#anyway continues to be some mild salt ?? in these reactions now which i'm a little sad about but it is what it is i guess :(

[ninja-knox-ur-sox-off]

WHATISUPEVERYBODY you know it wasn’t my intention to watch literally one episode every two weeks but here we are i guess ITS TIME FOR ANOTHER KNOX REACTS TODAY ITS MONKIE KID SEASON 5 EPISODE 4 LESGET IIIIIT

The ssssstorm within, alright, alright, something to do with Mk and blowing up maybe? who knows, perhaps we shall find out MWAHAHA! Well, i mean obviously we’ll find out we’re watching the episode—listen i just woke up i can’t be held responsible for my incoherent ramblings LETS MOVE ON

Face in hands bro i miss flying Bark. BRUTAL DUDE (gotta say it at least once every episode sorry bois :pensive_emoji:)

Sniffs, just plow straight through the underbrush its fine—

Monkey King and Mei face down… okay…. this is…. a very fun frame i will admit…. who wants matching icons—/j/jj/

PREGUFFINGLKJA;DSF WE’RE REALLY RIDING THOSE MCGUFFIN JOKESLKGMSDF

sniffs

scratches head. okay so we’re just using sandy yelling as a gag now… cool cool cool okay sure sure, not like Sandy never raising his voice made the emotional beat of him yelling when contention happened devastating and startling. I guess the whole overwhelming Mk with WE GOT THIS!! talk would be an inevitable one, it always worked before. I mean, except for during the season 2 special. And… any other time hype up hasn’t really… worked… Listen I’m just overanalyzing probably but some of the choices in this season with the characters just feels off to me. Ngl with every episode I watch, the less it feels like monkie kid to me. The last one wasn’t so bad, and hey, we’re only a minute 25 into this one so that might change but that’s my gut reaction right now. Makes me a bit sad! I’ve been watching Dragons Rising (ninjago) with my buddy and been having the time of my life, the animation is gorgeous and it feels like the new peeps really understand the characters and its honestly so much fun, and then I’m kinda sitting here with monkie kid and puzzle pieces that don’t really fit and I’m not sure what to do with it! I know like, it’s the same writers but it just does not feel like it to me. Could be how rushed they always are, they’re doing their best, like—oNCE AGAIN TO BE CLEAR, when I criticize anything or say it feels off, this is NOT me saying bad writers bad people bad bad bad, I’m just saying how it feels to me! It feels almost like they’re trying to bring the comedic lightness of season 1 back but like… it feels kinda plastic and wrong! WORDS FAIL ME, PLS DON’T QOUTE ME I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT LETS MOVE ON

the kneeling down is kinda cute good for them

Sandy hype man!

…..

Is he just trying to get them all out of there so Mk can have some breathing roomGML;SMADF Cause otherwise splitting up is a terrible idea

Special Sandy training!!!

Mk smashing rocks together, okay that was cute h;LGKAJWOEF

Sandy so excited about meditation

sniffs

I FEEL LIKE MK COMPLAINS A LOT MORE THAN USUAL. Why is he so whiny?? Was he this whiny before? Am i losing my mind???? I’ve never wanted Mk to talk less before what is going on

Mystic Monkey meditatiNGN;LAKSDF WHY IS HIS FAKE BEARD ORANGELKMGSDF oh he’s impersonating sandy. SANDY AND WUKONG HAVE SIMILAR COLOURED HAIR I THOUGHT HE WAS USING MONKEY KINGS HAIR COLOUR DON’T LOOK AT ME HGLKAJSDF

The crackity cracks are backity back

“I see you” WELL THATS METAL DOPE

I WILLL ADMIT, THIS IS GREAT, BRO REALLY NEEDS THIS BIG ITME

….me fr pretend to meditate so true==

Storm within that’s funny

SANDY’S A GREAT PERSON TO TALK TO ABOUT THIS

LIL SNEK

I GOT SOMEONE TO FIGHT TAT’S NOT JUST MY THOUGHTSLKMGOWIEFMSDF

MK PLS

ooop next—SECRET TUNNELLLL SECRET TUNNEELLLLL THROUGH THE MOUNTAINNNNNNNNNNN

Just got led to it np that’s funny

Mk’s opening secret access swishy gold thing is fun

Bro’s really assaulting a rock

Owaaaa big ol turtle…. with cracks!

