eve seems so lost and dissatisfied with things right now, and she's so sure that her damn dream means something and isn't just her, you know, fixating on the past, where she thought she was making some kind of progress. i just really hope park wants something more than a quick lay. this is so suspicious, popping into her life like this after not contacting her for years. it makes me worried. i have a bad feeling about where this might lead
I love how every single page lately (lately? or for a while already) is just a rush of feelings. I must say, when I saw this one today it was along the lines of many others who have expressed themselves above. That is to say
WRYYYYY EEEVE, NOOO!?!
Also, the opportunity to go over each one again and again and discover the little details, take in the colour combinations and GOSH the page layout, is excellent.
After the way they split, this is quite a suprise. I wonder if the same attraction is always present between exes that were really close to each other, and is it actually a good thing to embrace it, even if only for the night… BTW I'm on the Evill train, but since it's been only casual I'm hoping Park won't get any further. Still lovin your suprises Meredith! 🙂
I dunno, the way they split seemed pretty much a matter of mutual affection but differences in what they wanted in life. It always seemed to me that they both associate each other with the good things in their past.
That's a difficult thing to let go of when you see it in someone you've cared for over a long time.
There's also probably a lot of wondering on the what might've been if you made a different choice.
That was their first break up though. That was a flashback to college.
They started dating again when Park graduated from Law school and the break up I linked to (and the relationship) was the more recent one.
So–you say lavender, but that shade looks fairly close (if maybe slightly more blue-tinted) to Crayola Fuchsia. 570 strips ago, the alt-text intimated very strongly what fuschia underpants tell you about a person: http://www.octopuspie.com/2009-09-07/327-took-it-…
This foreshadowing was foreshadowed! None of what happens after this, none of what is revealed about Park's character, should have come as a surprise.
His underwear should have told us. We should have known.
Panel 3 is Park's hotel bill. He's checking out the next morning, and just wanted a one night stand before he flies out. This is so not what Eve needs right now.
Yeah I noticed that too 🙁 Ugh. Though it could also mean that it took him his whole trip to work up the courage to contact Eve again? But it's probably going to be a painful ending.
Gah, feeling so wary and anxious about this! NOO EVE!! Please know what you're doing at least. Speaking from experience of seeing an ex and knowing full well what was going to happen. But maybe.. it's not that way here? Honestly haven't re-read OP since I first read it way back when, so my idea of some characters really isn't as illuminated as it would be if I had just read OP these days.. dangit! Anyone else have this problem?
we saw this happening. 🙁 even hanna saw it happening. plus the receipt and the realisation that he just wanted a quickie… this is not going to end well.
also, i thought she'd be in pain after the colposcopy? i know sex can work wonders but… but they even put iodine in there…
Y'all diss this as a bad move on Eve's side. But I really sympathized with Eve's feeling of a great childhood connection that might've gone sour because of a bad attempt at a relationship. What she says here, whether he's happy to see her, and the affirmation, shallow or not shallow. That things aren't awkward, no longterm harm was done by her (speaking 90% of my perspective and guilt that got relieved after affirmation of intimacy showing that that night wasn't just a way to fuckup the most fulfilling friendship I ever had the luck to be a part of) and that the friendship isn't deleted entirely. It's weirder, but less guilt-stress. I might be over-reading into this but I'm feeling relieved for eve to have gotten rid of a potential guilty consciousness over things that were never her fault.
You know that's a very good point. And I feel like eating some of my earlier words which may have been way too harsh on Park, without giving him the credit/benefit of a doubt that maybe he still does miss Eve and care about her. Its just challenging to entertain that possibility when the comic makes it clear that its been so long since they last talked and he's not really putting in much effort to keep up with how she's doing, or even let her visit (like, would it kill Park to invite Eve over to his place in Chicago? if cost wasn't an issue) him instead of only bothering to visit her when he's in town.
There's slightly enough ambiguity in the comic regarding Park's actual circumstances that slight enough doubt is introduced because this is mostly from Eve's point of view, her being the main character, but…
A) IF PARK ACTUALLY WASN'T IN TOWN FOR SOMETHING ELSE, AND FLEW ALL THE WAY OVER just to visit her, then good for Park! He officially becomes less of a dick and Eve is more justified in still thinking about him
B) IF PARK AND EVE ACTUALLY DID talk to each other semi-regularly and it wasn't literally years since they last spoke to each other then this would suck less, and again, Park becomes officially less of a dick. The wording in the spa scene doesn't spell it out, but upon second thought, when Mar said "Its been years" she may have meant in terms of how long since Eve and Park broke up. So…what if they actually did text/call each other since semi-regularly?: http://www.octopuspie.com/2015-02-28/757-one-foot…
C) IF EVE CHANGED HER MIND AS A RESULT OF THIS FUCKING and was like, "Park I take back my choice, I want to move to Chicago with you", then good for them, and this ultimately did work out!
Sadly all the three above choices are too good and wishful thinking heavy to come true.
I don't think fans enjoy hating Park or enjoy thinking of him as a dick. So Park, please pull a mission impossible after you finish that missionary position and un-break Eve's heart. Maybe Park asks himself a lot too if Eve still thinks about him (we know but does he know, he better know by this point). Because its quite telling and sad and poignant that despite all Park did, Eve still wanted to spend time with him – which means she still trusts him that much. In addition to idealizing him as symbolic of security and what could have been. When no one would blame her by this point if she cut him off.
Pretty sure Eve told him that she wouldn't move out there to visit and for all her pining she hasn't really reached out to him to tell him that or stay in touch as friends.
So, I'm just not seeing this as anything other than two people at least on the surface just hooking up for love of nostalgia.
I mean, sure, I'll concede that Park is a dick if he has a fiancé at home and this is just an opportunity to tie up a loose end…
But until that point, they very well could be on equal footing… holding onto idealized versions of each other.
Also… what about Will here? What's the situation with Will and Eve at this point?
Is she unofficially cheating on him with Park or is it a non-exclusive thing.
I guess my point is that Eve is a grown up woman and is aware of the possibilities and is doing what (who) she wants… and that doesn't make Park a jerk for making an offer that she's accepting.
To be honest this panel made me almost cry, it reminded me so much of an ex of mine because like Park, he was very selfish and inconsiderate. Park is being selfish right now because he only wanted to have sex with Eve because he happened to be in town and she's nearby (I highly doubt he flew back to New York JUST for her; after all, his family doesn't even live there anymore), and when they haven't had much contact for YEARS. Yes Eve wants it too right now but its made very clear she wants MORE than this and Park's made it very clear he WON'T do a long distance relationship so how else can this end but badly, and how else could Park not see this coming when he knew Eve still missed him? And if someone's going to point out, well isn't this a sign that Park misses Eve too? Let me point out in turn that again, the dynamic of convenience is for when it fits Park's schedule; we haven't seen Eve fly over to Park and call him up. If that was in the plotline and Eve was just as quickly out the door then maybe it would be more fair but, again, ugh, its like…
I've had this interaction with an ex that I was particularly still hung up over (much like eve was still thinking and dreaming about park all the time). I equal parts regret it and don't regret it. It ended up being a weekend thing and he left town and went back to his life like it never happened. I ended up devastated. Because of my residual feelings I fell in love all over again. I was left alone with the thoughts that he didn't care as much as I did and the fact that I was even less over him than before. This is why I cringe at eve. Its hard to know where park stands. If he still cares as much as her this might not be as bad as my own experience, but they are still not fully compatible, no matter how much eve still thinks about him. Time can make you idealize things that were broken to begin with. Eve has opened herself up to a lot of pain.
i am seeing my own experiences so strongly in this as well. it's not Park as much as that she is more invested in this than he is likely to be as what hurts all over again about this.
..I might have to admit, I don't think I quite get all of what there is to get about the distaste for Park that some of you guys commenting apparently have.
No doubt that if the artfully-placed hotel bill does indicate this is a one-night stand, whether it was planned or done on impulse, it's ultimately an inconsiderate and scummy move, at best; and that the comic's most recent previous look at Park was even less flattering- charging him with cheating on, leading on, and generally hurting Eve badly, all while quite self-aware. His lack of recent contact with Eve, up to now doing all of THIS *gestures awkwardly* doesn't do him many favors, either.
(…Jeez, actually looking at this all listed out, it looks… kinda bad, doesn't it.)
I also think that Park hasn't exactly been portrayed as a complete and total (redeemable, as such? jury might be out on that one.) Scumbag of a character, though. What I (fuzzily) remember of his sendoff chapter ("go back and read it?" pshh whatever) had him and Eve as more-or-less moral equivalents, and just not working out together (ignoring, at a minimum, that Eve never told him about Will on-panel (IIRC?)). Plus that interview where he was totally snubbed, in spite of all qualifications, by the same suit who Immediately asked for "WEED MAN!!!" Will's personal contact info (IIRC). And for whatever it's worth, he did manage to bite the bullet and finally admit his previous (and by all means scummy) infidelity to Eve. Admittedly, at the nigh-last moment Possible, but Eve (herself a noted imperfect cinnamon roll, yet still justifiably beloved) couldn't quite get her bit with Will out in the open at the same point in time.
Will being another noted man of imperfections, to be sure. (For one, his and Aimee's dissolution wasn't exactly a master class on mutual and intimate communication of relationship needs and wants, even accounting for extenuating circumstances.)
Not to trivialize anybody's thoughts or feelings on any of it, but I find myself drawn to wondering if slash how much of a factor the sheer power of the Evill ship is.
Which, I mean. Same,
Guys, all we know is that Eve and Park are fucking. Let's not jump to conclusions about intentions or about how Park is just using her. Let's not make mountains of molehills here.
I'm surprised so many people are reading this as a one night stand. This struck me as a need for privacy, for both of them. Park still has family in town, right? He's probably staying with them but doesn't want to have loud sexytimes with his grandma in the other room. And Hanna…has already made her feelings about things clear, and Eve probably wouldn't want to complicate things by bringing him over.
80 thoughts on “#897 – tell me again”
supbruh
NOOOO GOD NO EVE NO
Phiggle_McDiggle
Damn it Ning
Alex
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Laura E.
Oh, Eve. 🙁
Yammy
GUESS I WAS WRONG LOL
Joel
CURSES!
Jalathas
Dammit Eve.
Phil T
D:
Hannah Shilliday
Nooooooooooooo! don't do this too us Mer!
streever
Get 'em Eve!
rozie
eve seems so lost and dissatisfied with things right now, and she's so sure that her damn dream means something and isn't just her, you know, fixating on the past, where she thought she was making some kind of progress. i just really hope park wants something more than a quick lay. this is so suspicious, popping into her life like this after not contacting her for years. it makes me worried. i have a bad feeling about where this might lead
Adam
I'm glad Eve's finally getting some proper. No more morning after jerks.
Leah
I have never been less happy to see two people going at it.
rob
Agreeeeeed
Bruno Guedes
Dang, that must have been a very awkward intercourse. It's hard to focus when you ask someone a question and they leave you hanging.
Kate
They said no intercourse for a week! But also it's ultimately Eve's decision, which is fine! All of the feelings!
oceans
the cherry blossoms popping off the artwork on the wall and into the between-panel/morphing into pleasure sounds is genius
Vabolo
"No intercourse for one week"
[LATER THAT DAY]
jon
Protection? Yes or No.
(I mean "reproductive", not necessarily emotional…)
Tia
"its more like guidelines than actual rules"B)
dorky
Eve eve eve…
Booga
I am… I am distrusting of this situation.
The other shoe will drop regarding Park. I just hope it doesn't smoosh Eve when it lands.
Kaz
Well, she has positioned herself under the heel, so…
Mood
<sigh>
Chris
WHOOPSIE DAISY
Mef
I love how every single page lately (lately? or for a while already) is just a rush of feelings. I must say, when I saw this one today it was along the lines of many others who have expressed themselves above. That is to say
WRYYYYY EEEVE, NOOO!?!
Also, the opportunity to go over each one again and again and discover the little details, take in the colour combinations and GOSH the page layout, is excellent.
Hedgewolf
After the way they split, this is quite a suprise. I wonder if the same attraction is always present between exes that were really close to each other, and is it actually a good thing to embrace it, even if only for the night… BTW I'm on the Evill train, but since it's been only casual I'm hoping Park won't get any further. Still lovin your suprises Meredith! 🙂
rei
I dunno, the way they split seemed pretty much a matter of mutual affection but differences in what they wanted in life. It always seemed to me that they both associate each other with the good things in their past.
That's a difficult thing to let go of when you see it in someone you've cared for over a long time.
There's also probably a lot of wondering on the what might've been if you made a different choice.
I mean, this doesn't seem all that bitter a parting:
http://www.octopuspie.com/2010-04-20/375-the-numi…
I just hope that Park hasn't lost his earnestness and vulnerability since his departure.
Hedgewolf
I meant this one: http://www.octopuspie.com/2015-03-22/763-no-easy-…
Rei
That was their first break up though. That was a flashback to college.
They started dating again when Park graduated from Law school and the break up I linked to (and the relationship) was the more recent one.
Qwil man
I like Park's underwear where'd he get them
Phasma Felis
Thank God I'm not the only one who noticed that Park is wearing lavender underpants.
Well. "Wearing" may be too strong a term.
Becca
So–you say lavender, but that shade looks fairly close (if maybe slightly more blue-tinted) to Crayola Fuchsia. 570 strips ago, the alt-text intimated very strongly what fuschia underpants tell you about a person: http://www.octopuspie.com/2009-09-07/327-took-it-…
This foreshadowing was foreshadowed! None of what happens after this, none of what is revealed about Park's character, should have come as a surprise.
His underwear should have told us. We should have known.
JackPoint
Well shit.
Doug
Panel 3 is Park's hotel bill. He's checking out the next morning, and just wanted a one night stand before he flies out. This is so not what Eve needs right now.
manlyshimapan
that's honestly so… park. if i recall correctly, he's done this before, the first time they broke up.
Yammy
I assumed it was from the restaurant, but if you're right, lollllll again
It's great that fucking is so much fun for them! I guess! Whatever!
Alex
Yeah I noticed that too 🙁 Ugh. Though it could also mean that it took him his whole trip to work up the courage to contact Eve again? But it's probably going to be a painful ending.
Carolyn
EVE WHAT ARE YOU DOING
EVE STAHP
Also, Park, I expect nothing from you and I'm STILL let down.
Copycat
So, this is all a dream. Right?
Oh, Meredith, you're such a goof.
Go ahead and wake Eve up now.
Go on.
Any minute now.
rix
wait the aesthetic of empty speech bubbles being fast breaths
i appreciate all of the thought that came into this so much
Mikey Blighe
But… but… a dog peed on a coconut. Wasn't that the best day out ever? Seriously!
greengeekgirl
Part of me is all "nooooo"
and then part of me is all "Eve is goddamn adorable rn"
Red Chase
GOD DAMN IT EVE. COME ON GIRL HAVE SOME SELF CONTROL. (we shouldn't have expected anything else though, should we…)
Amy
Gah, feeling so wary and anxious about this! NOO EVE!! Please know what you're doing at least. Speaking from experience of seeing an ex and knowing full well what was going to happen. But maybe.. it's not that way here? Honestly haven't re-read OP since I first read it way back when, so my idea of some characters really isn't as illuminated as it would be if I had just read OP these days.. dangit! Anyone else have this problem?
Amber
You are not the only one! I always turn to the comments to remember everything I've forgotten from years ago!
Dev
I knew it was going to happen and I'm still so terribly disappointed…
manlyshimapan
we saw this happening. 🙁 even hanna saw it happening. plus the receipt and the realisation that he just wanted a quickie… this is not going to end well.
also, i thought she'd be in pain after the colposcopy? i know sex can work wonders but… but they even put iodine in there…
Jaeger
Yyyyyeeehhh… I've had a couple colposcopies, and I was in no way up for sexytimes after. I mean, everybody's different, but still… 0.o
JessAN
This might have been the week after the exam
Stephanie
Dang it Eve, I understand you and yet I'm like why girl why!?!
Mr Shine
Y'all diss this as a bad move on Eve's side. But I really sympathized with Eve's feeling of a great childhood connection that might've gone sour because of a bad attempt at a relationship. What she says here, whether he's happy to see her, and the affirmation, shallow or not shallow. That things aren't awkward, no longterm harm was done by her (speaking 90% of my perspective and guilt that got relieved after affirmation of intimacy showing that that night wasn't just a way to fuckup the most fulfilling friendship I ever had the luck to be a part of) and that the friendship isn't deleted entirely. It's weirder, but less guilt-stress. I might be over-reading into this but I'm feeling relieved for eve to have gotten rid of a potential guilty consciousness over things that were never her fault.
metroidlunch
You know that's a very good point. And I feel like eating some of my earlier words which may have been way too harsh on Park, without giving him the credit/benefit of a doubt that maybe he still does miss Eve and care about her. Its just challenging to entertain that possibility when the comic makes it clear that its been so long since they last talked and he's not really putting in much effort to keep up with how she's doing, or even let her visit (like, would it kill Park to invite Eve over to his place in Chicago? if cost wasn't an issue) him instead of only bothering to visit her when he's in town.
There's slightly enough ambiguity in the comic regarding Park's actual circumstances that slight enough doubt is introduced because this is mostly from Eve's point of view, her being the main character, but…
A) IF PARK ACTUALLY WASN'T IN TOWN FOR SOMETHING ELSE, AND FLEW ALL THE WAY OVER just to visit her, then good for Park! He officially becomes less of a dick and Eve is more justified in still thinking about him
B) IF PARK AND EVE ACTUALLY DID talk to each other semi-regularly and it wasn't literally years since they last spoke to each other then this would suck less, and again, Park becomes officially less of a dick. The wording in the spa scene doesn't spell it out, but upon second thought, when Mar said "Its been years" she may have meant in terms of how long since Eve and Park broke up. So…what if they actually did text/call each other since semi-regularly?: http://www.octopuspie.com/2015-02-28/757-one-foot…
C) IF EVE CHANGED HER MIND AS A RESULT OF THIS FUCKING and was like, "Park I take back my choice, I want to move to Chicago with you", then good for them, and this ultimately did work out!
Sadly all the three above choices are too good and wishful thinking heavy to come true.
I don't think fans enjoy hating Park or enjoy thinking of him as a dick. So Park, please pull a mission impossible after you finish that missionary position and un-break Eve's heart. Maybe Park asks himself a lot too if Eve still thinks about him (we know but does he know, he better know by this point). Because its quite telling and sad and poignant that despite all Park did, Eve still wanted to spend time with him – which means she still trusts him that much. In addition to idealizing him as symbolic of security and what could have been. When no one would blame her by this point if she cut him off.
Rei
Pretty sure Eve told him that she wouldn't move out there to visit and for all her pining she hasn't really reached out to him to tell him that or stay in touch as friends.
So, I'm just not seeing this as anything other than two people at least on the surface just hooking up for love of nostalgia.
I mean, sure, I'll concede that Park is a dick if he has a fiancé at home and this is just an opportunity to tie up a loose end…
But until that point, they very well could be on equal footing… holding onto idealized versions of each other.
Also… what about Will here? What's the situation with Will and Eve at this point?
Is she unofficially cheating on him with Park or is it a non-exclusive thing.
I guess my point is that Eve is a grown up woman and is aware of the possibilities and is doing what (who) she wants… and that doesn't make Park a jerk for making an offer that she's accepting.
Ess
I feel in the minority here, but I've always hoped for a reconciliation between these two. I liked them when they were together.
adamrocketblack
But then we Met Will!
And we learned that Eve didnt Trust Park enough move across country. It wanst right for her. and then we learned why.
this cant be good.
metroidlunch
To be honest this panel made me almost cry, it reminded me so much of an ex of mine because like Park, he was very selfish and inconsiderate. Park is being selfish right now because he only wanted to have sex with Eve because he happened to be in town and she's nearby (I highly doubt he flew back to New York JUST for her; after all, his family doesn't even live there anymore), and when they haven't had much contact for YEARS. Yes Eve wants it too right now but its made very clear she wants MORE than this and Park's made it very clear he WON'T do a long distance relationship so how else can this end but badly, and how else could Park not see this coming when he knew Eve still missed him? And if someone's going to point out, well isn't this a sign that Park misses Eve too? Let me point out in turn that again, the dynamic of convenience is for when it fits Park's schedule; we haven't seen Eve fly over to Park and call him up. If that was in the plotline and Eve was just as quickly out the door then maybe it would be more fair but, again, ugh, its like…
Park's just using Eve.
adamrocketblack
Wouldn't that mean Eve used Will for all the same reasons?
Will was still hung up on Eve , too?
Seriously I hope this ends, and Eve realizes Will could be the one..
i think i am more in invested in Will x Eve, than Eve is.
bug girl
look i know,, that this is a bad decision, but as someone who regularly fucks dudes when it is a bad decision to,
GIRRRRL GET THAT DIIIIIIICK
heywhosyourdaddy
Hi, team bad decision here, I feel ya. *regretfull high five*
Michelle Jene
damn iiiiiiiitttttttt
Laura
I've had this interaction with an ex that I was particularly still hung up over (much like eve was still thinking and dreaming about park all the time). I equal parts regret it and don't regret it. It ended up being a weekend thing and he left town and went back to his life like it never happened. I ended up devastated. Because of my residual feelings I fell in love all over again. I was left alone with the thoughts that he didn't care as much as I did and the fact that I was even less over him than before. This is why I cringe at eve. Its hard to know where park stands. If he still cares as much as her this might not be as bad as my own experience, but they are still not fully compatible, no matter how much eve still thinks about him. Time can make you idealize things that were broken to begin with. Eve has opened herself up to a lot of pain.
misfit
i am seeing my own experiences so strongly in this as well. it's not Park as much as that she is more invested in this than he is likely to be as what hurts all over again about this.
crudbrain
..I might have to admit, I don't think I quite get all of what there is to get about the distaste for Park that some of you guys commenting apparently have.
No doubt that if the artfully-placed hotel bill does indicate this is a one-night stand, whether it was planned or done on impulse, it's ultimately an inconsiderate and scummy move, at best; and that the comic's most recent previous look at Park was even less flattering- charging him with cheating on, leading on, and generally hurting Eve badly, all while quite self-aware. His lack of recent contact with Eve, up to now doing all of THIS *gestures awkwardly* doesn't do him many favors, either.
(…Jeez, actually looking at this all listed out, it looks… kinda bad, doesn't it.)
I also think that Park hasn't exactly been portrayed as a complete and total (redeemable, as such? jury might be out on that one.) Scumbag of a character, though. What I (fuzzily) remember of his sendoff chapter ("go back and read it?" pshh whatever) had him and Eve as more-or-less moral equivalents, and just not working out together (ignoring, at a minimum, that Eve never told him about Will on-panel (IIRC?)). Plus that interview where he was totally snubbed, in spite of all qualifications, by the same suit who Immediately asked for "WEED MAN!!!" Will's personal contact info (IIRC). And for whatever it's worth, he did manage to bite the bullet and finally admit his previous (and by all means scummy) infidelity to Eve. Admittedly, at the nigh-last moment Possible, but Eve (herself a noted imperfect cinnamon roll, yet still justifiably beloved) couldn't quite get her bit with Will out in the open at the same point in time.
Will being another noted man of imperfections, to be sure. (For one, his and Aimee's dissolution wasn't exactly a master class on mutual and intimate communication of relationship needs and wants, even accounting for extenuating circumstances.)
Not to trivialize anybody's thoughts or feelings on any of it, but I find myself drawn to wondering if slash how much of a factor the sheer power of the Evill ship is.
Which, I mean. Same,
Minbean
Aw eve we need to stop fucking our exes. ?
peakpointmatrix
i said
GODD–DAMN!!
thistemporarylifeblog
Guys, all we know is that Eve and Park are fucking. Let's not jump to conclusions about intentions or about how Park is just using her. Let's not make mountains of molehills here.
Kelly
Agreed. We've seen that Eve enjoys casual sex. And we don't know what happened before this scene between the two of them.
Kathleen
What's the significance of the receipt?
Dellaran
It says he's checking out of the hotel today.
Marvin Choi
Oh no!
oldjeangallagher
Shitsonofabitchcrapfuck.
Dana
I'm surprised so many people are reading this as a one night stand. This struck me as a need for privacy, for both of them. Park still has family in town, right? He's probably staying with them but doesn't want to have loud sexytimes with his grandma in the other room. And Hanna…has already made her feelings about things clear, and Eve probably wouldn't want to complicate things by bringing him over.
Just my reading!
rei