Oh how Charming

Nobody ever talks about Prince and Princess Charming ten years down the line. Both of 'em put on 20 lbs, he starts neglecting the manscaping and has long since tired of the "Damsel in Distress" bit. She's starting to sag in all the wrong places, still dresses like she's imprisoned by a fire-breathing dragon. Maybe they've even got a couple of mini-regents runnin' around the palace, who knows? No more of those hyped-up fairy godmother enhanced midnight balls. Nope, that's all in the past.

Nobody ever seems to ask the Royal Couple -- so, how's that "happily ever after" stuff workin' out for ya?

I'm sure it's still mostly happily ever after. I'm also willing to bet money there's foibles and fights. I'm thinking our Charming royals spend days screaming at each other in the conservatory or the library or across the fucking moat, for NO GODDAMN REASON. Other than the fact that living with another person is really, really, fucking frustrating sometimes.

Maybe the Princess has some really gross habit. Maybe she likes to sit on the chaise lounge in the music room and chew on her toenails. It's pretty likely Mr. Charming has some annoying idiosyncrasy as well. Hmmm . . . let's say every morning he turns into a frog (he got cursed by some old witch they forgot to invite to the wedding, what the hell.) So every morning the Mrs. gets to wake up to a small, occasionally damp amphibian, which she then must kiss, everyfuckingmorning, to turn back into a prince. Meanwhile, all he can think about is her yanking her toenails off with her teeth.

Most of the time I'm sure they get by with no problem. All the time her thinking "gawd, why won't he just go talk to that witch and get the curse lifted already?!" and him thinking "that is just the most disgusting thing I have ever seen, I swear if she does it again I'm gonna . . ."

Then, kapow, the moon is right or the stars align or one of them sleeps badly and it's On, Motherfucker. He says something, she misunderstands and snarks a bit, and holy shit, it's the end of the world. A Charming Apocalypse. He's red in the face and yelling, she's crying and bitching him out all at once. Of course neither of their arguments will actually make sense, and they will have predictable Stages of Fight, and it will accomplish absolutely nothing. Except they both let off some steam and can now get back to the business of loving each other and trying to ignore those little foibles. Until next time, anyway.

What I'm saying is this. I think. Long term love ain't moonlight and roses. Living with another person, no matter how much you love them, is going to make you fucking batshit crazy sometimes. So many people seem to think that it's always going to be all moonlight and roses. Unfortunately that happens less and less as time goes on. However, the depth and breadth of appreciation grows immeasurably. Being with someone, ever after, means accepting that they will not and can not make you happy all the time. In fact, it's unrealistic and unfair to expect them to. Love doesn't magically take us above those little unlikeable quirks. We're still people, we're still weird and annoying. And it's better that way.