#7k words

[notes-from-sarah]

Kitty's Unexpected Hanukkah Road Trip

Rating: G/K+

Length: 6,700 words

Summary: Kitty is on her way home for the winter holidays when she’s attacked by The Purifiers. When Magneto rescues her she’s not sure she should trust him at first, but as they talk she discovers they share a lot in common. One-shot. Claremont canon compliant.

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A/N: Takes place at some point after X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills and a few months after The Uncanny X-Men, Issue 150 – I, Magneto where Magneto thinks he’s killed Kitty at the end. Kitty is around 14 years old and her current superhero name in the comics is Sprite.

December 1981

Kitty Pryde swayed methodically from the motion of the train. The ride from New York to Deerfield was a long one, and normally she would enjoy the time to read her comics or listen to tapes on her walkman. She’d even brought spare batteries and headphones, but she wasn’t interested in distracting herself. All she could think about was what home would be like. Her mom and dad had told her they were separating and she was brimming with anxiety over how Hanukkah was going to go. Would they be fighting the entire time? Would they blame her for their divorce? How was the rest of the family going to react? All of these questions swirled in her head and caused her stomach to clench in the most uncomfortable way. She tried to look out the window but there wasn’t much to see in the dark. Fresh snow occasionally hinted at the presence of hills and ravines in the countryside. Trying to calm herself, Kitty closed her eyes and rested her face against the glass of the train window. It was cool against her skin. Kitty focused on the coolness and tried to forget about her anxiety.

Suddenly, the door to the train car blew open with a cloud of smoke and a shower of sparks. People screamed and dove for cover as the door rained through the car in small fragments. Kitty ducked her head, instinctively protecting her face from the debris. Peeking up over her arm to see what sort of threat in particular this was, what she saw chilled her to the bone. Standing in the wreckage were three figures clad in the distinctive metallic armored garb of The Purifiers. Ignoring the screams of the passengers the leader swept the car with a small square device and before Kitty could blink twice the device was pointed at her. Kitty didn’t even hear the shrill beeping coming from the electronic as she jumped to her feet. She was an X-Man, she needed to act.

“Prepare for judgment, demon,” said the man holding the device pointed at her. His two followers silently raised guns, aiming them squarely in her direction.

“You can’t do this!” A passenger clad in a brown camel hair coat stood. She seemed to be over her initial shock. “Put down your guns.”

“If you attempt to stop us, you will join her, demon worshiper.” The leader raised his own weapon, this time pointing to the woman in the camel hair coat.

Kitty glanced at the woman. She could see the fierce protective instinct in the woman’s eye. She wasn’t going to back down. Kitty knew The Purifiers would kill the woman. She had to do something.

So she did.

In the blink of an eye she threw herself backward towards the wall of the train. The Purifiers turned their attention back to her and reacted quickly, but not quick enough. Their fingers only just squeezed the triggers as she phased through the wall of the train, tumbling backward into the dark night.

Skidding, sliding and stumbling down the side of the ravine, Kitty knew she had to get as much space between herself and The Purifiers as possible. Speed was important now, not caution. Throwing herself into a headlong dive she phased through the trees and brush in her path. Head over heels, gravity dragged her to the bottom of the ravine in seconds. With a dull splash, Kitty found herself sitting waist deep in brackish water. Gasping for breath at the shock, Kitty tried to gain her bearings. The fresh snow from yesterday made the area strangely luminous in the dark. It also made her path to the ravine bottom more than obvious. Without waiting for another second to pass, Kitty used her phasing powers to do her walking-on-air trick and ran along the ravine bottom in the opposite direction of the train tracks. Her only hope was to get herself somewhere where she could call the rest of the X-Men. She’d seen what those Purifiers could do to a Mutant who was all alone, and she didn’t want to test if she could beat them in a fight.

The bottom of the ravine twisted and turned every which way. Kitty tried to remember her training, to keep her head calm and do what she knew how. Not leaving tracks was a good start, Logan would be proud of her for thinking of that, but the energy it took to use her powers to run through the air was beginning to drain her. That, and the cold. She was wet and the night air was more than frigid. The jacket she was wearing was no match for real cold. She just had to keep it up a little longer. She knew she could do this, she had to, she had no other choice.

The ravine took a sharp turn ahead of her, and where it turned a bridge spanned from one side to the other. A road! Kitty thought in relief. Roads meant towns, towns meant phones, rescue was within sight. Using every last bit of strength she had, Kitty scrambled up the side of the ravine. The slick snow cover made it necessary for her to use her powers all the way up the side of the steep slope and by the time she crested the hill she was exhausted.

Trembling as shivers wracked her body, Kitty hesitated on the side of the road. Looking up and down it she had no clue where she was, or how far away she might be from any sort of town. She’d been on the train all day but she didn’t have the foggiest idea of approximately where that would put her between New York City and Chicago. Deciding it was better further away from the tracks rather than closer, Kitty turned toward the bridge and began walking.

The road was quiet. Trees grew close to the edge of the rural lane and even though Kitty strained her ears, she couldn’t pick up the sounds of any approaching cars. She also couldn’t see any driveways where a house might be lurking. Just trees and fields. Great, thought Kitty, I’m going to freeze to death out here on the road instead of spending a nice Hanukkah with my parents. If I live through this I’ll try my best not to be mad at them for getting a divorce. Trudging on, Kitty was on the cusp of giving up hope when in the far distance she heard the sound of a car. It was coming up the road from behind her, Kitty could see the headlights flashing through the trees. It seemed to take forever to get close, the car was traveling slowly on the snowpacked road. As the car got closer Kitty stood in the middle of the lane, waving her arms. She didn’t want them to miss her in the dark.

The car came to a stop, it’s lights blinding Kitty. “Hey!” she called out to the car, “I’ve been in an accident and need help.”

The doors of the car opened and three people stepped out. Kitty could hear an electronic beeping, the same beeping from on the train. These weren’t good Samaritans, they were-

“The Purifiers have come to send you back to hell, demon. Kneel, and accept your judgment.” Kitty didn’t need to see to know that the metallic clicking she heard was three guns being trained on her. Fear flooded her brain, she was so tired, she wasn’t sure she was going to survive this. Gulping, she prepared to use what little strength she had to phase one more time. The timing had to be just right or those bullets would hit their mark and she’d be a goner.

“Strange, Purifiers, I was just going to tell you the same thing.” The voice from above was filled with a cold fury and echoed in the still winter air. Kitty and The Purifiers jerked their heads towards the sky. Hovering above them was a helmeted man, a long cloak flowing from his shoulders.

“Magneto!” Kitty breathed. If things weren’t bad enough, now the man who almost killed her a few months ago was joining the fray. Was she ever going to catch a break?

Three guns pointed at the sky, but just as The Purifiers curled their fingers around the triggers, their guns began to disassemble in their hands. Pieces of firearms fell to the road, leaving the anti-Mutant evangelists completely unarmed. “Get in the car!” yelled the one who had been driving, “we can’t fight this one!”

Magneto threw out his hand and The Purifiers seemed to freeze in their tracks. Completely immobilized by the metal in their clothes and armor. Magneto’s lip curled in a sneer. “You take great and righteous pleasure in hunting down a child, but look at you when you have to go against someone who can actually fight back.” Waving his other hand the fallen pieces of the guns stretched into bands and flew around the necks of the attackers. Without so much as a movement from Magneto the bands began to constrict.

Kitty knew he meant to kill The Purifiers. For a long moment she wanted to let him. The anti-Mutants were gasping for breath, their limbs still immobilized by Magneto’s powers. Their eyes rolled in fear as the last of the air was being strangled out of them.

“Stop!” Kitty knew she had to at least try. It’s what Professor X would want. “You can’t kill them.”

Magneto paused, glancing down at her. “These murderers cannot be allowed to live, child. The next time they might succeed in killing you or another defenseless Mutant.”

Kitty knew he wasn’t completely wrong. The Purifiers were ruthless and showed no mercy to anyone. Still, how could she just stand back and watch them die? “There’s got to be a better way. I don’t want anyone to die.”

“Unfortunately, my dear, that’s not the world we live in.” Magneto began descending from the sky, his concentration, however, remained completely intact. “Survival of the fittest sometimes means that blood will be spilled. You cannot ignore a threat just because it’s unpleasant to deal with it.” Alighting on the ground between her and the car, Magneto turned to face her fully.

Kitty had no idea how she was going to convince Magneto to spare the despicable lives of these cultists. Truth be told, she kind of wanted revenge for all they had put her through. The image of Professor X came to mind, all those times he’d told her how important it was to use their powers to make things better, not to exact revenge. Kitty shook her head. “This won’t help.”

“Then what alternative do you propose, my dear?” Magneto’s tone was that of a teacher patiently waiting for you to come to the obvious solution.

“We can tie them up and leave them here. We’ll call the police and tell them what happened. They were attacking me, they’ll probably even admit to it. They can rot in jail where they deserve.” Kitty knew the cult was under scrutiny from the state and the feds. Certainly this would be a slam dunk case and these thugs would be off the streets for good.

Magneto didn’t say anything for a long, long time. He looked at Kitty hard, almost ferociously. It was kind of frightening, but Kitty didn’t look away. She wasn’t scared of him – that much – and she was sure she was right. Only the force of her determination was going to convince him.

“Very well, child. I accept your alternative.” Magneto turned to face The Purifiers. “Kneel, apes, and thank this Mutant child for your lives.”

Kitty was shocked when all three anti-Mutants dropped to their knees mumbling tearful thanks before the bands of metal snaked from their necks to fasten securely around their ankles. Her eyes darted between the pathetic cultists and Magneto. The Mutant stretched his palm toward the pieces of one of the guns that was laying in a heap on the road. The pieces twitched, then jumped into his hand fully reassembled. Twisting his other hand into a fist, Magneto dragged all three cultists to dangle before him in front of the car. The figures hung limply in the car headlights, like puppets from a string. Kitty gulped, not sure where this was going.

“You are being permitted to live, you are not being permitted to hurt another Mutant ever again.” Magneto flicked a finger and the right hand of each anti-Mutant was drawn forward. Tossing the gun into the air, it hung there, supernaturally suspended, the barrel aimed at the outstretched hands. He turned to Kitty. “Get in the car.”

Kitty didn’t want to listen, but she didn’t know what else to do. Magneto seemed to forget about the people he had dangling in the air and went himself to the driver’s side. Kitty wasn’t about to be left here with these murderous creeps, so she dove for the passenger’s side door. Once inside, Magneto used his powers and crushed the electronic device that had been beeping non-stop since The Purifiers had gotten out of their car. Putting the car into gear, Magneto pressed the accelerator and smoothly navigated around the people and the gun dangling over the road.

Kitty was almost afraid to ask, but she couldn’t stop herself. “What are you going to do to those freaks? What’s the gun for?”

“To remind them what it means to go against Mutants whenever they remember why they can no longer pull a trigger,” Magneto pronounced, grimly.

Kitty turned in her seat to see what was going to happen next, but the winding country lane quickly obscured the site of the attack. Only faintly a few moments later did she hear the distant sound of a gunshot. As merciless as The Purifiers were, Magneto was far more ruthless.

After a few more minutes of silence Kitty reached over to turn up the heat in the vehicle. She saw that her movement caught Magneto’s eye. A weird feeling rippled through her. The last time she’d been this close to him he’d zapped her with a bolt of energy that had almost done her in. Did he even recognize her? She wasn’t wearing the outlandish costume she’d had last time. He didn’t seem to know who she was, he was helping her just because she was a Mutant. She wondered if he would have done the same had he known she was an X-Man.

“Where are you taking me?” Kitty pushed the heat lever to max, then did the same for the fan. “Where are we?”

“I’m taking you somewhere you’ll be safe, child.” Magneto seemed to notice that she was cold since all the air vents simultaneously shifted to blow air on her. “I have no idea where we are.”

Kitty looked up at him, eyes wide. “You mean we’re lost?”

“I have complete mastery over magnetism and as such can control the magnetic fields of the entire Earth. I cannot truly be ‘lost’ anywhere magnetism exists. However,” Magneto shrugged, “I’m not entirely sure where we are or where the closest town might be. I don’t usually travel on the ground.”

Kitty blinked. “So, where exactly are we going then, if you don’t know where we are?”

“That entirely depends on you, child. Where were you heading to before those animals accosted you?” Magneto’s blue eyes glanced from the road to her face. Every word he said sounded so confident and assured. It was no wonder he was the X-Men’s greatest foe.

“I was on the train-” Kitty started.

“The train?” Magneto cut in.

“Yeah.” She nodded.

“How did you come to be on the road?” Magneto looked at her again. Kitty was a little worried he wasn’t paying enough attention to his driving.

“I jumped off when those freaks came after me. I didn’t want any of the people on board to get hurt.” Kitty put her hands up to the vents, the car was starting to spill out properly warm air now.

“You didn’t consider that you might be hurt?” Magneto sounded curious.

“Well if I didn’t then somebody woulda got hurt. I don’t think I could live with myself if someone got hurt on account of me.” Kitty looked at her hands for a moment thinking about all the close calls she and her X-Men friends had had. “Besides, I can phase through solid objects, I knew I’d be okay.”

“You are very brave, child.” There was approval in his voice. Kitty would have thought that he wouldn’t have cared.

Still, the compliment warmed her. She sometimes got told things like that from her teammates, but people like her parents or Professor X rarely praised her for bravery, usually they chided her brashness.

“My name is Kitty, by the way.” Kitty realized she hadn’t told him what to call her.

“Short for Katherine, I presume?” Kitty couldn’t quite tell with the helmet obscuring most of his face, but she thought he might have quirked an eyebrow when he asked the question.

“Yeah.” Kitty hoped he wouldn't call her Katherine, she only ever got called that when she was in trouble.

“Well, Miss Katherine, I believe I interrupted you as you were telling me your destination.”

Kitty cringed at the use of her name but tried not to let it show. “Right, anyway, I was on the train to Chicago so I can spend Hanukkah with my folks before those creeps made me take a detour.”

“You’re Jewish?” Magneto slowed the car to look at her.

Kitty tensed. She wasn’t used to dealing with dangerous antisemitism and she really didn’t want to start tonight after all she’d been through. “Yeah, you got a problem with that?” She remembered phasing through Magneto before and causing him harm, she didn’t want to have to do it again.

“No, Katherine, you have nothing to fear.” Magneto reassured, pressing the accelerator once more. “I, too, am Jewish.” There was a slight pause before he added, “Or, I was.”

Something in his voice caught Kitty’s attention. For the first time all evening there was a hint of uncertainty in him. Perhaps even doubt. He was such a commanding presence normally, the uncertainty was a sharp contrast.

“My bubbe says there’s no such thing as a former Jew, it’s a life sentence.” Kitty could feel the cracks forming in her perception of Magneto. She’d never thought of him as anything other than an evil spectre, a villain to be stopped, even some sort of warlord. She’d never considered that he was also a person.

“Is that so?” Magneto gave her an expression that Kitty could only interpret as a pre-smile. His eyes looked at her but it was clear he was far away. “Mine used to say something similar whenever I’d complain about how boring the sabbath was.”

Knowing Magneto had a grandmother was like a hammer that completely destroyed the illusion of Magneto the Master of Magnetism. He wasn’t some faceless monster, he was as human as she was. He had a family, people he loved and cared for. He had feelings. Hell, he probably had a favorite color and flavor of ice cream.

Kitty’s world was spinning out of control.

Turning off the rural lane, Magneto pulled into a gas station. The shop was closed up for the night, but it had a dirty payphone lit by an overhead light out front. Magneto parked the car in front of the payphone. “You should call the authorities and make your report.”

Kitty opened the car door and stood, feeling her pockets. “I don’t got any change.”

“No matter.” Magneto got out of the car and stood by the payphone. Lifting the receiver he tapped the payphone and handed her the handset.

Kitty took it and put the phone to her ear as she grabbed the phone book and flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. She could hear the dial tone so she punched in the number for the police. The call went through with no prompt for payment. “Bet that comes in handy, not having to pay for calls,” she said. After she said it she realized she might have spoken out of turn. She still couldn’t see Magneto’s face properly and she guessed he was more than likely frowning at her. Man, Kitty, she thought, you really can say some dumb stuff you know.

He didn’t respond but the police picked up. Kitty explained that she’d been attacked and where they could find her assailants. She’d seen the sign for the road they were traveling on and knew The Purifiers were only a few miles away. Shivering as she hung up, she was motioned back to the car by Magneto.

Still reeling from her revelations about the other Mutant, the only thing she could think now was that she wanted to know more. As she settled back into the passenger seat and put her hands back up to the heat vents, she looked at Magneto. “What’s your name? I mean, your real one. I promise I won’t tell anyone.” Mutants, villains, superheroes, monsters, they had names like Magneto, Sprite, Spider-Man. Names they had chosen for themselves to separate themselves from the rest of humanity. People, though, had names. First and last names that showed a connection to other people, to a family and a larger culture.

“Telling hardly matters anyway.” Magneto sounded almost tired. “I have no one my anonymity would protect. As far as the world is concerned, who I am – who I used to be – is little more than a ghost.”

“You don’t have a family?” Kitty could hardly comprehend such a thing. Her mom and dad were her entire world, and the X-Men were a part of her family now, too. Her anonymity as Sprite protected so many people she couldn’t imagine losing.

“Not anymore. Not after Auschwitz.” Magneto’s eyes remained carefully on the road.

The word sent a chill up Kitty’s spine. “Were,” Kitty’s voice was almost a whisper, “were you there?”

“Yes.” Magneto’s voice was calm. What little of his face Kitty could see betrayed nothing.

“And you lost everyone?” Kitty didn’t really need to ask to know the answer. For all the survivors she’d met the story was always the same.

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry.” Kitty let a silence lapse between them. It felt disrespectful to ask anything more.

Leaving the rural lane, Magneto brought the car onto a larger state route. Kitty wasn’t entirely sure where they were driving to exactly. She guessed maybe a bus station or something.

“My name,” Magneto broke the silence between them at last, “was Magnus.” Taking his hands off the wheel, but still using his powers to drive, Magneto pulled the helmet off his head and set it on the center seat.

Magnus. Such a normal, human sort of name. Something his parents gave him. Something he learned to write at school. Kitty looked at his face properly for the first time. He didn’t seem so scary now.

“My great aunt Rachel, she was at one of those camps.” Kitty didn’t know why she was saying this. “She’s always so mean and angry all the time and Dad says it’s because of that.” Kitty knew she was being overly bold, but she’d always had a big mouth and not enough sense so she pressed on. “Is that why you’re so angry? Is that why you want to hurt everybody?”

Magneto – Magnus – took his eyes off the road to study her for a long moment. “In a way, yes,” he said at last. “But I don’t want to hurt everyone, Katherine, I want to live in a world where no one gets hurt anymore. The world, as it is now, is dead set against such an idea. The only option is to use force.”

“You really think you can do it, make a perfect world where nobody gets hurt?” Kitty and the other X-Men had talked at length about Magneto’s plans after their last encounter. For some reason Professor X kept insisting that Magneto wanted the same thing they did, she never really believed that was true.

“Perhaps not, but someone has to try. If we just sit back and wait for the world to change we will only find ourselves in chains. I’ve seen what happens when you wait for people’s better angels to guide them, it only leads to destruction and death. I have the God-given power to do something this time, so I will do it.” Magnus’ eyes flashed and Kitty could see the passion of his conviction.

“But, aren’t things different now? Don’t we have laws and rights to protect us?” Something about Magnus’ words frightened her, those far away nightmare threats seemed a lot more imminent the way he talked.

“Katherine, I see that you are a smart girl. You know the world is more complicated than good guys and bad guys. When one homo sapien makes a law, it takes only another to unmake it. Whatever they give us they can also take away. We have to take what is ours, with or without their permission.” Magnus held Kitty’s eyes in an almost frightening way, his voice had hardly changed in volume yet it seemed louder and stronger somehow. “And this world, dear Katherine, is ours.”

Kitty gulped, Magnus was throwing her completely off balance. Everything he said scared her, but at the same time didn’t sound that unreasonable either. She wasn’t sure what to think. She wished Professor X was here to help her make sense of it all.

Magnus turned his eyes back to the road. “I can see I am frightening you, child. I did not mean to cause you distress.”

“I’m not scared,” Kitty said, even though it was a lie. “It’s just, well, I’ve never heard someone talk the way you do. Do you really think people, humans, will just turn their backs on us? Even our friends and family?”

“Katherine,” Magnus’ voice assumed a gentler tone, “we must believe this to be the case. To do otherwise would be utter foolishness. I’ve seen it happen before, it can always happen again. Just take a look at The Purifiers. Though they are but few, their ideas are spreading. We cannot afford to be caught unawares.”

“But if they all turn against us, then we don’t have a chance. There’s so many more of them than us.” Panic was starting to bubble up in Kitty’s chest. Professor X had made everything seem so hopeful, like people were generally good and could be trusted. Now the world seemed a lot more dangerous than it had just a few hours ago.

“A chance is precisely what we do have, and I do not intend on wasting it. A fight is coming, Katherine, and whether you like it or not, whether you are ready or not, you will be drawn into it. As will we all.” Magnus turned from the state route onto a larger highway, he seemed not to be looking at the signs at all, just navigating by pure instinct. “Do you know why our people celebrate Hanukkah?”

Kitty was a little taken off guard by the question. “The oil in the lamp at the temple was supposed to burn only one day, but lasted for eight instead.”

“Yes, that is why we light the candles, but why is the holiday celebrated?” Magnus had a way about him that made Kitty think he’d have made a good teacher in another life.

“Um,” Kitty struggled to remember what she’d learned in the religious education classes she’d had to attend before her bat mitzvah, “the Romans, or um, maybe it was the Greeks, they tried to make us stop practicing our religion and took over the temple and when we got it back there was only the one thing of oil.” Kitty cringed internally, she could just see her parents’ disappointment at her lame explanation. She glanced over at Magnus to see if he was similarly disappointed.

Instead of disapproval he was giving her the smallest of smiles. “I never had much of a head for the details of all the stories either. I suppose that’s why we have rabbis. However, the salient points are clear even in your telling. We were attacked by outsiders, oppressed and defiled. That which was most holy was desecrated. Oppressors benefited from our subjugation and had no reason to protect or help us. We had the choice to either fight back, or die.”

Kitty could see where Magnus was going with this analogy. “That was a long time ago.” Even as she said it, the phrase seemed hollow. The future was suddenly very dark.

“Those who don’t learn their history are doomed to repeat it, Katherine. I’ve learned my history, I hope you have too.” Magnus’ tone was fierce and chilled Kitty to her core.

“So, what can we do?” Kitty wasn’t prone to nihilism, but the thought of facing increasing oppression and subjugation for the rest of her life made everything seem so bleak.

“We fight, and we never stop. Not even for a second.” Magnus’ voice was firm, but his expression softened when he looked at Kitty. Apparently her fear was showing on her face. “It seems that I can’t talk to you about this without frightening you. What does Charles say when discussing the state of the world?”

Kitty blinked, thrown for yet another loop. “Charles?”

“You thought I was unaware of your affiliation with Charles Xavier?” Magnus sounded a little confused.

“I, uh,” Kitty didn’t want to admit to anything, but it seemed that the jig was up. “If you knew who I was, why did you help me?”

“I bear no ill will against you, or Charles, or any of the so-called X-Men. I fight for all of Mutant-kind, I do not bear petty grudges over past skirmishes. We must band together if we are to survive. In many ways we are more alike than we are different, child. Someday that will be clear.” Magnus gave her a hesitant look. “I hope you can forgive me for hurting you in our last altercation. It has grieved me these many months thinking that I had harmed you.”

Kitty could hear the regret in his words. She wasn’t sure what she thought anymore. “I’m not sure,” she said truthfully, “Storm said I was as close to death as she’d ever seen. It’s only ‘cause she took care of me that I was able to get better like I did.”

“I am truly sorry. I wish I could make it up to you somehow.” Kitty believed him. Magnus really did feel bad about attacking her all those months ago.

“I suppose saving my life was a good start. I think we might be even now.”

Magnus gave her a small, warm smile. “I can see Charles’ influence on you. You are far more forgiving than I would have been.”

Kitty wasn’t sure quite what to do with that. She was glad that Magnus could see that she was a real X-Man, someone Professor X had taught well. Forgiving wasn’t always easy or in her nature, but she kept trying to remember what Professor X might say. She was trying so hard to be a real hero and have people take her seriously, it seemed like maybe she was getting there.

Traffic around them was thickening up. Kitty caught sight of one of the highway signs and realized Chicago wasn’t too far away anymore. “Hey,” she said “that’s pretty neat, we’re almost home.” As she said that, her original worries from the train came back to her. How was she gonna get through this holiday knowing that her family was all broken apart. Sitting back in her seat she wrapped her arms around herself. She wished Ororo was here to make her feel better.

“Is something wrong, Katherine?” Magnus asked. “Aren’t you happy to be going home?” She guessed her moodiness was obvious.

“It’s not gonna be the same. My parents are getting divorced and it’s just not gonna be the same ever again. It’s like I’m gonna have two separate families instead of one. I don’t know why they can’t just stick together. It can’t be that bad.” Kitty knew Magnus probably didn’t care about her little family problems, but she wanted to tell someone. She was so embarrassed that her parents were splitting up. Why were they being so dumb about this anyway? Couldn’t they just come to their senses and stay together.

“That must be very difficult.” Magnus’ voice was empathetic but shifted into a firm resolve as he said, “But you must be brave in the face of this adversity. You will come through this stronger than steel.”

It wasn’t exactly the sort of pep talk Ororo would have given, but somehow it did make her feel a little better.

“And also,” Magneto added a moment later, his voice softer, “hold on to your family, Katherine. Take not one day with them for granted. Hold them close and don’t be angry at them if you can help it.”

Kitty swallowed. She suddenly wanted to hug her parents tight. Gulping, she asked the question that had been bothering her since her parents told her of the separation. “Do you think they’re gonna blame me for pulling them apart? They used to be so happy together.”

Magnus took the exit for Chicago. All the traffic slowed down as they came into the city proper. “No,” he said. “Your parents must be good people to raise a girl as bright and kind as yourself. Such people would never blame an innocent child for their own incompatibilities.”

His words made Kitty feel a little bit better. She had been worrying about this for what seemed like forever now. She also glowed at the compliments. It wasn’t every day that someone who almost killed you said nice things about you. “It’s gonna be weird, though,” she said at last.

Magnus nodded. “You will have to find a path forward with your parents and yourself. As long as you remember to love and respect each other you will surmount this obstacle and come through this stronger. You are not losing your family, Katherine, it is just growing in a new direction. Growing can be painful, but it is what all living things must do.”

Kitty shook her head to clear it. Those words sounded like they could have come from Professor X himself. Maybe the Prof was right and the difference between the X-Men and Magneto wasn’t all that big after all.

“Where do you live?” Magnus asked, distracting Kitty from her musings.

“Oh, uh,” Kitty looked out the window to try and catch one of the signs they were driving past. “I live in Deerfield, it’s more North of here and not too far from the lake.”

Magnus nodded. “Are there any large metal structures near your house?”

Kitty thought about it. “There’s a TV station not too far away, they have a lot of big antennas there.”

Magnus closed his eyes and seemed to be feeling for something.

“Hey,” said Kitty, “keep your eyes on the road!” She reached out as if to grab the wheel.

“I’m well aware of my surroundings, Katherine. Fear not.” Magnus seemed to be concentrating.

Kitty held her breath, they were going to die. She looked out her window and saw all the cars jostling for space around them. She gulped, clinging to the door handle and wondering if she should put on her seat belt. This close to home and she buys the farm because some guy thinks he can drive with his eyes closed.

Magnus’ eyes snapped open and soon enough he was merging through several lanes of traffic apparently knowing exactly where he was going.

“You’re kinda crazy, you know that?” Kitty didn’t release her grip on the door.

“So I have been told.” Magnus’ voice held a hint of dry humor. “You should not worry, I am in complete control of every particle of metal in my surroundings. Nothing I don’t want can happen.” Kitty believed him, but it still seemed kind of crazy.

Finally, they came into sight of the TV antennas from the station. Kitty knew how to get back to her house from here. “Go left,” she gestured. She stopped and looked at her watch wondering if her parents were at the train station waiting for her. She saw that her watch wasn’t working. It must have gotten fried by the water in that ravine. And it was her new digital watch too. Bummer. She glanced at the dashboard but there was no clock there. “Do you know what time it is?”

Magnus thought for a minute. “Chicago is in the Central Time Zone, is it not?”

“Yeah.” Kitty nodded.

“Then it is about seven o’clock at night.” Magnus thought for a moment longer. “Perhaps closer to a quarter till.”

“How’d you know that?” If he was right then her parents hadn’t left for Union Station yet, her train wasn’t supposed to arrive till closer to nine. Kitty was glad. She was ready to be home and get into some clean clothes and give her mom and dad a hug.

