idc if the Half Upon A Time fandom is dead, I am GOING to post about it now. Whether you like it or not 😠
Here’s why Jack is one of the best YA heroes out there:
something about most YA heroes is that their arcs follow a journey of self-discovery. You get a kid with no self esteem, a sort of snarky and awkward sense of humor, you sweep them up on a magical quest with a couple of friends where they battle a big bad and get an inseparable bond and figure out who they are and what they want to be. Ain’t nothing wrong with that. It’s a good formula. HOWEVER
Jack is DRIPPING with self esteem. He knows exactly who he is and what he wants. It’s the how and the methods that he has a problem with. He’s actually very smart, and the narrative makes this clear. The humor with him comes from his wit, and making fun of his ego (ie: making a plan to outwit someone and then ruins it when may starts yelling at him in the heat of the moment) and his jealousy.
Jack is a huge cynic, which would get old really fast if the book wasn’t constantly proving him right. He’s aware of a lot of tropes that his world revolves around, and he uses those tropes to his advantage when he can, and uses expectations of other people that those tropes will be followed to outwit people. He doesn’t want to be a hero in the way that someone like Phillip is a hero because he is incapable of putting on that kind of effortlessly perfect and kind mask because if he did it it would be a farce. He doesn’t understand someone who can just do that. He thinks it’s stupid to just rush into battle with no plan. He can’t win on the purity of his heart, so he needs to do things differently.
Because he’s such a cynic he also can’t do huge gestures to express his big feelings, at least not overtly. He does self sacrifice a couple times, but he never does something like “this is for you, Princess!” Or even like express that kind thing in words at all. He tries to be vulnerable in the second book, but he never says the quiet part out loud. He is intensely loyal, but he shows that with actions rather than overt gestures. When he thought he had a chance with May, he reaches out more. When he is told she has a prince who will make her happier than he ever could, he leaves to try and build her a world she can be happy with that prince in.
He’s also kind of a bitch. He gets angry when he shouldn’t, he lashes out, he even loses it on Phillip in the third book (there was no reason for all of that in the sword fight). He pushes people away, he lies to people, he can’t really articulate feelings that aren’t anger or apathy. He’s not a bad person, he cares and he can support people and he does the kind thing a lot more than he doesn’t when it really matters, but I mean. He’s also a bit of a snarky bastard. And we love him for that. He’s not perfect. His biggest struggle is connection. He gets thrown into a Golden Trio and he doesn’t even like one of the guys or even make an effort to pretend like he does. This is instrumental to the feeling of isolation he needs to have. He doesn’t think anyone can understand him in the way he wants to be understood because he doesn’t understand people. So he self-isolates and makes like awful for himself and pushes people away instinctively. He’s such a problematic king!
anyway people should read the half upon a time trilogy, it’s really fucking good













