#prince's gambit

[aliciarose-art]

Prince's Gambit by C. S. Pacat

[frogpropaganda]

Thinking about how Damen does not even begin to comprehend the absolute life-altering trauma he caused Laurent by killing Auguste until like halfway through Prince's Gambit. Thinking about how their mutual dehumanization of each other led Damen to see Laurent as incapable of love or affection for anyone, he never even considers that Laurent loved his brother and was shattered by his death, never shows a shred of sympathy, his first assumption was that Laurent resented Auguste for being the golden child/crowned prince, and it's only when Paschal looks at him like he's crazy and says "no, he loved him." that he begins to realize the Laurent he's been experiencing is one that in many ways *he helped create* and that the purest form of Laurent was a sweet, shy little boy who loved his brother without a cruel bone in his body, he never wanted power or glory or anything, all he wanted was his big brother, and Damen killed that version of Laurent when he killed Auguste.

I think that is in part how Damen begins to come to forgive Laurent, or at the very least to begin to sympathize with him, realizing that in a fucked up kind of way, everything Laurent does to him, while still totally being first and foremost Laurent's responsibility and moral failures to atone for, is partially a consequence of his own actions, that he helped turn Laurent into the tangled ball of pulsating yearning in the shape of a man that he is.

I think realizing how wrong he'd been about the kind of man Laurent was, was what began his journey to coming to terms with the kind of man he, Damen, was at the beginning of the story. When he first meets Laurent he thinks he has him pinned and describes him as arrogant, self-absorbed, self-serving, spoilt, and "raised to overestimate his own worth", which in hindsight is definitely meant to be projection because those are all ways that Damen himself could be described at the beginning of the story, something he basically admits to at the end of Kings Rising when he reflects on the version of himself that existed before he was imprisoned.

[magiclamd]

My favourite part of "did you think I was made of stone" is how complicated it is. He almost says it defensively, embarrassed at his body showing Damen what he wants, but it implies:

Laurent thinks someone would have to be made of stone not to want Damen

He wants Damen

He is worried Damen doesn't understand that he wants him

If only in that moment, he isn't afraid of making himself vulnerable to Damen and reminding him that he's soft flesh, not hard stone

And in reminding Damen of this, he's asking to be treated gently, even as, we learn later, he was expecting not to be

And Damen hears every one of these latter implications. It's why he responds with what seems like the non-sequitor, "nothing you don't want".

[peachesobviously]

Prince's Gambit by C.S. Pacat

[copypastus]

'Stop this,' said Jord 'He's just a boy, he's not old enough for this, he's scared. He thinks you're going to wreck his family.'

(...) 'And then of course,' said Laurent 'there's you'. 'No.' said Damen, stepping between them. His eyes were on Laurent. His voice was hard. 'Get out'(...)

(...)Laurent said 'I wasn't finished.' 'Finished what? Reducing every man in the room? Jord isn't any kind of match for you in this mood, and you know it. Calm down.'

The verbal dressing down of Aimeric told in 2 memes for my nr 1 Jord/Aimeric enjoyer @thrumbolt

[shanblackrx]

slave

warrior

and king.

***

I've had this idea and was making it throughout a few days and only after some time I have realized I've somehow made one Damen for each book lol. Also funny that I went from basically no Damen to 3 Damens in a few days.

Anyways, here's my latest contribution to my Capri era and the individual illustrations too.

[cjowoart]

[laurents-laces]

The level of detail on the book addiction covers is insane! It even has the oranges Laurent likes to use as paperweights. I wonder if the red string on one of the papers is supposed to hint at Laurent already being in contact with Nikandros

And I love the emphasis on strategy here when most of the Prince's Gambit covers we have focus more on weapons and physical fighting. It fits the story so well!