HELPGLKAM;WOEF

Classic

Ah yes meditation, who could have seen this coming

gGKASDF BRAVADO KILLED

I know he’s complaining as a deflection but :T man Mk whining so much is getting old really fast. Like its for the gag and you could say its for the deflection but MAN. Every four seconds he’s got his whiny voice on, bro?? I’m hoping they get all the humour they want out of that gag in this episode :(

I SWEAR I’M NOT TRYING TO BE NEGATIVE THIS IS JUST DOING A NUMBER ON ME OUGH

HEY GET OFF MY SANDY OI

RELEASE MY MAN

COME ON TURTLE

Bro literally has to face his trauma to save his friend what the heck turtle that’s so rude—

OKAY WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO WATCH THIS? I’ve tried two separate types of headphones (one stolen from my brother) a friend’s tv and just my computer’s speakers and the audio volume difference in the voices vs the music is STILL jarring. Like???? I have it turned up so much just to HEAR the voices and TRY to understand them and then the music kicks in and its bLARING and AGGRESSIVE and NOT IN A CINEMATIC WAY. dear gods its like they made monkie kid as unfriendly to watch as possible for me what is going on I’M TRYING TO ENJOY MY MONKIE SHOW STOP JARRING ME OUT OF IT [SHAKES LEGO UNTIL THEY FALL TO PIECES] I’M TRYING TO ENJOY MK HAVING TO FACE HIS TRAUMA SOMETHING I’VE HIGH KEY WANTED TO WATCH SINCE SEASON 1 WAILS

Acknowledging the “okay, i want to push that away, but i’m not going to” is really neat i like that

Hello disembodied voice

Okay, i may not be vibin with the audio, the animation, or the jokes in this ep, but my GODS does Ashe know how to write brutal dialogue. The reason Mk being so afraid of his monkey powers is because he likes it?? Oh yeah, I’m down with that i am SO down for that, I have been clawing at that concept for AGES, I am SO DOWN

So who’s going to be trying to control mk this season? Snake guy?? Newbie?? The choosing yourself and making your own path is really heavy handed so far hL;GJKASDF

Sandy’s advice?? GOD TIER. We love that. I love actual good advice in cartoons thank you

Conversations with self!!! OHHH OHH I LIKE THE EXHALE

TAT WAS NICE

OKAY SO THE HWOLE MIND SEQUENCE I’M A HUGE FAN OF

TERES MY BOY

Sandy’s trigger word is Worthy huh he dont’ like thatLKGMA;OWEFWHEEZE

nah we are so glad Mk has Sandy here actually that is so good I’VE BEEN WANTING SANDY MOMENTS FOR SO LONG AND WE GOTTEM THANK YOUUUUUUUUUU like, the rest of what i said still stands but the emotional beats still hit really nicely and I’m very grateful we still have that!

Yeah that car is gonna get smashed by mei or pigsy and tang yeah yup there we go

oH WOW-oh nvm there it goes

well ! Wonder what mei found! That felt like a little bit of a clunky ending bit for some reason i can’t explain but! Big fan of the Sandy and Mk content I love them, totally deserved, been wanting Sandy talk like that for AAAAGES BLESS

Okayokay, always ending on positive note so lets go over one more time: Mk’s talk with himself? BANGER. Once he got talking, I really liked the dialogue and I really liked the vibe of the whole thing, Loved his exhale, loved the admittance of that all being part of him and that he chooses to work on other parts of him that is AWESOME and super cool to see depicted the way it was all cinematic and cool we love that. Love diving into a little bit of the complexities of our man Sandy! Love him opening up a bit to Mk so he can see he’s not alone in his struggles! That Sandy’s got something like that too and he’s still one of the most wonderful kind people Mk knows! The people who Mk has surrounding him are all exactly what he needs and that’s really cool!!! Ough okay welp, maybe I will be thinking about Sandy and Mk’s dyname for the rest of all time RAAAAAAA I REALLY enjoyed how they wrote them there.

Thanks for reading! Sorry I’m still a bit all over the place with my reactions, i feel like I keep repeating the same things but by GOSH the audio is THROWING ME. But yeah that was a nice way of addressing some of Mk’s trauma, even if it was only for like three minutes, its well done and I enjoyed it! very excited to see they can still nail those emotional bits. HOPE Y’ALL HAVE A SPECTACULAR DAY AND GOOD VIBES HUNT YOU DOWN RELENTLESSLY. KNOX OUT

[parkminijiminie]

Hi ~ I love you so much and your observations seems more logical to me. I saw your 3 top jeonlous moments and I'm curious to know what do you think about jm's jaelousy moments. He got some few ones. Can you tell me what are your favs? (Sorry for my bad english 🙇)

Hi, darling Anon. Thank you for stopping by and for your love!  No worries about your English, it isn’t bad at all! Besides, English is not my native language too so I could never judge you. 

Ah, the famous cousin to Jeonlous - Jimlous. Much more rarely seen, harder to provoke but when it comes to play, it bolts in the door. Certainly as a quantity the times we can be sure Jimin was jealous are distinctively less than with JK. He is simply better at controlling his facial expressions and I think generally he is chill with Jungkook interacting with the other members for example. Maybe it’s Jungkook whose behaviour makes him feel more at easy. Jimin is almost always in the center of Kookie’s attention anyway, verbally or not JK somehow manages to always show his favoritism and affection, so that might be a factor too. Or maybe Jimin is simply better at pretending.

That being said there still are some iconic Jimlous moments. Most often than not the reason behind can be analysed not so much as jealousy per se but more as Jimin getting petty and salty over Jungkook showing favoritism to another person. We know Minnie likes attention and praise and we also know Jungkook is more than happy to give it to him but in the rare instances when Jiminie feels neglected, things get interesting:

Example A: “Jimin-ah” - This moment right here at around 0:25 - 0:40. 

Jungkook is talking with a fan (who is also called Jimin), he is holding her hands, sending her a flying kiss and calling her “Jimin-ah”. Jimin is throwing glances at them from the side, cracking his neck (repeatedly), putting his tongue in his cheek and generally looking hella annoyed, downright scary. Next thing we know JK continues to hold the fan’s hands while she is moving to PJM side and calling her “Jimin-ah”. The tension breaks, our Jiminie laughs and the moment is broken.

JK probably did know what he was doing though and was teasing his hyung with these Jimin-ahs because the same fan returned to another fansign (I think it was last year during DNA era but I might be wrong) and Kookie started calling “Jimin-ah” again and he was looking at Jimin to see his reaction. He was either teasing at the first fansign too or he wasn’t but later saw videos of the moment. He must have found them and Jimin’s reaction funny, hence why he decided to do the same thing again when the chance presented itself. In any way two times is not a coincidence. 

It’s a small moment, nothing spectacular but the reaction PJM showed was one of his scariest looking moments in my opinion.

Example B: “The shower incident” -  This one I want to analize in a bit more thorough manner. I’m talking about BTS Run ep. 15 . 

(Some background information: BTS are separated into two teams: Maknae line vs The Hyungs and have to find one spy among them. They’re playing a game in which the members attack each other with words and if you react with anything other than “I see”, you lose) 

The moment start at 6:00. It’s Jhope vs Jungkook, Hobi accuses Kookie of being impolite because while he was showering JK opened the door, checked him out, called “Yeaaahh” and left. Jimin is watching from the side. The moment Hoseok talks about this instance, at precisely 6:16 you can actually literally see the surprise in his eyes.  Up until this moment he didn’t know this had happened. His fingers stop moving and he looks genuinely taken aback. Then he moves to the edge of his seat, puts his hands on the table and start looking down. His whole body language screams that he is uncomfortable, like proccessing a piece of information that he doesn’t like (6:23 - 6:29). 