“My powers let me feel the rotation of the Earth, I can approximate time from there.” Magnus shrugged. “Our abilities can let us do so much more than we might realize, all we must do is have a little imagination.”

Again, there he was, sounding like the Professor. Kitty indicated that he should turn right into her neighborhood. “Turn here, my house is at the end of the street.”

Outside her house, Kitty could see a bunch of cars in the driveway and on the street. She saw her grandma’s car and her aunt’s station wagon. That meant the cousins were there too. She bet everyone was having a great time and she could almost taste the doughnuts and latkes.

Magnus pulled the car onto the edge of the street right in front of the house. Shifting the car into park he exited and came around the car to open her door. “As promised, young one, I have delivered you safe to your home.”

Kitty slid out of her seat and shut the door as she exited the car. She was so happy and relieved to be home again her worries seemed to melt away. Mom and Dad and her were going to figure this out and she didn’t know exactly what would happen but she knew it was going to be all right. Her happiness bubbled over and flinging her arms around Magnus’ neck she gave him the type of enthusiastic hugs she usually reserved for her friends. “Thank you so much for helping me.”

Magnus seemed stunned by her effusiveness. Kitty smiled as he relaxed and gave her a brief embrace. He really isn’t so different from the Professor, she thought, it’s too bad he won’t just join us X-Men and fight on our team.

Kitty stepped back, still smiling. “Where are you going to go now?”

Magnus gestured in a general direction away from the city. “I will go where I am needed most to defend Mutant-kind.”

Kitty nodded. She was glad he’d been there tonight to help her. She was pretty sure she’d be a goner if he hadn’t shown up when he did. She glanced at her house. Warm light spilled out the windows filtered by the gauzy curtains in the living room. In the center of the big window stood a lit menorah, the glowing candlelight beckoning her inside. Looking back at Magnus a thought started to grow in her. After everything she’d learned about Magneto tonight, everything they’d talked about, it seemed kind of wrong to just say goodbye out here in the snow. It was Hanukkah, after all, he should have someone to celebrate with.

Reaching out, Kitty took Magnus’ hand. “Come on inside,” she said, “there’s enough latkes for everyone.”

#Kitty Pryde #Magneto #Erik Lehnsherr #Magnus/Magneto #X-Men #Chris Claremont #Comics #Claremont Canon Compliant #Jewish Holidays #Hanukkah #Fanfic #Fanfiction #AO3 #FFN #Jewish Kitty Pryde #Jewish Magneto #7k words #xmen

[awhitehead17]

So close, yet so far

TimKon, Fantasy AU, Dragon rider Tim, Warlock Kon, Curses, Established Relationship, Fluff, Humour. 

Summary: Tim never realised how much he took for granted when it came to his relationship with Kon. It isn’t until the two of them are cursed that he notices how much he misses all of those little things they do. With the curse leaving both Tim and Kon frustrated they each try to get by until they come up with the solution that’ll break the curse so they can be properly together again. 

Enjoy! :D 

A constant prodding by something small is what causes him to rouse back into consciousness. Not wanting to get up yet Tim grumbles and bats away the thing persistently poking him, when the poking finally ceases he lets out a sigh and settles back down so he could fall back to sleep. Unfortunately his relief is short lived because the prodding comes back and this time it’s in full force, while it wasn’t hurting him in any way it just happened to be more annoying than anything else.

A low growl and sharp teeth nipping his ear is what finally causes him to wake fully. Groaning Tim forces his eyes open and moans when he’s blinded by bright sunlight, he instantly covers his eyes with a hand and this time slowly opens his eyes to adjust to the light.

Another growl sounds out and Tim turns his head to the side to find his dragon staring intensely at him. The two of them have a staring match until the small dragon steps forward and nips his ear a second time, Tim grits his teeth and gently shoves the dragon to the side.

“Okay, okay. I get it. I’m up. Geeze Mela.” Tim grumbles to his companion.

After years of training and working Tim is a successful dragon rider who has long been bonded to one of the mighty creatures. Mela is the dragon he’s bonded to and he wouldn’t trade her for the world. She’s a metallic silver dragon with two short horns on the front of her head, she has leather wings that sprout out from her back and her body ends with a long thin tail. She can shift sizes, her smallest form (which she currently is in) is no bigger than a kitten and her largest size is taller than several buildings put together.

The creature lets out a whine and Tim frowns wondering what’s causing the dragon’s odd behaviour. Normally Mela is more than happy to let him sleep in, the little dragon herself being a late riser (which was adorably enduring for a creature of her kind) so why the push to get up now?

Dread starts building up inside of him at the thought of Mela being unsettled. “What's wrong?”

Mela darts off without another word and Tim finally pushes himself up into a sitting position from where he had been lying down, the new perspective gives him a chance to get a clear view of his surroundings. Tim freezes when he realises that he was in fact not at home like he thought but rather instead he finds himself in the middle of the street with various of people all staring at him as if he’s from another planet.

Now alert Tim rapidly looks around to try and work out what happened. Why on earth is he in the middle of the street?

Mela appears in front of him again, having flown back to him from wherever she had run off too. The dragon darts forward and grabs the edge of Tim’s sleeve with her teeth and starts tugging in a clear indication that she wants Tim to follow her.

Taking a breath Tim gets to his feet. He pauses when he feels himself tilt to the side unsteadily but once he’s sure he’s found his footing he stands up straight and follows his dragon to wherever Mela wants him to go.

He’s currently outside a store, one very similar to all the rest in the town with it’s one floor, bricked foundations and wooden panelled roofing. It’s not even anything special as it’s just a grocery store. Tim’s mind is still rather foggy so he can’t yet connect the dots to why he’s there and what happened that landed him to be unconscious in the middle of the street.

Mela leads him to around the back of the building and suddenly everything fades into the background once he sees what’s behind the store amongst all the trash.

“Kon!”

Tim exclaims his boyfriend’s name and rushes over to his side. Falling to his knees Tim scans him looking for any signs of injury or anything else. Before he could react further Kon gasps and shoots upright into a sitting position and his eyes dart around all over the place obviously trying to catch up with the latest events.

“Kon, hey it’s me, you’re alright. Okay? Just breathe, you’re okay.” Tim calmly talks him down and gets his attention once he seems to settle.

“Tim?” Kon blinks at him and Tim nods. “You okay?”

“I’m fine. You?”

Kon frowns, looking confused, and places a hand to his forehead. “Yeah… what happened?”

Feeling uneasy Tim shrugs. “I don’t know. I only just woke up too, on the other side of the store in the middle of the street. I’m guessing you can’t remember either.”

“It’s blurry,” Kon admits with a grimace.

A rumble gets their attention and they both turn to look down at Mela who is glancing between them with wide eyes, her pupils having expanded leaving no iris’ left. Kon smiles and leans down to stroke a finger over Mela’s head and spine, earning him a happy purr.

“Hey Mela, glad you’re okay.” Kon mutters to the dragon affectionately.

The scene has Tim smiling but sadly it doesn’t stay when he remembers where they are and the fact they can’t remember how they got there. Getting to his feet he dusts his clothes off.

“C’mon, let’s go, we’ll head back home and see if we can work out what happened.” He holds out a hand for Kon to take, his boyfriend doesn’t hesitate to reach out and grab it however when their palms are about to touch something forces them apart.

The two of them share a look before trying again. They wear identical frowns when their hands wouldn’t meet.

“Kon take my hand.” Tim demands, his tone just short of snapping.

Kon huffs and glares at him. “I’m trying. I don’t know what’s going on.”

When they try again the same result happens where their palms deflect away from the other. They try their other hands only to have the same thing happen.

After a moment Kon gets to his feet on his own and they try another time but their efforts seem futile because no matter what their hands wouldn’t connect. Tim couldn’t describe it, the best he could compare it to is two magnets repelling against each other when the same poles are facing each other, no matter how much force is used to get them together they won’t meet.

Pursing his lips Tim looks at their hands before looking up at Kon’s perplexed face before looking at their hands again. He opens his mouth to say something but shuts it again quickly after realising he’s unsure on what he’s going to say.

The two of them stand there in a disbelieving silence for a while until a rumble from Mela breaks the spell.

Kon looks at Tim with a determined look. “Come here.”

Before Tim could move towards his boyfriend Kon is already reaching for him with his arms open as if he’s going to pull Tim in for a hug. Surprisingly, yet not so much, Kon’s arms never reach him, they don’t end up wrapped around him in the way Tim loves so much. Disheartened Tim watches as Kon’s arms seem to bounce away from him whenever they get close, it appears like Kon is hugging a force field that’s around Tim although they both know that is not the case.

Kon eventually gives up and his arms fall flat against his sides. His boyfriend looks somewhere between angry, sad and confused. Tim’s feeling the same way.

“What the fuck happened?” Kon whispers.

Tim sighs and runs a hand through his hair before pinching the bridge of his nose. Something happened to them before they were knocked unconscious, they just need to remember what they were doing in town and go from there. It was Tim’s day off so he didn’t need to do any collections or errands that day and Kon – to his knowledge – was free of duties too, so what were they doing?

A sudden weight appearing on his shoulder gets his attention and Tim glances to the side to find Mela perched there, her small body curling around his neck like a scarf. She lets out a whine, as if she’s feeling the same heaviness of the situation as they are, and nuzzles Tim’s jaw in her own affectionate way. Tim lets out a small smile and strokes over her glistening scales with a finger.

As he strokes her an idea comes to mind. “Hey Mela, can you fly to Kon for a moment, go and perch on his shoulder.”

When neither of his companions protest, Mela jumps off Tim’s shoulder and glides over to Kon’s shoulder opposite him. She lands lightly and curls around Kon’s neck in the same way she had done with Tim. Seeing this Tim hums in thought.

Looking at his boyfriend he says, “Mela isn’t affected by whatever this is between us. That may or may not be a good thing.”

Kon raises an eyebrow. “Dragons aren’t usually affected when it comes to things magical. They have their own entity when dealing with things like that, as you would know being a dragon rider. Her not being affected probably means the targets are just us, no one and nothing else. That’s saying if the thing behind this is in fact magic related.”

“Just why?” Tim enquires thoughtfully. There’s such a big gap in their memories which plays a key part in what happened. Taking a deep breath Tim shakes his head. “We’ll figure it out at home. We’ll get out the streets and go from there.”

-----

The topic of how they’re going to solve this matter between them gets brought up again when they’re ascending the stairs to their home. The two of them had moved in together into a small flat above the local bakery just last year. The move had been the next step in their relationship and finally having a space they could call their own was exhilarating.

“We’re not going to my father about this.” Kon protests from a step behind Tim.

“Why not?” Tim questions with a huff. He reaches the door first and digs out the key from his pockets. “He's probably the best option we have to figuring this out.”

“We don’t need to get anyone else involved. We can work this out for ourselves.”

Rolling his eyes Tim turns around to stare at his boyfriend in disbelief. Even Mela, from her position on his shoulder, makes a noise that sounds like a snort. Tim raises an eyebrow. “As much as I love your optimism and confidence in us, I don’t think we can, especially if this is a magical occurrence,” he turns back to the door and opens it up, leading the way inside their home, “you’re a mage Kon and a powerful one admittedly but spell work is not your forte.”

The door slams shut behind Kon. “Hey! I could know something about this….”

Tim doesn’t even bother entertaining the idea. They both know this is out of both of their elements as much as Tim hates to admit it. In his time of riding he’s come across a whole wide of variety of things but nothing like this before.

Tim makes his way into the kitchen and takes a seat down at the table with a sigh. A glance at the windowsill where their sundial is tells him it’s mid-afternoon. As soon as he’s sitting, Mela silently uncurls herself from around his neck and makes her way down his arm and onto the table. Tim watches as his dragon potters over to the fruit basket in the middle of the table and grabs an apple with her teeth, the small dragon struggles to drag the fruit over to Tim but once she’s in front of him she drops it and sits back on her hunches looking rather proud of herself. Tim couldn’t help but smile. Knowing what she wants Tim grabs his pocketknife from his pocket and starts slicing the fruit up into small bite size chunks and feeds her the pieces.

While he’s busy with Mela, Kon had followed him into the kitchen and was busing himself in making them a couple drinks. Once he's done he makes his way over to Tim and holds out the mug for him to take and without thinking about it Tim reaches out to take it from his boyfriend but startles when he feels the same repelling force from earlier appear again. The two of them share a sad knowing smile. In the end Kon places the mug on the table and goes and settle in the chair opposite Tim.

In between feeding Mela and drinking his coffee, Tim looks over at Kon, his mind going over their situation and what they could do to solve it. “If not your father then who do you suggest we go to?” He asks after a moment of silence.

Kon shrugs, looking lost and helpless. “I don’t know. All I know is that I don’t want to involve him.”

Tim shakes his head, knowing a partial reason on why Kon is against getting his dad in involved. “Kon, this isn’t the time to be holding grudges against him. We’re going to need his help.”

Clearly Tim hit a sore spot because Kon sends him a cold glare. “He lied to me Tim, for years he kept it secret when I deserved to know!”

“I know!” Tim reassures him. “I know, I’m just saying we’re not going to solve this by ourselves.”

“What do you suggest then? We hit the library looking up every spell possible to see if there’s a record to what we’re going through, or if there’s a potion we can create and then we’d be cured?”

“That's what we need to find out. First thing we need to do is remember why we were at that grocery store. It’s not anything special, just one in the town centre. How did we get there, what happened leading up to it?”

A thump sounds out and Tim watches with both amusement and annoyance as Kon smacks his head against the table. “I. Don’t. Know.” He boyfriend grits out.

Tim recalls that morning from what he could remember, hoping something will click into place as he goes through what happened. “We woke up, it’s both of our days off so we didn’t rush. Once out of bed we had breakfast and decided on what to do for the day. You wanted to do nothing and stay in bed but I wanted to go out. We ended up leaving to do…. something?”

Kon perks up, throwing him a thoughtful look. “We bumped into your brother downstairs as we left.”

Before he could reply a chirp sounds out and Tim glances down to find Mela looking up at him expectantly with another apple by her side. When she had grabbed it Tim has no idea. Giving his dragon a disapproving look, he grabs the apple and places it back into the fruit basket.

“No. I’m not giving you another one. You can wait.” He tells her firmly. Not liking being told no, she opens her eyes up and looks at him yearningly, sadly for her the look doesn’t work on him anymore. “No Mela. You can wait until dinner.”

