Raven raises a good point. I amend my earlier comment - she is one of two people who can't see past the scar.

Now, to be fair, we're probably not giving Denner the benefit of the doubt here. He's never really been put in a situation where he's had to regularly deal with delicate social situations. And while we have seen him become a blubbering idiot around women of extraordinary physical beauty, it's not like he's actively rude to others. Even his interactions with Daneera were really only rude because of the extraneous information we, the Readers, had, and nothing really inherent in his treatment of her. So, I wouldn't say he couldn't see past her scar...it just might take a while...and he might not live that long, depending on Beryl's mood!

If she can stay focused on acceptance, he's got a fighting chance.

Aaaah no that helps a lot actually. I think part of my problem might be that I've been sketching her too frontally. It's tricky too because I wanted her to be... not conventionally attractive but compelling. Honestly the whole idea of attractiveness screwed me up with the Dual-Walkers because I'm so used to thinking of attractiveness in terms of interesting, drawable features--that tends to be beautiful to me. Beryl fit that... the Dual-Walkers were tougher.

Yes, we beautiful people are a fascinating lot. A mystery to the ordinary run of man, our various perfections are difficult for people to fully capture. It's not that those qualities make us better, of course. Not just those qualities, anyway...

Like I said before
All of your stories are great
Thus I will vote yea.

In that case, I'm glad I could help.

It's strange, but I think Beryl kind of looks the way to me that she sounds to you. A little bit fuzzy and undefined. But, then, boom - I catch her in this intense moment of clarity, maybe because she's smiling at Aloise, or yelling at Astra, or looking fierce because she's about to set something on fire. And then I kind of see her, and her face kind of takes form and she is - to steal your word - compelling.



You are too kind, sir.
Ruwin should share the credit.
Glad you liked the tale.

Let's face it, Beryl is hot.

Get it?

(I'm sorry, I'll just walk away now...)

Actually, it's funny to see that word, because that was always a very important visual distinction in my mind. She doesn't literally catch on fire, the way you always see Chandra depicted. She just kind of heats up, like a light bulb filament, so that I envision her with this intense glow and heat shimmer around her.

That was important in my mind for kind of visually distinguishing her from the Chandra image that I've seen so much, and that I didn't want to just copy/paste on to her.

Chardis also gets a sort of glow on his skin, although his eyes do seem to catch fire. It's never quite clear if it's literal or figurative, but I sort of think of it like Prodigal Pyromancer.

Of course, no question.
But writing haiku is hard.
Meaning can be lost.

Or, you know, maybe
I'm just a quick-typing fool
Who forgets to read.

Ruwin, forgive me.
You weave a marvelous tale
You and OL both.

On the contrary!
Luna has mastered the form
Of haiku comments.

Will I be cursed, then?
To write only in haiku
For who knows how long?

Could be worse. You could be forced to write everything in full Shakespearean sonnets.