#I mean not really I'm guessing from the commenter's perspective since Leo likes women maybe he thinks Argus does too?

[alistonjdrake]

Of Vipers and Saints: Different Kinds of Love & Different Kinds of Jealousy

OVS, Of Rust and Gold’s first sequel, takes us back to the Escana Empire where the Harver reign faces new struggles when they’re asked to join a war on foreign soil, rebellions against their rule are sparked, and an assassination attempt threatens to tear it all apart. Prince Argus and his ex-pirate lover Leo are finally given the chance to be together, but as the political climate gets hot even they might turn against each other.

Last Round of World Building Posts:  1 2  3  4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Season Two World Building Posts: 1 2 3 4 

Main Wip Intro here

Now, is this a real world building post? No probably not. Am I taking the opportunity to comment on this because OVS on wattpad got a comment recently that made me want to comment on this? Yes. 

Just to say there was nothing wrong with that comment it just got me thinking about how some relationships in OVS and The Saints Song series as a whole might be perceived or how some characters being jealous of others might be confused for having different motives. 

So let’s jump into it. What was the comment and what prompted it?

"If the girl in custody is royalty in need of help and not a criminal, we can perhaps use it to get your child free of whatever charges are currently against him. But I wouldn't want to risk Damaris' job either."

"Why?" If the girl was a princess, she told them her name, and Princess Damaris should have been knowledgeable enough to connect the dots. Sure, she had no proof on her but her ship was clearly expensive before the wreck and she didn't act like a lowborn drifter. It was Princess Damaris' job to investigate and make well-thought-out decisions, not put everyone in chains because a bird pecked someone's eye one too many times.

"She would never forgive me." Argus squeezed his hands before dropping his head from on top of Leo's to bury it in the curve of his neck. His hair tickled him, skin already cool from the windy night. He felt Argus lean the full force of his weight on him. Leo folded his arms on the table and rested his cheek against his forearm, closed his eyes, and sighed.

Nothing good would come from the clench in Leo's gut. Princess Damaris arrested Mel for something Leo was willing to take the fall for, and why? Her personal grudge should be against him, not the kid. No matter what, even when he woke up to the sound of them screaming at each other in the next room over the smallest details, Leo would have to swallow that Argus still loved his cousin.

Argus and Damaris have always been one of my favorite relationships in TSS. They’re volatile to each other, their motives are often directly against the other, but based on how close they were as children they’re forever unable to completely throw out any feelings of fondness. They do love each other they just can’t always express it given the paths they chose. In this case, Argus has chosen Leo and being public about his relationship with him while Damaris has chosen her career as a Knight and someone who has arrested/wants to put Leo in jail for past offenses.  This becomes the main wedge in their relationship as adults since the longer Argus is with Leo and the more Damaris tries to find him guilty of wrongdoing, the less they’re gonna have moments where they remember how much they care about the other. 

But no. There’s no romance involved (not to mention they’re both gay...and related and likely think of the other more as “siblings” than “cousins”) But Argus’ love for Damaris still has an impact on Leo and I can and will go into why. Just gotta make another annoying paragraph.

There are two main elements of jealousy (I mean there’s actually more considering Lord Barraza’s attempts to make a marriage match, Prince Aayden, Enyo being around, Leo’s ex-husband, but...hey that’s a different story for another time) here.

Leo is jealous of Princess Damaris and upset that Argus cannot discard her.

Mel is jealous of Prince Argus

Leo’s jealously comes not from a fear that Argus’ attachment to his cousin is romantic but just that no matter what she does (arrests him, arrests Mel, tries to pin him for crimes, is actively against them being together) Argus will not do anything that would really trouble her, like possibly endangering her job. They’ll insult each other, he’ll make her job more difficult, but at this point, he would never try to get her fired and this upsets Leo. And it’s just hard for him to deal with the fact that Argus still cares for someone who he has such a strong negative relationship with (Leo and Damaris have a sour history) and mainly what he’s saying in the above passage is he’s not gonna demand Argus never speak to her again but it’s complicated. Damaris hates him (Leo), he hates her, and while she and Argus aren’t best pals and don’t braid each other’s hair, the whole thing can still get tense. But Leo’s jealously comes with a bit of guilt because he also knows that he’s one of the reasons Argus and Damaris can no longer get along which influences why he’d never push Argus into doing something about her.

And now Mel wasn’t mentioned here but I fear it being misinterpreted and I want to talk about it too. Mel loves Leo. In Of Rust and Gold, Leo practically “adopted” Mel even if there’s an 8 year age difference between them (13 and 21.) As OVS takes place 3 years later, Mel is obviously a bit older and they’ve grown closer. But their relationship has never had nor will it ever have romantic undertones or notions. They love each other but they’re each other’s family. Leo will likely never stop seeing Mel as a child and their relationship was built on Leo taking the role of a guardian/caretaker in the place of Mel’s father, Captain Dunham. So Mel will likely never stop seeing him that way either. So then, why be jealous of Leo’s romantic partner? Argus has never taken the time to know Mel, doesn’t want to, and while he acknowledges that he’s important to Leo, but cannot find any reason to spend any time with an angry teenager. Mel’s jealousy towards Argus does not come from wanting to be in his place as a romantic partner but from a fear of being replaced as someone important in Leo’s life and forgotten altogether. OVS shows the beginning of their relationship changing, Leo spending less and less time with him and more time with Argus and in Argus’ world rather than in a place where Mel feels more comfortable. In his mind, Leo has chosen a comfortable life and a romantic relationship over him and promises they made back when Mel was still 13 and it upsets him. 

This was a long rant. I’m not usually one of those “there are different kinds of love” people because I just acknowledge that and move on with my day. And I’m largely a romance writer so the romantic relationships are usually what I focus on but TSS has a large cast, a lot of character relationships and dynamics, so it’s not like the non-romantic feelings are forgotten. And I just think a lot with romance we’re accustomed to any character who is a “problem” for a main couple is usually out of jealously towards romance or outside attraction. But here it’s not because Leo is ever afraid Argus and Damaris are gonna shack up behind his back (do I have to scream “they’re both gay” any louder?) and Mel doesn’t wish he was literally in Argus’ shoes because relationships can be tested by many things.

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk