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#or rather my reading comprehension skill -_-
kenobihater · 2 months
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you ever write up a combination of words you're really proud of at the time bc you think it's vivid but it's actually so atrocious that you remember it eight years later bc it's burned itself into your long-term memory? just me?
#i'm literally laughing my entire ass off rn. i can't believe i found this fic i wrote at 15 and orphaned when i came to my senses abt both#my complete inability and total aversion to writing first person as well as the fact that the english language should never have been#subjected to its words being done dirty like this 😭#also i straight up fucking LIED in the authors note??? i said i'd broken my knee as a kid which is categorically false. i fell down some#stairs and banged it up and it's a tiny bit weak ig but i didn't break it? all any teens born after y2k know is eat hot chip and lie...#still not over the first line... the flip flop bit i remembered but i'd COMPLETELY forgotten 'a shriek seeped out of my throat'. girl. what.#how does a shriek seep exactly? the world may never know...#and the use of 'groped' is also sending me 😭 AND 'crash bash whump thump' girlllll send help holy shit i can't stop coughing & laughing#the rest of the fic isn't quite this bad but it's very purple yet ineloquent and rough. it's a good reminder of how much i've improved and#honestly i'd rather read this utterly amature fic bc it's at least charming in its lack of skill rather than infuriating like some of my#oneshots that are still on my page bc they're more comprehensible but just bad enough to make me cringe. getting mad at this oneshot would#be like getting bad at a kid's stick figure drawing. like. it's just kinda cute to see someone starting out on their creative journey#my old sw oneshots on the other hand are like the awkward growing pains of puberty. you just can't help but wince at the reminder#this is okay to reblog btw bc it's objectively hilarious and i don't mind ppl finding humor in it#len speaks
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elvesofnoldor · 8 months
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Local vampire (Lestat) thought he snatched the young hot rich single in the area, got trapped in an abusive relationship instead. More at 7 as the story develops
#anyways to the people who didn't unfollow me while i was busy not understanding the text of IWTV(book. 1976): thank you for beliving in me#or rather my reading comprehension skill -_-#alright i purged most of the AMC show's posts that i reblogged#mae overshares#not to be a killjoy but IWTV (book)transformed from 'barely horror' to 'the most horrifying. tragic and disturbing horror fiction i've read#about 3 days ago. when i did a serious re-read of some of the passages in the book. i first read the book more than a month ago smh#the story is horrifying because of what happened to lestat but also because what happened to poor claudia just to be clear#i have since gone through five stages of grief about 70 times at this point i will just have to laugh!!!#you know the crazy thing is that i never liked book version of Louis. i always liked lestat. even though he's an evil girl sometimes#(but we love evil girls in this house)#and yet!!! fuckers who never understood IWTV (book. published in 1976). fuckers who only watched the 1994 film#and fuckers who don't know the definition of an abusive relationship/fuckers who can't sympathize with abuse victims#got me hell bent on thinking louis as the 'good loving father' that he wasn't!!! i felt physically sick.#like i know it's fiction but also!!! i just. you don't have to LIKE someone to get manipulated into sympathizing with them#realizing this got me feeling quite perturbed lol#manipulative lestat this manipulative lestat that. im at my fucking limit. the OG manipulator is louis
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darabeatha · 4 months
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/ I say I do not like lb6 yet I have 4 characters that appear in it as muses
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wyndford-dekarios · 5 months
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🤪👯🪐💌 for whoever ur fixated on rn! :3
🤪: What is a trait that fanon would exaggerate? // I say this lovingly because I do this myself; Anthelme is exceedingly French (or the Witcher's equivalent of it) and that's the trait people would magnify most. Nevermind his analytical prowess and his phenomenal mental manipulation skills. Noooope. He's French.
👯: What canon character is he most similar to? // Hard question. The answer I default to is Es/kel, like at-one-point father like son, but thinking on it more there's not much there, and he's nothing like his brother really...Perhaps Dandelion. He's also keeping up a front, not quite in the same way but similarly, and is very open with some things to hide other things. Also, similarly fruity.
🪐: What would be the most popular AU and why? // Definitely Baron AU. Everyone loves royalty x knight. The long and the short of the au is Anthelme stayed in Toussaint when he ran from the school (which is something that happens in canon, just in canon he Goes Back), and due to being older than his brother, despite being adopted, He becomes the baron of Launfal instead of Palmerin.
last one got long so i'm putting it under a cut-
💌: How would their dynamic be portrayed? What might people focus on most? Any misconceptions? // I'm gonna focus on the misconceptions here because there's one really obvious one. Lam/bert is an alcoholic. Anthelme is also a bit alcoholic, but on the 'enjoys too much when he does drink to get drunk' side instead of 'drinks to get drunk Constantly' side. His having a glass of wine every morning would be interpreted as 'he gets drunk every morning', and the ship would probably be labelled problematic because 'they feed into each other's alcoholism problems'. Which is objectively untrue. It'd also get labelled problematic both due to the Wolf boys constantly referring to and seeing each other as brothers (despite Anthelme clearly being isolated from that whole thing, but still being close, when you meet him in game G/eralt wouldn't refer to him as 'brother' and neither would anyone else in the school), and because At One Point Way In The Past, Anthelme saw Es/kel as his father, for obvious reasons (Anthelme being like seven or eight at the time latching onto the person he'd been given to because he's honestly quite used to changing out fathers, backstory thing, but as he grew older it definitely changed into a 'you are a good friend' type relationship, and him seeing Es/kel as a father was pretty fucked anyways because, again, Anthelme was given as a reward for work, he wasn't adopted nor did Es/kel find him and decide to take him on, it was a panic inducing payment that ended in Anthelme being taken to the school because what the fuck else is this 20-something supposed to do with a fucking child), so it'd be like. "oh shipping them is like shipping an uncle and his nephew and also shipping brothers because-" and it's giving me a headache thinking about it. It'd be portrayed in a yaoiful fashion because they do canonically try to eat each other if they're drunk enough and it's also a very 'nobody knows you like I do' type relationship. People would either focus on the cannibalism or the drinking.
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githvyrik · 1 year
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the amount of people in jacob geller’s comments who don’t understand the point he’s pretty clearly making is always staggering but the comments on his new video on executions are like. pretty bad, so many people are like “well I would rather be murdered by the government via injection vs dismemberment and burning to death 🙄” like hey buddy the point of the video is that humane execution point blank does not exist there is no way to kill someone nicely and peacefully. how does the point sail over your head that bad
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For the love of god why can't people just be normal about things
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littencloud9 · 25 days
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lindwurmkai · 2 years
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I guess I've always thought of fluency as the point where, if you encounter an unfamiliar word, you don't even think about consulting a cross-language dictionary anymore because you can just google the word or use a dictionary in your target language and expect to understand the definition.
There's a lot of opinions floating around out there on what fluency means or if such a thing even exists, but honestly it seems quite simple to me? If you don't know a word in your native language, you google it or ask someone. Once that process has become identical in your target language, you're fluent.
Doesn't mean your grammar is perfect or the size of your vocabulary above average, but the same goes for native speakers.
#top reasons i use an English-German dict these days: 1) struggling to translate from German to English bc there's no direct equivalent#2) forgot how to say something in German#3) trying to suss out connotations or the exact differences between two similar words that i do roughly understand#4) wanting to mention a German food or something; not sure if English translation exists or should just say the German word#but if i simply see an unfamiliar English word 99% of the time I'll want the English definition rather than a translation#or pictures. or the wikipedia page#for some languages there is a point to be made that you can be fluent in speech but not in writing i guess?#in which case replace ''googling it'' with ''asking someone'' because again - there are native speakers in the same boat#the argument that it's possible for native speakers to not be fluent in their own language is silly imho#unless they left the country and lost that skill. which is obviously a whole other problem#maybe some ppl would say you're not fluent if your comprehension is great but your speech is riddled with errors#but idk man at that point it depends on motivation doesn't it? are you interested in sounding like a native speaker or no? who cares tbh#i might be biased because my comprehension level and speech proficiency tend to increase at the same rate lol#someone could be reading novels but struggle to form a sentence? i guess? but then you can just say they read fluently. whatever#language learning#thinky thoughts
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olderthannetfic · 2 months
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Getting this off my chest:
Back from a small fanfic hiatus, and I am absolutely flabbergasted by all of the fic authors now practically begging their readers to READ THE TAGS.
I’ve been seeing this warning written in summaries, in author’s notes, highlighted in all caps in the actual tags. I’ve read so many apologies written by authors in the comments in response to people chastising the author for writing what they wanted to write, for what they tagged correctly — for what essentially comes down to nothing more than having had other people actively ignore their tags or read despite them.
And there seems to be this bizarre, somehow largely accepted idea that it is the creators job and responsibility to beseech their readers to ‘use caution’ and to ‘stay safe’, to ‘be mindful of their health’…
I am beyond confused here.
Since when??? did exercising the most basic form of common sense and acknowledging one’s personal yeas and nays, likes and limitations, become some other random stranger’s burden rather than one’s own? And especially a random person who tagged their work correctly??? Does no one remember how to harness their own powers of discernment and self-regulation???
This little jaunt back onto ao3 has been unlike any that I’ve ever experienced before. What. Happened?????? Who is this new, apparently severely emotionally unstable and obstinately tags-reading resistant audience everyone has come to focus on?
It all feels so out of touch. The basic concept of ao3 is for the reader to seek out what they want, not what they don’t want. And to actually read. But there seems to have been an extremely strong shift away from reading. On ao3. A site built specifically for reading and writing. (And other fandom artistic pursuits, but not my focus, atm; though I’m sure whatever this is has crept steadily into all spaces there.)
Plummeting reading comprehension must be somewhat to blame; the popularity of fanfic amongst younger and wider audiences, as well. But… young people have always been there, as far as my own experiences go, and it was never like this. It’s as if too many readers don’t know how to make good or even practical decisions for themselves anymore, that they’ve lost the skill of choosing, and now believe that they must consume everything that passes before them; — that they have, for some reason, adopted the belief that any turmoil or dislike or discomfort felt within themselves is harm purposely being done to them by the author.
Idk. Idk, idk, idk. It’s just such a bummer to see how much nervousness and distress has entered the community. Authors notes and comments used to be hilarious fun, or a peek into someone else’s real-life world, used to be casual and full of personality, whereas nowadays, there seems to be an underlying hesitancy and distrust, a sort of growing divide between writers and readers, groups which, until recently, very much were not mutually exclusive.
--
Idiots have been around forever. The more you cater to them, the more entitled they get. It's best to shut that shit down fast and use no warnings that indicate a willingness to entertain stupid complaints.
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knight-says-rollout · 10 months
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Would you mind telling us about more disabled Cybertronians?
Oh boy would I
For this list let’s focus on physical disabilities, both because they’re the most commonly dismissed by the fandom and bc if we try to cover everything we’d be here all day (that can be another list, maybe, if y’all want)
This isn’t going to be comprehensive bc I’m tired but!! I will aim for a broad variety of examples nonetheless
Bumblebee - You all know him, you all love him. He’s the most obvious and most well known example of a disabled Cybertronian character.
In many iterations he is mute
Not by choice but because he lacks a voice box. Bee physically isn’t capable of speech and depending on the version has different tools to work around that. Sometimes he uses his radio to repurpose song and radio dialogue into speech, in cyberverse he also makes use of the internet for clips. In the aligned continuity (tfp and connected media) he speaks in binary, a very simplified form of language using beeps and buzzes, but still lacks a real voice and can’t form words.
In IDW he has a cane
At one point in the comics Bumblebee was shot by a human protester and as a result used a cane for a good bit of time. I haven’t had the chance to read that far into IDW yet so I’m not sure how long he had the cane for but it was enough time that it’s a solidified part of the charcaters history. I’ve seen little models of the cane for sale, to be paired with bee figures.