By then, Hobi has already moved to another story of JK leaving dirty dishes behind but Jimin is not satisfied and decides to do something about it. He actually gets up, in the middle of the game, and goes to Jhope’s side (6:31), a person from the opposite team and immediately points at Jungkook, literally points his finger at him, and start recalling a (dare I say kind of absurd) story about JK toothbrushes. Everyone is suprised. Hoseok keeps looking at Jimin with a frozen expression (6:43), Kookie even turns to the side and asks “Are we not at the same team?”. But Jimin finishes his story with the statement “I was very angry” to which JJK responds, in a state of apparent shock and seemingly mild panick “That wasn’t me”. Jimin, who looks to actually be bluffing, smiles awkwardly at 6:59 and goes back to his seat. 

Hopekook finish their game and hug while Jimin ignores them. At first he looks at the ceiling (6:53), then at 6:56 , when they hug, he looks at them briefly and the diverts his gaze at his hands, proceading to sulk in his seat. Which he continues to do for some minutes after. Meanwhile JK sits at the side next to Tae. At 7:46 Jimin gets up to play the next game and Jungkook (who is now standing at the side and watching him) tries to catch his attention, pointing, stuttering a little and saying to him “Jiminie hyung you must win this round” to which he receives no reaction as far as we see (it could’ve been cut).

Throughout the games Jiminie continues to be somewhat quiet and him and Jungkook don’t have interactions but in the end of the episode we can assume everything is fine as he is sitting in Jungkook’s lap (although that might be to get closer to Jin’s food) which concluded this awkward exchange.

Example C: “Who are you even Jungkook” - I’m not even going to do a detailed analysis with timestamps on this amazing moment  as the whole video is honestly worth watching. 

The entire time Jimin sounds salty and petty, talking about how he has never seen Jungkook being like this, how Jungkook has never responded so well or acted like this even for him, how he ignored Jimin when he tried to talk to him and continued playing on this computer, how he threw him around the house and etc. Honestly to me (and a lot of people at the comment section) he sounds jealous. (Disclaimer: not of Minwoo but of the difference of behaviour Jimin thinks that Jungkook shows)

And at the same time JM keeps reminding us how he talked with Jungkook about the show, how they went bowling together, how even though Kookie is not good at grilling meat, he still tried a few times with Jimin, how Kookie likes to throw just him around and even when Jin tries to say he gets treated roughly by Jungkook too, Jimint cuts him off by saying “He doesn’t do anything to you but he does to me”. 

Half of the time he’s throwing shade how Jungkook basically doesn’t love him enough (or show his affection to him enough) and the other half he’s going on about how special he is to Kookie. So which one is it? PICK A SIDE, JIMINIE 

 And then there’s the cherry on top, also known as Jimin being CAUGHT IN A LIEEE - 

Jimin: He (Jungkook) never has that in front of me. […] He has no emotion in front of me in anything. 

That is THE lie of the centure right there. Who are you trying to fool Jimin-ah - us or yourself? ‘Cause you know, we ain’t blind or deaf, we see how Kookie looks at you and how soft he is with you. You can’t trick us. 

I would like to add though that these are my personal thoughts on the moments so take them with a grain of salt. Also, just as I said when I talked about Jungkook being jealous, I will repeat that I am not a big fan of the whole jealousy concept. While it is a perfectly normal human emotion which happens to exist and is not always a negative thing, I don’t like the fact that it gets too overhyped and romantized, especially in combination with possessive and problematic behaviour. 

[merlinficreview]

Accidental Memory in the Case of Death Review Part 2!

Accidental Memory in the Case of Death by derryere

Word Count 74987

We open this part with a Magical Paragraph Break: “(day four)”

The Royal family is having some sort of party or something and Merlin is super busy doing servant stuff. He approaches Arthur, who is talking to some stranger bitch Earl, with a tray of drinks. “And it's simple happiness, a bit stupid in its nature but also brilliant, not to be helped, and the sort that feels like he'll never get over this, over this mad urge to jump, to be silly like pulling faces and dancing foolishly but at the same time pretend he's not bothered whenever Arthur is near.” How freaking cute.

The two of them spend the evening stealing touches and glances and it’s a little careless because they could easily get caught. Then they both get spectacularly drunk and end up in Arthur’s bed rooms. It’s amazing they weren’t seen.

Back to the present: Anthony is at the library; he’s been studying up on his past self.

The rest of him is completely falling apart. He’s starting fights and behaving pretty promiscuously. Now I’m not saying promiscuity is a bad thing, but sometimes it is a sign of some deeply serious, not ok shit and that’s clearly what’s going on here.

Even Anthony’s selectively invalid mother has noticed something is up. “’I'm worried,’ his mother says, quietly one day when he's on the couch, pressing a frozen pizza to his face. He doesn't hear her and so she urges with a firm, ‘Tony.’ And another, ‘Anthony. Anthony!’ Anthony blinks at her, then, and there's a lump in his throat at the realisation he'd been expecting a different name—has, even in his own head—stopped referring to himself as himself.” Anthony has even started having the people he picks up at bars call him Arthur. This is important for later.

So Anthony picks up a girl and they are about to have sex in a parked car when they realize they have no condoms. She makes Anthony get out to go find some. Yay! Practice safe sex kids!

Of course the store he finally stumbles into is the one Emory works at, “Emory looks at him, quiet and unmoving, eyes wide. It's been weeks. All at once his heart is thudding upward, blocking his throat, and he breaks out in a clammy, cold sweat and it's almost like a fever, this boy. The sight of Emory washing over like a quiet disease and Anthony wants out, he wants out of there, gone from the shop, barely even cares anymore about the girl—stupid condoms, fucking condoms, who the fuck even cares and who— ‘Where d'you keep the condoms?’ he finishes, willing his voice into something cool—smoothing out the tremble, pulling himself straighter, thinking—I don't have to care.”

Smooth, bro.

“Emory doesn't say anything at first. He just stares, looking a little tired but otherwise fine, and there's nothing of annoyance or anger in his face as he takes in Anthony—scans his face, then replies with a frowningly admonished, ‘You look like shit.’ Anthony's temper flares at this, and his retort is an immediate, ‘Fuck you.’” That’s nice.

Emory tells Anthony to follow him but he doesn’t. “Emory reaches back, takes his hand. Anthony discovers he is that easy, as every resolve or any coherent thought crumbles at its foundations, then collapses when Emory pulls him along, his grip cold from the cool cartons and his fingers long, digging softly into the back of his Anthony's hand. He feels faintly sick, wants to pull away, still very much wants to want—bitter over weeks alone (though he wasn't alone), over a rejection (though he can't say it wasn't justified), bitter over being bitter in the first place, frustrated with himself and his own haplessness.” Anthony really took that, “we aren’t friends,” thing pretty hard. It’s interesting that this caused Anthony to go down such a spiral. Anthony could have reached out to Emory at any time and attempted to be friends with him. I’m not saying that Emory would have or had to accept, but Anthony could have put in a little more of an effort if it was going to affect him this much.

Emory takes Anthony back to his apartment and I think we can could this as a Subtle Clue Emory is also Sort of Losing His Shit over the Whole Situation because he just up and leaves work. He doesn’t even bother telling anyone this time. That’s not normal.

Anyways, Emory immediately just goes and lays down on his mattress which is a little strange because I’m not sure what Emory was expecting to do when they got to his place. Anthony is equally confused and starts wandering around opening cabinets and such. Sure.

“’You're not like him.’ He looks away, a nail scratching a restless tune along the seam of his jeans. ‘Just so you know. You're not like him at all.’ Emory props himself up on his elbows, giving Anthony a mild, questioning look. ‘He used to have things,’ Anthony continues. ‘He—had things.’ Flopping back down with a huff, Emory replies with a murmured, ‘I have things.’  ‘You don't have things. You have . . . I don't know. But he made things. Used to make these little . . . wooden figurine things, of birds. Had them up on his shelves. He had things.’ Emory, giving a quick look and a laugh, says, ‘Oh, he didn't make those.’” Haha this made me laugh. Way to drop that beloved dead boyfriend bomb there, Emory.  

“’Yeah. That was, like, a spell.’ He gives a fraction of a smile, adds, ‘Just couldn't get over the stupid look on your bloody face whenever he showed you them. So I sort of pretended I—‘ he stops. Catches himself, the smile disappearing as he scrambles to correct, ‘He, he pretended. They. Not—I meantthey. He. He . . . shit.’”

