fluent in tragedy.

Hi; I first just want to say that this is a very jarring and tough realization to have, so I hope you’re okay, and I hope you’re safe. Please know you can come off anon and talk to me if you need someone to listen to you.

And you’re right; asking for explicit consent at many stages happens a lot in my stories and when I edit, I have to remind myself to remove the asking if it doesn’t fit the context of the story. Asking before doing is subconscious on my part because I do this in real life. Besides an emergency (which has never happened, thankfully) I don’t touch 98% people without asking. No hugs, no calming hand on the shoulder. The only exception to this rule is my partner and my best friend but even then, I announce what I’m doing. “Hey, I’m going to hold your hand” or “Hugs!” or “Can we dance?” I think a lot of people find it weird at first because I’ll say things like “Oh, handshake!” when someone’s offering, and that can be awkward. But it’s rubbed off onto my friends now too haha. I just think it’s the kind thing to do (if you can manage it verbally).

But if you’re asking in the context of YLTTL, WIK asks Porchay about these little things because choice is important to him. He has so little choice in his life, he can’t imagine doing that to someone like Porchay.