TFP Ultra Magnus - everyone’s favorite awkward commander, despite his popularity he’s surprisingly overlooked when it comes to this discussion
An amputee, he lost his hand
During an energon raid with wheeljack, magnus’ hand was crushed. Ratchet couldn’t save it and had to amputate, replacing it with a hooked prosthetic. I call it a prosthetic rather than replacement part because despite him being able to move it, it’s not a hand. Not in the way he had previously, and he has to relearn how to use it at all.
I think that’s an important distinction to make when discussing disability and transformers. Some bots might have only ever had one hand, or no legs, or etc but that’s always been their level of ability and since they Are robotic. Yeah they might not have the same capabilities as another bot but that’s a hard metric to go by. Seekers can fly but a grounder isn’t disabled because they can’t fly too, it’s a different standard.
WFC Shamble - far lesser known than Magnus, and reasonably so, this background character is Also missing a limb
Amputee, leg edition
His prosthetic is a lot less fancy than magnus’s, it’s a simple peg leg. Put em together and you get a pirate. Not much to say about him since i don’t know how he lost the leg, just that he did.
Shadow Striker - Most awesome lady in cyberverse. Unlike the above two, she Was able to get actual replacement parts rather than prosthetics. Despite this, she is both shown throughout the show and implied to have
Impaired mobility
Chronic pain
She was able to get replacement parts yes but they were needed because she was blown up. The limbs she was given were kinda just what the others could Find and as such are mismatched and don’t fit her very well. Her motor skills took a blow especially when it comes to combat, something she used to excel in. Her new limbs are described as unstable and prone to malfunction. The loss of mobility and implied chronic pain that come along with her situation are rough, but she makes do.
SG Soundwave - my favorite little guy, he’s in a bit of a different situation than the previous.
Bad Joints ™
His body was entirely overhauled multiple times, successfully, but the latest frame change was done with conflicting metals. Earth and Cybertronian materials clash in his joints, making them prone to getting stopped up. The most affected hinge being the one on the door to his tape deck. It is so prone to getting stuck that his cassettes refuse to dock with him at risk of getting trapped. To work around this, Soundwave has the aid of a personalized case he carries around that they dock in instead.
IDW Sunstreaker - speaking of assistive devices, this guy was (for a time) a wheelchair user! Or,, hoverchair.
Temporary,,, paraplegic? Correct me if another term fits better
Taking this moment for an aside to say hey!! Lookit that, both canes and hoverchairs are things that canonically and casually exist on cybertron!! It’s not too wild to assume there are bots out there who use them long term!! Yes both characters on this list were repaired eventually but they’re also both very popular old characters from an action based franchise and hasbro doesn’t have the balls to make something like that permanent yet. We the fandom are not hasbro. We can do whatever we damn want with our OCs. It’s canon that ur little guy can use mobility aids.
Ok, PSA over, anyway yeah Sunny’s body was basically wrecked and alpha trion was able to repair all of him except his legs. This put him in a hoverchair for a good amount of time.
Finback - he’s a con, a pirate, who developed a “metal wasting disease”
He’s on permanent life support
The disease is going to kill him eventually, and it’s explicitly stated that he’s come to terms with the idea of his death. In the meantime he’s using pretender tech, kinda like fancy armor, to reinforce himself and boost his immune system
Perceptor - for a microscope, the fact he’s got vision issues in multiple continuities is kinda ironic
He’s fully blind in cyberverse
He lost an eye in IDW
Between the two we get to see both routes taken to work with this. Adaption and technological aid. In cyberverse he uses his scope to compensate for the loss of vision Toph-style. In IDW he built himself a monocle that basically replaces the pieces that are missing.
Now we get into the uniquely Cybertronian disabilities, one’s that don’t quite translate to human conditions
Transmutate - is a beloved bot from beast wars
They can’t transform, they don’t have an alt mode
I’m hazy on the details of their character but afaik they came from a damaged stasis pod. Described as deformed and handicapped for their both their lack of an alt mode and general appearance, they are probably the oldest explicitly disabled Cybertronian character
Xaaron - from G1 is in a similar situation
He can’t transform, it would kill him
Unlike transmutate he does have an alt mode, a tank, but after thousands of years without transforming he is no longer able to. The new stress it would cause on his body would kill him.
Broadside - continuing with the subject of alt modes, this clumsy boy is a boat! That’s not a good thing.
He’s very prone to motion sickness
As you can imagine, chronic sea sickness isn’t the most helpful thing when you are the boat. This brings in the entirely new element of mobility issues that are inherent to alt modes. A bot that functions fine in root form might not in alt mode and vice versa.
Trailbreaker - is another instance of this. He’s not a fast car by any means but that doesn’t stop the fact
His frame has a very high energon cost
Possibly the least fuel efficient autobot, he’s got an outlier ability on top of it all that only further increases his required energon intake. He needs to pay more attention to his energon levels and refuel more often overall.
G1 Knockout - yes that’s right the shiny medic himself is on this list, though not for the same reason as his tfp version, g1 knockout still lives up to his name
He’s prone to fainting
A knockout in the more literal sense, he faints when he gets too excited. Fully collapses and everything. Since he’s a fall risk, his teammates take care to keep an eye on him.
Annnnd Yknow he probably should’ve been earlier in the list along with the “human-ish” issues but I’m tired, it’s late, and I’m bringing this list to a close
Im sure there are more characters that I didn’t mention but I hope this helped! Thank you for the ask
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fantasyescapes17 · 11 months
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Scandal (Part 4, Final)
The Viscount's sister with an enormous dowry, beauty and unmistakable talent- you began the London season as the most desired woman in any room. But Jeon Wonwoo (a man who would rather hide in the library than dance at a ball) is beyond your comprehension. Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it embroiled you into a scandal with a man you could never love.
Genre: Wonwoo x Female!reader. Regency!AU (It's sort of Bridgerton-esque in the sense that I give zero attention to historical accuracy and prioritize aesthetics lmao) You are Joshua's sibling so your maiden name is Hong but the reader has no other physical characteristics.
Word Count: 6.7k+
Part 1 Part 2 (Part 3)
Series Masterlist [Reading Candle and Manners, the earlier installments in this series first is strongly recommended as main character dynamics are introduced there.]
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Wonwoo carefully helped you down from the carriage. He offered you his arm and you leaned closer to him than you would normally have done- taking the opportunity to catch a whiff of his soothing scent. 
It was the evening of the children's performance and a number of villagers had gathered in the gardens behind the orphanage. Sister Lynn waited by the entrance, ready to greet you and Wonwoo as soon as you descended your carriage. 
"Mr. and Mrs. Jeon," she greeted you breathlessly. "I am so grateful to you for coming tonight. The children are incredibly excited to be performing for you. I have already reserved seats in the garden. This way, please…"
You followed Sister Lynn. The garden had been set up with a makeshift stage and rows of chairs. As you walked past, many of the villagers stopped to curtsey and greet you politely. Their smiles were more genuine than before and you noticed more warmth coming from some of them than you had felt during your infrequent strolls in the market. 
"The villagers seem more friendly than they used to," you murmured to Wonwoo. He angled his head slightly downwards to listen to you. "It must be because you are with me. They respect you."
Wonwoo shook his head. "I cannot take credit for that. This is your own doing. They have heard of your contributions for the orphanage."
You hesitated. "Surely not…"
"My family has been donating money to the orphanage for years but you are the first noblewoman to spend time with the children. The skills you are teaching the girls- music and French- these are skills the nobility usually hoards to themselves. By teaching them to these children, you have made a statement."
You looked up at Wonwoo in surprise. 
"It was not my intention to make any statements. I only felt it was unfair that the children did not have the opportunity to learn these skills elsewhere."
"That these children deserve the same opportunities as noble-born children- that is a statement in itself."
You did not know how to answer so you stayed silent. Teaching the children had been a welcome distraction and not an act of rebellion against the societal class structure. You were not sure that you would have volunteered your time for something like this had you still been in London. 
But you were not in London. Mrs. Jeon was not a fashionable London debutante. She was the wife of a nobleman in the countryside.
Perhaps it did not really matter what you would have done in your past life. 
Sister Lynn had reserved a pair of seats in the front row that were draped in a red cloth to make them stand out. It was evident that you and your husband were the most important guests of the evening, and had been given the prime seats. 
Fred came running up to you as soon as you sat down. 
"Mrs. Jeon!" he greeted you shyly. He was holding something behind his back and he held it out to you. "I made this for you."
It was a small rose made of red paper. You could not help it- the innocent gesturebrought a smile to your face. 
"Thank you, Fred! It is beautiful!" you told the young boy. He smiled and his ears turned pink before he ran back to join the other children waiting by the stage. Wonwoo looked down at the flower and then back up at you- the surprise on his face was unmistakable. 
You raised an eyebrow at him. "You need not look so surprised, Wonwoo. As you should know, I have admirers everywhere."
Wonwoo shook his head. 
"Your receiving a flower from a child does not surprise me. I was surprised because I have not seen you smile like that… since we were in London."
"Perhaps I have not had much reason to smile since we were in London. You should try giving me a rose sometime. I will be happy to grant you a smile in return," you teased. 
Wonwoo looked at you for a long moment and said nothing in response. You wondered if you had overstepped; your husband had not been particularly receptive to flirtation even before he was married. You cleared your throat and turned away but were surprised when Wonwoo suddenly leaned in to murmur in your ear. 
"I… would have given you more than one," he said in his calm, deep voice. "Roses must be given in threes."
You felt your heartbeat quicken. 
"Empty words considering I have one rose from Fred and none from you, Mr. Jeon," you retorted lightly. 
Wonwoo simply shook his head and turned his attention back to the stage as Sister Lynn called for all the guests to settle down; but you could see that the corner of Wonwoo's lips were curved up in the hint of a smile. 
"Take your seats, please!" Sister Lynn called out to all the villagers who settled down in the rows of chairs behind you. "The performances are about to begin!"
You settled down to watch. Each of the children had prepared something different and although you had been spending plenty of time with them of late, their talents still surprised you. Fred and some of the other boys performed an amusing little play that they had written themselves. Amelia sang a beautiful French song that you had taught her. Little Jia could not sing- but she recited some poetry in French and her accent was flawless. All the children were treated to generous applause and praise by the audience. 
Marie was the last to perform. You were surprised when four of the villagers came in carrying the heavy pianoforte from the orphanage and placed it by the side of the stage.
Sister Lynn called for the attention of the audience. 
"Marie will play a waltz that she has been practising on the piano," Sister Lynn announced with a smile. "Our generous benefactress Mrs. Jeon informs us that this is the same waltz which was played last season at the ball hosted by the Duchess of Graham in London- so we are in for a very rare treat indeed."
Wonwoo turned to you with furrowed eyebrows. 
"The ball hosted by the Duchess of Graham? Was that not the ball where we-"
"Hush," you said quickly. "Let us dance."
"Dance?" Wonwoo asked you in mild disbelief. "Here? At a children's performance?"
The opening notes of the waltz began. Marie's playing was excellent; you had taught her well. You stood and held your hand out to Wonwoo. Some of the other villagers had also risen from their seats and were beginning to dance- although, having never properly learnt the waltz, they were doing a clumsy imitation of the steps. 
"It is the same Viennese waltz that is often played at balls in London. I am sure you recognise it- despite your aversion to social events," you quipped. 
Wonwoo took your hand and followed you a short distance away from the chairs. You stepped closer to him- one hand clasped in his, the other placed on his shoulder. You had not worn gloves this evening as formal gloves had seemed excessive in the presence of the villagers. 
Wonwoo's bare hand clasped yours. His fingers were warm as he placed his other hand on your back and the simple, but intimate gesture made your heart skip a beat. 
