Underlying

4:00 pm 5 February 2014
Underlying - Magalina

The first time I read this story I was in highschool (2010-11? I forget which year), staying over at a friend's house when we found the story - then posted on FictionPress - and decided we had to read it. My friend is a very fast reader so she got through it in no time and upon finishing she gushed at me that I had to read it too. That friend has recommended me some of the best stories (online fiction and published works alike) I've read to date, some of the stories that to this day remain in my Top10 list, this one included. So going into this the first time I knew I would end up loving it. Needless to say, that assumption was correct. I've read this a couple times over the years, recommended it to other friends who joined me in enjoying the story, and every time I think of it it puts a smile on my face I can't decide if this gif or this one is more accurate, but kinda a combination of the happy.

It's been a couple years since I last held a real conversation with that friend since it seems that ever since she moved several states over we've drifted apart. So it's nice to get to go back to some of the things she rec'd me and just...remember. All the good times, all the fun, how she opened my eyes to the world and how, really, life back then was kinda perfect. For these reasons this story, along with those others briefly mentioned, will always hold a special place in my heart.

Was this story essentially reuploaded, with editing in such a way that primarily intertwines some of the extra short stories originally uploaded outside of the original text? Yes. I haven't looked through magalina's side story The Prom Story yet, but I think that one is newly written from what was posted on FP? Or I just never got to it before it was taken down from the site.

Does that mean many of the original typos and other such errors can still be found within this reuploaded version? Yes.

Has it been reuploaded with new content that transforms this into a brand new read? No. But while that certainly would have been welcome it isn't a deciding factor in my enjoyment of the story and isn't really something I was looking for.

Am I still favorably biased toward this story and convinced it's fantastic? Yes.

Final verdict: I'm going to read this one again in the future, something I hardly ever do and tend to reserve only for those stories I especially love or, when I'm in the mood, those short oneshots that are, essentially or explicitly, PWPs.

Quote of choice (hidden because it's a little bit spoilery?):

Dan, Mark's younger brother, talking to John, Mark's best friend, about Mark and Sandy's sorta obvious feelings for each other:

It couldn’t be. Sandy Rogers just had [a] weird tendency to get under Mark’s skin. It didn’t have an explanation, a hidden meaning; it was just the way things were. Like John feeling euphoric before a basketball game or sick before Math class, it was just his body’s natural reaction to certain situations, he couldn’t help it. Mark had a hard time suppressing his urges and a…strong way of showing his dislike for Sandy. There was nothing behind it, Dan was just messing with him. 

“Mom always tells me about when I was in preschool and I pushed a girl off the swings. She says I liked her. I always thought that was a funny way of showing someone you liked them, but kids are always doing stupid things like that when they don’t know how to show what they’re feeling.”

John was growing more and more uncomfortable as Dan kept talking. He kept his eyes fixed on the screen and listened almost against his will.

“And I always thought Mark was like a little kid that didn’t know how to express his feelings..."

 

(show spoiler)







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The fabulous Magalina has reuploaded her story Underlying!



Not only that, but it's also reedited! It's gonna be like reliving the story of Mark and Sandy all over again, only new!

Words cannot express the levels of excitement I am feeling over this.



Unfortunately I think I'm going to have to have to put off rereading it again (*insert squealy noises here*) until after my finals are done this week so I don't get too distracted by the story my addiction to farming games, this time Hay Day, does that enough already.

And it has a cover!