The dragon huffs at him, even sending a little bit of smoke his way, and turns around to face Kon. His boyfriend looks amused and Tim just knows she’s trying on that look with him too. Kon doesn’t fall for it either.

“If Tim said no, then it’s a no from me too. You know this.” He tells Mela gently with a smile.

Knowing she’s not getting her way, the dragon huffs again and this time takes off from the table and flies out of the kitchen to disappear somewhere within the flat, probably her nest that’s been built in their bedroom.

Looking back at Kon he continues the conversation, now remembering what had been said “Yeah, Jason was returning back to the bakery after running some errands,” Tim glances at Kon, “maybe we should go and speak to Jason, he may be able to fill us in on some stuff.”

Kon shakes his head, against the idea. “No, he won’t be much help. I don’t think we conversed, not that I can remember anyway.”

Feeling restless energy building up inside of him, Tim gets up from his chair and begins to pace the length of the small kitchen. His mind is split into two. He’s desperate to know what he’s not remembering and why he couldn’t remember, then on the other hand he wants to solve this situation with Kon. He wants to touch his boyfriend. Not being able to touch Kon, or even go near him, is driving Tim crazy and it’s making him realise he misses all of those little things they do. The holding hands, comforting squeezes, hugs, resting against one another.

As he paces across the kitchen on what must be his tenth round, something on the side catches his attention. Pausing his movements Tim steps to the counter and finds it to be a piece of paper with his own handwriting on it, it’s a note reminding him to visit Babs sometime later in the week.

Seeing the woman’s name gives him an idea, lifting the piece of paper up in the air he beams at Kon, feeling hope for the first time since waking up in the middle of the street.

“There is someone who may be able to help us after all!”

Tim shows Kon the paper and when his boyfriend holds out his hand to take it from him he doesn’t hesitate to pass it over, only remembering a second later when their hands repel that they can’t do that. Feeling his smile falter Tim drops the paper down onto the table for Kon to see, once he’s out the way his boyfriend picks it up.

“You want to go visit Babs.” Kon states after reading the note.

Tim nods affirmatively. “If anyone’s got the knowledge to help us, it’d be her.”

“When do you want to go see her?”

Checking the time with their sun dial on the windowsill, Tim shrugs. “How about now? She would be done with work and if we’re lucky we can catch her at her workplace instead of at home.”

“Yeah okay,” Kon agrees easily getting up from his chair, “the sooner the better.”

Heading for the front door of their flat Tim whistles for his dragon. “Mela let’s go!”

A moment later Tim and Kon are by the door waiting for the dragon to appear. When she doesn’t Tim frowns and whistles again. When she stubbornly stays hidden Kon laughs.

“She’s mad at you because you refused her a second apple.”

Tim shakes his head in disbelief, “I don’t understand why she likes the damn things so much. She certainly lives up to her namesake.” Turning back into the flat he raises his voice. “If you come now, I’ll give you an extra apple after dinner.”

A beat goes by and just as Tim’s about to call out again a flap of wings could be heard and his dragon finally comes into view, apparently the promise of extra fruit does the trick. Mela lands smoothly on Tim’s shoulder and curls around his neck making a purring noise as she does so and Tim rolls his eyes fondly.

“You wouldn’t think she’d be able to shift into the size of several buildings put together would you?”

Kon snorts, doing the job of locking the door behind them before they descend down the stairs. “No you wouldn’t, but that’s what makes her special.” Smiling Tim gives his dragon a stroke along her spine with his finger.

When they arrive to speak to Babs at her workplace, they find she isn’t alone. When they walk into the room and see the second person leaning against Bab’s desk Tim sighs and curses softly. As much as he loves his eldest brother, he didn’t want to be dealing with him that day. Dick will ask too many questions and be a nuisance instead.

Seeing no point in delaying the inevitable, Tim strides into the room without further hesitation and earns himself a couple of curious looks to his sudden arrival.

“Hey Babs, Dick.” Tim greets them with a restrained smile, he wished he was greeting them for a different reason.

Babs raises an eyebrow and leans away from her desk to give him her full attention. Her eyes flicker from him to Kon as his boyfriend comes to stand beside him, well as close as he could get at least. “Tim, Conner, nice to see you. You timed that right, I’ve just finished for the day. What can I do for you?”

Tim shares a look with Kon and turns back at Babs, though he couldn’t help the apprehensive glance he sends Dick’s way, and explains to her what’s happened to the two of them that morning and why they’ve decided to approach her about their problem.

Once he’s finished talking Babs is wearing a contemplative expression. His brother on the other hand looks concerned. “Are you two okay though?” He asks worriedly, straightening up as he speaks.

Tim waves his concern to the side. “Yeah, we’re fine, except you know the whole not being able to touch each other thing and the amnesia we’re experiencing.” Dick isn’t impressed with his answer and Tim acknowledges his flat look with a shrug.

“Are you able to help us Babs?” Kon’s voice brings Tim back into the moment. He turns and finds his boyfriend leaning against the desk opposite the professor. “Anything at all?”

“There may be something…” she mumbles after a moment. The red haired woman turns to Dick and points him over to the far wall of the room where a large floor-to-ceiling bookshelf is placed and instructs her boyfriend to grab several different books from her extensive collection.

Seeing that this is going to take a while Tim wonders over to a chair and sits down on it, making himself at home. As Dick runs back and forwards between the bookshelf and Babs’ desk he inspects the room with curiosity. It’s Babs’ classroom and where she holds all of her lectures, being a professor at the only university in the town grants her a large lecture hall filled with seats that slope to give each one a view of Babs’ desk at the front. The door they entered from is to the left and the bookshelf Dick is currently emptying at Babs’ command is on the right.

Kon comes and settles a couple seats away from Tim as Babs announces she’s got everything she needs. Silently the woman starts flicking through pages of different books of all shapes, colours and sizes, clearly on a mission looking for something in particular.

Mela, who’s been silently sleeping on Tim until this point, wakes up and observes the room before standing and stretching. She takes off from Tim’s shoulders to circle the room and ends up touching down by Dick who greets her with a stroke and a smile.

Tim’s unsure on how much time passes by as they wait for Babs to do her research but he sighs in relief when she finally announces she think she’s found something.

“I thought your current situation sounded familiar and I couldn’t work out where I had heard it before. Going through some of my books I wanted to see if I could find any record of something like this happening before and thankfully I was right when I thought I recognised it.” As Babs talks her voice drops slightly and every word she says is clear and precise, Tim imagines this is her ‘professor’ tone.

“This book recalls similar situations that you’ve found yourselves in. Where different couples couldn’t either, talk, see, remember or touch one another.”

When the woman trails off Tim sends her an expectant look, waiting for the catch. “Okay so what else is there to it? Does it mention anything about the amnesia? What about how we fix it? Can it be fixed?”

Tim’s a little stressed out by the end of his volley of questions and he knows it shows through by the tone of his voice and his actions as his body tenses up.

“Hey Tim, easy okay. We’ll get the answers, just be patient.” Kon calmly tells him holding up a hand to placate him. His boyfriend looks like he wants to hug him but unfortunately they know that isn’t currently an option. Also sensing his distress Mela flies back over to him and lands on his shoulder, she presses her snout into the skin underneath his jaw, offering her own support and comfort.

Tim takes a deep breath and settles back down into his seat with an apology. If Babs was affected by his outburst she didn’t show it.

“When you said you suspected the cause of this to be magic, you are right, it is magic. Although it’s not a spell but in fact a curse.”

Her words leave Tim blinking at her. He’s both surprised and not to hear that. Before he could question it she continues talking, running a finger along the page of the book she reads from.

“And like every curse, there is a way for it to be broken. What binds your love together has been undone. Correct what has been broken to become whole again.”

There's a beat of silence following her words until Kon snorts seeming incredulous of the whole thing and honestly Tim doesn’t blame him. “You aren’t being serious right? A riddle to break a curse that’s been placed on us. Of course, why didn’t we see this coming! Who would curse us? What have we done?”

Those are fair questions to ask but sadly none of them have the answers to any of them.

For the first time in a while Dick speaks up from his position next to Babs’ desk. “I can look into it, whoever cursed you most likely casted the amnesia spell too. I’ll do what I can with my contacts from the details you’ve given but it’ll be a long shot I’m afraid, that’s even after narrowing down the population into warlocks.” His brother looks almost rueful for how little help he can offer them. Tim takes back his earlier comments of him being a nuisance.

“Anything that may help would be much appreciated, thanks Dick.” Tim acknowledges with gratitude.

Closing the book with a loud bang Babs sends them a calculating stare. “So you two knuckle heads need to try and work out that riddle and in the meantime I’ll search through my archives to see if there’s anything else about the curse. Dick will do his part to try and find this wayward warlock.”

Seeing that there’s nothing else to be done or said, Tim and Kon agree and give their farewells and leave the room.

Their mood is sombre during the walk back to their flat. The two of them are quiet as they each reflect on the information they’ve been told. As Tim thinks it over, he watches Mela who’s taken to flying ahead of them and stopping to do a flip before flying back to Tim and repeating the process. He knows she’s showing off, trying to make him smile and while he appreciates her efforts they don’t much to improve his mood.

He and Kon only speak again once they’re back at their flat. It’s now late and past dinner time, not that it’s going to stop them from eating, Tim sits at the table while Kon works on putting together a meal for them. His dragon has flown off into the apartment, most likely for a nap so once they’re done Tim will make sure to leave some food out for her.

“What binds your love together has been undone. Correct what has been broken to become whole again.”

Tim repeats Babs’ words from earlier, wondering what the hell they mean. He asks Kon the question and gets a shrug as an answer.

“I don’t know Tim. Your guess is as good as mine. It could be anything.”

“Well c’mon,” Tim urges him, “you’re the mage between us you should be able to come up with an answer!”

Kon sends him an unimpressed look over his shoulder. “For the thousandth time, the correct term is warlock. You know I hate the word mage.”

“I could call you a wizard if you prefer?”

“Absolutely not. I’d take mage over wizard thanks.”

“I’m glad we could come to an agreement. Anyway, spell, curse, us. What do we do?” Tim bends down and rests his head against the table with a groan.

He sits back up a moment later in time for Kon to approach the table with two plates. His boyfriend places the plate down as close as he could before taking the seat opposite him. The two of them tuck into their food while discussing the matter at hand.

“There’s nothing wrong with our relationship, so it’s a mystery to what could be ‘broken’.” Kon comments with a frown.

Tim hums. “It’s also a question of what ‘binds our love’? Last I knew we haven’t participated in any soul binding spells or rituals. What is there to break?”

The two of them fall silent at the question and they both end up getting lost in their thoughts over the matter, thinking mostly about what it could mean for them.

After they’ve finished eating and have cleared up, having to swap places so they could each do the chores of cleaning and putting away the dishes, they decide to call it a night and start to get ready for bed. Where they would normally use the tiny bathroom together they quickly found that they wouldn’t be able to do so now, having to get ready separately Tim uses the opportunity to prepare some snacks for Mela (making sure to give her extra apple) while Kon uses the bathroom and once he's done Tim takes his turn.

Because of their situation they were apprehensive about getting into bed, unsure on how it was going to work. Since they couldn’t touch each other it raises the question of whether their bed would be big enough for the two of them to be in at the same time. They decide to give it a go and see what happens, depending on how the night goes depends on what actions they take.

The next week proves to be challenging. Both Tim and Kon are growing more agitated each passing day with their situation, not being able to touch one another is driving them both insane. One of the only things keeping Tim sane is that he’s able to keep Mela close to him and also that at least he and Kon can be somewhat near one another even if they aren’t touching.

They keep up with their jobs, their work keeping them fairly distracted from their issue when they’re not at home. There’s been no updates from neither Babs nor Dick which frustrates Tim but he understands.

A breakthrough hits Tim while he’s out riding Mela.

The two of them go out flying at least twice a week that’s for fun, they cross over the town and over to the nearby coast, sometimes they’d adventure further to some nearby mountains or visit a neighbouring town just to change things up.

On this particular day Tim and Mela were visiting another town, Tim had wanted to drop by to see some friends while he had free times between jobs and while the two of them walked through town, Mela currently the size of a horse who was striding alongside him, they came across a large metal grid in the shape of a heart. On this metal framing there were hundreds of little padlocks, all different shapes, sizes and colours, some had inscriptions on them while others were plain.

Seeing this Tim stops dead in his tracks as the revelation hits him like a freight train.

Their padlock. His and Kon’s padlock is the key to undoing the curse that’s been placed on them. Back in their own town, on their own local love lock frame, he and Kon have a padlock themselves, one of which they locked in place together when after they shared their first “I love you.”

Tim thinks it over, the lock must have come magically undone when they got cursed, perhaps if they go and visit the padlock and relock it then the curse may lift. If that isn’t the case then maybe they get themselves a new lock which may do the trick. Tim’s not sure but what he is sure of is his next steps. Turning to Mela he gets his dragon’s attention as she had been drawn to two cats playing down the street. If Tim hadn’t been one-track minded he would have found Mela’s curiosity rather amusing.

“Mela. C’mon let’s go, it’s home time.” Tim waits for her to focus on him and seeing what he wants she lowers her body down so he could swing up onto her back onto the saddle placed there. Within seconds she’s launched into the air and the two of them are making their way back home. Mela’s smaller form making it easier to glide through the air making the journey quicker than what it would have been if she had been full size.

Once they touch down, Tim dismantles and takes off in a sprint to go and find Kon. Considering the day and time, he should be able to find his boyfriend near the outskirts of town at the arena. The town had a makeshift arena, one that had been created by teenagers who wanted to practice their magic and sword fighting away from adults, over time it became an official place to do practising on and for lessons to be taught at. Kon would be here doing lessons in offense and defensive magic to young warlocks.

As expected he finds Kon in the middle of the arena in front of a small group of kids. Not caring about the audience Tim sprints over the group shouting Kon’s name. In his determination and lack of awareness, Tim realises he’s going to fast too late and is unable to stop himself from crashing into Kon, unfortunately due to their circumstances Tim simply bounces off Kon and lands in the dirt on his ass.

“Tim! Gods above are you okay? What’s going on?” Kon exclaims his concern and looks at Tim with a mixture of worry and bewilderment.

Ignoring his now bruised coccyx, Tim stands up and dusts himself off. “I’ve worked it out! I know how we can break the curse!”

Kon blinks at him in a shocked silence for several moments. It gives Tim the perfect opportunity to look into his beautiful blue eyes which were reflecting the sun high in the sky that day. The moment is broken when one of the young kids Kon had been teaching speaks up, reminding the two of them they had an audience.

“Class dismissed. I’ll see you guys next week.” Kon calls out distractedly. The group all grumble but head away without any complaints.

Tim launches into an explanation about his day and how it lead to him working out that their padlock may be the key to breaking the curse. When he first started talking Kon looked intrigued and eager, as his story went on it changed to one of confusion before ending with an expression of understanding.

“We need to go to that love lock frame, now!”

The two of them break out into a run in the direction towards the love locks, Tim’s is mildly aware of Mela flying behind them, his dragon having shifted into her smallest form while they had been talking.

Minutes later they reach the frame and the two of them immediately start scanning for where they had placed theirs all those years ago, many more have been added  since then making it more difficult to find.

“Here!”

Kon’s shout gets his attention and Tim hurries over to where his boyfriend is standing at the opposite end of the frame, this one being in the shape of the word ‘love’, and Tim looks where Kon is pointing to see that their padlock is unlocked. Tim observes the lock, it’s the same as he remembers, a classic square padlock with a keyhole at the bottom of it. The colour is a shimmering sliver that reflects colourfully in the sunlight, it’s the same silver that covers Mela. Kon had picked the lock up for them with Mela in his mind. Tim had melted when Kon shared the reasoning with him, it meant more than anything about how accepting his boyfriend is of his dragon. Wanting Kon to have his mark on it too, Tim engraved Kon’s family symbol onto the front of the lock, the symbol itself resembling an ‘S’ shape.

Kon holds the now open padlock in his palm and shows it to Tim. “So we just simply lock this back into place and the curse will break?” Disbelief bleeds into his tone as he talks and Tim could only shrug in response.

“Maybe? I don’t know, this is just a guess.”

Taking a deep breath Kon shuffles closer to the frame and fits the lock into place, just before he closes it Tim gets in as close as he could and allows his hand to hover over Kon’s as his boyfriend locks the padlock shut. An audible click sounds out and a heavy pause follows the silence. Tim and Kon share a frown, the two of them waiting for something to happen, not that they knew what they were waiting for.

“Did it work?” Kon asks.

Tim glances down at his hand to find it still hovering above Kon’s and his heart drops. He still can’t touch Kon.

“I don’t think so.” Tim says despairingly. On his shoulder Mela lets out a low noise and pushes her snout into Tim’s jaw, offering a comforting touch. Tim backs away and runs a hand through his hair feeling disheartened and agitated. “Back to the drawing board it is.”

“Hey,” Kon calls out to him and instinctively Tim turns to look at him, “I love you. That hasn’t changed.”

At Kon’s firm declaration Tim smiles, “I know, I love you too.”

His boyfriend steps in close and keeps eye contact, his expression now showing determination. “We’ll figure it-”

Tim blinks when Kon abruptly stops talking. He sends his boyfriend a concerned glance, “Kon? You okay?” And that’s when he feels it, a gentle nudge against his foot. Looking down Tim’s eyes widen when he sees the tip of Kon’s boot nudging against his, he had stepped in too close and accidently hit Tim’s foot with his own, this being something that shouldn’t have been possible because of the curse.

It takes a moment for the realization of what that tiny touch means. When it does finally sink in Tim snaps his head at the same time as Kon and instantly they’re moving towards each other, immediately wrapping their arms around the other because they now could. Feeling Kon’s arms around him makes him want to sob, the relief he’s feeling run through his body isn’t like anything he’s felt before, he knew he missed it but didn’t realise how much until now. He doesn’t want to let Kon ago again.

Being embraced by his boyfriend for the first time in a week Tim loses track of time. He doesn’t know how long they stand there hugging but they only pull apart when Mela begins to restlessly wiggle in between them and starts making impatient noises. They each laugh and even though they separate they don’t let go of one another.

“We should probably head home don’t you think?” Kon says with a wide smile.

Tim couldn’t help but reciprocate the gesture, he squeezes the hand still tightly holding onto Kon. “I think that’s a good idea.” He reaches up with the other hand and strokes Mela who’s settled on his shoulder with her tail curling around his neck, “I believe this one is getting impatient.”

Kon fondly rolls his eyes. “Kids these days huh?”

“Can’t take them anywhere!” Tim jokes with a laugh and knowing they were talking about her Mela nips harshly at his ear causing Tim to wince but it doesn’t stop him from laughing.

As they walk down the path, heading home, all Tim could think of is where their hands are joined and how right it feels. He knows there’s still work to be done, after all the wayward warlock hasn’t been caught yet and there’s still the problem about their amnesia but for now Tim can relish in the fact he gets to hold Kon again after what feels like forever without being able to do so.

#timkon #TimKon Week 2022 #alternate universe #fantasy au #dragon rider tim #warlock kon #curses #can't touch each other curse #humour #fluff #dragons #established relationship #batfam bingo 2019 #I have finally completed the bingo card #fanfiction #7k words #general rating #Tim Drake #Kon-El

[roguepen]

CHAPTER 31 IS LIVE!

I almost titled the chapter ‘Hey Brother’ for reasons.

#one for sorrow two for joy #Roguepen Writes #The author is tired #I almost cut this in half at the last minute #7k words #y'all #I'm going to sleep

[camillamaecaulay]

graves grow no green that you can use.

gwendolyn brooks

#mine* #camillamaecaulay #poetblr #words #dark academia #dark academia aesthetic #the secret history #dead poets society #gwendolyn brooks #poetry #da aesthetic #to the young who want to die #1k #2k #3k #4k #5k #6k #7k #8k #9k #10k #lol #11k #12k #13k #smashed it ladies good game #oh wow 17k #okay

[okletsgetnuts]

#scott pilgrim vs the world #scott pilgrim #kieran culkin #michael cera #the L word #the other L Word #movie #film #action #comedy #fantasy #romance #lesbian #lesbians #1k #2k #3k #4k #5k #6k #7k #2010 films #2010 movies #edgar wright #ruined weeknd #okletsgetnuts #celebrity #dunkindonutz #pop culture #pop crave

[actiaslunaris]

Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Utsumi Kaoru/Yukawa Manabu Characters: Utsumi Kaoru, Yukawa Manabu Additional Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Established Relationship, Switching, 30kisses, Anniversary, Changing Tenses, Limerence, Fluff and Smut Summary:

"So you want to go to the beach," she'd said. "What will we do?"

#link #tantei galileo #fanfic:mine #yukaoru #yukawa manabu #utsumi kaoru #this is just some uncomplicated mostly vanilla but still slightly kinky smut that took a stupid long amount of time to write #i posted a snippet from this back in february; it has since been reworked a bit in the context of the story #7k words #30kisses

[iluliluu]

me, sitting in front of my laptop and shaking violently

i wanna write i don't wanna write but i wanna write but i really don't wanna

#someone help me #my latest chapter is at over 7k words and it's not even done #but idk how to tie it all together #and then i need to EDIT??? oh hell nah #writeblr #writing memes #writers on tumblr #writing #fanfiction #fanfic #writerscommunity #ao3 writer #writer stuff

[fumifooms]

Chilchuck’s wife and family - Facts, theories and headcanons

I want to keep this as a sort of masterpost on Chil’s family situation if I can, but if we get a lot of information on it (in the additional content that Kui is gonna make) that renders this more or less useless I probably won’t update this anymore. If you find other crumbs of information or I've said anything factually incorrect please do tell me! I'm planning to edit this as we go since I want to compile most if not all of the information and pages we get about this topic on here, and if I just wait to post it perfection paralysis will nip this in the bud. It focuses a lot on Chilchuck and Chilchuck's wife relationships, but the daughters and Chilchuck's own parents and siblings are talked about as well.

CW/disclaimer: This post talks about messy family dynamics and such, there’s no outright abuse I’m implying anywhere, but alcoholism and neglect are mentioned and discussed. I’m not here to demonize anyone! I love every character involved and I just want to theorize about the topic as a layered issue that involves complex characters. Also, I try to use very transparent language as to when I’m citing or analyzing canon information and when I’m giving a personal interpretation or headcanoning.

Abbreviated table of content:

Timeline and circumstances

Possible strains on the marriage

The hair question. Confirmation on what his wife looks like?

Other family dynamic & post-canon theories & headcanons

Parenting style + misc in a reblog addition (new)

Let’s start with the facts, shall we?

Timeline and circumstances

So, we see that Chilchuck and his wife are childhood friends, and they married at 13 years old and had two children in that same year. Since half-foots reach the age of maturity at 14, they seem to be what we'd call teen parents. It's a bit debatable though, since Laios says the age of maturity for tallmen (humans) is 16 instead of 18 or even 21, so what's considered to be the age of maturity is a cultural thing and isn't fully reliable when we want to compare to our irl understanding and what developmental stage it perfectly aligns with. Also, during the succubus chapter Chichuck says that his daughters were all now of age to be independent, and Chilchuck's wife leaves to live with Flertom, which would mean that Puckpatti was independent at age 10 and lived away from home as well (since she's the third/last daughter). Ah yes another interesting thing to note is that we don’t know the pregnancy periods for the races, since Meijack and Flertom were born the same year. It could be tight timing or it could be something else, but I don’t think they’re twins, they keep talking about them being the oldest and the middle child, them being twins is definitely the sort of thing that would get mentioned.

Him starting working on the island notably happens just one year before his wife leaves him. I don't remember the other instances of him mentioning it though I feel like it happened, but since he started working at the Island's dungeon, working as a dungeon diver and then forming the half-foot guild, that probably means he started being away for longer periods of time and having a less reliable schedule on when he'd be coming back home. It is said that he went back home somewhat regularly iirc, though he usually ends up sleeping at the half-foot guild quarters. I'm not sure if Kahka Brud is also where he lived with his family, or just since he rented someplace new after she left him. He and his timeline state that he was born in a small village "northeast of the island", which he left at 14 one year after being married, but it isn’t stated where they go after so it’s unsure how far his home was from the island if it wasn’t in Kahka Brud. We don’t know when his father died so if that factors in to him leaving his village we have no clue.

Chil also says that he hasn’t seen or spoken with his wife nor daughters since the incident, which would mean he's gone 4 years without contact with his family during the events of canon. I don't remember if Chilchuck is said to exchange letters with his daughters, beyond the initial one from Flertom saying her mother was with her, so I've been assuming he hasn't.

He also says "For about ten years I’ve been travelling to dungeons in various areas and doing work" which considering he’s turning 29 that year would mean he started around 19 years old? The panel also gives details what sort of work he’s been doing. Either way it’s confirmed that Chilchuck travels for his work a lot.

In addition, since Chilchuck has the seal of approval of the bicorn + says so himself, he has always stayed faithful to his wife. So that means that unless he's had previous adventures before he was 14 and got married, he's never dated anyone else in his life, nor had romantic or sexual encounters/experiences with others in his 16 years of marriage right up to canon (year 514). I feel it’s safe to say that it’s implied that during all these years starting from when they were married, Chilchuck's wife was a housewife whose main job was taking care of the kids and the house.

Marcille's take on what happened is unreliable, as Kui even takes the time to directly say so in the Adventurer's Bible, so I don't want to use it as a baseline even if it offers some insight on what could have happened (her feeling out of place, leaving to test his love, etc etc).

What Chilchuck says seems to be accurate though since it pertains to his perspective of the events! Unlike how Marcille's theory flows, Chilchuck was aware that something was off before she left since she "suddenly fell into a bad mood".

Piecing everything together, my theory: Chilchuck and his wife were childhood friends and have always always sort of danced around of each other, the classic movie love story with childhood sweethearts, until they ultimately confessed and got together. While dating, Chilchuck's wife becomes pregnant and they're both unequiped to deal with the situation but decide to marry, either a bit forced in order to cover it up or hopeful to make the best of it. They make it work as they can and Chilchuck works to provide for the family while she takes care of the home and the kids, which means that even though he's not a deadbeat father (he cares, he was at least a bit involved in their lives and raising them since for example he knows how to braid hair after all) he ends up being rather absent from home. It only gets worse over the years, especially when Chilchuck starts working further and further away from home and coming home less often, and since Puckpatti left home Chilchuck's wife is alone at home most of the time, never knowing when Chilchuck would be coming and if to prepare the table for two instead of one, or even if he'd be coming back at all since his work is dangerous. The humdrum and lifestyle would get to her, they've grown into different people in these 10 years of marriage and she doesn't feel the spark or feels valued & seen anymore, so she leaves. He feels confused and betrayed which turns into anger so he doesn’t try to reach out and mend things, and with the way he says they’re estranged and he moves away I think he’s avoiding his family somewhat.

Possible strains on the marriage

Tfw all your daughters are independent and your husband is gone to work almost all the time and he barely even tells you that he loves you, is there even a reason to stay together anymore? Every day it’s just you and an empty house and chores to do, wondering if you have to cook for one or for two today.

Alright it’s analysis and theorizing time! Although there are more facts down in this post if you care about Chilchuck's wife's appearajce, Chilchuck's parents & siblings or the kids, the essential facts so to speak were all in the first part.

We don't see Chilchuck showing any discontent with his wife through the manga so I'm assuming that he was content in his marriage, happy with his wife, and with how he stayed faithful to her even in the 4 years after she left (and never stopped calling her his wife. Which also shows a weird stubborn attitude since he wasn’t planning on reaching out to her and mend things but I’ll put aside the possible entitlement/coping mechanism for another time) I think he truly loved her and still does. Since she left him and not the reverse, I'm putting a lot of emphasis on his wife's side of things. Especially since we do see how Chilchuck is at work quite a bit but never see how he is at home. I’ll be sounding harsh towards Chil on this but he’s pretty much the only party we can criticize since we don’t know her, I still side with Chil on the leaving issue though, he’s justifiably pissed if she left without a word what the hell even.

Alcoholism and health

Chilchuck’s favorite food as listed in the Adventurer’s Bible is beer, and it’s shown that he’s prone to drinking until drunk whenever he gets the opportunity to. A cheerful drunk is still a drunk. (Extra reading: if interested here's a oneshot FMA fanfic by a friend that goes in depth about this very topic that really illustrates what sort of family dynamic that can bring about. It’s not dunmeshi but it’s a good read.) Chilchuck is also canonically underweight, starving himself for a strict weight management diet (Extra reading: you can look at a short compilation post about that here). Did you know under eating makes one irritable? And this is on top of Chilchuck sometimes/regularly coming back home with "horrible injuries", since Marcille guesses it and he acts like she’s dead right on everything that far.

It’s rough seeing someone you love mistreat themselves, not being able to shake them out of that and having to stay to see them wasting away. It’s rough seeing them put their work above their own health. Putting their work even above their family. Putting alcohol over family time. It's not that simple, but there's always that element when asking someone you love to tone it down with things like alcohol or such, that if they refuse, then it feels like they value that thing more than they value your feelings or opinions. That they love alcohol more than they love you.

You know how there’s often this thing of "Well I’m providing everything for this family, so whatever else that I do you don’t get to complain." I do think that it’s something they’d have argued over a little bit, not that he’d say it that way, but the essence of it. "Chilchuck, you’re drinking a lot of alcohol often, I’m worried maybe you should ease up on it." "This is what I want to do in my free time, give me a break.", "Dear, your mood gets worse when you’re hungry, I really think you should stop dieting-" "Would you rather I die in a trap because I was too heavy?", "Honey I don’t like when you work so far away from home for so long" "Well what else can I do, do you have any better idea?". That sort of thing. Even if not being passive agressive or snappy, or even spoken upon, these situations can cause tension, or a feeling of powerlessness or imbalance in the relationship. Although I personally feel like they were both rather passive in their relationship (thus having little arguments), which itself can be a problem since yes they let each other live but they grew more distant and less communicative as a result, more on that later. Content and tolerating, rather than happy and fulfilled.

Workaholism and long distance

Spending a lot (or even a majority?) of time away from home for years and years obviously can strain relationships in many ways. Besides becoming more distant, both with his wife and his daughters, there's just that side that maybe you grow apart or you end up not knowing them all that well. Like the fictional dialogue excerpts I wrote just above, the way Chilchuck puts work above most things can by itself be the source of a lot of unhealthy habits and strains that could not only hurt himself but his relationships too. Devoted doesn’t mean attentive, even if Chilchuck 100% devotes himself to only her romantically and works in the goal to support her that doesn’t transfer into being there for her, even when he physically is.

An absent father isn't necessarily a deadbeat father, but an absent father is absent. And alright, we don’t know what his schedule was like exactly, but he was busy and traveled around, I think it’s fair to assume that if we were to make comparisons it’d be like parents irl who are often on work trips. We don't know what Chilchuck's wife's social circle is like, but regardless of how big or small or supportive it is it would be easy to get lonely I think. Besides raising the kids undoubtedly falling more onto her shoulders as well. Managing a household can be very hard and tiring even when not alone, I can imagine she felt like she missed the support of Chilchuck either as help or comfort oftentimes. We know very little about her, but I don't get the impression that she'd build up resentment over it except maybe her ‘falling into a bad mood’, but exhaustion? Absolutely.

It’s also implied imo, even beyond Chil not often being at home, that they rarely go out together. And that could very well be part of why she was mad after the outing. In Marcille’s theory she says that her wife felt out of place amongst all the cool adventurer coworkers, and if it’s a rare time that they go out together and it was supposed to be about her meeting his coworkers… I feel like what could have happened was that she felt out of place yes, and even moreso if she ended up not participating in conversations much because of it and no one really seemed to care, and the evening was all Chilchuck and his coworkers chatting it up as always and she was an outsider, if she sort of just faded into the background, if it felt like nothing would have changed wether she was there or not... If she felt like her presence didn’t matter on this special outing that rarely happened, it could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for her to want to leave, definitely. He finally comes back after a long work travel and they finally go out and this is what their quality time is like? The outing that was supposed to be about her & them both ended up being all about him, and once more she was supposed to just orbit around him and his life without complaint or her own selfish wants like a devoted wife. With how Chil said that she got mad "all of a sudden" on the way home and he didn’t know why, plus that he was probably drunk (which may very well have made the whole thing worse), I feel like it supports that he didn’t pay her much attention during the evening, not that I’m assigning him ill intent at all, I’m sure that for him, it was a casual and fun night out and he didn’t think it'd been unpleasant or alienating for her.

That night

And all of this speculation in order to try and figure… What happened? Why did she leave? I've already gone into it a fair bit, but this is where I discuss it fully in depth.

We can’t rely on Marcille’s theory. Neither in the why she felt so out of place enough to want to leave, nor if her intention when leaving was to "test" him. I definitely agree that the reason why she left is layered and that the night/outing was the straw that broke the camel’s back more than the cause perse, but besides that it’s hard to say how much of it was impulsive and how much was because nothing else had worked to fix their relationship, or how long she'd been thinking of maybe leaving him.

Personally my favorite interpretation isn't that she found herself to be boring surrounded with Chilchuck's adventurer coworkers, or her reason for leaving is super centered around insecurity and if Chilchuck even loves her anymore, but that she sees how rich and eventful Chilchuck's life is and at the same time realizes how stagnant her own life has been. Chilchuck has adventurers for coworkers and they go out to bars and spend evenings together chatting it up, while she always does the same house chores every day and waits, and wonders, uncertain about when her huband would come back, and waits some more. She has a sort of passive role in her own life that gets pulled in one way or another by the people around her at their whims and needs, which is also a recurring theme in the manga: having a passive role in your own life, or a role that's devoted to others. Like with Falin who's always following her parents' directives or following Laios around, being the party's healer and eventually sacrificing herself for Laios and Marcille (she also doesn't seem to think much of marriage, as seen with Shuro proposing to her and her not having answered yet, which fits with how she was supposed to have an arranged marriage in her hometown too; a loveless marriage isn't something alarming to her). Izutsumi too, whose whole arc is about her gaining freedom and figuring out how to use this empowerment for herself and what she wants.

So she'd sit there, not knowing anyone except Chilchuck and not being able to follow their conversations about dungeons, and think about how this is a world she's totally apart from. How she knows so little of the world compared to him. She'd realize that while she's always waiting for Chilchuck to come home, dedicated to him and their family, Chilchuck's world doesn't stop and end at where and when he sees her, that while she's waiting he's living and experiencing things and being self-fulfilled. She's so passive and devoted and her tasks seem almost senseless now that the house is empty except for her, and in that time he's formed half-foot unions and she understands so little of what his life has become outside of her sight. This isn't a diss on Chilchuck or his attitude, I just think that it'd make her ponder about happiness and lifestyles, what's worth it and if she's content with her life. I think she'd find that her and Chilchuck aren't on the same page anymore, and probably they don't communicate much or even that they don't know how to communicate with each other anymore.

Other factors

They really do seem to be on different pages and not know how to communicate with each other well, since for example Chilchuck thinks that on the way back home she "suddenly" fell into a bad mood and seemingly left it alone, or otherwise they didn't talk until he knew what was wrong. Or like how she left and Chilchuck never reached out to her to talk or mend things, just like she never reached out either. According to Marcille it could be that she wanted to "test his love" and see if he'd even care if she was gone, but Chilchuck just got angry that she left like that and never reached out to her, so if that's true they definitely have incompatible expectations or ways to deal with things like that. Maybe she thought of leaving as something he should react to by trying to win her back, but Chilchuck did nothing and let her do her thing, and tbh if that were me I'd also have waited on her to reach out because I figure out that if someone leaves me they want space from me idk. He seems to be rather passive when it comes to interpersonal relationships and how they can mess up, made an analysis post here that talks about it, so the way he reacted by not reacting doesn't feel surprising, maybe she didn't know/remember that part of him, or wanted to shake him out of that tendency. He has no clue why she left, and there are just so many misunderstandings here that it's impossible to know what happened and how she felt and what she wanted for the future.

Also, we’re shown that younger Chilchuck, when he started dungeon crawling, is much more "innocent" and optimistic, less closed off on himself and bitter, and maybe he hasn't even developed his famous "sarcastic retorts" and "abusive remarks" yet as is plastered on all his character introductions and stats. Chilchuck has definitely changed a lot over the years, and some would argue not for the better. Staying with someone for so long has implications that they'll change and be different of course, but signing up for marriage with someone can still leave you questioning that choice decades down the line when they're so different

We get to see his freckles fade in sync with his corruption arc /j

Tfw when you can’t recognize the man you fell in love with.

The hair question

Edit 1/13/2024 leak!!!! Things aren’t officially confirmed but this is a safe bet. You can still read this section to see my reasoning to thinking she had black hair prior to this tho haha

It's not all that important rationally, but the community's been split on the topic: is Chilchuck's wife blonde or not?

Kui highlights Chilchuck being attracted to blondes a grand total of three times, and many assume that his wife is blonde due to this. However, the only vision we see of Chilchuck's wife is Marcille imagining herself as a halfling, so it's up for debate! Flertom has black hair, and that's mostly been the key clue that has people arguing.

I'm not an expert in genetics but black hair is a dominant gene, but it also doesn't mean a black haired parent can't have a brown haired kid, or that two brown haired parents can't have a kid with black hair. As long as one of the parents have it in their genetic code from somewhere in their family tree, it's possible, if not maybe unlikely.

People have been taking Flertom having black hair as evidence that Chilchuck's wife has black hair, but it could be Chilchuck that has the gene and could pass it on. Although...

That seems unlikely. We don't know what Chilchuck's elder brother's hair color was, and his elder sister does have a darker brown hair color, but in the case their parents had black hair or the gene for it, it seems highly unlikely if not impossible for the dominant black hair gene to miss this many amount of time in the gene russian roulette game.

And so I shall now call a witness to the stand, and you reader shall be the judge… Dandan.

You know, this guy? He makes appearances throughout the whole manga, but only has one spoken line in an easy to brush over flashback iirc. He's most often seen hanging out around Chilchuck and other half-foots, but it's unsure how far back he and Chilchuck go.

Now. Remember how Chilchuck and his wife are childhood friends? What if, and hear me out, what if Dandan is related to her. A cousin, or a sibling. Or maybe he's Chilchuck's cousin, even, if we go the reverse route.

The chapter cover

Look at the chapter cover below! We see each member of the main party at a table that's meaningful to them and their history, mostly showing themes of family, community and routine. Laios and Falin sharing a meal by themselves, Marcille at a meal in the cafeteria at the magic academy, Senshi by himself cooking in the dungeon, Izutsumi with Inutade at the Nakamoto household, and... Chilchuck, surrounded by much more mysterious and unknown characters and surroundings.

The only face we see besides the infant is a young one on the left which strikes me as looking a ton like Chilchuck! I doubt it's Meijack or Puckpatti, or someone else, especially since Chilchuck left his hometown pretty early which must make family gatherings harder (and routine is implied with the others’ panels). If it were Meijack I think Kui would have drawn it to more closely match her too, and have her usual freckles. I also don't think it's just Chilchuck and his own family, since if that's Chilchuck the only sibling with black hair he could have is his elder brother and the infant in the middle is clearly, well an infant.

My thoughts are that the table is shared with family friends, or at least members of the community. The elderly person implies that either there's extended family or it’s a gathering, especially if Chilchuck's grandparents don't live with them. Community is implied to be very important with half-foots imo, and if Chilchuck is from a small hometown like he says that would surprise me even less. Childhood friends are often brought together as friends because of circumstances, such as proximity or their families being friends! Doesn't that kid almost off-panel on the right, with a Flertom-like hairstyle and black hair, look to be the same age as the Chilchuck on the left? 👀

Also… Notice the dragon plush she’s holding?

Passed down from mom to daughter? The "most likely belonged to his daughters" is interesting too

If he is related, Dandan could be the infant. I suppose he doesn't end up mattering all that much in the end if you theorize that the Flertom-like kid is his wife on its own though haha. But wether or not you think that this is convincing enough, it's all we have on the topic for now.

Ah yes! Lastly, I've seen the sentiment around that his wife should be blonde, that Chilchuck's taste for blondes, if not the thing that brought them together, should be an acquired taste from loving his wife. That if that's not the case, then Chilchuck's type being blondes is either out of place or insuting or unromantic, etc etc. I can't help but disagree! I think, especially with how Chilchuck and his wife are domestic and all about knowing each from a young age, familiarity etc etc, that it would be so sweet if she wasn't his type! Loving someone so deeply, even if they aren't an idealized type... Which is a common theme/story & character beat in Dungeon Meshi.

Family dynamic theories

Meijack is the most capable, takes after her father the most, seems to have her own business as a locksmith but has a stable steady life. Flertom is the most social, she works at a tavern which seems stable and is ambitious with marriage plans, she has a caring side to her since she sent her dad a handmade gift. Puckpatti is the most upbeat, though she has the most unstable lifestyle, seemingly doing odd jobs.

His daughters do seem well adjusted, which encourages me in that their family seems amicable on the whole and (at the very least) decently functional. We don’t hear what they think of Chilchuck but presumably none of them are on bad terms with him or each other. Flertom does say that "half-foot men are stingy" which, gee, I wonder what half-foot man would have made taught her that- though it does also seem to be a racial stereotype in general, with how for example Namari also says to "steer clear from stores with half-foot clerks".

Flertom seems to be the only one who reached out after their mother left (the only one who's mentioned to have done so at least), and it's because she was the one who took in her mother. It’s not implied that they exchange letters regularly too iirc, it possibly was the only letter they've exchanged since then. I wonder if the daughters even know the full story, if their mother told them all about it or very little. Maybe some are pretty out of the loop, or more distant.

It strikes me that they don't seem to be very close. We're not shown anything that leads us to believe they don't like their father, but I think they're so used to him being absent for work that such distance is normal for them and they don't really long for a deeper relationship or to see him often. They were already out of the house and it seems like they didn't see each other much at that time either so for them it would be just a bit less than the regular amount of Dad time. It's been 4 years Chilchuck what are you doing... But yeah! From what we see they seem mostly unaffected, almost indifferent, not that we can truly tell. I imagine Flertom is the one most attached to Chilchuck with how she sent him a handmade cowl, and I think he rubbed off the most on Meijack teachings wise (besides her attitude, she’s also the one who still wears braids, and we see that Chilchuck braids hair). It makes sense, since they're oldest, and on the contrary I think Puckpatti is the one that knows her father the least. It'd fit the timeline with him working away more while she grew up imo.

Wouldn't it be interesting then that she's the one that Chilchuck says is carefree, in the official translation "doesn't treat life real seriously"? That she's the most optimistic, the most go-with-the-flow, out of the bunch? To me that sounds like a result from her being the youngest and Chil being the most often at work, thus her getting raised by her mother without as much involvement from Chil. Far be it from me to say Chilchuck would raise his daughters to be unhappy btw, not at all, we just all know what down-to-earth values he wants others to have so he doesn't have to worry about them.