"For a man that almost never danced at balls, you are a surprisingly good dancer," you told him with a smile as he slowly guided you into the waltz. 
Wonwoo raised an eyebrow at you. "I was trained, like any other gentleman. My mother had me and my sister take formal dance lessons before we entered society."
"Yes; but skills such as dancing often grow rusty from lack of use," you teased him. 
"You seem to be grossly underestimating the amount of dancing I did in London. It may not have been enough to suit my mother or the young ladies of the ton, but it was still plenty. I am surprised that you and I have never danced before."
You laughed at the hypocrisy. "How can you possibly be surprised that we have never danced before when you have never asked me to dance?" you demanded. 
Wonwoo bit his lip. "You would not have accepted me."
"Nonsense. You were the one who was miserly about granting dances. I never turned one down. I even danced with Mr. Park multiple times- although he constantly trod on my toes and ruined a very pretty pair of shoes I had."
"Then I am out of excuses," Wonwoo confessed. 
"You could have told me that you were too nervous to dance with me because of my superior dancing skills," you offered with a playful smile. "That would have been an acceptable excuse."
Wonwoo chuckled. "No. That would have been a bare-faced lie."
You allowed Wonwoo to lead you gently and expertly through the waltz. Many of the villagers had paused their own dancing to watch you- but Wonwoo seemed entirely unconcerned about the audience that you had gathered. He never faltered in his step. 
For a brief moment it felt magical. The dark thoughts and worries and loneliness that had incessantly bogged down every waking hour of your life for the past few months disappeared and were replaced with a sort of childish giddiness. 
Wonwoo's bare fingers entwined with yours; and his dark but gentle eyes looked down at you steadily without once avoiding your gaze. He lightly bit his soft lips in an attempt to concentrate on the waltz and for a quick moment you could see what you had never seen before. You caught a glimpse through the windows of the fortress he had built around his heart and saw the shadow of a vulnerable, hesitant, caring man trapped on the inside. 
"Wonwoo…"
The waltz came to an end. There was a loud applause for Marie and also for you and your husband- many of the villagers had admired your skilful dancing. 
"Thank you for the dance," you told your husband lightly as you took a step back from him. He nodded and released you quickly. He was flustered as he only now realised that you had been observed by most of the villagers. 
"We should have more music!" one of the villagers suggested. "So that we might dance more!"
Marie, still sitting at the piano, blushed with embarrassment. 
"I only learned how to play the one waltz," she admitted shyly. She looked up and her eyes met yours across the garden. "But Mrs. Jeon can play so many more! Mrs. Jeon, would you play us a song that everyone can dance to?"
You hesitated and looked around at the expectant faces. "I-I couldn't. This performance was for the children, it is not my place-"
Wonwoo interrupted you. "I think you should play."
You gave him a sharp look. "What?"
"Play them a song," he replied simply. 
You glanced around at the watching villagers and then leaned closer to Wonwoo, lowering your voice "At the children's performance? I hope you are not going to accuse me of being vain if one of them cries because I played better than them?"
"I think Marie may cry if you do not play."
You were surprised when Wonwoo gently took your hand and led you towards the instrument. Marie beamed and vacated the seat for you- you sat in front of the piano and took a deep breath. 
"Well- how about a lively one?" you suggested. 
You sat down and allowed your fingers to dance over the instrument in a lively waltz- something that the villagers would find entertaining despite not knowing the exact dance steps. Many of them began to dance again. Marie sat down on the stool beside you to watch you play with great interest. 
Wonwoo moved a short distance away and leaned against the garden fence to watch you play in silence. You had to focus on the keys so you could not afford to look at him very much- but Marie's eyes were constantly flickering towards your husband. 
"Mr. Jeon seems to admire your playing greatly," Marie whispered to you innocently. "Is that how he fell in love with you? Did you perform for him in London and he fell in love?"
You wanted to laugh. 
"That is not what happened," you told her. "Where did you get that idea?"
Marie looked flustered. "I read in a book that gentlemen are often impressed by ladies who have excellent musical skills."
"True," you admitted. "But that was not the case with Mr. Jeon."
"Then how did he fall in love with you?"
You bit your lip as you tried to focus on the tune you were playing. You could not blame Marie for her innocent question; it was impossible for her to understand the circumstances behind your marriage that made it difficult for you to answer. For all she knew, you and Mr. Jeon were a perfectly happy married couple.
"You shall have to ask him that," you said simply. 
Marie gasped. "I could never! Mr. Jeon looks so terribly serious all the time- although Sister Lynn says he is a very kind person and that we must be very grateful to him."
"But he could smile more," you agreed. 
"Yes, I suppose he could. He is frowning at us even now," Marie giggled. 
The waltz came to an end; your face was warm with pleasure and you could not stop the smile from spreading across your face when the villagers applauded your performance generously. You stood and thanked them as Wonwoo approached you. 
"It is growing late," he told you quietly as he offered you his arm. "Perhaps we should take our leave."
Marie suddenly stood from the stool as well. Her face was flushed as she looked up at your husband. 
"Mr. Jeon," she began boldly. "What is it that made you fall in love with Mrs. Jeon?"
Wonwoo looked taken aback by the young girl's sudden question. His eyes widened and he turned to you in confusion. You shook your head lightly- don't ruin her innocence, play along, you tried to tell him with your eyes. 
Wonwoo paused for a moment and then looked back down at the little girl. 
His response was quiet.
"I fell in love with her because she shines so brightly."
—------------------------------------------------------------
You awoke early the next morning. 
The sunlight streaming through your curtains was not as bright as usual. You were accustomed to sleeping in rather late; it was not as though you were needed anywhere in the mornings, and Mrs. Betsy was more than happy to keep breakfast for you even if you did not come downstairs in time. 
But for once, you awoke unusually early and went downstairs hoping- almost expecting- to see your husband. 
"Good morning, Mrs. Jeon!" the housekeeper greeted you in surprise when she saw you appear in the breakfast parlour. "You are awake earlier than usual. I will bring out your breakfast momentarily."
You nodded and sat down. "Thank you, Mrs. Betsy. Has… has Mr. Jeon eaten?"
Mrs. Betsy blinked at you in surprise. It was rare for you to ask about your husband; the two of you almost never ate breakfast together.
"I am afraid Mr. Jeon left early this morning for the neighbouring town to take care of some matters of the estate," she informed you simply. "He should return tomorrow."
You nodded. "Oh. I see."
"Were you expecting him?"
"No, no particularly," you said dismissively. You felt suddenly embarrassed that your housekeeper had noticed your disappointment. You thought that after the lovely evening you had spent with your husband at the orphanage, he might actually have breakfast with you. You cleared your throat. "Has the post arrived?" 
"Yes, of course."
You busied yourself reading a letter from Ella that contained some gossip about the ton- but your eyes stared blankly at her words without taking them in. Your mind was still replaying moments from the previous night. 
The feeling of Wonwoo's fingers entwined with yours, the small smile on his handsome face when you teased him, the way you had been lost in his dark eyes as he guided you through the waltz…
You had danced with possibly hundreds of men before but had never quite felt the same way. 
Was it because he was your husband? Was it because, for the first time since your marriage, you had allowed yourself to look at Jeon Wonwoo, really look at the man clearly instead of through lenses clouded by your own self-pity and misery, and see him for who he truly was? That small glimpse of Wonwoo behind his fortress walls was not enough. 
You wanted more. 
You suddenly craved more of him. 
You felt restless for the next two days as you paced the house and waited for Wonwoo's return. You had never bothered to do so before- your husband often spent the night away when he was off on business matters, and you had never once cared to worry about his return. 
It was the third day after his absence that you finally heard the sound of the carriage rolling up to the Jeon manor. Snowball perked up his ears and ran to the front entrance of the manor faster than you. The carriage had stopped in front of the main entrance and a man descended- but it was not your husband. 
"Joshua?" you asked in shock. 
The Viscount and Viscountess Hong descended the carriage. Snowball immediately leapt at your brother, and your sister-in-law came to throw her arms around you.  
"Oh; my dear, it is such a relief to see you!" she cried as she embraced you warmly. You embraced her in return- it had been months since you had seen your family and you could not help the tears that pricked your eyes. 
"I have missed you so much," you admitted as you hugged her back. Joshua finally managed to hand Snowball off to a servant and came over to give you a warm hug as well. Your brother gripped your shoulders and frowned down at you. 
"You look terrible," he told you bluntly. 
His wife swatted him. "Joshua!" she cried. "How can you say that to her?"
You did not mind at all; you were far too happy to see them and you called for Mrs. Betsy and the servants to carry their belongings inside and prepare rooms for them. Joshua watched you flitter about with a frown on his face, as you ushered them into the parlour and called for tea and refreshments. 
"What brings you here?" you asked Joshua eagerly as your brother and sister-in-law sat down in the parlour. "You did not even write that you were coming- or did I miss your letter? Perhaps I have not been keeping up with my correspondence…"
"We will not be staying long," Joshua replied simply. "We have only come to take you with us."
You blinked at him. "Take me with you? Where?"
"Home, sister."
You stared at him in confusion. "Home? But what…" your eyes widened, suddenly fearing the worst. "Is something wrong with Mother?"
"Mother is healthy and well. Luckily, she does not know what you have been going through," Joshua replied simply. His jaw was clenched; your brother suddenly seemed very unlike himself. "Instead of asking the servants to prepare rooms for us, I think it would be best if you asked them to pack your belongings."
"I don't… I don't understand…"
The Viscountess sat beside you and took your trembling hand in hers. Her voice was gentle. "My dear, I know you have been trying to hide it in your letters but we are aware of how miserable you have been. Mr. Jeon has been corresponding with your brother. We are very worried for your health."
You stiffened. "My health is fine-"
"Mr. Jeon tells us that you have been quite depressed. That you sit in the drawing room for days on end without moving, that you never speak and you never smile. He wrote to us to say that he thought it was best if you went back home."
You felt like you had been slapped. 
"Wonwoo wrote to you to take me home?"
Joshua nodded. "Yes. He wrote to me on Sunday and we left immediately upon receiving the letter. I know that you probably did not want to scare us, sister… but you should have said something in your letters. We would never have expected you to stay here if we knew you were so miserable even after all this time."
You could barely hear what your brother was saying. Your head suddenly spun; had Wonwoo done this? He had called your brother to come take you away without a word? Now, after you had finally reached out to him and were beginning to see a glimpse of hope in your future with him? 
You felt…
Betrayed. 
You stood suddenly. "No, this does not make sense. Surely Wonwoo would not have done this now. Not after the other evening, I…"
"Sister-"
"Mrs. Betsy!" you yelled for the housekeeper, your voice trembling. The older woman came running into the room, wide-eyed. "Where exactly is my husband?"
"I-I believe he is at the inn in the neighbouring town, madam-"
"Send a manservant on horseback to him at once and tell him that I demand him to return home this very instant," you ordered shakily. When the housekeeper stared at you without moving, you clenched your fists. "Was I not clear, Mrs. Betsy? I require this to be done right now!"
"Of course, madam."
You took a deep breath and tried to calm yourself. Surely there was some misunderstanding. It would be resolved. Wonwoo had simply expressed his concerns about your behaviour and your overprotective brother had jumped to his own conclusions…
"You should both go to your rooms to refresh yourselves and dress for supper," you told your brother and sister-in-law. "I… need a few moments."
"Of course."
You felt light-headed for the rest of the evening. Your thoughts were bogged down by a dense fog in your mind as you waited for Wonwoo to arrive. Your stomach clenched, and although you finally sat down to supper with the Viscount and Viscountess, the delicious food only made you feel nauseous. 
You had just begun to eat when Mrs. Betsy came into the dining room hurriedly. 
"Mr. Jeon has arrived," she announced. 
