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its-ezraaa · 2 years

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So about Nick's characterization...

I've seen some people talking about how much the characters (in this case especially Nicholas) have changed during volume 1 to 5. I'm probably late to this discussion but I wanted to show a new point of view. There will be major spoilers for Captive Prince and Dark Rise here because I'm comparing all Pacat books. And I will exclude the novels because I don't see them as officially canon.

I once mentioned the similarities between all Pacat love interests (Seiji, Laurent, James) and there are many. But something people forget often: There are a lot of similarities between Pacat's "chosen one" kind of characters too. Nicholas, Damen and Will. And this is the point where I don't believe that C. S. Pacat will dumb-down Nicholas, making him nothing more than a puppy dog or a joke.

(And tbh, even Damen got the puppy-treatment before being able to show his true self. I'm literally quoting the book right now:)

'He looks combative, but he's really very docile and adoring,' said Laurent, 'like a puppy.'

First of all, similarities between the three:

Hiding their true (powerful) self. Nick is actually Robert Coste's son, might even have inherited his fencing skill/speed if that's possible. Damen is the Prince of Akielos. Will is THE Dark King Sarcean.

Started from the bottom and fought their way up. Nicholas is a student with poor living conditions, had to work multiple jobs to make a living for him and his mom. Damen was a slave. Will basically had the same poor living conditions like Nick but no mom or dad (sry Will)

Like their counterparts, they have unbreakable determination. But while Seiji and Co. Have planned their whole life to reach their goal, Nicholas and Co. Are more like an unstoppable train wreck going 300 km/h. (Have you seen Damen charging into battle ready to behead the Regent? Or Will single handedly killing the apocalyptic horsemen dudes (sry forgot the name)? Nicholas gonna steamroll through the fencing community at some point lmao.)

There are more but these are the main points I need to talk about Nicholas's characterization.

Knowing all the similarities and what they achieved (or what they will achieve)? Nicholas is a total badass. Nicholas is young, Fence is a slow burn comic. All together, it's more light-hearted and goofier than Pacat's usual novels. (Which doesn't mean that Pacat doesn't like jokes and goofy-ness at all. I mean, remember Damen starting a tavern brawl while Laurent threw peas at everyone? Yeah. These are the Kings of Akielos and Vere.) I like to think that Nick will slowly become more like Damen, the older and more experienced he gets. Determined and strong but still kind-hearted and a little like the bumbling farm boy next door. Whoever read Capri knows what I'm talking about. Damen is a BEAST. He's strong, he's fast, he's skilled and experienced. I mean, I don't even remember him LOSING one battle during the entire trilogy. But he's also 26 or something. Nicholas will get there. So will Will. Just imagine how powerful he could become once he masters his Dark King powers. Or that one time where coach Williams said that once Nicholas' technique is at the same level as his speed and reflexes, he will be unstoppable? Yeah that was badass.

Another interesting thing about Pacat's books: it always ends with both main characters being equal in some way. Laurent and Damen sharing a throne as the Kings of the same kingdom. Dark Rise isn't finished yet but I get the feeling that it will go from The Dark King and His Boy Toy to equals with the same power. So considering this, just imagine where Fence could go some day.

And everyone started as rivals with one of them hiding who they really are. I understand that some might be sad because we will lose the rivals trope but it's.. Enemies to friends to lovers (and the rivalry has been pretty one sided lmao). The friend and lovers part have to start somewhere. I personally enjoy the development between Nick and Seiji. They still have banter, they still fight over small things, but they also learn to live with one another and appreciate who they are.

There is a beautiful scene from King's Rising that describes Pacat's rivals to lovers trope:

‘When you make love to me like that, I can’t think.’

‘Don’t think,’ said Damen.

Damen saw the flickering change, the tension, as the words provoked an internal battle.

Damen said, ‘Don’t think.’

‘Don’t,’ said Laurent, ‘toy with me. I—have not the means to—defend against this.’

‘I don’t toy with you.’

‘I—’

‘Don’t think,’ said Damen.

‘Kiss me,’ said Laurent. And then flushed, a rich colour.

I think that's where we are heading. Slowly but surely, Nicholas is going to tear down Seiji's walls. Once he doesn't have anything to hide behind anymore, no sharp words, no witty insults, no disgusted sneers, once that's all down.. Then we truly reached the 'lover' part of rivals to lovers. (Is it obvious that I was in the Capri fandom before reading fence...?)

Last but not least, volume 5 was fun. Like super fun. I enjoyed it a lot. Yes, it was very light-hearted without much drama. But GOSH IT REALLY DOES CARVE A PATH FOR VOLUME 6- Every badassery and conflict we didn't get in Rise will definitely come in volume 6. V5 introduced us to so many new characters, so of course there isn't much room for anything else. But the ranked fencing, Eugene being absolutely miserable at the beginning, Nicholas sucking but now practicing new fencing techniques, the rival teams getting used to Seiji's flèche, Aiden hiding his potential skill? That's some A++ foreshadowing. Kings Row might not turn out to be the top school at the end of the camp but God darn they will make a name of themself. I'm just waiting for (fckn) Kyle getting his buttocks whooped by Nicholas once they meet each other on the same piste again. I mean, this is C. S. Pacat. Heroic fights and epic comebacks are his thing. Things will get worse before they get better. Remember when Damen had to fight against another super buff slave while being drugged and in obvious disadvantage? Yeah he friggin crushed it.

At the end of they day, I don't see such an issue with the way Nicholas is portrayed. But I am definitely biased and basing everything on past Pacat books so what do I know? But maybe that's exactly the right thing to do? I have never seen Pacat writing a pure puppy dog character. Especially not his main character. Nicholas was never, is not and will never be something like this in my eyes. The comic is funny and has a lot of jokes but that's a comic typical thing to do, especially considering that Pacat got influenced by Japanese sports anime/manga. But in the end its still a Pacat book and Nicholas will stay a true badass. (Is it obvious who my favorite author is lol?)

Thanks for coming to my TED talk and sorry for so much text. I just really wanted to shed a new light on this whole Nicholas thing.

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