Although… Puckpatti spotted?? Seems like he wants to stop her from buying something? His heart meter for her is full <3 (Note: I’ve seen it be argued that this could be his wife. I disagree, since the "stop them" and way that the long haired one is off-center compared to everyone else gives the sense that it’s many of his daughters, and the fact that it’s styled after a dating sim doesn’t mean it’s romantic love as we see with the others. Otherwise imagine being her wife and he tells you not to buy stuff when you go shopping together rip)

Headcanons time:

When naming the daughters, together they choose a pool of names they’d like but only one has the final say, and they alternate between who that is. Chilchuck sticks around more near the end of her pregnancies, and he hasn’t missed any of their births. I don’t have any opinions on who named who right now, but there could be some interesting stuff to theorize with Puckpatti, like them taking extra care picking the name together because they settled on her being their last daughter for fluff, or it was supposed to be Chilchuck but he was so busy that he ended up not picking in time and she was the one to name her for angst.

Actually scratch that I have a new theory : What if it’s actually customary for each parent to pick one half of their half-foot kid’s name? So then each would have chosen half of each girl’s name… And this could be why Chil calls Puckpatti Patti instead of Puck which is her first name, because he’s stubborn since Patti was his pick lmaoooo. Pattipuck doesn’t have the same ring to it alas, his wife was so right

Chilchuck liked to do activities with the girls when they were young. He's not opposed to relaxing at home with them perse, but he likes to do workshops with stuff like arts & crafts to develop their agility some. I don't think they'd do much outings to places like restaurants or theatres for money reason, and I don't think Chilchuck is much of an outdoors type, but he could accompany them to nice fields to play in, or in winter places to play in snow and sled, and organize some activities at home. He's not home very often so when he is he likes to take it easy as a break from work and values the time he gets with his family.

Chilchuck would sometimes work from home as a locksmith, say, unlocking a chest for a customer. In those times, Meijack would take interest and watch him work, even handing him the tools he needs as he goes. In this way, Chilchuck taught her a lot about the work of a locksmith over time. He's also the one that would oil door hinges or do renovation around the house- when he's available.

Like the plushies under his table in his home that we see in illustrations, Chilchuck has a lot of mementos from his daughter (and his wife) he keeps around. Sometimes they take a bothersome amount of place, but throwing anything out isn't something he's seriously willing to consider. Flertom's the most artistic and she used to help with sewing clothes back together, so he has a cheap ceramic mug painted by her when she was really young and small embroideries around.

Imo Meijack would be the most distant in the present. Flertom makes efforts for her parents and is pretty involved, and Puckpatti's distance is more out of being a bit airheaded and being busy + not having a great grasp on time or what's a normal amount of family contact, but Meijack's the one who knowingly and intentionally keeps some distance. I think she’d be the least optimistic about their family situation, and although she’d be hopeful when Chilchuck reached out to them again she’d be a but hesitant. I think Meijack would hold some grudges, being the one most critical of their parenting, both grateful to her dad for working so hard for them and saddened that he wasn't in their life more. Since Flertom was born in the same year I think it’s possible that Meijack was pushed aside a bit to take care of the younger baby more, out of necessity rather than lack of love. Her mom probably needed a lot of help around the house too. Flertom wasn’t blind either, and she cared about & noticed her mom’s emotional states, but she’s on the whole more hopeful and forgiving.

This is my most far fetched one but it is a hc after all, but I think it'd be interesting if one of them had food hoarding tendencies/stress. I like to think it's Flertom, because she's the middle child and would get told that her older sister and younger sister are "growing and need the food" so she wouldn't be allowed to take as much refill or such, add that to them not having much money to frivolously spend on food and that makes a kid who's worried about not eating to her hunger and tends to be possessive over food (I'm projecting). Differential treatment is inevitable in families with many siblings, and it can manifest in small or big ways, maybe they realize it maybe they don't. Working in a tavern has helped eased that tendency of her though, and while she does diet a bit she always leaves a meal feeling satisfied.

When they were younger, Flertom was a real firecracker, loud and spirited with some troublemaking tendencies! She was the daughter that got in trouble & got scolded the most. You can still see slivers of it now that she’s an adult, but she’s much more poised and diligent. She has much more acquaintances than friends, but she has a couple of best friends and usually gets along well with most people. Puckpatti was always a bit head in the cloud, very kind if not gullible, and tended to make friends somewhat easily but didn’t keep them for long, preferring to keep meeting new people and not keeping in touch well. She isn’t super talkative but tends to ramble when she does. Meijack is very introverted, she has more trouble making friends, she has a good handful though they don’t meet up often, her friendships tend to last and she’s close to them. She’s grown more confident over the years, less repressed and more quiet. Meijack as the big sister tended to be the listener for her younger sisters who had more social mishaps. Flertom has dated once before and it only cemented to her that she was going to have very high standards from then on.

Meijack wears thigh-high boots because she hates when sand, dirt or snow gets in her shoes. She wears practical clothing but avoids anything frilly or flashy. Puckpatti also dresses practically, but she does enjoy pretty clothes, it’s more out of necessity and due to not having enough money to indulge. Flertom has a social stable job and she loves prettying herself up (especially as she’s in search of a husband) so she’s the one who gets the most and nicest fashionable clothes and accessories.

Chilchuck is hinted to have had a rather dysfunctional family himself (alcoholic father, distant siblings, etc). So he doesn’t really have the best model on how to raise someone and such. I imagine it was a sort of neglectful home situation, where the kids are encouraged to be independent. If they didn’t have to work or help around much, then free range parenting sort of thing. We do see how the family has full and warm feasts, where someone cleans his mouth with a rag, so it’s not like he didn’t have a caring circle or a tragic childhood though! I don’t remember if it’s explicitely stated, but he’s heavily implied to having grown up poor, as most half-foots, and I just think it's the hardened hardworking family type of childhood where just like he does with others they instill somewhat harsh life lessons in him, which in turn encourages him to indulge in the simple pleasures of life like alcohol and sex, or at least women’s beauty and crass jokes. We do see he seems more optimistic when he's younger in flashbacks, so a bunch of his harsh view on the world is still likely learned and earned rather than taught. I still think he inherited many flawed views from how his father acted, like his attitude about excessive drinking not being a big deal and worth it. That work hard play hard, enjoy life die young mentality he has, shown mostly in the "alcohol" section of his Adventurer's Bible profile, could very well be partly a result of the general poverty half-foot communities are that he grew in as well, like how he doesn't hope for things to be as best as they could be and contends with good enough. As far as I remember, his mother is never mentioned, but I doubt it implies she was out of the picture. She was probably a regular sort of mother that took care of the home as well and was still around when his father died. It looks like there’s a good age gap between one sibling to the next, that could be interesting to dig into too.

A part of Chilchuck’s character is that he takes responsibility for safety and actions of people around him and is very often looking out for them to not do faux-pas wether socially or literally with stepping onto traps. The way he says "I’ve got three people to think of here" makes me think that’s also how he’d think about having to provide for his family, and that could be a source of stress and insecurity for him. Caring for others is a pretty integral part of his character and we see time and time again that his family is very important to him, in any case.

Post-canon

This pic has so much to say!! It’s the ‘thank you for reading’ double page spread where they’re going to a big dining table at the castle with Laios and the main gang. First family gathering in 4 years perhaps?! I’ll say, not feeling very hopeful that his wife isn’t in this, not even implied to be just off-panel with a hand or anything… I imagine before this he still talked to them at least a bit and figured their family situation out, but I think this is still in the early stages of reconnecting. Haha imagine being one of them and receiving a letter saying "Hi it’s been a while… I want to introduce you to my ex-coworker the king and his friends, you up for that?" I don’t want to reconsider all my hcs for this yet, but this pic does seemingly show an eagerness from all the daughters to reunite and reconnect! Meijack’s could be seen as more hesitant, but I think it’s just awkwardness from meeting so many new people, of high status no less. Chilchuck does seem awkward and somewhat self-conscious though, and while that could be just from say Marcille and the others meeting his daughters and him not knowing how to act, I think that also shows that Chilchuck is unsure how to act around his daughters too. Can’t blame him, I’d be stressed too. Anyways, the daughters are all dressed up! Puckpatti even brought flowers! And I doubt it’s just for Senshi, or just to be in with the king. Oh also also, Puckpatti chides Meijack here, seemingly on manners?, so that implies new/different family dynamics there~

We know with the succubus chapter that he does plan on reaching out to his wife again and shooting his shot, and when Marcille was dungeon lord he told her she could help think of a plan to make up with her together at which point Marcille showered him in gifts and flowers intended for her and his daughters. So we do know that whatever happens and however it happens, Chilchuck definitely will at least reach out to her to win her back or worse case scenario get closure on the situation.

-

These are his plans before it’s revealed that the Island is… Well, not an island but the golden kingdom, so the news that Laios is king and that might have changed them a bit, but I think he’s still gonna stick around to help with the half-foot guild for a while.

My personal ideal post-canon Chilchuck life is that after around a year or two of helping around in the golden kingdom, especially regarding half-foot working rights, he gets his shop and finally settles down. He prioritized the whole half-foot guild because there are changes to attend to and people to help, but also used that to procrastinate a bit on getting in touch with his wife again. He does send a letter though, and when she replies they then meet face to face. They explain how it was like on their end, their grievances and their feelings, and they do reconcile. But… It’s been 4 years and his wife has frankly moved on. She’d rather they stay as friends, and Chilchuck has mixed feelings on it but is ultimately fine with it. He was halfway resigned to not reconciling with his wife in canon after all. But no longer do they have cut contact! They get together with the girls for the holidays and the ambiance is nice! He starts exchanging letters more regularly. He also gets a second family of clingy asses with Izutsumi and the main gang and so though he lives alone in his shop he’s well surrounded and well loved, and his daughters visit to check up on him every so often.

I really like the… Maturity of Chilchuck’s plotline, if that makes sense? To me the ending that fits the most is him and his wife reconciling, but not getting back together. I like that they could still be adults about it and at least amicable even after divorce, and that that wouldn’t be treated as a tragic ending. In the end, they were childhood friends and teenage parents, they rushed things a bit and I genuinely think they’re just not that compatible. If not then, at least having it be a gradual process, getting back together and making it work until they’re truly comforatble with each other. Destroy the relationship to better build it again stronger!

Although, his arc in the manga is to allow himself to form connections and be optimistic, which would fit well with him and his wife getting back together. I def think Chil would get healthier post-canon which could fix the issues they had in their relationship though. Like for one he starts eating more, which improves mood & irritability & health, and also after the whole half-foot guild he plans to settle down with a shop so it wouldn’t be long distance or unstable anymore which would definitely give his wife some peace of mind. If they still do some long distance at first while he gets the half-foot guild stable, it’d be really cute if he sent pressed flowers with his letters to her… That could make a nice fic concept, like over time all the pressed flowers and exchanged letters hehe (oh shit that’s a nice title)

My post-canon timeline is Chilchuck lives a nice life living alone in his house except his friends all visit him and care and even tho he likes living alone it’s also bittersweet and every corner of his life is haunted by mementos of the ones he loves and the moments he had with them. But then it’s also like the shared duty of everyone to pass by his shop when they can and keep the old man company and sometimes that means many people come at the same time like if both Meijack and Marcille came the same day~ Cozy life, no regrets except a lil regrets still. That’s it that’s all I want.

Misc

I didn’t know where to put this, so new category time! Family truly is a central theme of Chilchuck’s character. His reaction to learning more about how life gets made is so awed by the wonder of the world. Life indeed…

The implication of this page is that Chil didn’t know about the science side of how procreation works, though of course he did know about the practical side of it. This is speculation, and we have no clue how widespread the information of how reproduction scientifically works lol, but I think it’s fair to think that half-foots’ education especially in smaller communities is handled by the parent, school of life style, or if there are schools then the education is very general and it probably ends early. I think this is supported by how for example half-foots’ jobs we’ve seen are based on experience rather than knowledge, like being a locksmith. Of course any job has its fair share of specialized knowledge to learn, but jobs you learn on the fly pretty well. This sort of dynamic contrasts a lot against elves many tallmen communities, like with the magic academy, where education and knowledge are valued almost above experience, this is what the mandrake chapter was all about after all. Poorer communities tend to have poorer education systems as well irl, it’s a whole issue.

So I already said my piece about his wife not being blonde and it being nice and romantic because literally you don’t need someone to be a beauty ideal to love them and that’s fine and normal and even more romantic imo. But!! I do have an headcanon, now that his wife’s appearance is all but explicitly confirmed. While their hair is blonde, yes their hair is wavy and the ‘main’ one has deep-set eyes, not unlike his wife! Now this is a ‘which came first the egg or the chicken’ question, but while most people seem to be assuming that he got with his wife because she was his type, since they’re childhood friends I feel like it’s his love for his wife that shaped his preferences in that deparment. Like ok he loves golden hair and hers is black, but isn’t it so much more romantic that he has so much love and devotion for his wife and has stared lovingly at it so much over the years, that it’d become his ideal? He loves her eyes <3

Conclusion

Reminder that I’ve got more stuff in a reblog addition now. What I've got left to add at some point:

Compile more info on Chilchuck's father and his other family

Reread the manga and catch details like exchanged letters & his work schedule. Reword some things to repeat myself less maybe

A buddy is planning to make a name analysis post for everyone, and I might have more to say especially about the daughters once I know what possible meaning their names have

Other stuff I may be forgetting about

And thus I leave you with a lil web weaving I made about Chil & his wife’s relationship~ And this is where I’d put panels of Chilchuck’s wife… IF THERE WERE ANY

Should we call Chilchuck's wife Mrs. Tims... We don't know dunmeshi marrital traditions though, and half-foot already have somewhat complex naming conventions... I hate that we don't really know if the daughters' last names are Chils or Chilz. Oh yeah the last names change each generation, that’s odd right? But in english it sounds like saying Chil’s, like, [father]’s, so I think this also supports how half-foots communities tend to be tightly knit and live in the present, for them to be like "Ooh so you’re [father]’s little one eh? I know who that is and this is insightful as to who your family is to me!". Iceland’s a place where last names are like this, though I don’t know about pros and cons of it in that context

Ah and I have a bittersweet spotify playlist about her and Chil too, here if ya want. That’s it the post is over

#dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi manga spoilers #spoilers #chilchuck tims #delicious in dungeon #chilchuck's wife #chilchuck’s family #Tims family #puckpatti #meijack #flertom #Analysis #Meta #Despite my best tries I am not omnipresent it's always fun when piecing together these topics is a community effort!! #please do build upon this if you have anything to add #but yeah editing is up in the air. I'll probably be adding stuff maybe even cutting stuff out #this is a giant post i am slightly overwhelmed #Kui puts so much importance in details it's incredible. It truly feels worthwhile to get into the weeds #We support chilchuck’s wife on this blog #I covered how stressful her life could have been a bit in my Grind Me Down Sweetly fic funnily enough if ya want to give it a read. It has #Daughters mentions too hehe. And my post-canon marchil take #Oh also if there’s already theory and compilation posts out there about this i’m down to link them in or smth. I haven’t seen it done but #If it’s been then i’m very interested in reading & seeing #Apparently chilchuck being an absent dad is a heated debated topic. Oops #Pls do not murder me… Peace and love in the dungeon meshi fandom? He’s my second fave have mercy on this humble stan #This is 7k words btw. Pls do pick and choose what you’re interested in or skim or take breaks or anything

[soaps-mohawk]

So...