Poor Emory. He sort of freaks out a little bit about the slip and I don’t blame him. He tries so hard to separate himself from Merlin but he’s finding it harder and harder and probably feels like he’s starting to lose his identity. Other than that, it’s cute that Merlin did that for Arthur.

Anthony goes over to Emory and they have some more awkward frottage and call each other by their past names again. “’Why do you—‘ is Anthony's snatch of coherency, murmured wet and drowsy to the fabric of Emory's shirt, ‘—keep doing—this, Merlin, why do you—why can't you—‘ And Emory, closed-eyed and feverish to the side of his face, mouthing to his brow—his eyelid—a continuous mantra of, ‘I'm sorry—sorry—Arthur, fuck, I'm so—sorry—I'm—‘” I find that exchange kind of sad. 

In the morning, “It's comfortable and wonderfully familiar for a long time. There are mumbled words between them of today and patrol, of training, of how long can we stay in bed? and the humming, non-committal answers that come in reply. And then, then there is silence, a stretching, easy silence that allows for a slow realisation. The misplacement of their words starts to get to them, to sink in, the times and their surroundings, their names, even—and as Emory begins to stiffen in Anthony's hold, Anthony tries to subtly extract himself from it.” Well that’s hella fucking depressing, damn.

Anthony awkwardly gets ready to leave and Emory asks him to lunch, “Anthony stares. ‘But we're not friends,’ he says before thinking, but finds that even if he didn't mean to say it, it is a fair remark.” Damn, Anthony. He agrees to go anyways.

Magical Paragraph Break: “(day five)”

This scene takes place following the big feast after falling asleep together in Arthur’s room. They talk about how bad they were the night before. That’s what I said! There’s also a maid who comes into the room at one point. I wonder if their relationship is like an open secret at this point because Merlin doesn’t wake up fully when the maid is there and start freaking out like I would expect.

“’Tell me,’ Merlin says, later, a bit distanced as he dips a finger in and out and around Arthur's navel, ‘something you like about me.’ Arthur smiles, strokes back Merlin's damp hair from his temples. ‘A thing that I like about you,’ he says, ‘is how you bump into stuff.’ A thoughtful pause. Then, ‘All the time.’ ‘That's a very wrong answer,’ Merlin tells him, propping his chin on Arthur's chest. ‘Very. Now give me at least ten things you like about me.’”

Ahaha that’s cute and Merlin’s reaction is exactly what I would say. They start having sexytimes and then there’s an abrupt shift to the present day with no break in the text.

Anthony is at Emory’s apartment and when he gets inside he notices how happy Emory is and thinks about how, up until this point, he’s never seen Emory genuinely smile. Poor Emory.

So Emory is super excited and tells Anthony he has to show him something. Emory tells Anthony he fell when skateboarding and was able to stop time. Then he shows Anthony that he can move things, knocking over a salt shaker, telling Anthony he has magic. “’Not really that surprising though, is it? I mean, he had it. So. I guess . . .’ Emory's smile fades a little, hardens a bit around the edges. ‘But I'm not him, am I? This is new for me. I've never done this. It's special, yeah. For me.’”

Damn it, Anthony. What is wrong with you? That is 100% the wrong thing to say. Anthony sort of half assedly smooths things over, then they had out for lunch.

While they are walking, Emory asks Anthony about his bike. Anthony tells him that it was his dad’s and his mother doesn’t like him taking the bike out. “’The magic thing.’ And then, to clarify his snatch of thought, ‘It is pretty cool.’ The grin Emory flashes him is brilliant, his walk losing some of its cool as he straightens up to look at Anthony with a proud tilt to his shoulders. ‘It is,’ he concurs, grandly, and Anthony can only shake his head—amused and despairing of the both of them.” Good job, Anthony. Should have said it twenty minutes ago but better late than never, I guess.

While they eat, they play a game guessing how various people they knew from their past lives would react to modern things. It’s a cute game. Then they talk a little bit about Anthony’s father dying in a car crash. Normal depressing first date conversation, you know.

Behind the scenes fun: this gif isn’t quite what I was looking for but damn Leo DiCaprio looks pretty here so this is what you’re getting.

