Reviewer: It Was Me Signed [Report This]
Date: June 21 2024 9:11 AM Title: Chapter 25: Stuck

It only makes sense that right after I give Thomas credit, he goes and makes a mistake like this.

That being said, this was actually a pretty healthy fight for a married couple, I think (unless you happen to be a small abandoned town, anyway). What I mean by that is that while, yes, Thomas was being selfish in wanting his wife to give up on the idea of going out into the world, his reason for wanting this wasn't selfish at all. In the end, he just wants Trish to be safe, and his concern about how the outside world (and the military, in particular) seems pretty legit based on how people have acted around her for the most part so far.

But Thomas's mistake was that, once he identified what it was she wanted, he initially chose to try and talk her out of it instead of hearing her out and really listening. He let his own fears cloud his judgment and tried to steer her in the "right" direction, something we haven't really seen him do up until this point. As a result, Trish became frustrated and upset, and the ghost town paid the price.

What we saw from him in the back half of this chapter is what we've come to expect from him. He calmed down and tried to get at the heart of what was bothering Trish. He got her to feel comfortable and open up, to the point that when she couldn't articulate what her feelings were he was able to piece it together in a way that made her feel understood and even helped her to understand some of those feelings herself. It's always heartwarming when Thomas is able to do this, showing that he truly gets his wife and is able to see directly into her soul.

I also really liked how he admitted that he wasn't buying this destiny idea that Trish believes but is willing to see it through with her anyway. It's easy to support the people we love when they're making the choices we think are right; it's quite another to back them even when we think they're wrong and may even be putting themselves at risk. That's a level of trust and love that few people ever truly achieve, I think (although I hope I'm wrong about that!).

For Trish's part, I can certainly understand feeling a sense of guilt (I'm not sure if that quite fits, but it's the best word I can think of here) at keeping all this newfound power to herself and using it just for her own pleasure and that of her husband. She really does feel like a goddess, and she wants to act like one toward humanity. As I've mentioned several times by this point, this is a benevolent want, not a selfish, controlling one. She's not looking for worship and praise. She just wants to help people, and she knows that there are things that only she can do for them. You could argue that this is selfish of her, as most of humanity is too frightened of her to want this and would rather she keep to herself, but I think it's pretty selfless to want to give up the comfort of her father's property to do good even at the risk of provoking the military and possibly being killed for no good reason.

It was both endearing and heartbreaking to see Trish willing to give this desire up for the sake of Thomas. She's a good spouse, fully willing to put her happiness aside for the sake of her partner. Likewise, Thomas was willing to do the same, which, as I believe I've said before, is how this is supposed to work. If both partners are putting their spouse's wants above their own, then they'll take care of each other and everything will work out, as it did here. Thomas knew that she was going to give up her happiness for him (as he cockily noted at the end of the chapter), and he couldn't just let her do that. He had to let her know that he would be okay with her doing this and that he wanted to be by her side as she did it, even if he didn't think it was a good decision. It was a really touching moment by both of them, really.

And then there's that last paragraph. It's been a while since she realized that she would do whatever Thomas told her to do. But I don't think this is blind devotion or he willfully being manipulated. I think she would never disobey Thomas because she knows that he's looking out for her best interests and trusts him completely. She knows he would never take advantage of her, as he cares too much about her to do that. That's the source of her desire to do whatever he tells her or why, despite it being bigger than him, she let him stop her finger from playing with him on her knee. It's also why seeing him so boldly declare this while standing on her body only reminds her of why she loves him rather than find the smugness with which he made the declaration annoying.

There's just so much depth to these two, both in personality and in their relationship in general, and that's what makes this story so special. I mean, we're 25 chapters in, and I'm nowhere near tired of reading about them. I have to admit that I was briefly concerned in the early chapters that once they got past the drama and the "will they won't they" phase of the budding relationship the story would struggle to maintain its intrigue. But you've built off that start so masterfully that I'm way more interested now than I was even then.

So I guess what I'm saying is, great work and I look forward to more as it looks like we're starting to creep up on the endgame!