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It still would've been better if That Scene in book 1 had never happened, but since it did, I appreciate Pacat's efforts to acknowledge it.

So yeah, was this an at times uncomfortable read? Yes, but it was on purpose, which I think makes it more bearable, and it had a good purpose in mind, fixing some of the early series' mistakes. Also, speaking of: can you gremlins saying "oh I'd much prefer a Berenger pov instead of Ancel" think about what you're saying for five seconds lmao? Of course a pov of a priviledged noble would be more comfortable to read than a sex worker's pov!!! Pacat giving voice to someone without voice WAS THE ENTIRE POINT KJSBJDBFJSHDB i'm really annoyed at these comments kajsbdjas moving on

I'm very impressed by how Pacat managed to turn Ancel from a character that made me cringe by just seeing his name, to a new favorite, and with a new ship I adored on top of that. Pacat constantly makes sure to show how Ancel's narrative isn't reliable, just like how Erasmus' wasn't, and how both of them are just trying to survive in their own ways. Pet fleshes out the Vere court and the pet system in the same way Eramus's short story fleshes out Akielos' slavery, and do both stories have terrible scenes, and wildly uncomfortable parts? Yes. And I think it'd be incredibly dishonest to write a story about slavery, prostitution, and abuse, without ever touching on the "uncomfortable" sides of these issues. Captive Prince deals with uncomfortable themes. Look at The Summer Palace, and the uncomfortable kneeling scene there: Pacat tends to tackle her story's problems head on. I saw some people upset that Pacat decided to revisit The Scene, instead of just ignoring it and pretending it never happened (like we all do lmao), but that's. Pacat fixed her mistake as much as she could here, making the readers shift the blame to where it really belongs: to the society that created this situation, not the disenfranchised people just trying to survive by all means necessary. Amongst Laurent, Nicaise, Aimeric and Jokaste, the Ancel of book 1 stuck out like a sore thumb, without any of the development, subtlety or empathy that all these other characters got, being the focal point of the worst scene in the whole series, and consequently receiving most of the backlash from readers.

One of the reocurring themes of Captive Prince is the question of agency, and about how those without power can't afford the luxury of "doing the right thing". I've always held the opinion that The Ancel Scene was the one huge, undefensible fuck up of book 1 (just look at my review, I didn't give Captive Prince 5 stars because of that), so when Pacat announced the last short story was going to be about Ancel, I was confused, but thought "maybe she's trying to fix her fuck up?" and this was pretty much it, y'all. I WAS SO SKEPTICAL BUT PACAT RLY CAME THRU!!!! MY MOMTHER I'LL NEVER DOUBT YOU AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!