“’It's not fair,’ he says abruptly, quite out of nowhere. Emory doesn't move, unsure what Anthony is referring to, and so he continues. ‘That you get the magic. What do I get?’ He toes a loose brick sticking out of the curb. ‘A bunch of memories. Yeah. Fat load of good that does me.’ ;That's not true.’ Emory grins, swaying back against the pole. ‘I can assure you, you've many charming qualities in common.’” Way to be bitter, Anthony. Also, this is why I like Emory, he understands Anthony is upset and attempts to make him feel better. Anthony rarely picks up on it when Emory isn’t doing well.

When they get to the apartment, Emory asks Anthony to tell him something he remembers and it’s pretty funny. Anthony mentions the time Arthur asked Merlin for help picking out a birthday present for Gwen after they were married, “’Somehow, yeah,’ he smiles, quirking his brows. ‘I'm not sure exactly why, it probably had to do with that hidden stash of ale you—he, he was always keeping under his bed, but we came up with this idea that—that she'd like something that would make her laugh. Something funny.’ ‘Oh, god,’ Emory starts laughing, clearly remembering, covering his face with a hand. ‘Yep. A royal, golden chamber pot’" He shakes his head at himself. ‘Engraved. With her name.’ ‘So stupid,’ is Emory's muffled reaction, mumbled into his palm. ‘Gwen, naturally, completely missed the highly intellectual metaphor inviting her to feel at home in her new . . . well, home, but . . . ‘ he trails off. ‘God, that one backfired properly, didn't it?’ ‘She thought the chamber pot reminded him of her,’ Emory tells him, dropping his hand. ‘Engraved.’”

Then shit gets real depressing real fast, “’He married Guinevere,’ Emory says in a small, low voice. ‘Yes,’ Anthony says, sinking back into seriousness. ‘He did.’ It hangs between them for a while, Emory mulling it over and Anthony feeling hapless somehow. ‘And he and . . . ‘ Emory begins, pauses. Puffs, frustrated, and continues. ‘After that, the both of them, they never . . .’  ‘I know.’ ‘But why did . . .’ ‘I don't know,’ is Anthony's mumbled reply. ‘It's all . . . fragmented, Emory. I don't know.’ ‘It must've been really bad.’ Emory bunches his shoulders, crosses his arms. ‘What happened between them.’ Anthony looks at him, looks at him for a long moment before chancing to voice his thoughts—eventually doing it quietly, carefully. ‘Or maybe they just came to their senses.’ Emory freezes visibly. His eyes harden on Anthony, a dark, angry flush spreading up his pale throat. ‘Their senses?’ he repeats, quiet and dangerous, an incredulous lightness to his tone.”

YIKES. I don’t know how Anthony consistently says the wrong thing. Every. Single. Time.

This starts a HUGE argument between the two of them about how hard it was for their past selves to not be together. Anthony tries to defend himself, blurring the lines between him and Arthur. Emory comforts him. It’s pretty sad.

That’s it for this review. There’s some pretty heavy shit that goes down during these sections and I’m sorry I couldn’t leave it on a higher note. I was looking ahead and the Day Six section with the following modern day section is pretty long so I didn’t want to try and squeeze it into this review. Anyways, yeah sad and depressing stuff happened but I like it in a weird sort of way. It fits in really well with the narrative. The whole Arthur married Gwen thing tends to be super glossed over in other reincarnation fics. I like that Emory brought it up and that it wasn’t all flowers and candy because you know Merlin wouldn’t have just been cool with stepping aside while the love of his life married someone else. Arthur wouldn’t have just been fine abandoning Merlin either. It was interesting to see it carried over to the present day and how much it still upsets Emory even though he spends so much time defending how he isn’t Merlin. I think it’s also interesting to see their realities continue to fracture as they delve deeper and deeper into their past lives. I like that Emory has magic too. I had actually completely forgotten about that until rereading it. I know I pick on some of Anthony’s reactions to Emory and how he’s always doing the wrong thing but at the same time, it’s a real reaction. It also fits in with how we know Arthur’s behavior. What makes it even better is Emory’s reactions when Anthony is upset. He’s very caring and able to put himself aside for Anthony. This is also true to the Merlin character. I just love this fic, guys.

Until next time: