#damen's just adorable

[jayktoralldaylong]

TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF RAPE

CAPTIVE PRINCE SPOILERS

You know what? This is.... Paces the room and slaps the wall with an open palm. No, this is definitely..... Punches a hole through the wall.

At this point, at this point, if I was Laurent, I would just let my uncle kill to be fucking honest. This is the height of things that have happened and I am losing my mind. It's not like I'm surprised, it's just the overwhelming audacity and endless betrayal.

I'm the one with unnatural feelings? ME?? YOU'RE the one who f*cking RAPED ME at the vulnerable age of THIRTEEN!!! I would lose my shit.

Not only has the Regent let this stupid believable rumour foster because everyone is well aware of how much Laurent worshipped his brother Auguste, but now he raises it as a countermeasure against Laurent ever revealing the truth. Like who the fuck are the people going to believe? Their bitchy prince or their seemingly benevolent leader with a heart of gold (he goes around fucking children!!! He's been bedding Nico since he was TEN!!! SCREAMS IN UNDILUTED RAGE!!)

I can't! I can't stand him. How?! Omg. Hoooow can people lie like they speak the truth? How can they do it without a shred of remorse? He took advantage of a young child at the time he needed him the most and he's flaunting that vulnerability, he's using it to his advantage because no one knows he likes children, because those who do know would never fathom that such a good man would do such a thing to his fucking nephew! He turned his nephew into a viper, he is the reason Laurent has no friends, no allies, betrayal and betrayal and yet another betrayal. And when the truth about Damen comes out everything is going to fall apart and I can't stand it. I can't stand any of this! I'm losing my mind. How? How has Laurent possibly put up with this for nearly ten years? I would have just given up and let the Regent take me, this is madness!!

#Please ignore how incoherent this whole thing is #reading this book has been an.... experience #It is so good #omg #not the dynamic I expected but i #genuinely adore every single narrative choice that went into the creation of this book #I'm just losing my mind because I've got to one to talk to and the happy moments are coming to an end and the slow is finally burning #but nah #some people are just shamelessly despicable. #I hope the Regent's balls rott off from the same diseased poison he keeps in his heart #Laurent would have been so small and slightly naive and so very trusting at that age. His brother being the only thing standing between him #and the Regent #and Damen took him away #the revelation will shake him #I feel like I'm going to cry #captive prince #damen of akielos #damianos of akielos #laurent of vere #the regent #The fucking asshole

[laurents-laces]

As much as I love Laurent's secret sweet side, I also love that Laurent is stubborn and prickly and awkward and Damen loves him anyway. Loves him for all the things that make him difficult.

The whole section where Damen realizes just how much his views on everything have changed in the last few months is so good. And I love how much that change is embodied in Laurent, that the more he grows to accept and adore all the things about Laurent that he hated before, the more he grows as a person.

I also like that even though Laurent doesn't know it at first, from the start Damen already has a personality that Laurent loves and respects, because of his resemblance to Auguste. So rather than learning to accept a different viewpoint, for him, falling for Damen is a return to who he was before he had to make himself into someone cold and closed off

#crazy how this doesn't have less of an impact when you re-read the book again and again #it just gets better #captive prince #my post

[yuamusuzuran]

One of the things I definitely adore about Damen and Laurent is the fact they're such gentle lovers once Laurent allows himself to indulge.

Think about it, they're in so many tense situations, their lives more than complicated and both of them have so much baggage. Last thing I expected was for them to be so... sweet and gentle.

Damen really treats Laurent like something precious, even after they just realized they're attracted to each other. And that gentleness and loving is something Laurent just isn't used to and, as he said, "can't defend himself from it". The amount of "SQUEEEEEE" I was letting out whenever they started being adorable. Perfection

#captive prince #laurent of vere #damen of akielos #damen x laurent #capri #lamen

[captaindamianos]

Hi! Can you recommend some good Captive Prince fics? I just finished the series and I loved Laurent so much

Hi anon!! Welcome to the fandom 🤗

I've considered doing a fic rec post for a long time so this is a perfect opportunity for me. Please forgive me for the delay. It was Eurovision week when you sent this and it was (and still is) incredibly distracting for me.

Here are some of my favorites, I'm going to offer a variety of things, because I absolutely love AUs, all variations of them, but I know that's not everyone's cup of tea and immediately after finishing the series people tend to like canon and canon-divergent the most, so I'll try to focus on those:

Canon Divergence:

Ransomed Prince by Turtletotem

I started reading this fic back when I still was in the fandom and I absolutely loved it. When I rejoined in 2021, the last few chapters got posted and I've reread it like 10 times already. Please heed the warnings but I just really enjoy the development of their relationship in this fanfic.

Winged Cupid Painted Blind by Kittendiamore

A lot of scheming from Laurent, which is always a good time in my book. It's been a bit since I've read it, but I always enjoyed it.

No Rush by blacktofade

One of my favorite things are Auguste lives AUs were they meet under different circumstances. This is one of my absolute favorites of those and I've read it again and again.

When the sun is on again by thickenmyblood

I've read this story once and it absolutely destroyed me. I was not okay for a few days haha. It's still one of the most amazing things I've ever read. So I would still recommend it, but be careful.

An Arranged Marriage by Josselin

The slow build of this one, I absolutely love rereading it every few months.

Bright as lightning by blacktofade

Another arranged marriage AU haha. Please trust me on this, this is such a good story.

sanguinary poultice, love charm by Lapin

God this is so good, nothing really to say besides do yourself a favor and read it.

How To Not Court A Veretian Prince by Entity_Sylvir

It's been a while with this one as well but I know it was one of my favorites.

Canon Compliant:

The Consummation by Josselin

I have to admit it's been a while since I've read this one. But I know that I really enjoyed it, and it's a very real depiction on how this could go and how the unification will likely have its hurdles.

Wicked Game by onekingdomonce

An anmesia fic, that I've read at least twice. It's painful, but it's worth it. I can recommend everything by that author that is Damen/Laurent. I've not really read any of the other pairings, because i don't multiship Damen and Laurent.

Alternative Universe:

four sevens and a ten by fahye

I know people tend to recommend Fahye's everything (their ´Lines On Palms' series and their tumblr ficlets (link 1 link 2) in particular). But I've grown up absolutely adoring the Swan princess movie, so this one sticks out to me personally. It's a lot darker than the movie, and it has it's very own narrative and development. But god do I love and recommend it.

The Veretian Flytrap by Just_Another_Day

Technically this feels very very canon divergent to me, but since the whole story is Omegaverse I'm putting it here. I know a lot of people don't enjoy Omegaverse fanfics, which is totally valid. But this fanfiction is one of my favorites in this fandom of all time. The world building, the character development, the culmination of it all. I adore it, I reread it every few months and I can't recommend it enough.

A Touch of Heavenly Light by forthelongesttime

I would recommend reading everything by this author. I am absolutely in love with their writing. I like how realistic they write and how they don't shy away from facing ugly things as well. This story in particular is dark and I urge you to check the warnings. It's not for everyone, which is why I recommend checking out their entire list of fics. But if the warnings don't scare you, please check it out!