You leapt to your feet as Wonwoo entered the dining room. His eyes were red and his dark hair tousled and windswept; he appeared to have ridden here directly on horseback. He avoided looking at you. 
"Viscount Hong, Viscountess Hong," Wonwoo greeted them with a stiff nod. His voice was slightly hoarse. 
Your sister-in-law smiled at him. 
"Thank you for having us at your home, Mr. Jeon," she said before turning to your brother expectantly. The Viscount said nothing. He did not even stand to greet Wonwoo. His wife nudged him sharply. 
"Joshua!" she mumbled. 
Your brother looked up at Wonwoo with an expression you had almost never seen on the Viscount's famously kind and gentle countenance- carefully controlled anger.
"I have nothing to say to Mr. Jeon," Joshua replied. 
Wonwoo's eyes widened but he was silent. He simply nodded and turned his head away, almost as though accepting defeat. You stood from the table abruptly. 
"That does not matter, since I have plenty to say to him," you interrupted the tense silence before striding to the dining room entrance. "Let us speak in your study, Wonwoo."
You did not look back as you took determined, trembling steps towards Wonwoo's study. You could hear your husband following you. You stood silently, one hand on the back of a chair to balance yourself as you waited for Wonwoo to enter the room and close the door behind him. 
"Did you write to my brother to tell him to take me home?" you demanded. 
Wonwoo was silent. His body was facing you but his eyes were unfocused, looking at the polished wooden floor near your feet instead of into your eyes. His jaw was clenched tightly. 
"Wonwoo?" you demanded again, when multiple seconds had passed and he still had not answered. 
"...Yes," he replied. "Yes, I did."
Your legs felt weak and your grip on the back of the chair tightened- you were now using it as a crutch to stay standing upright. 
"Why?" you asked quietly. 
Wonwoo took a deep breath. He would still not look at you. His entire body was stiff and he seemed perfectly satisfied to continue staring at the floor without answering you. 
"Wonwoo!" you demanded again. 
"I don't know what to say."
You felt a burst of anger explode inside of you at the sight of his lips pressed firmly together. 
"Well, you will have to say something! You cannot just stand there in silence and allow me to come up with my own explanations for this… this drastic step that you seemed to think was necessary to take without consulting me! How exactly is this supposed to work? We are married. Do you want me gone for a month? A year?"
Wonwoo said nothing. 
"Speak to me!" you yelled. The frustration was building rapidly inside of your chest but you could see that the more you demanded it, the more Wonwoo seemed to be shutting himself off from you. His head hung low and he still would not look at you. His eyes were closed. 
"Wonwoo," you said slowly, your voice trembling with anger. "If you do not explain yourself then I have no choice but to assume the worst. I will have to assume that living with me and even speaking to me is so wholly repulsive to you that you cannot stand to do it for a moment longer." 
Wonwoo was silent. 
You felt your heart sink. It felt as though Jeon Wonwoo had reached inside of your chest and used his cold silence to rip out every remaining shred of hope and dignity you had left. 
You felt your throat close up. You were foolish. Foolish to think anything could come of this, foolish to still have entertained any hope in the possibility of happiness after months and months of this slow torture. 
"Very well," you whispered. "I will pack my things immediately."
You felt yourself walk out of the study as though you were in a dream. Everything was blurred; the walls seemed to dance in your vision as you ran up the stairs and ordered Rosie and two other maids to bring a trunk and pack all your belongings. Your own voice felt disembodied… almost like it belonged to someone else. 
The maids were shocked, but the expression on your face prevented them from asking questions.  They hurried to obey your orders. You stood stiffly in your room and watched in a daze as the maids pulled dresses out of your wardrobe and began to fold them into the trunks. 
The door to your bedroom opened without a knock. 
"Leave us," you heard Wonwoo mumble quietly to the maids. They stood and quickly left the room as Wonwoo entered and closed the door behind him. 
"Finally thought of something to say?" you asked him coldly. 
Wonwoo walked to your bed and sat down on the edge of it. His broad shoulders were hunched and he bent his head forwards as he ran his fingers through his tousled hair. 
"I need a moment," he whispered, almost inaudibly. 
You waited. Every moment of silence was agony. It could have been second, minutes… time seemed to lose meaning but finally Wonwoo lifted his head to look up at you. His eyes were red and his voice cracked when he spoke. 
"I don't know how to do it," he choked out. "I don't know how to make you happy."
"What?"
"I didn't think it would be this difficult. I thought it would pass- that I could learn in time, but I just don't know. It kills me inside knowing that you are going through so much pain. I can't watch it any longer. I can't watch you become a shell of the person you used to be. You used to light up any room you were in like the blazing sun. I can't watch as that light inside of you dies, slowly, with each passing day that you are here."
"Wonwoo…"
He took a shaky breath. "I've failed. But I can't continue to let my failures as a husband destroy you. You deserve a chance at happiness."
You stared at him. Wonwoo's fists were clenched as he gripped the wooden frame of your bed. His knuckles were white. 
"So, your solution," you said slowly. "Your solution was to go behind my back and write to my brother to come and take me away-"
"Your family will know how to fix-"
"Shut up," you hissed. Wonwoo looked up at you in shock. "I don't want to hear your excuses. I have told you this before and I will say it again, Mr. Jeon. I am a grown woman who is capable of making her own choices and decisions. I will not be treated like a child- not by the Viscount and certainly not by my husband!"
Wonwoo swallowed and said nothing.
"And the audacity- the audacity you have to claim that you have failed at something that you never once tried to do!" you snapped. "Tell me, Mr. Jeon. Tell me what valiant attempts you made to make me happy or even be a good husband to me."
"I-I tried to give you your space, your freedom…"
You laughed. "Space? Freedom? You abandoned me here. You built an impenetrable iron wall the size of a godforsaken fortress between us and you left me here to rot!"
"Every conversation we have had somehow turns to an argument. You never wanted this marriage, you never wanted to marry me, and I did not want to force myself upon you unwillingly!" Wonwoo retorted, his eyes flaming. 
"Then you should have said so! You should have spoken to me instead of running away because a marriage cannot sustain itself on silence, Wonwoo! No relationship can sustain itself on silence! You had to speak to me and tell me how you were feeling!"
Wonwoo stood and went to the large window in your bedroom. He turned his back to you as his hand grabbed the windowsill. 
"I'm sorry," he whispered. 
Your anger slowly deflated. "No, I… you are not alone in fault. I share the blame. I was too wrapped up in feeling sorry for myself and mourning the life I lost. I watched you build distance between us and I did nothing to stop it. I never gave this marriage a chance. Neither of us gave this marriage a proper chance. For heaven's sake, that connecting door has been locked since our wedding night."
Wonwoo's eyes briefly flickered towards the connecting door that led to his bedroom and nodded. 
"Maybe so," he admitted quietly. "Maybe we never really tried hard enough."
You stepped closer to him. 
"But I thought things were changing," you confessed weakly. "I thought maybe we were finally beginning to understand each other. After that night at the orphanage, when we danced together and you were speaking to me and smiling at me, I finally, finally felt…"
Wonwoo turned to look at you. 
"What?" he asked gently. 
"I finally felt like you were my husband," you finished. "But clearly I was mistaken, since whatever happened that evening prompted you to write to my brother to take me away."
Wonwoo bit his lip. 
"I saw how happy you were that night," he admitted. "I know that we never spent much time together or got along in London but… whatever disagreements we may have had, you were always someone that shined so brightly wherever you went. I saw that light die out when you married me. I was beginning to think it was gone forever. But I saw a glimmer of it when we danced and when you played the piano. I thought it was better if you went back to your family before that light died out completely."
You stepped closer to him. Wonwoo's dark eyes searched for yours and you could see the way his lower lip trembled. 
"I was happy that night," you told him gently. "But it was not because I missed dancing or music. It was because I finally felt some hope for my future. I caught a glimpse of you-of the real you that you hide behind your silence- and I thought that if only I could see more of that man, I might someday come to love him."
Wonwoo's jaw tightened. "Do you mean that?"
"More than anything."
He turned away from the window and closed the distance between you both with one large stride- and then he kissed you.
You had not expected it. It was not something that you had ever even dared to imagine, kissing Wonwoo. But his warm hands slid into the strands of your hair and he pulled you flush against him as his lips closed softly and passionately over yours. 
You took a few moments to react. You had never been kissed before, but your body was a few steps ahead of your mind and it melted naturally and comfortably against Wonwoo's. Your hands grasped at his broad shoulders and you pulled yourself closer to him. Your lips parted for him eagerly, inhaling his familiar scent, and enjoying the rush of adrenaline that was pumping through every inch of your body. 
Wonwoo pulled back breathlessly after a few moments- he pressed his forehead to yours and you felt his warm breath against your face. 
"Perhaps-" he whispered breathlessly. "Perhaps I should not have…"
"No," you insisted as you brought your hand up to rest on the side of Wonwoo’s neck and brushed his cheek with your thumb. "No, Wonwoo, we should have done this long, long ago."
He nodded. You felt his shoulders relax and his dark eyes flickered down to yours. There was a hesitation mixed with a deep longing behind them. 
"Do you still want me to return with my brother?" you whispered. 
He swallowed. "I don't… I don't know."
"What does that mean?"
"I want you to be happy," Wonwoo said firmly. "If you stay here, and you are still lonely and miserable…"
"I don't know where or how I will be happy," you told him gently. "But if things here change… if we open up to each other more, if we can spend more time together and discuss our feelings and set aside all the guilt and resentment and anger…"
Wonwoo took a deep breath.
"I don't know if I can make you happy," he admitted to you hesitantly. "I don't know if I can make you love me."
"It's not a question of making me do anything, Wonwoo. You need to stop considering my happiness as some burden that you have to bear in silence, and simply be here, with me. That is all I ask."
"I can do that."
"And I will stop pitying myself and mourning the life I left behind," you told him. "And I will try-genuinely try- to rebuild a new life with you."
"Do you think we can do this?"
"We owe it to each other to try."
"All right," Wonwoo said gently. He brought his hand up to caress your cheek and you saw the warmth, the hope in his own expression. You saw the vulnerability in his eyes when he spoke. "Then let us try again. Together. Stay with me, please."
"I will."
—-----------------------------------------------
Viscount Hong was not pleased when you informed him that you would not be going back with him the next morning. He watched in stony silence as his wife arranged for all their belongings to be reloaded onto their carriage. 
"Joshua," you tried to soothe his anger. 
He ignored you. He was looking at your husband. 
"You made me a promise," Joshua said coldly, frowning at Wonwoo. "The night when the scandal broke out, when you offered to marry my sister… you promised me that you would do everything in your power to keep her safe and happy. I trusted you and vouched for you; as a friend and a fellow gentleman."
Wonwoo took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I made mistakes, I-"
"Wonwoo, stop," you insisted firmly. "You don't need to explain anything to my brother, what happened between us is about our marriage-"
Joshua frowned. "Then how do I trust him again?"
"There is no need for you to trust Wonwoo. You can trust me. I am telling you that I want to stay here, Joshua- it is that simple."
The Viscountess called out to her husband-"My dear, the carriage is waiting!" and Joshua finally embraced you in a brotherly hug. 
"If something happens, you will write to me," he told you firmly. 
"I will."
"Goodbye, sister."
You waved goodbye to the Viscount and Viscountess as they boarded their carriage and it rattled away from the estate. Wonwoo seemed tense- you turned to him with a smile and placed a hand on his shoulder. 
"Well," you said with a small smile. "Perhaps I should congratulate you on being the only person in this world who has managed to make an enemy out of Viscount Hong."
Wonwoo laughed dryly.
"Very humorous, Mrs. Jeon. I am glad that it pleases you for your brother to hate me," he replied. 
You smiled. "He will forgive you."
"I hope so. I am almost grateful that we are not in a position to return to society in London just yet- I know that is where he keeps his duelling pistols."
You giggled. You began to walk back to the manor and you were surprised when Wonwoo suddenly reached out and took your hand in his, lacing your fingers together. There was a small smile on his handsome face. 
"How bold," you quipped lightly. "Do you usually go about touching women in this intimate manner?"
"Only when that woman is my wife and I am in my own home," Wonwoo replied. 
"Is this an indication that I should unlock the connecting door between our bedrooms?" you teased him lightly. 
His ears turned red. "If it pleases you."
"But would it please you?"
Wonwoo pressed his lips together tightly but his grip on your hand did not loosen. "Or perhaps," he suggested with a small smile. "We could go on a honeymoon instead. Have you ever seen Rome?"
You stared at him in disbelief. "Are you serious?"
"Very much so."
"We have been married for many months now. What will people think if we suddenly abandon the estate and take off for Rome like a pair of newlyweds?" you demanded. 
Wonwoo chuckled. "People already think many things about us. I sincerely doubt that a trip to Rome will be the breaking point for our reputation in society."
"I will need new dresses if we are to go to Rome," you said thoughtfully. "The seamstresses in the village are competent but they hardly know the latest fashions."
Wonwoo raised an eyebrow. 
"I am sure that can be arranged," he replied. 
"And new shoes and the latest jewellery. There is no silk to be found in this part of the countryside; we shall have to have it brought in from London. Perhaps a little extra fabric would be best- I've been meaning to have the curtains and upholstery in the drawing room replaced- they are quite dreary. The dining room could do with some refurbishment as well. And Wonwoo…"
He hummed. "Yes?"
You smiled at him. "I have been thinking that a new grand pianoforte would be an excellent addition to the library."
Wonwoo blinked. For a moment his dark eyes were unreadable and you were worried that you had gone too far- but he suddenly used your entwined hands to pull you into him and his other arm wrapped around your waist. 
His head came down to place a soft kiss against the side of your neck and he whispered hoarsely in your ear. 
"Mrs. Jeon."
"Hmmm," you mumbled. 
"Unless you wish to return with your Viscount brother, perhaps it would be best not to spend the entire Jeon family fortune in one day?"
You bit your lip as you nodded. "Y-yes, of course."
"Good," Wonwoo replied as he released you gently. Your face had turned warm and he smiled at how flustered the simple intimate contact had made you. "Let us have breakfast."
"But I will need the dresses-"
He sighed. "Of course, my dear."
—------------------------------------------------------
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gothhabiba · 8 months
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[ID: a tumblr post containing a screenshot. Text in the screenshot reads “lol @ academics on twitter dotcom once again handwringing over students using chatgpt to write essays. don’t work for the enforcement of access barriers institution and then get mad when people try to elide or mitigate the access barriers, hope this helps.” The OP of the post adds this commentary to their screenshot: “I think the access barrier is the borderline incomprehensible amount of money you need to pay them to let you matriculate (this was about america). not the fact that you’re expected to be interested in the course once there.” end ID]
some people are so allergic to questioning anything they consider to be “common sense” it’s pathetic. worshipping meritocracy and the supposedly automatically edifying qualities of “effort” and suffering while also proclaiming oneself to be some flavour of progressive. sheesh
also I know this isn’t the point but it never stops being fascinating to me that so many people with this “you need to learn to Be Literate In The Correct Ways, Which Is An Easy Thing That Anyone Can Easily Do” sort of attitude (the elision between “think in the incredibly specific way and write in the highly specific way required to complete an essay that adheres to this particular school of thought about what essays should be like” and “be interested in the course” is telling here) are also, like... not great at reading comprehension imo.
it was super clear, even just in this ungenerous cropping of a longer point, that the original post was (among other things) criticising academia as a whole for being intended to institute access barriers to accumulating wealth, prestige &c. such that skills the university considers necessary (& performance within the limits afforded by university disability ‘accommodations,’ which are a joke) are considered automatically necessary, unquestionable, unimpeachable &c. as though the academy and its conception of “literary” are natural and inherent facts of life, rather than representing a particular interpretation of which “skills” are needed and how those skills are evaluated based on what the institution of academia is intended to do, economically / politically / socially, within a given society (cf earlier discussions on my blog about the material circumstances under which the field of literary studies arises)
which is simply basic materialist analysis. but most people in the notes were again too busy being outraged at the people trying to “game” this already highly rigged system to be able to comprehend a criticism of the highly rigged nature of said system
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blindbeta · 1 year
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Why Writers Should Consider Giving Blind Characters Canes, Guide Animals, or Other Mobility Aids + How To Choose One
(Note: This post is admittedly long and full of information. Make use of the headings to read the parts you are interested in. I have provided many links, which you can read as you go or save for later. I suggest saving this post and taking your time with it. I am also willing to answer any questions for people who have difficulty reading long posts. While I considered breaking this post into parts, I decided to keep all the information in one place for ease of sharing and reference, especially because multiple sections of the post refer to other sections contained within it.)
When I read for blind characters, my most common suggestion for writers is to give their character a cane, guide animal, or utilize another mobility aid. Most stories I beta read feature totally blind characters or people with very little vision, such as only seeing colors. Despite this, it is extremely common for me to suggest giving them a cane or guide animal because they are rarely portrayed using mobility devices. Because this is such a common suggestion, I wanted to create a post about it.
Most of this will be about mobility aids for people who aren’t familiar with them or are still deciding what tools are best for their character. It will also be mostly for modern, realistic, or semi-realistic stories. I will create a separate post for fantasy and science fiction mobility aids, use of magic or magical items, and writing stories set in or inspired by times before formal mobility tools existed. However, I believe this post can benefit anyone who is writing a blind character or anyone who wants to learn more about blindness. Mobility tools are a big part of blind culture, blind communities, diversity of blind experiences, and accessibility.
Learn About Mobility Aids
Here is a comprehensive post by visually impaired fiction writer and blogger @mimzy-writing-online which contains information about canes, O&M, guide animals, etc. If you are not familiar with canes, start there. It contains helpful information for body language, use of canes, and resources for descriptions that any writer will find valuable. The post also has a section on guide animals and sighted guide.
Here is a post I made about crafting fictional guide animals, although I have no experience as a guide animal handler myself. I made sure to research and include links, so it should still be a good starting point. It also has information about differences between service animals and emotional support animals.
Sighted Guide / Human Guide
First, terminology discussion. Sighted guide is a more common term and more examples come up when I search this term. Sighted guide refers to when a person with vision helps guide a blind person. The guide can be abled or also blind themselves. I have guided my friends before and they have guided me. I have often said that, in a way, sighted guide is a misnomer because someone who has less vision or no vision can also guide someone with more vision just as well.
The term human guide makes up for this misnomer by being more accurate. A TikTok by AskABlindPerson or @askablindperson on tumblr, explains this well. Here is a link to the video. The video states the following:
“I’m blind and I definitely prefer to say human guide rather than sighted guide because you don’t inherently need vision to guide and a blind person can do it too. And it doesn’t have to be that the blind person who’s guiding has more vision than the other person either. It can just be that they know the area better than the person they’re guiding, or it could be that they just have better cane skills or independent travel skills than the other person. Because not everybody has equal access to the same exact opportunities for training. So a blind person can also guide, which is why I like to say human guide because it’s more inclusive.”
Not everyone minds which term is used, however. Some people also only use one term because it was taught to them first, rather than because of any particular meaning.
Below are some examples of sighted / human guide and when it is often used.
Here is an article titled How to be a Sighted Guide
Here is another helpful page with information on certain situations such as narrow spaces.
Here is a video by London Vision.
While human guide can be someone’s main mobility aid, it is often used according to the situation.
Situations in which your character might want to use sighted guide include:
-crowds, where a cane might be difficult to use or someone has a companion they would like to avoid being separated from
-while in lines, mostly to provide descriptions of what happens around them or to let them know when to move forward in the line
-ground that is uneven or steep may cause someone to want to use sighted guide rather than a cane, although this will depend on the person. Using a guide and a cane is also possible. A guide animal may go around the obstacle
-when going inside an unfamiliar house or indoor location, usually for locating a specific room
-navigating unfamiliar areas
-public transport
-guide animal handlers may choose to either do traditional sighted / human guide while using the guide animal or give the command for their animal to follow the person without holding onto them
Guides allow the blind person to gain additional information about their surroundings through conversation with the guide. Human guides can also aid in navigation by providing helpful directions or landmarks. Human guides can be used with a white cane or guide animal. They can also be used without any other mobility aid.
People from cultures who place high value on interdependence, especially on family, may wish to use more human guides. People who have anxiety or disorientation may prefer to use human guides or simply travel with someone else for security. Other people who might tend to use more human guides include: people who have moved to an unfamiliar area, people who are losing vision, people who have recently become blind, people with other disabilities or health concerns, or people who prefer the company of others.
In stories, human guides can portray character relationships, establishing trust and respect. Perhaps a character already knows how to guide, showing familiarity with blindness. This mobility tool can display the helpfulness of a stranger or be the start of a meet-cute. Additionally, showing how good or bad a character is at guiding can show compatibility between characters. I also believe that writing guides into a story can allow for detailed visual descriptions or conversation between your characters.
Imagine character A slowly learning to trust character B, culminating in letting that character be a human guide.
Sonar Devices
I wanted to include a section for these because they aren’t often discussed.
Sonar devices are intended as a supplement for use of a cane or guide animal. Unless the sonar and cane are paired together, such as with the WeWalk cane. While they could be used by themselves, this should probably only be with the addition of a guide and in non-crowded, familiar area.
Here is a video review of the Sunu Band by TheBlindLife.
Here is another review comparing two devices: the Sunu Band and the Buzz Clip.
Note how the devices are used, especially with a cane. The cane is used to detect objects from the waist below, whereas the sonar device is used to detect objects above the waist. This includes objects like tree branches.
Sonar devices work by detecting objects in front of the user and giving a tactile alert, such as a vibration. Vibrations increase the closer one gets to the object, giving a continuous vibration when right in front of it. Moving away from the object, such as stepping to the side, will stop the vibration.
This device could allow blind characters to be more active an create interesting opportunities for descriptions.
Why Does My Character Need a Cane, Guide Animal, or Human Guide?
A few reasons include:
1. It will be more relatable for blind audiences if characters move through the world like they do
2. It is more realistic for stories set in our world or worlds meant to be realistic save for a few elements
3. It allows audiences who aren’t blind to understand how blind people move through the world. In the case of sighted guide, it also offers depictions of politely and efficiently offering help to a blind person, which may include not offering help at all.
4. Canes and guide animals give your blind character some visibility, as the cane, and to some extent the guide animal and harness, signify to others that a character is blind or otherwise disabled in some way. As for sighted / human guide, it offers an extra voice for advocacy purposes or the added visibility that someone is being helped.
5. Mobility tools allow blind people to participate more in a world that is rarely accessible for them at a basic level. I almost always find this is true in books as well unless the writer makes a point to include universal design.
6. Mobility aids improve navigation, increase safety, and increase interaction with the world.
Why Would Anyone Need To Know My Character is Blind?
Safety is a big factor.
In this video titled Using A White Cane While Legally Blind by Cayla With a C, Cayla discusses some of the benefits of using a white cane. One of these is that the cane works as an identifier, letting people know the person using it can’t see so other people need to watch out for them. She mentions it is also important for cars and bikers to know cane users can’t see them well or at all, meaning they don’t expect a cane user to move out of the way.
Both Cayla and Molly Burke share in their videos that people are more likely to offer help when they use a cane.
How Do Mobility Aids Help Blind People Navigate?
It depends on what mobility aid is used.
Canes offer more tactile information and direct contact with the environment. Canes allow someone to feel changes in the ground, such as going from carpet to tile. They make it easier to feel steps or broken sidewalk. They allow blind people to be aware of obstacles, such as a chair, rather than simply going around them they way they might with a guide dog. They help blind people locate landmarks they need in order to be oriented in their environment and navigate their way to different places. For example, they may search for a bench, knowing a drinking fountain is across from it.
As for guide animals, because I am not a guide animal handler myself, I wanted to include quotes from a few sources.
The Guide Dog Foundation says the following in a very useful Q&A:
“In short, guide dogs are taught how to find and follow a clear path, maneuver around obstacles, and stop at curbs. They follow their teammate's directions, and they know that they can disobey only in the face of danger.”
And according to International Guide Dog Federation:
“A guide dog is trained to guide its owner in a straight line unless ordered otherwise. The dog will avoid any obstacles en route, above or around you. It will stop at stairs, doors and kerbs. The dog will not decide where to go; it is up to the vision impaired person to instruct the dog on the direction for the dog to go and the dog will safely guide the person as instructed. The vision impaired person will already be familiar with regularly travelled routes and the dog will quickly become familiar with these too.”
And International Association of Assistance Dog Partnership has a page that explains the categories of tasks performed by guide dogs, as well as other types of assistance dogs.
Sighted / human guide can be used with a family member, friend, or helpful stranger. It can be a primary mode of O&M or used when needed, meaning it be used even if someone already has a cane or a guide animal.
Usually, human guide involves contact with the guide. It can also include the guide orienting the person they are leading by describing surroundings such as “there is a bench to the right” or “we’re near the door” or it can involve telling someone where steps are.
How Do I Know What My Character Should Use?
What your character chooses will depend on their lifestyle, level of vision, age, where they live, culture, religion, and their needs as a blind person.
In the post on guide animals, I went over a few reasons someone might choose a guide dog or a guide horse.
Here are some articles about canes vs guide animals. Although the ones I found focus on dogs, I believe many points made about guide animals can be applied to miniature horses as well.
Guide Dogs vs White Canes: The Comprehensive Comparison
The link above includes the following:
“One of the biggest and most obvious differences between a guide dog and white cane is that a guide dog is trained to avoid obstacles along their pathway. A white cane helps locate impediments so that the blind person can decide how best to maneuver around them.”
Another article that may help:
White Cane vs Guide Dog: Why or Why Not?
White Canes and Guide Dogs - What’s Actually the Difference?
Here are some videos:
Guide Dog vs Canes - Pros and Cons by Molly Burke
White Canes vs Guide Dogs by Challenge Solutions
White Canes vs Guide Dogs - Which is Better? 21 Pros and Cons by Unsightly Opinions
Guide Dog vs Cane, Which is better? by Ashley’s Advice
I also wanted to discuss a few more points.
1. Multiple disabilities
People with multiple disabilities may prefer different methods. For example, those who use a stabilizing cane may have different reasons for choosing their mobility aid. I went into that more in this post here.
It would be difficult to cover all other disabilities here, but I will attempt to include some things to consider.
Consider any pain, weakness, or other difficulties your character may have around their hands, wrists, arms. Canes require repetitive use of these areas.
Consider any sensory issues your character has. Sensory issues may come into play with cane vibration and the tactile information given by canes, especially as it differs between surfaces. The video by Challenge Solutions listed above discusses pain caused by vibration and repetitive movement, for someone who already deals with this. It goes into more detail, mentioning that a dog may lessen this difficulty compared to cane use.
Consider phobias or traumas that may make service animals, especially dogs, a bad choice for the character, their loved ones, or community. In contrast, consider how a service animal may help provide comfort to characters with traumas unrelated to animals
I hope that provides a starting point for thinking about how other disabilities may impact someone’s choice when deciding what mobility aid is right for them. I hope this is helpful is choosing a mobility aid for your character.
2. Financial Considerations
Consider financial difficulties. While guide dog schools often provide highly trained dogs, weeks of training, a harness, and some essentials for free, it depends on the school. Some schools may cover the dog’s veterinary care, while others may not. Some may provide one bag of food. Some may cover costs of transportation to the training school, but may not cover the cost of missed work. Challenge Solutions lists several costly areas that go with having a dog, such as grooming or toys.
The amount the training schools cover is so varied that one cannot assume anything about how the blind person keeps up with care of their dog. They may have trained with a school that covers the most costly things, leaving them to buy the occasional treats and toys, while other schools may not cover much after the dogs and handler leave the school, causing financial difficulties that may or may not have been fully anticipated. Financial situations of blind people with guide animals cannot be reliably assumed.
Canes, on the other hand, are a one-time payment per cane, if they aren’t already free. While canes do require replacement tips and while people do go through canes quickly, the cost is not comparable to that of caring for a guide animal.
For writers, it may make sense to have your fictional world contain schools that continue to cover costs over the guide animal’s life. Or perhaps veterinary care is free in that world. Either way, this may be something to consider. The character’s financial situation can show a lot about them and the world in which they live.
3. Additional thoughts about safety and discrimination
Safety has many different connotations in blind communities. Some people consider safety to mean social safety, as alerting others to blindness may explain any behavior that would be considered strange or rude.
Some consider safety to mean physical safety from tripping, falling, running into objects or people, or having them run into you. This is especially important with vehicles.
Still others consider safety to mean being able to navigate and orient oneself, such as when traveling alone.
Some people consider safety to mean interpersonal safety and the fear of being harmed due to being perceived as vulnerable.
Molly Burke mentions this particular subject at around 19:22 to 20:47 in her video here. To paraphrase, she says that having a big dog with her makes her feel safer as a blind person. Molly states that the white cane may increase her vulnerability as it identifies her as a potential target due to her blindness.
I mentioned that it is helpful for people to be identified as blind, such as with a cane and, to a lesser extent, a guide dog. That is still true. This may provide protection by alerting others that they may need to look out for a blind person instead of expecting that person to avoid them or their vehicle.
On the other side, a cane may alert others to vulnerability in a way that is harmful to the blind person. Due to this factor, blind people may feel safer with a guide dog because the presence of a dog may make others hesitate before doing them harm. I am not sure if the same can be said for those with horses, but it is possible horses may still act as a deterrent. In the video by Challenge Solutions, Caitlyn says that while guide dogs are not trained to be guard dogs and should not be aggressive by nature, it can feel safer to travel with a guide dog. Caitlyn says the following: “They are dogs and I would like to think that they would have a protective instinct if a situation arose where that was needed.” She adds, “I think there is more of a protective aspect to guide dog usage than white cane usage. At least I always felt a lot safer with my dog than I do with my cane.”
I also wanted to include thoughts about discrimination.
Some blind people may worry they will experience more discrimination using one mobility aid over another. This may influence their decision. To give brief examples, people with service animals may be turned away from places they are allowed to go. They may need to advocate for themselves more because of this. Another example might be feeling like people judge them or stare at them more when they use a white cane. They may be grabbed or shouted at more often when using a white cane, as described by Challenge Solutions, or they may be ignored or go unnoticed in other cases. In fact, some blind people are only spoken to in public because of guide dogs acting as a conversation starter.
However, feeling invisible in society seems to be a common issue for many disabled people. Some people also talk about being invisible in some areas and uncomfortably visible in other areas. While a blind person’s choice of mobility aid may influence this, the common disabled experience of both invisibility and hyper-visibility might still follow them.
Additionally, myths about blindness, which I wrote about in this post here, may also cause people to accuse cane users of faking if they have residual vision, which can lead to them feeling unsafe or like they cannot use their residual vision without receiving negative attention. This may cause some people to want a service animal, as in the case of a guide dog, some people may assume they are simply walking their dog or training a guide dog. This may be a way some blind people try to avoid being accused of faking blindness. However, blind people with guide animals may also be accused of having a fake service animal or be accused of not really needing their service animal. Additional barriers may include general public ignorance about laws around service animals or differing laws around access per country.
All of the above can put a lot of strain on people who are just trying to get from point A to point B.
Sighted guide may come with some issues as well. Finding someone who is willing to guide and a helpful guide may be challenging unless a blind person is already using a trusted friend or family member. In social situations, other people may misunderstand use of human guide, believing that they should address the guide rather than the blind person. Use of this mobility aid may also come with judgment from others about the blind person being incapable, lazy, or a burden on others. None of these are true, but they can be judgments people make.
Sighted / human guide may be a preferred form of O&M for people who have recently gone blind or are in unfamiliar areas. Additionally, blind people who come from cultures where interdependence is valued may prefer to use a human guide with or without another mobility aid. It is also important to note that the nature of the blind community also celebrates both interdependence and dependence, and these may not always mean the same thing as they do to people who aren’t blind. This is also true when it comes to using mobility tools and techniques.
What Should My Low Vision Character Use?
The majority of blind people have some residual vision, including low vision. Which is part of why most of the blind community doesn’t use canes, along with lack of training. Unfortunately, many people with residual vision are, however subtly, turned away from using canes or other mobility aids. Based on stories from friends, suggestions in this post by @mimzy-writing-online, my own experience, and information online, I will suggest a few reasons this might be the case.
A big reason has to do with believing they have too much vision to require a mobility aid. The idea of not being disabled enough is both an internal an external issue for people with residual vision. This is because people often claim that if a person can see some, they must not require mobility aid. Mobility aids are seen as a last resort, rather than a way to make life easier. This can lead to self-doubt, confusion, or guilt for a blind person. They might feel as if they are ungrateful because they believe other people have it worse. Conversely, some people may have been taught that relying on a mobility tool is shameful, giving up, or reveals a lack of independence. And sadly, some blind people with residual vision may be afraid of rejection or standing out from others.
This leads me into another reason, which is: believing they will experience more discrimination or social exclusion when using a cane. Unfortunately, this can be true. However, it is also true to that not using a cane can cause others to judge someone for things they do or don’t do as a blind person.
Disclosure is an option that works for many. However, blind people cannot always disclose to everyone they interact with, such as to strangers spotting them outside. Disclosure of blindness can also be fraught with accusations of not really being blind, not looking blind, or not being blind enough to count as blind. These accusations sometimes happen when using canes as well. Denial of help, denial of accommodations, and accusations of faking are common.
In some circumstances, the opposite can happen. Instead of being accused of faking, the choice to use a mobility aid might bring about helpfulness from strangers or concern from loved ones. There may be concern that the vision loss has progressed or that something is wrong. After all, suddenly using a mobility tool can inspire alarm in people who aren’t used to them, because the prevailing thought is that mobility tools are only for totally blind people. And the incorrect message behind this is that being totally blind is negative.
Characters choosing to start using a mobility tool could ease themselves and loved ones into it by being open about their plans. They could experiment with cane use, marginally increasing use over time. Or they could simply use a cane as often as they need to, addressing concerns as they are brought up. Portrayal of communication about mobility aids between a blind character and their family could be a lovely addition to a story.
Lastly, blind people are expected to rely on residual vision for as long as possible, in as many situations as possible. Even if it causes pain, disorientation, or anxiety. Even if seeing is exhausting or frustrating. Even if it isn’t safe. However, the other side of this is that many blind people with residual vision enjoy seeing colors or shapes. They may enjoy being able to describe things to friends with less vision.
But their sight may not always be enough to forgo using a mobility tool safely.
It is my opinion that anyone on the blind spectrum or with declining vision can benefit from use of accessibility tools, whether it be learning Braille or training with a cane.
People with low vision can use canes when they feel it is necessary. Examples may include times where they may need extra visibility or extra contact with the ground as they walk. They may choose to use a cane when crossing the street for added safety. Same applies to using stairs. They may bring their cane only to unfamiliar environments or out with them at night. They might feel like using it one day or in one place and not the next. They may have a condition that is not stable from day to day. Overcast weather or dim lighting could make it necessary to pull out a cane. They could simply want to use their cane or decide to leave it at home because they felt like it.
A blind person does not need to a full-time cane-user to be allowed to use one. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. If they need it, they need it. It is that simple. It will be the same with your low vision character.
Characters may also switch up mobility tools depending on what is best for where they’re going and what is accessible to them. For example, someone may use a human guide for extra safety while in a new city.
Why I Want More Mobility Aids in Media
This is just my opinion, but I would like to see more characters using mobility aids blind people use in real life. This helps to normalize use of these tools for people who are not familiar with blindness. This allows blind people representation that is more true to life. It also adds more detail to stories that wouldn’t otherwise be there.
There is also something off about blind characters who don’t use anything, specifically because most portrayals of blindness involve characters who are totally blind. Why are these characters walking around absolutely everywhere with no familiar way to navigate? Why are tools used by the blind community rejected when it comes to stories about blind characters?
I suspect it is because of a few factors:
1. Not knowing how mobility aids work. Another deterrent could be the difficulties of research and, in live-action media, wanting to avoid training usually sighted actors in use of these mobility tools.
2. Not wanting the blind character to seem too hindered
3. Wanting the mobility aid to be cooler or more interesting if it does exist. This varies by genre and the period in which the piece of media is set.
I find it strange that most stories about blind people do not feature blind characters using tools or techniques blind people use in real life. It sometimes feels as if blindness is a decoration writers add to their story without thinking about how it would impact their character.
My suggestion is to consider the amount of vision your character has, along with their lifestyle, and choose a mobility tool that works for them. I know that some of you are writing characters who can technically move through life without using a mobility aid full time. In these cases, it would be fun to see characters who are transient mobility aid users.
Closing - Not Everything About Blindness is Difficult
I hope this post was informative. I know that some of it may feel contradictory in nature, but that seems to be part of diversity of experience people have with mobility aids. Not everything has to be true for your character or will be true to their experience. Additionally, don’t feel pressure to portray the difficult aspects of mobility aids or being blind in public spaces; it is good to have stories where blind characters are treated well by everyone. There are days when blind people have nothing but lovely interactions with others and when safety is not a concern.
While I mentioned some negative aspects of being blind in this post, there are many positives as well. This can include opportunities to meet new people and have conversations. This can mean getting the chance to use cool gadgets other people don’t get to use. It can also mean being able to experience the world in unique and fun ways, such as noticing little details about the world. It can mean appreciating colors, lights, smells, sounds, or sensations. It can also mean cool navigation tools and techniques.
I will post a part 2 soon. It will include information for writers of science fiction, fantasy, and stories set in historical times. As always, if anyone has anything feel free to share. I will add any responses here as edits to this post.
If you found this post helpful, my pinned post has many more links. I accept asks or messages with questions. I also offer beta reading for blind characters.
-BlindBeta
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mphountitled · 8 days
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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬
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Pairing: Kylo Ren x Fem!Reader
Summary: "Kylo was nothing if not a sadist,"
Warnings: Language, WarPrisoner!Reader, Toxicity, Weaponizing Hux, Humiliation, God Complex, Jealousy, Possessiveness, Smut +18 (Minors DNIA, DEAD DOVE FIC, Dark fic, Sadism, Masochism, Inexperienced!Kylo, Ownership Kink, Dry humping, Forced sex, Spitting, CNC, Dubious Consent, Massive Degradation Kink, Inappropriate Use of Force, Choking Kink, Size Kink, Impact Play, Groping, Breast Play, Premature Orgasm, Controlled Orgasm, Dom/Sub themes, Dom!Kylo, Sub!Reader, Brat Tamer!Kylo,;Bratty!Reader, Slight!Exhibition Kink, Humiliation Kink, Inappropriate Mind Reading, Overstimulation, Dirty Talk, Mentions of Rape, Fingering, Rough Sex, Dacryphilia, Gagging, Subspace.
Do not read this if you're incredibly sensitive to violent imagery. If this doesn't make sense don't say anything or i'll cry <3
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As Hux walks diligently ahead of you, you could not tell by his tense shoulders and his palms clasped behind his back that he was following the duties of a madman.
While he escorts you, Hux thinks back to his slip-up with Ren.
The way he shouldn't have mentioned your name in a comprehensive report about the overall running of the Starkiller. The way he should've known how dangerous Kylo is when it comes to anyone taking even the vaguest of interest in playing with his toys.
"Despite having the accolades of an established pilot for the resistance," Hux had said moments earlier when Kylo was pacing up and down his private chamber, "Your prisoner refuses to put any of her skills to use aboard the Starkiller. She's essentially useless dark matter," He uttered his words rather clumsily. As if forgetting he was reporting to a beastly excuse of a man.
Hux only realises his mistake when Kylo stops his various pacing to turn slightly. His unmasked head tilts to the side as he advances on Hux in a low, large gait. Everything about the boy being so unnaturally large.
"My prisoner?" He steps closer, "Or the First Order's?"
Kylo's laugh appears unnatural without the mask. Not any less intimidating but certainly, frighteningly human.
"You act as if my will is not synonymous with that of the First Order, general," Kylo's blood runs fucking cold at the thought, "You insinuate that I keep her here out of my own free will,"
"Well, we all know how much a boy fancies his toys," Hux's degradation causes Kylo's Adam's apple to bob and a deep frown settles over the boy’s face. Whatever weakness Hux was accusing him of, it rattled the foundations of his already fragile ego and Hux smirked.
"Go tell her I wanna see her," the first command left Kylo's lips in a fairly controlled and monotonous manner. The second however... "FUCKING NOW!"
Robotic inclination bleeds from the mask of the stormtroopers “Yes Sir-”
Without sparing the stormtroopers so much as a single glance, Kylo spat, "Not you, fucking degenerates," Kylo stares Hux down as he steps towards him. His voice is ice cold. "I want you to summon her," he takes immense pleasure in the way Hux's smile drops.
Kylo has observed the glances Hux throws your way and it makes his fucking stomach turn. He's seen the uncomfortable leering and the lecherous thoughts. Kylo was nothing if not a sadist. Humiliating Hux using the object of his desires.
He wants you and that makes Kylo want you even more... Violently so
"Where are you taking me?"
You could feel the rest of the crew watching your every movement as you trailed behind General Hux like you were compelled to do so by some unseen leather leash. You cannot help but feel as though you have done something very bad and very naughty.
You try to rid yourself of these thoughts immediately.
Perhaps he was taking you to see the vermin underneath the mask.
That thought should not sprout such a deep desire within you. Kylo was your captor and yet, he fascinated you more than anything ever could.
"At least slow the fuck down," You breath out, trying by all means to evade all eye contact with curious onlookers.While you walk you try to keep your head high and appear unaffected by their piercing glares. Every stormtrooper, navigator, pilot- even down to the measly technicians all keep their eyes trained on you and you glare back. Leering your head forward with narrowed eyes because being held captive on the Starkiller was punishment enough. You would never allow yourself to be intimidated by the judgemental stares.
"Do you ever plan on disclosing our destina-"
You're interrupted by a sharp and loud hiss before two doors part. Your eyebrows furrow before you're dragged into the chamber, quite literally against your will. You did not wish to get acquainted with any more rooms on the Starkiller. Hoping that one of your comrades in the resistance might have saved you long before you ever had to make this ship your dwelling place. But you've only crawled deeper into the Starkiller's core and you find yourself here, standing before him in his black cowl with his hands clasped behind his back.
The room is as lifeless as the rest of the vessel. The bed, colourless and hard. The only signs of vibrance is the east window depicting a slab of stars in hyperspace.
"I am told you've made yourself fiercely unlikable in the flight deck.” Kylo says, completely ignoring your slightly shocked experience at seeing him without his helmet.
“That's what this is then?” You turn briefly to make eye contact with Hux before turning to Kylo with one arched brow, “I'm being scolded now?”
“You're insolent when given any orders,” he oaces before you while Hux stands behind you by the door, “You disobey at every given turn and you're resistant. Vexingly so.”
“How clever of you, it seems as though you'd only just discovered a key characteristic from a member of the resistance.” You say with a smirk, “Clever, Clever boy."
“It's that mouth of yours that's gonna get your head slain from your very shoulders.” Kylo advances you like a midnight storm and you fight to stand your ground.
“I have grown terribly bored of this place,” You say, “Perhaps even death might be more eventful then whatever you are, Kylo.”
Before Hux is able to make his escape Kylo grabs at your throat, encircling his hand around your skin like a vice until he is forcing you to look at Hux ahead of you.
"This is what you want?" He isn't speaking to you but to Hux, pushing your cheeks together in a painful display of humiliation. "This is what's been plaguing that mind of yours-"
"I've no time for this-"
The very last thing Hux is able to see before he leaves Kylo's quarters, is your frightened eyes and Kylo looming behind you. A mere mouse being imprisoned by a God.
You make the mistake of thinking that Hux's absence might soften Kylo's resolve, but your time as his captive should have let you know that there was nothing soft about this man. Nothing at all.
"You should be grateful, you know that?" His lips graze your head and you're suddenly hyper aware of his proximity.
You're hyper aware of the closed metal doors that were probably being guarded by a pair of heavily armed stormtroopers. There is no escaping the clutches of this monster behind you.
And yet; you still find yourself scoffing, "I should be grateful?" You ask, hoping to assimilate every shred of confidence you had left, "I should be grateful to be your prisoner-" you wince when his grip on your jaw tightens and he's wrenching your face until you're craning your neck backwards to face him.
Large, looming, and completely fucking livid.
"You should be grateful that you're still fucking breathing, you brat-"
And then, a very strange thing occurs.
Since the moment Kylo had wrangled you off your home planet, you had sworn to be nothing but defiant. In honour of everything you stood for, you would never let him see you weak and yet here you are, carelessly allowing the faintest of whimpers to slip through quivering lips.
The sound confuses Kylo initially. In fact, he cranes your head back further, not caring whether you were comfortable or not as he bends down, appearing to inspect your mouth for that peculiar sound further. He squeezes your cheeks lightly, prodding the round tissues of fat as if fervently trying to search for whatever button might allow for that little sound to spill from your lips again.
"How completely and utterly curious-"
"You're fucking hurting my neck-" the fire returns and with it, comes your will to wrench your face out of his grip. You're only able to get free because he lets you and you know this.
"What..." Kylo bends even lower towards you and you turn your head to face the blank wall ahead of you. Evading eye contact with this man was nothing if not crucial. "What was that sound you just made-"
"It appears as though hearing nothing but the cries of utter doom and damnation has defamiliarized you to the sound of pleasure, Ren-"
Your breath is wiped clean from your throat not even a second later when you steal a look downwards at a gloved hand interlocking itself around your throat once more. Seemingly his favourite place.
"All the praises that could fall from your mouth..." Kylo drawls before pressing himself firmly against your backside, "All that you could say to worship the hand that feeds you and you still choose to be insolent-"
You try to escape his death grip but he doesn't let you out this time around. All you can do is be thankful that he had the decency to allow you to breathe.
"That's all you fucking know how to do right," Kylo's lips are at your ear and your knees buckle. "Insolence. Insolence. Insolence." Your legs give out, but before you're able to topple to the ground in a puddle of your own lustful perversions, his other hand curls around your waist, keeping you firmly pressed against his front.
“Today's the day you fucking obey," he whispers, "Understand?"
"I-I-”
Kylo is not sure how he does it, or why he does it, or where he got the understanding to do it, but his hand makes its very slow descent from your collarbone, to the spot right above your pillowy breasts. Clad in nothing but your knee length tunic, a garment stitched with fibres indigenous to your homeplanet, you suddenly feel incredibly naked and incredibly exposed. What was once an act of rebellion, is now your undoing.
"There is a way to make you disobey isn't there?" You can hear him becoming excited. "Every cattle has their price. What's yours?" Before you're able to turn and possibly beg for some sort of mercy, he's already in there. The stuff Kylo sees digging around in your mind, is enough to have him staring off into hyperspace. His eyes are trained on nothing at all as he rapes your most memories and most private desires. All while drawing you impossibly closer, until his mouth was buried in your hair and his hand was closing around your left breast. You squirm underneath him until finally, he's released from your stupor.
You did not dare turn around to look at him, in fear of seeing his dark eyes dilated with enlightenment.
"How barbaric." He whispers. "That's what I have to do in order to get you to listen to me,"
"I-I don't know what you're-"
"Open your mouth." Before you're ever able to interject even a single word, Kylo's hand is digging into the skin of your jaw, "Do I have to do it for you- open your mouth-" He wrenches your mouth open and cranes your neck back once more.
"That's it," You're absolutely frightened to see the violence that has darkened those irises. This is the look that's shielded behind the mask during times of battle. This is that look no one got to see.
Yet here you were.
"You're so fucking filthy, you know that?" You're nodding before your brain is aware of it, "You're a filthy, perverted little creature," one by one, your inhibitions slipped away from you until you could feel yourself become completely and utterly dumb for him. Your mind becomes a tabula rasa as Kylo bends his heavy frame downwards, spitting directly into your open mouth. There it is. That whimper he wanted to hear so badly.
You're not even aware of his hand reaching around your front until he's parting your legs with determination. "Is this where you want me?" Your mouth hangs open and you look up at him glassy doe eyes as he cups your drenched heat. Kylo locks his full lips and presses his front impossibly closer to your backside. "This whole time I've needed to get you in line, and the answers been here this whole fucking time?" A gloved hand swipes your underwear to the side and the wind is completely knocked out of you when Kylo pushes his fingers in immediately. He fucks his fingers into you with zero restraint and zero preparation, and the roughness has your eyes nearly rolling to the back of your skull as you grow limp in his grip. Lucky for you he's so large, lucky for you he might as well be a stone wall behind you, letting you lean against him with your long legs spread wide for his absolute assault.
"Look at me." He says, holding you against him by your throat while his index and middle finger violate your soaking cunt. Despite his orders you're still a drunken, blundering mess with half lidded eyes, promising to keep you locked away in your pleasure.
"If you don't fucking look at me, I'll stop and you'll suffer." He squeezes your clit quite painfully, immediately bringing you out of hedonistic stupor-
"FUCK- WHAT THE FUCK-"
"Do you want me to stop?" He asks, with a note of cockiness that had your brows furrowing.
"Are you stupid?! Of course I don-" before the curse could even escape your mouth in its entirety, Kylo's blocking out your airways. You fight to scratch at his gloved grip around your throat but his grip is fucking metallic.
"Look at how docile you look when you're not running your mouth,"
Your insides were screaming for oxygen, yet your hips rut against his hand. Kylo slyly adds a third finger inside your slippery cunt. "What a whore," he whispers, causing you to fuck forward against his hand, nearly humping yourself to completion as the blood flow to your brain seems to stop completely. You need oxygen and you need to cum. You just don't know which you need more.
"You're nothing but fucking filth-"
Your mouth opens to let a moan escape but it never does, and Kylo watches your struggle with a pained expression of his own.
"F-Fuck, I've never seen anything so vile-"
You were slipping. Whether it was into unconsciousness or an orgasm you couldn't tell. "If you pass out I will fuck you," he whispers, "There's not fucking escaping me-"
And in that very moment, Kylo unlocks the invisible grip on your airways and suddenly you can breathe and cum. Almost immediately you're slipping into a violent, damn near supernatural orgasm that has you seeing every star in the known galaxy.
"F-FUCK- oh my-" You're rutting against his hand, tongue lolling out all while Kylo continues to fuck his fingers into your cunt.
"That's it," He whispers, "Cum for me, you useless fucking whore-" Every vile sliver of degradation causes a fresh wave of pleasure to roll through you until the first droplets of tears are rolling down your cheek.
"Don't fucking do that," he whispers, pulling you closer than ever, "Don't fucking do that unless you want me to fuck you right now-"
He watches the tears roll down your face and absolutely loses it. Now suddenly aware of his own cock aching in his pants.
"K-Kylo please-" You try to push his hand out of you but to no avail. "It's too much-"
But his eyes are shut, and your body is overcome by wave after wave of electrifying shivers. The pleasure quickly bleeds into the pain of being so heavily overstimulated but Kylo is lost in his own world now. He clutches you impossibly closer, mumering obscenities into your hair as he ruts against your ass and you fucking pray for it to be over. Your pussy is fucking spent and yet he's still keeping his hand there, as if driven by his own need to cum.
"You stupid fucking slut- look what you made me do-" He's rutting against your ass, eyes squeezed shut as his hips stutter, "F-Fuck-" the whimper that breaks his voice is utterly intoxicating and you find yourself slipping into another dry orgasm as Kylo pushes against you, cumming in his pants with various expletives falling from his pillowy lips. When your orgasm falls you beg him to let go of you and when he does, you topple to the floor.
Never in your life have you felt so weak. So spent. So utterly used.
Kylo does not spare you a glance when he turns around. "This is where you will reside from now on," he says with finality. Careful to let his voice relay how utterly broken he feels. Just as broken as you.
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ao3cassandraic · 8 months
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I’m wondering about your thoughts on something I’ve been musing on after S2. How good is Aziraphale’s reading comprehension? How much does he understand subtext and metaphor? Because his behavior this season struck me with the impression that he didn’t really understand the books he collects. He’s clever at puzzle solving, and contains vast knowledge; but he always seems to take things at face value (when he’s not willfully misunderstanding), and refuses to give up black-and-white thinking, which would make it very difficult to analyze texts.
Angels, demons, language, and culture: part 1
You sure ask the difficult ones. (Which is great, I'm totally jazzed about it!)
I delayed answering this ask because it sent me off in a lot of directions:
What is an angel's starting knowledge base?
In contrast, how and what do we humans learn about our world and one another?
Which of these learning methods is not really available to an angel?
What do humans learn from books, fiction especially?
What kinds of information get left implicit in books because authors are humans writing for other humans?
How would an angel fill in those blanks? How would those blanks distort an angel's notion of How Humans and Human Things Work?
What would angels generally and either Aziraphale or Muriel (because yeah, it's hard to have this discussion without thinking about Muriel too) specifically read human-authored fiction for?
I don't have all the answers to the above questions. Not even CLOSE. I happily invite my fellow meta-ists to weigh in on any or all of them!
But let's see what I can tease out. We'll start with factory settings, so to speak.
Angelic vs. human factory settings
(questions 1 through 3)
Angels have (one) language. They have music -- or, at least, they can sing Her praises (likely by rote). At least some, like our Starmaker, have the knowledge to do specific jobs. Note that Aziraphale not only doesn't know how to make stars and nebulas, he's not even clear on what a nebula is. We can safely assume from that that angels don't all possess the same set of knowledge and skills purely by virtue (heh) of being angels.
We don't see, however, how much of what they know is simply an angel's birthright versus how much of it is somehow educated into them. We also don't know how She divvies up necessary knowledge, though I'd think it safe (given most takes on angelology) to guess that angelic rank and intended function are part of Her calculus, perhaps even the whole of it.
What strikes me hardest is that angels seem to be created either as adults or children (which is what I believe the scareable "cherubs" are), and they may well never change that state. The Starmaker is childlike in some ways, but not a child. Likely never was a child! Aziraphale, Before the Beginning, isn't childlike at all; his personality seems pretty close to fully-formed.
And children learn so very, very much. Babies learn so much as babies, while their neuroplasticity is super super plastic! Especially they learn about relating to other beings! (Which the Starmaker is conspicuously Not Real Great at, honestly -- absorbed in the work of creation, the Starmaker does not pick up the feelings Aziraphale is laying down at all.)
Children also learn one OR MORE languages, and that "more" is rather important, because language shapes how we think to some extent (the extent of that extent, and its nature, are objects of fierce debate among linguists and neuroscientists), and different languages shape us differently. Just as Crowley (as plenty of theologians argue) did humanity a favor with the whole knowledge-of-good-and-evil thing, the Tower of Babel (assuming that was a thing that happened in the GOverse; no reason it wouldn't have, I suppose) added a whole lot of nuance and complexity and competing understandings to humanity's sense of itself and its universe.
Exactly how angels and demons manage to speak all human languages (which Crowley indicates they can) isn't clear. If we accept that the Tower of Babel happened, both Heaven and Hell must have had to figure out a way to deal with it.
We do see, however, that angels and demons can be fluent in human languages without being fluent in human thought or human cultures. Gabriel and Sandalphon speak perfect English yet barely know which end of a book is up. Hastur and Ligur can't disentangle ciao/chow. And, I mean, actual food? Fuhgeddaboudit. So I see their linguistic facility as a sort of Douglas Adams Babel fish: it can translate an angel's or demon's thought into the target language, but it can't help an angel or demon think like an actual speaker of that language.
As an example, Gabriel can tell Job and Sitis about their new children, perfectly fluently. His purely-linguistic fluency does not help him understand that they loved their old children, much less why.
This may explain why Aziraphale studied French under M. Rossignol. He perhaps didn't feel he understood how French speakers think, and was interested enough in that to learn the language (as other meta-ists have noted, the language of love!) the human way.
So yeah, if I have a conclusion here it's that angels and demons can seem as off-center as they often do from a human perspective because they wholly missed out on a key period of human brain development.
What they have in its place appears to be... rules. Which is, I think, where I'll take this next.
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daisymylove · 2 months
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Right, so, I'm an acotar hater with all my heart 😍 and don't care for the other sjm books in the least.In fact, it came as no surprise at all that she's a zionist, considering that her beloved ruler not only hoards copious amounts of wealth while his people is segregated, most of them living in poverty, and the marginalized /brown folks being portrayed as inferior, backward brutes and arseholes unworthy of their precious city and time.Did I mention that over half of his people hates him? Fantastic leader 😍👏🏻☺️🥰😘
Anyway I found out recently that there's a crossover between the series, got the context about what nesta did and went to read the extra chapter online to see bat lord's hissy fit first-hand.
Bryce's mom is low key shitty btw, my own mom is far from perfect, but even if she did want to obliterate me, she would never stand by and let some random fucker say that, let alone bad mouth me to said random fucker.Its odd that she seems to stand up more for a boy that she has known for weeks and a woman she just met than her own kid, also I would file for fucking divorce on the spot if my husband had decided to be complicit on a sexist joke about me and our daughter with aforementioned fucker, but I digress
What I did like about her tho was how she handed lavender eyes' ass to him.Someone has to since apparently feyre has been lobotomized and those cult members of the ic murdered Nesta's fighting spirit
And tbh I feel so bad for her, she seems so subdued for nesta's standarts. I wanted to reach for her hand and tell her that 1 if her husband loves counterfeit Batman so much he can go gag on his cock all day, she'll find something better in no time and 2 she'll do it sooner rather than later bc her sister and her are coming with me.If feyrug wants to bring the devilspawn along its fine too
The thing is the average acotar fan is pretty much Sjms trained dog.They'll go along with everything the narrative says, no reading comprehension skills whatsoever.But apparently all characters from CC who have met Rice bowl dislike him and like Nesta, so I am now wondering if she's not planning to reveal later on that Batfae was the villain all along and completely fried Feyre's brain.Again, I don't expect much from a zionist, but its undeniable that it doesn't add up, to the point that I'm wondering if it's the sake person writing the books.I would like someone who actually read the Cc books I would rather lick a McDonald's slider than subject myself to that togive their opinions
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