#king rot

[holographica]

whenever i read about fassa and friano this is literally all i imagine

[4amethyst]

Hey remember the only interaction between Aurenslade in Gold were Slade was dreaming and desperately asking Auren "where are you?"

Yeahhhh I can't sleep at night because of it

[rosiethorns88]

Happy release *week* to GLOW! I say that because I'm late with this mini papercraft challenge to celebrate, but what else is new! A new papercraft to pay tribute to Auren and King Ravinger from The Plated Prisoner Series by Raven Kennedy! The 'third' pair from TPP I've rendered in paper. Slade having no qualms about skin-to-skin contact with his goldfinch. (Under the right lighting, of course!) But it's Auren's ribbons that are taking center stage in this one. Wrapping around the four-pronged tree, emblem of the Fourth Kingdom. Honestly, Auren's ribbons were MADE for papercrafting. I love drawing swirly, swoopy things and Auren's ribbons are seriously my favorite, in craft and on text. And I'm sure, for those who have read up through Gleam, you can only imagine my feelings when I read through it the first time. 😩✨

[sibylline]

So I will fight for him and he will kill for me, and if we need to become the villains, then so be it.

Glow, The Plated Prisoner

[shadowsingerofnight]

not rip running somewhere to change forms at the end of glint so he could have a moment with auren ‘cause she didn’t know he was slade yet, he really said I’m the king who’s perhaps going to rage war on this kingdom? who cares, lemme help my baby off the horse

[bi-carli]

[rachelfallonmcd]

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[ladyiswriting]

I just finished The Plated Prisoner series and I have some thoughts over Auren's abuse.

When I first encountered this series I confess I had zero intention of reading because how clear the abuse was on the synopsis. However my timeline here was full of people talking of the books and I decided to give it a go since everyone was loving it.

And I have to say, I have zero regrets, as I loved the books!

Why? Because Raven Kennedy managed to make a really interesting take on how much an abuser can manipulate the victim into their trap.

It is clear from the beginning that Auren is a victim of Midas. Due to her fear and her awful childhood stripped of choices, Auren had a very black and white view of the world.

She would either be in constant pain or she would be safe. There were not other options for her.

And Midas realized that, and being the cunning asshole he was, took advantage of Auren completely. He created, as many abusers do, a sense of protection around Auren so she would 100% depend on him.

Not only depend as to a safety sense, but as love. 

Midas convinced Auren that she could only be loved by him. Because he was the only one that truly cared for her, only he could be her protector. And then her lover.

It is, of course, a very triggering read. Because the way Auren's thoughts work you can see just how blind she is to his acts. How she doesn't understand how manipulative and just how cruel he is to put her on a cage and use her as he might.

And Raven Kennedy doesn't hold back on the disturbing scenes. The book literally starts with an orgy where Auren has to watch for Midas' own disgusting pleasure.

Even when Midas and Auren have sex, you can see him pulling the strings for Auren to feel she is loved. When in truth he is just an asshole who never cared about her feelings at all. He only cared about what she could give him.

I don't know this author well enough to say this was intentional for this particularly series or if this is her writing style, however, the choice of words for their sex scene is very well done to give the reader a sense of this abuse. 

Even the construction of the scene: Midas takes no time to have sex with her, to prove he is her hero, and not the villain, and he takes his pleasure and leaves Auren as it is. He doesn't make her feel good (and cum), he doesn't make her feel loved. He takes what he wants at the same time he fools her into believing he loves her.

And Auren's arc is so beautifully done.

This is what marked me in this series. We have, thus far, three books out.

The first one it shows Auren stuck on Midas' web and how she truly believe he loves her. The reader get the sense that maybe he did loved her in the past, but his greed changed him. (Later we find out the truth that he never really did).

The second book it shoves Auren into another world. One she thinks she has no control over, only to find freedom and choices - at a sense. It shakes her core. You as a reader can see the reluctance of her understanding the situation as it is as she had never had any of that in her life - not even with Midas, Auren needed to do as he said, because he knew best.

Just at the end of the second book, when Auren is going back to Midas - and you as a reader is so heartbroken she is making that choice - does she realized that the image she had painted in her mind about her lover is a truly a lie. And Auren can't live as she once did with him. Not when she finally had a taste of what the world could be when no one is trying to use her.

And finally, on the the third book, you see Auren stepping in and taking control (as best she can) of the situation. She defies Midas left and right. She ignores his commands, and only complies to them when he uses Digby's wellbeing against her.

But the most important part of her journey happens. Auren sees Midas for who he is: a manipulative abuser who kept her on a cage so he could use her power at his will and claim the world to himself while he left her stuck on time, living only to please him.

The way this story happens may sound too slow and yet it struck true. Auren's denial of the abuse she lived takes time to sink into her mind, because she knows that when it does, it would hurt. And as a reader, her thought process is so genuine that you can't put the book down.

You want Auren to realize who Midas really is. You want her to take the reins of her life and say a big fuck you to his face. You want her to deny his wishes and free herself from the situation.

And she does just that.

It is a character driven series so well written you can't help but fall in love with Auren and her growth.

And one of the best part is Rip/Slade. Because he could have been the hero of her story. He could have been the one pointing Midas' every power move to Auren and try to make her see the situation as it was.

And he doesn't do that. Instead he shows her kindness and what truly protection look like. And gives her choices and freedom, even when she is a "prisoner" of his army. And he talks to her, and shows her that her world is not so black and white as she was thinking.

Auren on the other hand can't trust him at first, because her whole life she had to be eerie of people taking advantage of her, except for Midas. Until his masks starts to fall and Auren can't be hold back anymore.

She is her own hero, and Rip/Slade is her support. And later on, he is her lover - as love should be, and should feel. 

I mean, how great was the end of the third book? With Auren turning Midas into gold? Satisfactory and poetic!

Again, I was not expecting to love this series as much as I did. It was all Auren's doing! I'm in awe of her arc was so beautifully done. It is so rare to find books like this, and yet, here we are.