Alternative Universe - Modern:

between the motion and the act by fahye

And to be contrary once more, I'm also recommending another one of fahye's AUs haha. I really liked this show, and I think it's an amazing fit for a modern AU for Damen & Laurent. Fahye just has an absolute talent for putting them into alternate universes and make them believable to me.

Fear not the thorns by relenafanel

Back then written by one of my favorite Stucky writers, I still absolutely adored it when I reread it in 2021. I definetely recommend checking it out if modern AUs are your thing.

A few authors I'd like to recommend in general:

idratherhaveyou (lots of different AUs, all of them a pleasure to read)

PenguinMerchant (again a lot of different AUs and settings. The worldbuilding is immaculate and always leaves me in awe. All of those AUs also fit them so well.)

Holly_Golightly (one of my favorite unfinished wips in this fandom, I'm still holding out hope haha but everything else they've written was absolutely amazing as well. Very spicey usually. Can't recommend them enough.)

elesary (Can you tell I love AUs yet?? Some are canon compliant or canon divergent, but I especially adore their modern AUs.)

ahdriking (another one of my favorite wips - hardest of hearts - and also just a lot of really spicey stuff, but god, so good.)

#captive prince #fic recs #good god i failed so hard at recommending canon compliant or canon divergence #i will try again but i think i need to reread a lot #this doesn't even cover the tiniest bit #i think i need to do more and put them into categories #i tried to focus on longer fics for this

[kybelles]

in which babianos gets his heart broken

read on ao3 | check out this amazing art by @cxinis which i adore

~

A peal of laughter, quickly followed by the sound of running; distract Theomedes from the report he’s been reading for the past ten minutes. He blinks and casually leans off the balcony. The noise belongs to a sight he became accustomed to recently.

Next to him, Konstantin makes a tiny noise of disapproval. “I can warn them off if you wish, Exalted.”

Theomedes huffs a slight chuckle. “What is the point? They will behave for five minutes and then it’ll start over again.”

Konstantin looks a bit exasperated. “I assure you, I didn’t expect this kind of behavior when I brought my boy to the palace. He is usually much more serious.”

“Well, my boy has the ability to charm even the toughest people,” Theomedes says, pride coloring his voice. “So I can’t say I’m surprised.”

After a brief moment of Damen whispering something into the ear of Nikandros, they start running barefoot again; this time in the direction of trees.

Konstantin isn’t merely lying about his son’s character to excuse his recent adventures with Damen. The first time Nikandros arrived to be presented properly in front of Theomedes, he introduced himself with perfect manners and showed utter respect. Then Damen, who was almost vibrating with excitement, stepped forward and caught Nikandros’s hands.

“Greetings, Nikandros of Dice!” he exclaimed in front of the whole palace. “You and I are going to be best friends!”

Thus, they quickly became best friends indeed. Theomedes felt a bit of guilt when it became crystal clear just how much Damen needed someone closer to his age. They became so inseparable that it almost felt like they blurred into one child: Damen and Nik. Nik and Damen. Damenandnik.

It also brought warmth to his heart to see the affection Nikandros held for Damen was genuine and not borne out of some obligated loyalty. Theomedes knows his boy made a friend for life.

“Gods help me,” Konstantin is saying when Theomedes focuses on the present again. “Are they climbing on a tree?”

Indeed, they are climbing on one of the larger trees with the easy elegance of lions who survey the land for prey. Konstantin lets out a long sigh. “Should I put an end to this? If they fall–”

“No need.” Theomedes points at the muscular slaves who are standing nearby. “If they fall, they can be caught easily.” He raises his voice. “Damianos?”

Both children whip their head to look at the direction where the noise came from. Nikandros’s arms wobble considerably when he realizes it’s the king who spoke but he regains his balance easily. Damen is, unsurprisingly, unfazed. “Sire?” he calls back.

“May I ask what the two of you are doing?”

Damen gives him a look like he thinks his father is particularly dense. “Looking for Veretian soldiers, obviously.”

“Care to elaborate?”

It’s Nikandros who speaks this time. “We’re making a plan to take back Delpha, Exalted.”

“Oh?” Theomedes asks pleasantly. “Now that is something I must certainly listen to. Would you soldiers want to join me for supper?”

-

Nikandros has to leave, eventually.

Damen handles it with all the grace that can be expected from a five year old. He doesn’t cry when they bid Konstantin’s family farewell but his lower lip wobbles repeatedly. Once it’s time to say goodbye to Nikandros, he throws all the properties Theomedes knows Hypermenestra and his tutors taught him before aside and wraps his arms around Nikandros, clinging. Whatever he’s murmuring to the other boy has Nikandros patting his back gently, his own serious face creased with a frown. They stay like that until Kastor takes a step forward and touches Damen’s shoulder.

At supper that night, Damen barely touches his food. Even when they bring his favorite juicy apricots.

Hypermenestra takes a look at his full place, face concerned. “Your food will cry after you if you leave it untouched, Damen.”

Damen is slouched in his chair, looking absolutely miserable. “I know you’re lying to me, Nessa. I don’t believe you.”

Kastor takes a crunchy bite from a pear. “You’re right. What will happen is that this apricot’s soul will visit you tonight in your sleep and haunt you if you don’t eat it.”

“I don’t believe you either.” Damen says quickly but his hand sneakily snatches up a piece of apricot.

Theomedes rubs his temple briefly, wishing it would erase the headache he can feel building. “Kastor, stop frightening your brother. Damen, eat your food. Nikandros will come back in a few months.”

Apparently it was all it took to set Damen off because he swallows his fruit and looks at Theomedes with accusing eyes. “Six months! That’s half a year, baba! How am I supposed to endure it until then?” His lip quivers again and this time, a sob escapes from his mouth. He turns his teary eyes to Hypermenestra. “I feel like my heart is breaking into pieces! Can a person die because of a broken heart?”

Keep him safe, a woman’s raspy voice whispers. Love him. Love him so much.

A memory. Egeria, untangling herself from his embrace in the middle of the night and stepping into the balcony for some fresh air. Theomedes, following after her like a sailor follows a siren. Egeria’s belly swollen with their unborn baby, her thin silk nightgown clinging into her skin, her skin glowing with both sweat and health.

You never looked more beautiful, Theomdes said unthinkingly as he stared at her. Egeria smiled cheekily at him, her dimple showing, hazel eyes shining with mischief. Flattery will get you nowhere when I’m this big, Exalted.

And then. The baby came too early.

Promise me he’ll be okay, Egeria whimpered as she continued to bleed and bleed. One of her hands was clutched in Theoemedes’s hand and his tears were blurring his vision. He kissed her knuckles, over and over again, until her last breath. I promise.

Theoemedes doesn’t recall a worse heartbreak he’s experienced than Egeria’s death but in the end, he survived. For his country and his family. For his motherless infant son.

He rouses up from his memories and notices Hypermenestra’s pained eyes on him. He can’t help but wonder if she remembered the same thing just now.

It was her hand, after all, the one who held Egeria’s other hand.

“No, you won’t die from a broken heart, my prince.” Hypermenestra says softly yet firmly. “Feeling upset is a natural part of growing.” Her face softens. “However, you may go to sleep tonight earlier, if you don’t wish to dine anymore.”

He’s out of his seat the second she is done with her sentence. Theomedes sighs heavily as he makes a move to follow him, or at least send someone after him, when Kastor raises a hand and gets up as well. “I’ll deal with it. Curse of being an older brother.”

-

Every friday, Theomedes takes Kastor and Damen with him for a ride around the capital; to see how the cityfolk are doing, to listen to their issues and requests. He’s been doing it with Kastor since his oldest turned three and two years ago, he started to bring Damen along as well. Next year, Damen will finally have his own horse instead of sitting in front of Theomedes.

Today, only Kastor shows up for their planned outing and just like Theomedes, he looks puzzled by the lack of Damen around. He rolls his eyes a moment later. “That silly boy cried into my lap for hours last night. He’s probably still asleep.” A frustrated sigh. “I’ll go get him.”

“No.” Theomedes says, barely missing a beat. “After the tantrum of yesterday, it’s best if he gets some sleep. It’s not the end of the world if he misses one day.”

So they set off together; him, Kastor and a handful of soldiers. Theomedes doesn’t know if it’s vanity, but he never takes a lot of protection with him when he does these weekly outings. His people love him as a leader and he wants to believe he can take out a few assassins if it ever comes to that.

It’s going smoothly, as it always does, when a ruckus breaks out behind them, prompting the soldiers. Tensing, Theomedes extends a protective arm in front of Kastor. 

Everything happens so quickly. Out of nowhere, a small hand clings to Theomedes’s chiton. His horse startles so badly that it makes a move to rear up. Horrified, Theomedes realizes the hand belongs to Damen and his boy will get hurt badly in a–

A pair of strong arms snatch Damen from the ground in one rough movement and Theomedes hastily moves away his horse, petting his neck to calm him down.

“You idiot!” Kastor exclaims in pure fury, shaking Damen’s shoulders. “Why would you do–”

“Why did you leave me behind?!”

Damen’s entire riding outfit is messily worn, as if he’s dressed himself in the dark, with no help from his slaves. His face is as red as the royal Akielon color and his eyes are wide with anger and disappointment. Distantly, Theomedes realizes almost half of his household have followed him and are now panting as they try to catch their breath. The chaos is mostly settled.

Kastor sends him a deadly look. “What?”

“Is this what duty means to you?” Damen’s furious eyes are going between Kastor and Theomedes. “We’re supposed to do this together and you left me behind!”

For a moment, nobody speaks. Then, Theomedes runs a hand over his face. “Damianos. You’ll be the death of me one day.”

Immediately, Damen’s righteous anger disappears in a smoke and he makes an upset noise. “Baba, don’t say things like that.”

Theomedes reaches out and takes him from Kastor’s arms, putting him in front of the horse like he always does. “We won’t leave you behind again,” he says as Damen sinks into his arms. “But if you do something like this again, I’ll forbid you from eating an apricot for a week.”

“That’s fair.”

#i really liked writing this one ngl #baby damenik is a concept i adore #captive prince #babianos #idil writes

[damianosismyking]

So you have an au about damen being abusive with laurent ?????

Please let me know more?? Any hcs or thoughts or anything pls

The capri fandom needs some dark aus fr

~🦌🌺

hello my darling!

I've been gone so long that I have no idea when you sent this and I'm deeply sorry for that!

I came up with the idea for an AU in which Damen's abusive way back in 2019/2020 (2021?) and to say I was a different person altogether back then is an understatement. I also haven't re-read the books in a long while so I can't say I recall everything I had imagined for this fic to begin with BUT!, I've got some fuzzy thoughts stored in the back of my mind that may satisfy some of the crave for Dark Damianos (a concept deeply slept on in my honest opinion but with how much people like to hate on him for free, it's best if we keep it sleeping lol).

DISCLAIMER: in my very private opinion, Damen has a natural darkness to his character that I find appealing (or would be appealing if I wasn't a coward) to explore. Those are the lenses through which I approach the abusive patterns he could come to develop in a relationship with an already emotionally/psychologically vulnerable Laurent. And also in my very private opinion, Laurent is a vulnerable character (for all reasons we as a fandom dwelled on to the point of exhaustion, but, most of all, in relation to how he sees and thinks of Damen — in terms not only of admiration but almost adoration, just as he did with his brother).

We all rememeber the scene at the end (?) of PG when Laurent is stepping on Damen's toes by saying bad things regarding his family and how Damen loses his temper and hits Laurent hard enough to draw blood. The guards step in to arrest Damen for hurting the prince and Damen takes full blame for doing it without showing a single bit of remorse whatsoever. Laurent is the one to talk his guards down from arresting Damen by pinning the blame of being assaulted on himself and that is it.

This idea (of an AU that never came to be) was forged mostly on the side of Damen's character that has a tendency to jump believe he is always right in the assessments he makes and proceed to never question the truth behind his own reasoning. And on the side of Laurent's character that always blames himself for every bad thing that has ever happened to him despite his own helplessness, and nurtures an unhealthy need for a role model to hold on to — once his brother, now his lover.

I'm going to leave all my thoughts for this AU bellow the cut, in case some people may find the matter too upsetting to read about. Trigger warnings for domestic, physical and psychological abuse, obviously! Proceed at your own accord and don't come whinning later🫰

so putting two and two together:

Damen is prone to angry outbursts or just violence in general. We see in more than one occasion that it doesn't take much for his 'bad side' to come out, which is a characteristic a lot of aggressors in this very patriarcal society we live in also showcase. And as their universe is ALSO incredibly patriarcal, this would check out.

As aforementioned, one of the most significative intances of Damen's violence is the day (after he had already slept with Laurent, after he admitted to himself he was in love with Laurent) where he he baits into Laurent's provocations and hits him.

Laurent's edge, I personally believe, though attenuated as it may be by the end of the cicle of abuse he endured all the way from his late childhood throughout his adolescence, will continue to be in place. It was wired into him as a survival mechanisms and old habits die hard. Whenever he is overwhelmed or any of his emotions slip from his iron-cast grip, he will likely spit fire and try and hurt whoever is within his reach.

Honeymoon phase being over, let's say the kingdoms were in fact merged (not going to get into any of that). Let's say Damen is the king of Vere as much as Laurent is the king of Akielos. Let's say their troups, their guards, palace servants — they are all unbiased and answer to both Laurent and Damen as their true kings equally.

Let's say Damen and Laurent continue to get at each other's throats. Lets's say they still got plenty to disagree upon and that their personalities continue to make them butt heads. Let's say their grudges, though they have agreed to leave the past be in the past, hold and come up again. An underlying resentment inate to their love. There's a lot of tension that I can see surrounding L/D's relationship. If you don't believe that it's fine, if you don't see it, that's more than okay. But I'm asking you to bear with me here.

They are having a heated argument in their palace about something that wasn't (shouldn't be) personal, but all of a sudden is. Damen says something that offsets a chain reaction in Laurent and he becomes a boy in selfdefense mode resorting to the good old habit of pushing Damen's weak spots just for the pleasure of making him angry and miserable. Damen has had a long day, he is weary, he is fed-up with all the kyroi, all the councelors making demands and telling him how to do his job. Laurent says the wrong thing at the wrong time and a moment later he is on the floor, with his hand on his cheek touching the burning spot where Damen slapped him. He bit his tongue in the impact and he can feel the blood in his mouth which he swallows.

There are no guards that come in this time, because they know better than to step into their king's quarrels. Damen tells himself it was Laurent who pushed him too far, he didn't mean to do it. Laurent agrees — Damen would never have done that if Laurent himself hadn't asked for it. Damen was good. He's only ever been good. He doesn't do anything without a good reason. Laurent is the one who fucks things up and pushes people too far. They make up.

Next time isn't that different. Nerves were high for a thousand different reasons. Laurent maybe got up from the wrong side of the bed. They argue. Damen pisses him off so he goes on to piss him off in return — just to give him a taste of what that feels like. In the back of his mind he remembers what happened last time they argued but he brushes it off as a mistake. Damen wouldn't dare to make the same mistake twice.

Then Damen does. And just like the other time Laurent loses his footing from the strength of the blow. His eyes tear from the pain but they don't fall. Damen is fumming over him, telling him how Laurent pushes him over the edge. Damen, who is such a just, charming, fair king. A much better king than Laurent is, with his head in place at all times in a way Laurent's own never is. If he lost his temper, it was because he was forced into it.

Laurent is the one who went too far again; Damen simply reacted to it. He stands and tells Damen he was wrong for saying the things he said. He shouldn't have. Damen agrees; Laurent shouldn't have. They make up.

Every time Damen is forced to loose his temper with Laurent he get angrier with Laurent and becomes a little wilder. Laurent should not make him keep doing it! He doesn't mean to do it! When the anger subdues, after they make love, in the morning after, Damen shows Laurent the tokens of the love he still has for him — a new mare of an excellent breed for Laurent's private stables, a new imported book he would like for his personal library, a new delicacy their cooks learns to make as sweet as a human can handle just the way Laurent likes it.

Damen is a good lover. Most of the time. If only Laurent stopped bringing out his bad side.

Laurent understands how every time Damen hits him it's his own fault. He tries to stop himself from causing their arguments but he can't. He always ends up saying the wrong thing, he always disappoints Damen somehow and though he can keep his stance straight and his face void, deep down he's terrified he will eventually drive Damen away.

After the loss of his entire family, after the death of Auguste, of living so many years under the sadistic regime of his uncle, Damen is everything Laurent has. And Laurent, warped as he is by nature, tainted and wrong and bad at his very core, doesn't deserve him. He knows he doesn't deserve Damen, who is so honorable, so good a leader, so righteous and mighty. But he wants Damen and he wants him to stay. He wants to be good for him and for Damen to think he is good.

So when the slapping evolves into punching, Laurent searches his own words, his own actions for where the fault lies. And always he finds it. The exact word he said in a meeting with their kiroi and councelors that undermined Damen's authority. The exact moment he stopped to speak with an ill-intentioned courtier who flirted with him and he must have unintentionally flirted back. The provokation implied in a comment he thought was innocuous. And the fact Damen only found more and more of reasons to be dissatisfied with Laurent, despite him becoming evermore self-aware and trying so hard, so much of the time, to please Damen, meant nothing more than the fact that Laurent was a man full of flaws. It wasn't on Damen.

They both agree Damen's assessment and his morals could never be wrong. He is too good and honest a man for that. Laurent is causing all of it.

The oldest members of their guards notice the slow, steady shift. Those that used to compose the old Veretian prince's guard are worried. They whisper among themselves when they see a new bruise blooming in their king's fair skin or hear the shouts coming from inside the royal chambers. But no one dares to raise a voice against king Damianos. Jord or Lazar (or whichever of the prince's guards you like best) goes to Laurent to raise their concerns and ask if everything is all right between him and Exalted. If there is anything Laurent needs. Anything at all. They will stand by him come what will. But Laurent berates them and tells them to keep their noses out of royal business.

Damen is approached by Nikandros and inquired about it when one day Damen unintentionally leaves Laurent with a black eye. Damen finds that is the perfect opportunity to lament about all the ways Laurent has been driving him insane and making him miserable. That he is getting worse with time where Damen had hoped he would have settled and his temperament improved. That years after the events they lived through, he keeps holding Damen accountable for things that should be left in the past. That Damen doesn't blame Laurent for killing Kastor, or torturing him in Vere anymore, so why should Laurent still resent him for Auguste.

Nikandros understands. He feels sorry for Damen, that Laurent makes his life so difficult. He has witnessed their quarrels before, had seen the way Laurent evokes Auguste's name as a dagger to dig into Damen's heart.

Then it becomes common knowledge all around their court: Laurent is as unbearable and hard to reconcile with as he'd ever been, prideful and resentful and cruel. And Damen is the poor man who has to handle him atop a whole kingdom he has to rule. There is no soul in their kingdom that doesn't feel bad for Damen's situation.

What no one seems to notice is that Laurent has taken to flinch whenever Damen lifts his hand. That he tenses when he raises his voice. That he is much more succint and careful with his words whenever Damen is around, because he doesn't want to upset him.

All they notice is Laurent's worsening moods. His renewed bouts of broodiness and anger. That he takes anything and everything out on everyone — the servants, the guards, officials, nobles of the court, the walls and the furniture. Nothing seems to please him anymore. Everything sets off his rage. Which is something else Damen has taken to punish him for, in the privacy of their chambers.

Laurent never cries. Not when Damen tell him how difficult he is, how impossible he makes to love him. Not when he sees the several shades of new and healing bruises all over his body, not when he gulps mouthfuls of his own blood. Laurent hasn't cried since he was thirteen. But he gets more and more hopeless each day that passes and he is proven again no good man could ever truly love him because nothing good and pure remains so in his presence.

Laurent always brings out the worse in people, no matter how he tries to get things right.

But he keeps on trying. Because maybe one day he can. And maybe Damen will see there is good left in him to love even though he makes his life hard and harder every day. And maybe one day Damen will love him easily.

Because all he really wants is to be worth it of Damen's love.

And that's all Damen wants too. He already loves Laurent so much. He would never, ever hurt him again if only Laurent would stop provoking him into it.

#to be COMPLETELY CLEAR #the author doesn't believe a single word the author herself has said in this thing #the author is an avid defender of Lovey-Dovey Lamen #of: Damen treats Laurent like fine porcelain and Laurent basks in it #of: Laurent learns what it means to be truly loved in Damen after so many years of pain #but you ask and you shall receive my loves my children my darlings #Pandemic version of me was in a dark place #captive prince #i'm not going to get into any potential grapey themes regarding L/D in this post sorry not sorry #because though canon would back me up good just writing what i wrote already cost me many more years of life than i'm willing to sacrifice #alright now #dark ficlet-ish #damianos of akielos #dark damen #laurent of vere #and all the other tags idk i don't remember how tumblr goes #i'm begging you to never ask me to write this fic #but if you're brave enough please go ahead take the prompt and run with it #just credit me and etc i think it's more than enough #i ain't gon read it but i'd like to know it was written in case one day dark gabe returns and SHE wants to read it #kinda meta but not really #kinda fic but not really #kinda character study but not really #what is this really? the frankenstein monster probably #any typos are the beauty marks of the text i refuse to read it again to extinguish them

[ninicaise]

@bacchantbroccoli what the people want the people get!! warning though i am not a fan of the girlboss queen perfect tragic dead woman so get ready for some messy disaster mothers. also i did not intend for them to be this long so i had to split them a little for readability.

hennike lore in my head:

marie-antoinette ass character. marie-antoinette-esque. marie-antoinette core. etc

didn't have a filter in the most innocent way possible, didn't fit in with the subtlety of veretian court politics which is part of why laurent is drawn to damen's tendency to say whatever the fuck he was thinking most of the time.

auguste had to do a lot of the heavy lifting raising laurent partly bc she was sick a lot and couldn't always get out of bed and partly bc she saw auguste was so good at her and aleron's job she sometimes decided he could handle the whole thing. was young when she was married off so she tended to be a little self-centred; she didn't have time to grow out of being a child before having children herself.

despite this she did the best she could and tried to bond with them especially academically and creatively, and tried her best to include kemptian culture in both of their educations. speaking of;

she tried to raise her kids bilingual but it didn't last long bc aleron didn't like that as he is basically a cartoon villain. she put up with a lot of shit from aleron in general bc marriage love duty which resulted in auguste putting up with a lot of shit from Everyone Ever All The Time bc kingdom love duty which lead to laurent putting up with the regent's shit and being ridiculed in his own court for so many years. bc family love trauma status.

maybe if she still had the tendency to always say whatever the fuck crossed her mind by the time she realized she was being poisoned then things would've been different.

hypermenestra lore in my head:

this is a messy one okay basically choices were made and they were not the best ones.

first thing about hypermenestra is that was sooo loving so adoring so protective of kastor to the point of being overbearing. permissive. keep that in mind.

didn't mind whether kastor was going to be king or not but after a few years she got used to the idea so damen was a huge shock to her. she tried not to let it show too much bc egeria was her friend and whatnot but kastor could tell. being only child for the majority of his childhood usually coddled and not having much demanded from him given they were still lowkey hoping from an heir from egeria but still being told it was likely he was going to be king was a DISASTROUS choice on both theomedes and hypermenestra's part and on top of that hypermenestra was a piss poor liar. kastor Noticed.

she was not cold towards damen but she was not motherly either bc she didn't see it as her responsibility (which. was she wrong).

she could see kastor being a little bummed at the whole situation and tried to cheer him up by telling him he would've done a better job than damen at ruling anyway, this one time she went as far as ignoring damen being in the same room as her bc kastor was in a mood. often called kastor her 'little king' once or twice letting a 'my true king' slip which. had its consequences.

must stress this is not bc she was resentful of anyone, she just didn't want kastor to be sad or frustrated or any negative emotion ever and she didn't know how to deal with it. she was in absolute agony every time she saw kastor have the slightest fucking frown it was honestly incredible to see.

overall had no intention of creating a coup but ultimately theomedes loved her so much and was so permissive with her that she loved kastor so much she was so permissive with him that kastor decided he could do whatever he wanted. ironically, damen never got that permission, and when he realized in slavery that he had been taking something that wasn't his, he accepted it gracefully and with dignity, and decided to give it back with ease.

+ egeria lore bc i started thinking abt my one true rightful queen of akielos:

did not want children for a long time. she fully understood the responsibility that having a child meant and fully believed she was not ready. used a lot of contraceptive methods for a few years and it really messed up with her system, unfortunately.

probably would've made the best mother of the lot. ironic isn't it.

had an incredible vision. could see shit coming from miles away which gave her a tendency to jump to conclusions too quickly and accept no other information + be a bit too much with criticism. this got an unflattering reputation for a few years, added to the fact that she was also very private very cold very tactical for an akielon, and thus very lonely.

it's not that she didn't care for people and she wasn't cold, or harsh, just stoic. she wasn't exactly an approachable person. in fact, the only time she was seen with true softness on her face was the first and only time she held damen in her arms.

got along better with hypermenestra than theomedes. she thought theomedes was a little thick and lacked insightfulness and she knew theomedes thought she was basically insane. mostly their marriage was one of mutual tolerance. hypermenestra on the other hand was very eloquent even though she tended to agree with everything egeria said in the end. couldn't keep a damn opinion but at least she understood egeria when she talked.

kastor though, big fan. egeria loved that child’s wisdom, was more of an aunt figure to him at the time. she got kinda sad when kastor stopped talking to her after she got pregnant, but she understood it.

in truth very little was known about the late queen. nobody dared to get close enough to really know her. and well. queen egeria was so lovely, so dedicated, knowledgable and clever, gentle and playful at times, even. had anyone taken the time to know her, to truly see her, she wouldn't be just another tragic royal death now. damen asked around and though he didn't come to this exact same conclusion, he got the feeling there was something missing in the way people spoke about his mother. had he known her, he would have truly seen her. he has a tendency to want to see past appearences, still.

#i have no idea of what the fandom perception of these three is btw #i pulled 95% of this out of my ass as one does #captive prince #hennike #hypermenestra #egeria #ppl leave the best questions in the replies is the thing. are we on this earth just to suffer from the tumblr format uglyass aesthetics

[goldencuffs]

YOU'RE BACK!!!!!

hi i have been periodically checking your blog for the last 2-ish years to see if you were coming back and now you're here!!!! i have been thinking and daydreaming about daddy damen for YEARS and hoping beyond hope that there would be more. i totally get the urge to abandon it if you aren't feeling it, but i would LOVE more and would love to see how it end. i adore that fic and i adore YOU 💕

AHHHH thank you so much!!! i cant believe you were still checking thats so freaking sweet!!!!! 💕💕💕💕💕

tbh im so surprised by all the love for daddy damen 😭 its ofc very appreciated bc i genuinely thought that this story was just going to be in a limbo forever so thank you so much again i seriously appreciate it 🙌💖

#i love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #this is so sweet ily #asks

[rosyandraw]

In nmfy, I can't quite get my head around the Royal family tree. I'm sure that if I went back and found all the references to cousins and kings that I might be able to figure it out again. But, let's see: the king is the nephew of Damen's father--and I think you said that Damen is the kings cousin – – then presumably Theomedes had an older sibling who was king or queen before the current one and who is now deceased, yes?

And I know that Bastian and Nik's bride are siblings, but I can't seem to pull up The relationship of any of the three of them to the king or Damen or whomever. And are Aleron, Auguste, and Laurent somewhere in the same family tree? What about Nicaise?

I simply adore royal family trees and whenever they are available perusal, I peruse them in great detail and imagine how all the complex interactions came to pass. So, just curiosity.

Hey hun!

So, it is based on the English system of titles because that is what I’m familiar with.

For Damen, he is the son and heir of the Duke of Ios. His aunt (Theomedes' sister) was the Queen consort as she married into the royal family.

The King is therefore Damen’s first cousin.

The others are probably all related if you go back far enough but generally speaking they’re not related. Aleron is a Duke, which in terms of title hierarchy it would go King > Prince > Duke. So he’s very rich and has a lot of land.

Historically large titles such as dukedoms have affiliated titles and historical connections to other titled lords in their region that are not “as powerful”

So Bastian’s family I believe I said was an Earl (I think Chastillon from memory) The title is tied to the land and to Bastian's family.

Titles are usually passed down from father to son. Nikandros’ title is Marquess, and his families region is in Delpha.

Nicaise I didn’t specify but as his mother married into a minor titled family Nicaise has no claim to the title and has no rights to the land because it's his step-dads. Aimeric and Ancel are both younger sons of titled families so they don’t have specific titles themselves but they're rich.

Powerful titled families (like Dukes) tend to have several subsidiary titles attached to the dukedom. So for example in England atm the Duke of Richmond is also the Earl of Kinara, and Baron Settrington etc. The next most powerful title the Duke holds, which in this case is "Earl of Kinara" is generally given to the eldest son/heir. So if you look up that title, it'll be held by the Duke's Eldest son.

For NMFY it makes both Damen and Auguste Earl’s in their own right now even before they have inherited the Dukedom.

It's all pretty messy and complicated tbh haha, which... can we expect anything else of the english?? This was super fun to answer so thank you! 💕

#asks #NMFY #I explained this very poorly but in my defence its 5am haha #tajmutthall

[merrivia]

Hi, do you have any head cannons for post kings rising Laurent and Damen? Your posts are always so interesting!

Hi! This is such a nice question to ask me, thank you!

Did you also know I’m so new to fandom I had to double-check what a headcanon was before I posted this lol.

Okay so specifically post-KR ideas….I have so many! I want to weave some into some fic ideas into the future I think.

Here's a small selection though 😊

Laurent is going to meet more of Damen's friends/supporters, because Damen is so likeable and Nikandros might be his best friend but there's bound to be more of them, right? Of the ones who survived Kastor's reign :( I feel one or two actually might get released from where the dungeons they had been imprisoned with Damen becoming king. Anyway, cue Laurent having to socialise with a bunch of his Akielon childhood friends, that are kind of the equivalent of a rambunctious Olympics sports team (bear in mind some will be highly intelligent, but that's the general vibe). This is going to worry Damen a lot, because our little Laurie isn't the best with people, but by the end, they will all platonically adore him and be arguing over who should help him down from his horse and coming to him for relationship advice, aka the vibe of this kind of photo, only with them not touching him. Or Laurent smiling. They'll just be standing near him, but the vibe will be similar, okay? Nikandros will be rolling his eyes a lot through this, in case you were wondering, but will also refuse to let anyone else teach Laurent to wrestle but him.

And when Damen is like to Laurent, aren't there any friends you want to introduce me to at all? And Laurent is like actually, yes but my uncle had them exiled, I'm inviting them back to Vere and they'll arrive soon. And Damen gets excited, though a bit jealous, and on the day Laurent is like, here he is 😊 and Damen turns...and it's this tiny wizened old man called Scolace who was Laurent's natural philosophy tutor , and Damen is like oh... but gamely tries to get to know him anyway, even though he is very deaf and keeps mistaking Damen for a servant and calling him by outdated Veretian slurs for Akielons.

What else...

Well, on a more serious note, on the slave ship in Captive Prince, one of the consignment of slaves tries to raise the fact that they don't have access to "the usual means of preventing pregnancy"; as a result she is given what sounds like poisonous herbs intended as an abortifacient and her stomach is "beaten with rocks" 😔 I could be wrong, but I think Akielons have better contraceptives, or Vere is refusing to trade in them? I wonder if it's possibly, some version of the herb silphium!

Which if you haven't read about is actually so interesting (here is an article) as it was a tasty herb AND possibly the first ever effective form of birth control (though probably not also). It basically became extinct (but they might have found it again!).

So I think that will spread and will be one of the steps in destabilising the taboo against heterosexual relations amongst Veretians, along with access to/mingling with Akielons who don't understand the taboo- but it will take time to disappear. I don’t think that bisexuality as a norm will ever change but there will start to be more flexibility around heterosexuality/homosexuality as a choice. Eventually the taboo around bastardry might become less intense too, as a result.

I think that Laurent will pass a law, and sixteen will become the new age of consent for pets. There’ll be new protections in place for children, with greater punishments attached for child based crimes. Laurent will also raise a statue for Nicaise, to honour what he did 🥺

The culture around pets will change in few years, too. No more rings, or public sexual entertainment. Laurent won't explicitly ban it, but there won't be one at his palace with Damen, so it falls out of fashion as the Veretian courtiers, after the worst of the Regent’s supporters are weeded out, will be looking to Laurent and Damen for the latest trends and in an attempt to curry favour. It’ll affect clothing and food etc, but I actually think the model of Damen and Laurent’s monogamous same-sex relationship will be the thing that influences many the most, long term. I also think there will be short-lived trend of Veretians hiring Akielon-looking pets, as a kind of tawdry celebration of the unification and a few will even go for big, dark muscular men and put them in chitons. Damen will find it very disconcerting and annoying to keep bumping into these fake-Damens all over the place, though Laurent will secretly find it quite amusing.

Eventually, I think the use of pets or high class prostitutes will become less public and more discreet. I wonder if the use of surrogates will become more common or of adoption, when it comes to the issue of heirs also.

Ooh and I also think Ancel will approach Laurent out of the blue and basically demand that everyone in society ought to be taught how to read and it’ll turn out that Laurent and Damen have already started to work on how to spread free education/schools across the unified country! Yay for universal literacy! On that theme, I think that after a while, as Akielos-Vere becomes a more peaceful nation, there will be less emphasis on militarism in both places and more on education and philosophy, and this will lead to the establishment of more/universities and a new flourishing of art and literature. Paintings might start to gain artistic ascendancy over tapestries and sculptures.

There will be definitely be a new currency, with a twinned portrait of Lamen on one side, and a new herald of a lion and a starburst, on the other.

Oh and lastly, I do believe (like a lot of readers) that Laurent will eventually top Damen! *throws the glitter of sexual satisfaction up into the air*

I think that it will go like this:

Damen will have been mulling it over for a long long time, and some conversations with Akielons like Pallas will have him brooding over it. I think in the beginning, it will be out of a want to give Laurent anything he wants and a fierce desire to be Laurent’s first in that way and to erase any memory of the Regent if he can, as opposed to out of a true sexual curiosity or want to do it. He’ll be deeply uncomfortable but sees it as a self-sacrifice.

I think Laurent will rightly absolutely refuse the first time he raises it, based on that. But over time, with research and reflection, Damen will start to undo certain mores and patterns within himself and together with Laurent, discover something he’s going to find new and liberating- and another dimension to his love for Laurent.

And that's it for now! Thanks for asking :)

#captive prince #thanks for the ask! #damen of akielos #laurent of vere

[wrenaspun]

Please do a dvd commentary for the following 💖 it's so beautiful and would love to hear your thoughts:

A huff. “I was so ashamed of it. I can’t believe you didn’t see it on me. I would have hidden it in the lighthouse, at first, and then buried it on the north point of the island, deep… It was so clear to me. I didn’t even have to think about it.”

Laurent wanted to shriek, wanted to beat at Damen with his fists, demanding: why didn’t you? Damen pulled away to look down at him, eyes impossibly warm in the sunlight.

“I told you,” he said, as though reading Laurent’s mind, “it would have been a monstrous act. If I asked you to cut my legs off, would you do it?”

“That’s not the same thing at all.”

“Isn’t it?” said Damen. “Without my legs I couldn’t walk away from you.”

“Stop it,” said Laurent. “There’s no — this is how it always goes for us —”

“That doesn’t mean it can’t be wrong,” said Damen, with his simple clear certainty. “I said before I loved you too much to do this. I meant that. Laurent.” He dropped Laurent’s hands, which instantly grew cold with sorrow, to cup his face. “Because I love you, I want you near me always, and yes, I was tempted to take the skin as you offered it. But because I adore you, and I cherish you, and you are my heart’s beloved, I would have you go back to the sea whenever you wanted it, and make your return every time a new question.”

Laurent, breathing fast, had turned his face down into the cradling hold of Damen’s hands, almost overwhelmed by the flood of words, their impossible weight. Until — that last phrase, that last word, knocked at something vital within him.

“A question?” he echoed. Looking up at Damen’s well-loved face. “Damen,” he said. “You can’t doubt that I’d come back to you.”

“No,” said Damen, and then a smile flickered over his face, brief, and his thumb traced a slow and intimate curve across Laurent’s jaw, the kind of touch which could only be given after a prolonged period of tenderness. “But you always could leave.”

“I’d never,” said Laurent. The idea that Damen could doubt this was deeply, viscerally upsetting. “Damen, I’d never —” pushing him backwards, sliding hands into his curls, looking down at his sweet, open face as he let himself be moved.

By the time they stilled, Damen’s hands had slid down, one to Laurent’s shoulder, the other on his waist, holding him together. “I know it,” he said. “I do know it. But it’s the choice that matters. Don’t you see? I want you to go because it’s good for you, because it rejuvenates you, because you love the sea, and then I want you to choose to come back, every time.”

Laurent’s exhale was shaky. Involuntarily, it came out sounding like an oh, half-formed and tiny. Damen’s hand slid up his spine, devastatingly gentle.

“Sweetheart,” he murmured. “Oh, there you are. You do understand.”

Laurent said, “Yes,” — to this, to everything, feeling almost delirious, like he’d been driven mad by the shock of relief, of disbelief, of pleasure. Something in him had been unlocked. All this time he’d sought to thwart his uncle’s influence by undermining him, by subverting the same gestures, telling himself that what had been taken could be given as a gift. All this time, what he’d been saying was, I could give up anything for you, and Damen had looked back at him and said, you don’t have to. It was no wonder that Laurent had barely been able to comprehend it.

Thank you anon!!! I'll put my answer under the cut, since there's enough going on here that my answer got long...

(dvd commentary meme)

Following the snippet chronologically -- I feel like that initial moment of Damen confessing that he was tempted to take the skin is quite important to the fic, where he is generally (through Laurent's eyes) seen as a beautiful perfect lover. The fic doesn't delve into Damen's POV very much, and he does ultimately conduct himself very well, or this would be an entirely different story, so I felt like that hint of his internal conflict helped to round him out just a touch. And it serves to emphasise the difference between them at this point, which is the way Damen knows & can verbalise the ways in which taking the skin would be wrong, while Laurent is still caught in an older and more harmful way of thinking.

Damen's little speech here is something I wrote and rewrote and edited for a WHILE, since it's ultimately what brings Laurent around! A fun fact is that my original draft had this moment of resolution take place when Damen gave him the box, but that ultimately felt a little too clean and neat -- I scrapped that, and ended up really liking the slight complication it provided, the way it made the fic feel more like a journey, not quite as straight a line. And that also contributed to the way this particular speech was constructed, i.e. it was deliberately very overwhelming for Laurent (as opposed to the slightly calmer version which appended the box-gifting scene) because I liked the way the drama of the moment shook out: the fact that it had such a powerful effect on Laurent, he's basically swooning and insensate, except he still had that moment of "wait, no, that's not right" when Damen mentioned that he could leave. I think those elements combined very nicely to convey that Laurent also has extremely deep seated convictions, but his real priority is just a step sideways from where he'd thought it was -- it's not actually about possession of the skin, but what that possession signifies.

“Sweetheart,” he murmured. “Oh, there you are. You do understand.” < one of my favourite lines in the fic!! It's a quiet moment, but I think it functions really well as a release of tension, both for Damen & Lauernt and for the reader, where we get to exhale and relax a bit because they're finally on the same footing. I find that those moments of pause can be really impactful, and a couple of people remarked on that line specifically in the comments, which was very gratifying!

And everything after that is Laurent coming to terms with his revelation, which also serves as a fairly explicit narration for the reader, I think, of what the struggle of the fic has been about. I always think it is super compelling when a character is determined to outwit/subvert their old life or their old patterns of thought, and end up constrained by their own determination -- they're trying so hard to get away from something, but in so doing they still end up defining themselves in terms of that thing. It feels so fitting that it would be a character like Damen who could cut through that and offer a better third option 💞

#thank you for indulging me!!! #dvd commentary meme #my writing #wrenaspeaks

[metalandmagi]

Can I ask your top 10 fav fics ever (from any fandom, if you don't mind)?

Also, just curious, is there a story behind your name "metalandmagi "?

Haha so the thing about me and fanfic is....for a long time I didn't have an AO3 account, so I didn't have a way to save fics for many years. When I did finally get one, I'd forget to bookmark or keep track of fics I like, and I have the memory of a goldfish that keeps me from remembering some of my faves. So I'll just put in 10 that I do have bookmarked in no particular order😅 (so most of these are Captive Prince related).

As for my name...well...I first made it when I was getting a Twitch account. I wanted it to be metal and magic (as a reference to Undertale), but idk if it was to long or something, because Twitch would only let me type as far as metalandmagi, which I thought was fine too, so I just went with that.

Kind of a cop out, but all of flightinflame's daemonverse fics for Captive Prince are fantastic! https://archiveofourown.org/users/flightinflame/pseuds/flightinflame

Even in Another Time by plegmatic is another great Captive Prince fic with a very Outlander type of feel because of its time travel.

The Stone Unturned by surveycorpsjean is one of my favorite Breath of the Wild stories (Sidon/Link with plenty of angst)

Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy by Aurum_Auri (a great author I repeatedly revisit) is a fantastic Great Pretender fic, and it deserves more love since it's such a small fandom (sugar daddy Laurent/Makoto AU)

A Night On The Town by SteeleStingray is a fun, action oriented Captive Prince fic focusing on Nicaise (modern AU with secret agent Damen/Laurent)...pretty much anything by SteeleStingray is a fun time.

Give Me A Reason To Stay Here by danegen is an adorable modern AU Wei Wuxian/Lan Zhan fic for The Untamed/Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation series.

(D)umb (N)erd (A)ttraction by Iaintnosidekick is a modern Rey/Kylo Ren fic where they're two scientists who go from friends to lovers. This is where I out myself as a secret Reylo shipper and that I'm literally playing The Last Jedi in the background as I make this list 😆 There's also one where Rey and Ben are Pokemon Go fanatics that I loved, but I don't have it saved.

When The Sun Is On Again by thickenmyblood is a soul destroying Captive Prince fic that left us all in shambles.

And When You Laugh, My Heart Goes Wiggly (as a slime) by JayJEx is a Raven Cycle/Slime Rancher (Ronan/Adam) fic that I can't believe exists. It married one of my favorite series to one of my favorite games, and I just had to include it because it's also great!

Yellow Joy, Orange Fire, Red Desire by SteeleStingray is a Captive Prince fic that's just a good old fashioned horny joyride. I have no explanation. Again, pretty much all of SteeleStingray's Captive Prince fics are amazing so I could have put all of them on here.

Sorry I'm not getting specific with plots or anything. I kind of just picked stuff at random.

#captive prince #fanfic #i feel like this question was designed to out my fic preferences but it's kind of all over the place haha

[fiction-heals]

It’s late. Dark. November 1st

I’m tired and sleepy and yet I can’t help but smile helplessly at this page lol it never fails to warm me up. Laurent picking his way through Damen’s language and Damen enjoying it in more than simple ways. It’s adorable. I love languages so I deeply appreciate this passage in the story, it’s so true!! Just. So true.

It is a world shifting change. It’s new lenses to understand the world. It’s Damen’s natural lenses applied to what up until now was the strongest symbol of Veretian culture he could account for. The Prince. Damen, smitten as he is, can’t help but appreciate it. Warmly. It brings Laurent closer to what Damen understands. It’s lovely

Jfoajflsjfoefns makes me fuzzy inside

I’m grinning with and for you, Damen, I sure am

#captive prince #princes gambit #c s pacat #i’m a dork #i feel you #damen lol

[captaindamianos]

Prompt list

don't mind me, just making a reference for easy access, but putting it under a cut.

if you still have something you want me to add to the list, feel free to answer below or send me an ask!! it can also be just a word, for example this is the list from last year.

putting a stop here for now, not actively encouraging it anymore, but please feel free to reach out still if you think it might inspire me. lamen is always your safest bet lol

current list (mainly directly copied haha)

baby damini and theomedes (or egeria!)

I would love to see the part in ch 19 of PG where Laurent puts his boot up on damen for damen to remove 🥰

bby damen and nik running barefoot thru the halls of ios

more nikandros (seconded)

some smoochy/cuddly lamen? like either of them kissing the other on the cheek 🥹

nicaise 🥺

lamen cuddles

mermaid Damen ( or mermaid Laurent )

Baby Damini and Baby Laurent 🥹💛

they probably don't get a lot of snow in Akielos if any. Laurent taking full advantage to completely bury Damen during his first veretian winter? Or laurent having fun and Damen adoring him in general tbh I just!!!

Auguste for august?

how about Laurent as a stage magician and Damen as his lovely assistant and/or the person he's about to saw in half (as an illusion. AS AN ILLUSION RIGHT LAURENT????)

Also we've alll seen art of Laurent crossdressing as Jokaste please let Jokaste wear Laurent's clothes next

King Laurent from canon traveling back in time for some strange reason and meets baby Damen. Can you imagine Laurent meeting his husband as a baby? His coolness melts when he's with Damen, I can't imagine how it would be when he meets him as a baby :,)

I would love some Damen/Nik friendship with bonus jealous Laurent 😋 Or maybe Damen dressed up as a pet ( with the rubies and all that gold paint ) 🥰

+ 6 asks that I don't want to spoil hehe

#ref #okay this is it for now #i don't think i can take on any more #i already feel stressed lol #Thank you everyone for the lovely prompts though!! #a few will come soon

[kybelles]

hello hello miss kybelles - idil - whatever name you prefer to be called by random people! i adore your egeria lives au series and was wondering - do you plan to continue it? /np i just really want her to like laurent haha

(the span of emotions i go through every time i read it)

(like. valid but also biased asf and lamen divorced era makes me sad)

hello beautiful 🫶🏼 i certainly want to write another part!! the thought of two of damen’s favorite people (help it’s actually three if you include nik-laurent beef as well) not getting along saddens me 😭 i’ve been just too swamped lately but yes it’s certainly in the plans!

#perhaps a 1k long final part to wrap it up 👀 #thank you so much for this!! i’m so touched by your kindness 🥺💖 #asks

[sunymar]

8. “Daddy’s had enough now, stop that.”

DADDY KINK/GENTLE DOM SENTENCE STARTERS - thank you!!

"Daddy's had enough now, stop that."

Damen's large hands come to rest on Laurent's hips, stilling them firmly. The sound that leaves Laurent's throat has him biting his bottom lip and pressing a kiss against the back of his golden head, trying to conceal a smile. Laurent doesn't seem comforted by this gesture.

"It's meant to be a punishment, doll. You know you're not allowed to move," He smoothes a hand up Laurent's flank, over his hoodie, and then the other one underneath it. His hands are cold, so it makes Laurent flinch. "You don't need me to remind you how to behave this soon, do you?"

He lets his hand wander down again, this time to squeeze a generous handful of Laurent's soft and warm ass cheek. Laurent jolts in his lap with a small cry, trying to shy away from his touch, but Damen's grip holds him in place effortlessly. When he realizes he has no option but to take it, Laurent presses his damp face against Damen's neck with a sniffle and stays there.

"Do you, angel?" Damen asks, sweetly, rubbing comforting circles on Laurent's abused skin. He can tell Laurent is bitting down on his bottom lip, hard, trying to suppress the small sounds bubbling up his throat; but he feels so sorry for him that he can't even bring himself to scold him for it. "Do you need Daddy to help you remember how to be good?"

Laurent shakes his head weakly, and his soft hair tickles Damen's cheek. Damen kisses the top of his head and pets him for a bit longer, hushing him lovingly whenever he makes a small sound, until Laurent starts shifting in place again, unable to help himself. Damen can only sigh and pinch him reprovingly, to which Laurent retaliates biting him.

"Laurent." Another sigh. It doesn't really hurt, he's used to this. Laurent's teeth are barely pressing into his skin, and it's probably more a way of soothing himself than him intending to harm Damen. "If I have to spank you again, I won't be only using my hand. Please help me, sweetheart. You only have thirty minutes left."

"Then stop bouncing me," Laurent hisses, digging his fingers into Damen's shoulders. It takes a couple seconds for Damen to process what he's just heard.

When he does, he starts laughing. Laurent doesn't like it.

"I am not bouncing you, baby," Damen says, and, just to prove his point, he grabs Laurent's hips and lifts him with ease. Laurent's breath hitches, but that doesn't stop Damen from slamming him back down onto his cock without any kind of regard for Laurent's sore ass. Laurent jolts again. Damen repeats it. "This is bouncing you."

"Daddy," Laurent begs, whimpering, and it's so sweet and clever of him to use that name that Damen can't help but have mercy on him. He lets his hands rest on Laurent's waist instead and kisses the tears off his cheeks, rubbing his back.

"When I move you it's because I need to reach something that's too far from my reach or because I need to type an email or make a call. Sometimes I just need to shift positions so my legs won't fall asleep. I'm not trying to be mean, baby, you are he one who's not allowed to move. I still have work to do, it's not my fault you decided you needed to be naughty this morning." Laurent stiffens at the word naughty, which Damen knows very well he hates, and which he finds very adorable. He kisses the crown of Laurent's head and rubs his well-spanked ass one last time before he has to focus on work again.

"Thirty minutes," he promises, smiling approvingly when Laurent drops his head on his shoulder with a huff, not moving his hips anymore. "Then you can come and we can get you a nice bath and some cream, I promise."

Laurent doesn't nod.

#captive prince #damen x laurent #laurent of vere #damen of akielos #prompt