How do we feel about Chapter 12 being shorter than the others? Like...significantly shorter? First draft is only at 3.7k words right now...I'm trying to make it longer but like...it is like basically just smut lol. It'll probably get a bit longer as I edit, but it's going to still probably end up being shorter than the other chapters.

#not a lot happens outside the actual heat stuff #and that's just smut so... #for reference the chapters have averaged around 7k words up until now

[shanastoryteller]

i've added it to the writing directory, but here's a google doc with all the prompt answer links in one place so you don't have to go to different posts depending on the fandom

#this is your grandma talking #ok you know what #maybe tumblr has a point with their line limits #the LINKS ALONE are 7k words and 47 pages T_T

[milimeters-morales]

Miles G: *pulls out a weird amalgamation of tech* if we use this we can knock out every robot guarding the food vault-

Miles, incapable of being serious: twin got a doohickey

Hobie: G got a whatchamacallit

Margo: silly ass thingamajig

Pavitr: ain’t no way he got the mouseketool

#miles g suffers so much for me ❤️ dw i’ll make a fic treating you right (he gets treated wrong for 7k words) #unrelated but have you guys ever been in so much mouth pain you feel like throwing up? /🐏 #miles g #prowler miles #the prowler #miles morales #spiderman #spider man #hobie brown #spiderpunk #spider punk #margo kess #spider byte #spiderbyte #pavitr prabhakar #spider man india #spiderman india #m&m posts

[crybaby-bkg]

cw: this got long sorry 😔 but creepy/perv bakugou, recording, film major bkg x art major reader, masturbation, coercion, dubcon before it just becomes con, voyeurism/exhibitionism

as an art major, you typically did some works for a few students on campus; for their plays, as background pieces while they danced, a cover for their released songs. it wasn’t out of the ordinary for people to ask you to create something for them, and you enjoyed it more often than not. but, you weren’t usually the art itself.

Bakugou is a friend’s friend that you’ve seen a few times, ran into at the library or at coffee shops. he’s a film major, and always looks so unhappy about the whole thing, as if he didn’t choose it himself. you joke to Mina that you think he’ll graduate and become one of those directors that hate everything and yell at the actors constantly and later on get sued for being a dickhead. you never say it to him though—you’ve never spoken more than a couple words to the man.

it’s why it shocks you when he approaches you one day. it’s after one of your painting classes, and he stands outside the door with a frown and his hands shoved in his pockets, his eyebrows scrunched as if pissed at the mere sight of you. he asks you, in that low and gruff tone of his, if you could star in his final project for the semester. says it’s supposed to be a film made with this criteria and that, but, you’ve kind of checked out on the conversation after the first sentence.

“You mean, you want me to create something and that be the star of your film?” you ask him, feeling so intimidated at his stature. he always seems to loom, his hair shadowing the lights above, creates a cast over a portion of his face, makes his eyes look…unsettling. like they’re looking straight through your flesh, can find the marrow in your bones. he scoffs like you’ve offended him, rolling his eyes into his skull, mouth pulled tight.

“No.” his voice is firm, gaze concentrated only on you, like the halls are empty and you’re the focus of his lens. “I want you to star in it.”

his words confuse you—you’ve never presented yourself as an actor before, never alluded to wanting to be in the spotlight if not for what you create with your hands. but he shuffles on his feet, looks desperate even. there’s some hemming and hawing for a minute or so—why not choose Mina?—she’s busy—why choose me?—‘cause you’d be perfect for my short film—what’s it about?—you’ll find out once you get the script.

and even after you hesitantly agree and get the script—you still don’t understand what you’re doing. why you’re here, why you’re the only person, why it has to be a solo film, why there’s damn near zero lines in the entirety of the have-to-be forty five minute film.

the scenes are all so long, and maybe it’s because movies aren’t your forte or chosen major, but you just don’t get it. one scene; you’re staring at yourself in the mirror while Bakugou holds a small, black camera over your shoulder. he’s eerily quiet behind you, whispers out a faint fuckin’ go when you have to wash your face in the sink, makes you do it over because your movements are too jerky and unnatural.

the rest of the scenes go that way; you doing regular at home activities, being put under a lens, quietly barked at to do this and move that way and fix your hair and remember to frown.

“Isn’t there another way to film this?” you ask him on the fifth day of shooting in his spacious loft. there’s a bubble bath scene coming up, one you dont understand the importance of, but Bakugou tells you it’s the most necessary part of the entire thing.

“No,” he grunts out, looking at you from under his lashes as he sits on the lid of the toilet. “But I’ll make it soapy, so the camera won’t see much.” the camera? much? you weren’t worried so much about what the camera captured as you were the man behind it. he looks at you with such intensity, you feel naked already despite the robe you wear that’s suspiciously already your size.

he leaves the bathroom when you sink in the hot water, returns before you can say it’s okay, hears the water splashing and thinks that’s good enough. he kneels on the floor beside you, camera pointed directly in your face, makes your chest hot and your skin feel prickly. the scene passes on regularly enough; you run the water over your arms, tilt your head back as you sigh, whisper the few lines scripted, lean back and close your eyes, sigh again. it’s almost relaxing, makes you forget about the friend of a friend recording you naked right now. almost.

“Touch yourself.” Bakugou suddenly demands, hushed and quiet behind the camera. your eyes immediately shoot open, looking to him in question, how he’s eerily still in his spot hovering over you.

“Huh?” you ask, unsure if you heard him correctly, looking around the rounded lens in your face, trying to ignore the red blinking light. but Bakugou only frowns.

“It’s a masturbation scene. Touch yourself.” he repeats, voice louder, more demanding this time. your stomach twists at the thought of doing something so intimate in front of him. he’s a handsome guy, for sure, even made you consider asking him out after this, figured he was just serious about his work and awkward about certain things. but…something had been off about this entire thing since the start.

“But—but I don’t, I’m not,” you stutter, sitting up a little, the bubbles covering your chest starting to disperse with your movements. but Bakugou only sits a little higher on his knees, finally pulling the camera away from his face for the first time since he’s asked you to do this for him.

“You want me to fail?” he asks, booming voice eerily quiet in the silent bathroom, carmine eyes dull, shaded over with something terrible. “Then do it.” he tells you when you shake your head quickly.

you stare at him until he gets back into position again, camera back pointed at you. when he doesn’t say anything else, you swallow thickly, wondering if the art that will come out of this will be worth it. so you listen, sneak a hand under the water, start touching yourself in a way you never have in front of anyone.

is it bad to say that it’s exhilarating? being watched and recorded by someone who breathes so heavily every time your voice hiccups? being directed to touch your chest next when the suds start to disappear and your nipples start to peek through? is it bad that you want him to send you this portion of his film, only, just so you can watch yourself again and again? make a portrait of yourself with your fingers on your nipples and your knees raising from the water and your head thrown back from the intensity in oil pastels?

“That’s a wrap.” Bakugou announces when you finish, head spinning and still panting. you look over to him, how he closes the camera, the obvious bulge in his pants. “I’ll get you a towel.”

you wonder when’s the next time he’ll need you. or better yet—maybe he could be the star in your final drawing project? you had finished it already but, what was the harm in starting over with him as your muse? as naked as you are? camera not blocking his face so you can paint the similarities of his blushing cheeks and eyes when you direct him to look at you? to touch his chest? to play with himself just like that?

#this got. so long. sowwy #but I thought about this ummmm Sunday night #but I was DRAINED from writing 7k words of scorned past midnight and then having to edit it skdjfkf #so I was like. okay. put this idea in the drafts. NOW ms dory memory #anddddd I love this so very much #would’ve loved to turn this into a full fic #but it’s so exhausting trying to write long fics recently bc of this multichap #I’m just not used to it and I can’t do two things at the same time #and I already have like 9 fics on my list to write!!!! lol #but there is something so alluring about film major bkg 2 me #I think hes awkward and comes off as mean but he really is just that serious about his work #but he’s #also a creep for you LOL #definitely think he agrees to become ur muse for art as like a trade off #and you get that boy into SO many humiliating positions 😵‍💫 #I need. to lie down. anyway. #I wrote this at 1am and was scared to post it then cause I didn’t think anyone would see it #so here it is in the morning :) #bakugou treats! 🍬 #—new treat in the streets! 🍫

[bigfatlesbian]

ok so we know that aylin canonically went for a month-long walk and they fought about it

have we considered how devastating that must've been for isobel?

she already thought aylin was way out of her league/she didn't stand a chance

ketheric 100% made sure to remind her of it every chance he got (bc he couldn't stand isobel growing up and possibly leaving, especially with aylin lol)

so imagine your lover just disappears for a MONTH, with your devil dad sitting on your shoulder and telling you 'i told you so, she was gonna leave eventually'

THE ANGST (i wanna write)

#looks at my 7k word document of incoherent fanfiction scenes #i should probably sort through that before adding yet another one #dame aylin #aylin x isobel #isobel thorm #bg3 aylin #bg3 isobel #bg3

[aurevell]

In Case of Emergency, Call Steter | 9k | T

Peter only finds out he’s Stiles’s emergency contact when the hospital calls.

⁕

Peter only finds out he’s Stiles’s emergency contact when the hospital calls.

After the initial moment of confusion, in which he’s certain there’s been a mistake, the receptionist takes his silence for shock and falls over herself to promise Stiles is in good hands. His injuries are not life-altering. He’s young enough to bounce back in no time. The medical team handling his case is excellent.

Peter contemplates hanging up on her. It’s the same impulse he has with telemarketers: the flood of information is pointless. Negligible. Water is wet. Stiles is human. He’s always getting battered and bruised. Evidently, he doesn’t even take holiday weekends off.

No one could possibly hold Peter responsible for this.

But then, apparently someone does. Someone has listed Peter as an emergency contact, even in place of far more likely alternatives. Scott McCall, for a start. Or barring that, his gaggle of underlings. Not to mention Stiles’s own father.

That’s an intriguing detail.

By the time the receptionist has begun rattling off the rules for visiting hours, Peter has changed his mind. It’s an unusual situation. A minor mystery. And Peter has never been one to leave mysteries to rot.

⁕

Read the rest on AO3

#steter #steter fic #mine #true story i write soooo slowly #i really thought this fic was halfway done at 2k words when i talked about it on here at the start of the month #7k words later here we are lmao #it developed a second chapter all on its own i didn't even touch it

[inkskinned]

one of the oddest arguments i've ever gotten into was like. i had agreed to give a dude a chance. we were on a first date. and he got. just. so mad. because i had told him i read about 2-5 books a week.

but he found out it was actually that i listen to 2-5 audiobooks. he was dead set on the idea - that's not reading, it's just listening. that i was lying, somehow, by implying i'd "read" the book.

language has a beautiful ability to adapt over time, particularly in the face of technology. when i "connect to the internet" i'm referencing the oldschool method of literally plugging into the internet - which i very rarely physically do. i roll down my window, which is a reference to the circular mechanical action it used to take. hell - the floppy disc remains our resolute save file icon. when i say i "ran to the store," nobody expects me to actually run - and what my version of running to the store looks like and your version are probably pretty different.

i told the guy, baffled: i look at things through glasses, that's still seeing. nobody complains i'm filtering the image.

he says: that's not the same and you know it.

i use audiobooks because i have adhd, and it makes it so i can actually focus. i am using it to help a medically diagnosed condition.

language also has a really cool ability: when we read something, our brains look at a word and make an image. when we hear a story, our brains hear a word and make an image. whether we hear it or read it - the word means the same thing, written or spoken. there is no quantifiable difference in the knowledge-encoding experience - i still happily hallucinate while i'm listening.

and i just kind of stared at him while he was telling me that "claiming" i had "actually read" a book that i had actually-listened-to was lying

and my only baffled response was like: "... are you gatekeeping the experience of... reading?"

#1. do you think someone who listens to 2-5 books a week DOESNT read with her eyes? #2. i was fucking BLIND for TWO MONTHS #so YEAH maybe im SENSITIVE #3. shut the FUCK up i am not DESTROYING SOCIETY by being like ''hahaha this experience is basically the same for me'' #i am still fucking engaging with the literature dude #4. i consider it reading. die mad about it #5. this is just a personal note but they are LITERALLY equivalent to me #bc i mean i guess 7k posts in i should probably finally admit #i have a lowkey form of synesthesia #to be fair i didn't know until like this year when my therapist was like #''... you WHAT'' #but like when im talking i see words and when im writing i legit hear them #like HEAR THEM #i just thought everyone had that #thats called thinking #but it turns out the fact that i sometimes mishear a word and write down what i misheard #means maybe i am fuckt a little in my head #anyway obvi when i read i hear the word too #i cAN sometimes see other people's words but it's usually just my own #and i was like #(again) #thats just like how . people talk #but it turns out if u sometimes misread what you're supposed to be saying #something might be . uhhhhhhhh #not normal #fun fact. #it turns out (i havent googled but she said) #that it's not UNUSUAL for neurodiverse people to have like #SOME lowkey form of synesthesia #but we only associate it with REALLY severe cases so we just assume like .... couldn't be me

[purple-babygirl]

I'm the writer who wished you were never coming back. I was right. You're such a bitch. Who the fuck writes 6000 words every 2 days?

Stop raising the readers' expectations and calm your tits. You're such an annoying showoff. I hate you.

I've suffered from writers' block for 2 straight years, was that not enough?:"

Okay, listen, you can't keep comparing yourself to other writers like that. We are all creatively productive at our own paces. And I don't write 6000 words from scratch every 2 days, most of the chapters are outlined in my drafts. I'm not some magic AI, dude, I'm just human.

Take it easy on yourself and calm your tits. You're taking this way too seriously and ruining the fun of it for yourself.

Please for the love of everything worth loving, just block me and stop making me and yourself feel like shit every time you decide to use your keyboard.

#i didn't wanna say anything but the next chapter might be over 7k words so #just unfollow me #purple fucking answers #smh #respect earth day ffs