So all the parallels in the captive prince books are cool, of course, but another cool thing about the construction of the trilogy is how it has this sort of symmetry in the overall narrative structure. Like, Captive Prince and Prince’s Gambit basically go:

Deadly Akielon Family Drama–Veretian Court Intrigue–Wacky Misadventures with Laurent–Actual War

And then in Kings Rising the plot is essentially:

Actual War–Wacky Misadventures with Laurent–Veretian Court Intrigue, Speed Edition–Deadly Akielon Family Drama

And this symmetry ends up highlighting the differences that result from the changes the characters have undergone. Like, Kings Rising begins where Prince’s Gambit left off, with Actual War, but this time Damen is fighting alongside his own countrymen as their king, rather than alongside the Prince’s Guard as Laurent’s right hand man. And then it’s Wacky Misadventures with Laurent, but his relationship with Laurent is very different, and the tension is derived not from the secret of Damen’s identity but from the secret of Laurent’s plans. Veretian Court Intrigue again, but this time Laurent’s not fighting alone. And finally more Deadly Akielon Family Drama, and this time Damen’s not fighting alone either.

I wonder if, in part, Laurent’s relative independent-mindedness comes from the fact that he had no one to teach him how to be a king. 

Like, on the one hand Damen has a big advantage in that he’s been raised to be king his whole life, and as he reached adulthood his father trusted him with increasing levels of responsibility. When it’s time for him to take power, he’s prepared for it, as Theomedes intended him to be. 

At the same time, Theomedes definitely also taught Damen to be a particular sort of king, and over the course of the series we see Damen starting to question that and learning to be his own man. He eventually stakes his own positions on war, and Veretians, and slavery, but it takes some pretty earth-shaking events for him to get there. 

On the other hand, Laurent’s views don’t just mimic the prevailing Veretian opinion, or his uncle’s, or his father’s. He is skeptical of the kind of naked expansionism Aleron endorsed. He questions the fairness of the pet system in a way Damen is hesitant to do with slavery. And I wonder if this is because Laurent had no one to turn to for guidance in how to be a king, and yet he’s a planner and likes to control everything. I assume, seeing no other way to learn what he needed to know, he turned to books to learn about history, and governance, and philosophy, and trade, and ethics, and strategy. And in so doing, he probably read a lot of different authors from various points in time and with a variety of viewpoints, some highly antithetical to current Veretian society. And unlike Damen, who had one primary role model, he must’ve had to analyze contrasting opinions, and decide what he agreed with, and from a patchwork of sources assemble something of a personal political philosophy. 

Thinking about how Laurent never quite believed or realized his uncle would actually have him killed until the assassination attempt. How he admitted to that having been a blind spot and how that, despite Laurent not trusting his uncle at all, is so similar to Damen. Who also never thought his brother capable of harming him. Even when BOTH of them wore the evidence of their family’s malice they BOTH never thought said family would ever truly want them gone.

And they were both wrong.

more capri things ;;

I was thinking about the scene in Prince’s Gambit where Laurent goes off on Aimeric; how you, as the reader, come to understand that his verbal lashing at Aimeric’s naivety re: the Regent is more or less self-flagellation.

We know that Aimeric and Nicaise are mirrors of Laurent. I vaguely recall Pacat herself stating they’re essentially alternate version of him, set on different paths he himself might have taken.

I don’t think that’s strictly accurate, though. I can’t imagine a version of Laurent that didn’t outgrow the Regent, because in no world would the Regent not have discarded him, in vying for the throne.

Aimeric is only a version of Laurent in the sense that, he represents that green boy who is yet to grow up; he is young Laurent in stasis. Their disparity is ridiculously emphasized by Jord’s intervening defense: “He’s just a boy.”

Conversely, Nicaise, who IS actually a boy, is more of an equal to Laurent. In book one he’s outsmarted due to his inexperience in court politics and mind games, but he’s a lot worldlier than Laurent could have ever been at his age.

Nicaise knew that he was running out of time, that the Regent didn’t love him. “He always was smarter than the others,” Laurent says, and I think he counts himself among those others.

Nicaise is in Laurent’s past situation, but shares Lauren’t present sensibilities. I might even assert that in some ways, Nicaise is the boy Laurent wishes he could have been, someone who didn’t blindly trust in the Regent’s love –only a hair’s breadth away from breaking off his influence.

That’s why he invests in him so personally, a possible element of wish-fulfillment: You’re smarter than I was, you can get yourself out of this.

Aimeric and Nicaise are, then, exact inverses of each other: a childish adult vs. an adult-like child. Both recall Laurent’s past, but Aimeric is a ghost, stagnant, while Nicaise is a window to re-writing the narrative, putting things to right.

