[ SECRET POST #2078 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2078 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 73 secrets from Secret Submission Post #297.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 2 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[sochitelya]

I really kinda hated the first chapters but once it got past the whole 'I am going to use sex against you and you are going to like it, ahahahaha' kind of bullshit, I was drawn in a lot more. Still mildly pissed that after -SPOILER!- Laurent had Damen whipped like that, he turned out to be the love interest after all. Sorry, but I feel that kind of thing is pretty much unforgivable.

Also, as an aspiring writer posting online m/m fantasy fiction, I wanna know how she got such an audience. XD

[(Anonymous)]

To be fair though, I can understand where Laurent is coming from. His father and beloved brother were killed in Marlas, so he's understandably bitter about Akielos and Akielons. Though Laurent doesn't know who Damen really is, he knows that Damen is at the very least a soldier who (probably) fought at Marlas. Because he can't reach Theomedes (dead) or Damianos (allegedly killed) he's taking out his anger on this random soldier. Laurent has trained his entire LIFE in wait for the day when he can face Damianos, but then Auguste's murderer went off and got himself killed. It doesn't make Laurent's actions right or excusable, but I can at least see where he's coming from.

I feel that that the events of the latter half of book 1 and book 2 redeem Laurent. When they've saved each other's lives more than once, it's awfully easy for me to forget about the whipping xD. Now, if Laurent had Damen raped (SUCCESSFULLY) or did it himself, that would be unforgivable to me. Laurent apologizes (I think?) later on for his earlier actions, and he makes up for them so I feel like both the reader and Damen can get some closure.

In terms of CP's appeal, for me it was mostly the world-building (some fantasy books throw too much info at the reader all at once), the political intrigue (which is definitely my thing), the slow reveal of Laurent's character and motivations (even when I disliked him, I genuinely wanted to know more about him. I wanted to see past his mask as to whether there was more to him than just his hate for Akielos) and the extremely slow and thorough development of their relationship (their dynamics were fascinating to read when they hated each other, and doubly so when the hate started turning into mutual respect). I dislike slave!fics so I'm not sure why I gave this a chance, but once I started I couldn't stop.

[sochitelya]

No, I can definitely understand him and I have a thing for dysfunctional relationships myself, but it just kinda... I dunno, pushed my buttons, maybe? Not sure why, but it really put me off, in a character sense, not really in an author sense. I kept reading, after all. And I think that, minor things aside, the characters are all well-written and engaging, and the worldbuilding is top-notch (speaking as someone who gets accused of not worldbuilding enough).

On the plus side, I am glad there are no cat-boys. And there's no magical healing cock. If you're gonna go with a slave!fic, then you might as well make it a) more realistic and b) actually engaging.