friendship, but an eventual happy end for all.

HP

🪶 So You Sprouted Wings by @hoko-onchi-writes (Drarry, E, 8k)

Like human puberty, Veela puberty can come with its own pitfalls. Uh-oh! Is that a mood swing? Veela hormones are twice as strong as their human counterparts, so you may find yourself dizzily cheerful in the morning and despairing your wretched existence in the afternoon. Don’t worry. It’s all normal. It’ll smooth out over time. Healing sexual touch can help!

❤️🎻 Opus by Spessartine (Regulus/Sirius, E, 4k)

‘Play for me,’ says Sirius.

Mesmerising, shivery prose. So sparse yet it made my brain thrum and my breath catch. Their dynamic is so sharp and aching, and the description of Reg playing violin... jesus.

😠 Just Like Me by shaggydogstail (Sirius/Regulus, E, 2k)

Regulus hates Sirius. Or maybe he wants to be Sirius. Or maybe he just wants Sirius.

🍐 Loam by adistantsun + art by dustmouth (Wolfstar, Teddy, T, 7k + drawings)

Round a bend on Swanston Road, the house slips out from between the trees like it's playing hide and seek.

Teddy wants to know more about his father. So he goes digging.

🔎 Hiraeth by llassah (Wolfstar, M, 5k)

Hiraeth, noun. Welsh. A feeling of yearning to return to a place that may never have existed. An earnest desire.

During the first rise of Voldemort, Remus gets into the spying game. No one told him it would be quite this difficult to lie for a living.

🐕 A Fearsome Business by canis m. (Wolfstar, T, 20k)

Sirius lays low at Lupin's

I used to love lay low at Lupin's fics. This one is a good representation of that sense of fragile hope.

❤️🏰 The Last Enemy: The Howling Nights by CH_Darling (Jily, T, 208k)

It’s 1975 and war is simmering beneath the surface of the Wizarding world...but at Hogwarts, it’s magic as usual as the fifth years prepare for their O.W.L.s amidst politics, pranks, and other poor choices.

Severus Snape wants to prove his worth. Lily Evans wants a fresh start. James Potter wants Lily Evans, though no one is more surprised by this than him. Sirius Black wants to write himself a new story. Remus Lupin wants to survive the next moon. Peter Pettigrew just wants to keep up.

But as tensions bubble over, sides will be chosen, friendships destroyed, families parted, and paths forever altered.

I'm so impressed with how easily this slots into canon and how real (and true to canon) all the POV characters feel. I especially enjoyed Lily, Remus and Sirius.

Meta

Gentleman Monster: How Remus's Marginalisation and Comparitive Privilege Made Who He Is by @ashesandhackles

Fred&George vs. James& Sirius and their different sense of "mischief" by @elvendorx

Barty Crouch Jr and Barty Crouch Sn: like father, like son by @artemisia-black

Yes. The Weasleys had too many kids. An analysis. (Part 1 of 2) by @arkadijxpancakes

Everything on this HP meta list compiled by @remus-poopin or these masterlists of ashesandhackles's and artemisia black's meta posts.

This line will never not be funny!

Ok but what if…

Akelios was a land filled with some ancient magic with mythological creatures like elves and such. Vere once had this races as well but some seal makes it impossible to use magic and makes this creatures invisible to the common’s eye

What if captive prince was settled in a Forgotten realms- like world? Maybe it is a part of Faerun that has been cut off from the outside world?

Akelion population that is not human is accepted as normal, Damianos knows and talks this creature’s tongues and has some magic bases, also I picture him as very charmed by those creature’s costumes and is very beloved by them. Maybe this magic inhabitants played a role in Kastor’s defeat?

MaYbE Kastor, as the absolute asshole he is, commanded killed many of the magic folks, much like Nilfgaard in the Witcher.

Like imagine; Damianos has just arrived to a very old ruins, injured and Laurent almost dead bc ✨some shit✨and some fairies come to him to help and Laurent gets healed by them and just stands there speechless like ‘wtf??? Damen?? What is this??’

Maybe Laurent saw some of this creatures as a kid and the seal was created by some resentful mage to prevent the Regent from using magic?? Maybe??

I know very classical fantasy bui I WILL BE WRITING SOMETHING ABOUT THIS-