Kastor was lucky that he wounded Damen but didn't kill him because if Laurent stumbled upon a dead Damianos and Kastor trying to run away Laurent would be after his head for the rest of his life which wouldn't be much longer after that

Damen, showing Nik a picture of his crush (Laurent): thoughts?

Nik: and prayers.

more useless capri thoughts

today i am thinking about laurent and laurent's perception of his own age

they are probably useless thoughts but i wrote them down anyway

it didn't seem very significant until a reread the weight of laurent's teasing to nicaise about nicaise's age. by that i mean to say that it seemed straight-forward: prodding at nicaise, without any deeper attachments to it.

i might have also been particularly dense, because i knew during the first read through that both aimeric and nicaise were facets of laurent and that laurent thought of them as such. (nicaise, the part of laurent cultivated by his uncle that laurent liked, and aimeric, the part of laurent cultivated by his uncle that laurent hated. it felt poetic, then, that his uncle would kill nicaise and laurent would be left to kill aimeric by himself).

so any speech between laurent and nicaise (as well as laurent and aimeric) would have the context that laurent is revealing something about himself, and i just stupidly missed that the first go around even tho i understood the surface level connections.

laurent is 20, and on the cusp of 21 (wherein lies his inheritance and the legal station of adulthood). laurent acts like an adult for the entirety of the novels, with the same productive initiative that adults go about their lives in, and of course he never really reflects on his age in the novels in a grand way, but i think there's a couple moments he really says more than he means to.

all of this really just to say that laurent still sees himself as a "boy," (and i have backup for this thought i promise), and that one of his most important internal journeys is coming to see himself as a man.

i think there are at least two instances where, in reference to himself in talking with damen, he jokes about sex between them as a man with a boy (and damen corrects him). that is one of the obvious examples

buuuuut there's also that warning he has to nicaise that really internalizes it.

laurent dresses to the nines in clothing that makes him appear more "androgynous." damen even has the thought that when laurent is out of clothes, the aspects of his masculinity are inescapable. also which is kind of nice to see is that as laurent develops his sexuality outside of that pocket of trauma re: his uncle, his need to appear androgynous also diminishes. that might sound like a leap, or sound like damen has a magical healing dick or smth, but truly i think the evidence is there. he feels comfortable wearing the chiton in king's rising; even though he cites disguise when damen comments on it, it is still significant. when he was play-disguised as a pet, even in a warmer temperature than arles, he did not show off any skin. but by king's rising, he is definitely having fun in the more revealing outfits. becoming comfortable with himself sexually in the context of adulthood should have this effect.

he also has the transformation from fighting for himself to fighting to protect others, which is probably damen's influence moreso than his acceptance of his own adulthood, but still significant because of the parental implication with jokaste's child.

anyway i just wanted to say all this because i've been thinking of that moment at the end when he tells his uncle that he is no longer a boy, and i feel like he was saying that more for himself now than for his uncle (who surely came to that conclusion 5 years prior when laurent was no longer interesting to him)

ok thats all pls carry on

read a fanfic yk what that means *brainrots*

i love when a character has something terrible happen to them and as a result they see themself as, essentially if not literally, a ghost. and so that means they only can (and have to) do what ghosts do, ie get revenge and then cease to exist. easy as that. but then halfway through this ghost vengeance they realize hey actually i might still be a human person. with human needs. that’s incredibly inconvenient, considering how much i’ve invested in this whole ghost thing

yes i hate being a consumer yes getting a package delivered makes me feel like life is worth living. i contain multitudes. and brain rot

🐛 caterpillar - the returning champion of the 2023 race at 41.6% of the votes

🐌 snail - runner up of the 2023 race at 38.3%, only 3.3% behind the caterpillar.

🪱 worm - placed last in 2023, with only 20.1% of votes

🪲 beetle, 🐞 ladybug, and 🐝 bee are new competitors!

No one:

Callum Nova in Tristan's DMs during book 3:

Callum and Tristan are married actually. Callum is wearing heart-shaped glasses and listening to Nightcore music. Tristan is carrying a gun (just in case) and has a thousand-yard stare. They are actually both very happy. If you try to separate one from the other you'll either collapse the ground spasming with agony or the universe will rearrange so you never existed, sometimes both. They both wear the most outrageous wedding rings that there's no way anyone could afford (Callum insisted). Callum has the most extravagant pet names for Tristan. Tristan has the most extravagant insults for Callum, yet he says them with so much affection it's unnerving. They fucked over Adrian Caine's dead body.

Novacaine's relationship summarized in sparks notes

you’re wearing his cardigan. i’ve struck a blood deal with his mob boss father, befriended and invested myself in the romantic life of his little sister, and am tormenting him with slutty 3am texts and sunglasses photos. we are not the same

Callum Nova is literally microblogging his life to Tristan Caine. He is soo obsessed my god.

Get yourself a man that crazy