dream_marriage epitome of incomprehensibility The main character in this story is marrying a convict. Not a violent man, but a political prisoner of some sort. The government who imprisoned him is corrupt and arbitrary, and has only allowed him to marry provided he never shows his partner his face. So she's randomly assigned to marry him and required to be blindfolded in his presence. Her first fear, I discover from my access to her thoughts, is having sex - it's her first time and she feels more vulnerable because he can see and she can't. She's not the one being punished, right? So why do things have to be like this? As one character to another, I tell her it's all about her author and the romance book market. "Trust me, there's a whole subgenre of marriage-arranged-by-government. And some people find blindfolding sexy. So sooner or later an author would find a way to mix the two, even if no one has this specific fetish." Then I lie in bed wondering whether fetishes are inherently specific. And she tells me, telepathically, that it's now several weeks later. The first time having sex was fine, he knew she wasn't the enemy and was gentle with her, but the main problem is... And now I'm her, and I'm curious if I get to experience the sexy side of this story, but I'm placed into bed with him after sex. At least I can feel cozy and warm, right? Not for long - I get her sense of emotional awkwardness at the situation, her frustration at it not changing, her sleeplessness. Well, it's light out now. I exit the room, where I can take off my blindfold and email him. That way we can communicate (as if we couldn't, you know, talk). But now I see the real problem. His email doesn't work. First the screen autocorrects what I write. Then the email service just won't send it, highlighting his address in grey, which is their code for broken links, broken connections. Why? Why this? Why, government? Why, author?? No one has a specific fetish for emails that won't send! 240217 ... raze (this is all kinds of fascinating. i love how endlessly inventive your subconscious is ... but they do say, "let the dreamworld match the dreamer," right? surely someone somewhere said that once.) 240217 ... epitome of incomprehensibility All of a sudden, I'm married to the (imaginary) son of my father's friend. The only reason I know it's this man's son is because both of them are named Richard. They have different last names because dream_names can be like that. At first, we live in a country-ish house. Bungalow, wood frame. Cottage, I think. But fancy. I like the burnished brown colour of the porch and the swish of the surrounding trees. He's nice in an everyday way, but not especially special to me. Figures, I figure, since the marriage was so sudden. What happened, was it some sort of lottery? Some government or computer or government computer deciding to match us?? This entity might not understand that humans' notions of compatibility are subjective. It's not just a balancing game of "let's make him strong where she is weak" and vice-versa (and yes, this overlord is a tad heteronormative). For instance, Richard's practical knowledge makes me feel inadequate - book-smart, but thing-dumb. Not fit for this cottage kingdom. And I'm beginning to resent that he can't hold an interesting conversation (also subjective). The house seems comfortable, though, but I can't stay. Soon enough I'm out with his two small children on a visit to a museum. "Hold Daddy's hand," I instruct them. "And Mommy's." But should I call myself that? I've only been married to him for a few days. Isn't their own mother "Mommy"? She's divorced from Richard, not dead. And when the children go back to their mother, somehow I'm living at my parents' house again. This is upsetting because I'm not sure where Richard should sleep. My bed is too small. And sleeping with? the preposition proposing sex? Why can't I at least have sex, now that I'm in a relationship whose boundaries are seemingly established? But it's not just being frustrated in horniness. It's the wanting to hold. Hold on to the new thing, or you'll slip back into the old. Already the forest house is disappearing. 261014 ... e_o_i ...also, thanks, raze! and I'd forgotten I'd written here before. Some weird continuities: randomly arranged marriage, for instance. Why can't I dream-marry someone on purpose? 261014 what's it to you? who go blather from