Blythe's Questionnaire

I'm in Auckland, where I was born! I live here rather than elsewhere out of a sense of inertia. I'm not really a "goals" person, I'm a go-with-the-flow person.

I share a flat with several roommates. I like the noise and social tumult, as I'm tremendously outgoing. My room is lavishly decorated, lots of glitter and decals. I don't spend lots of time there, as I'm typically out and about or working odd hours.

My work, I am completely and utterly unattached to. I rotate between restaurants and cafes, working as a server. Right now, I work at Waffle House's only New Zealand location. I make a reasonable living on tips this way, as I am chatty and very, very beautiful. I don't mind it, I like to talk with all different sorts of people!

Tips, tips, tips! I'm a server at the local Waffle House branch. It's a relatively tame diner by day, but the night shift is a wild ride. There are more fights here than any bar I've ever worked at, and I've worked at many. Personally, I like people watching - honestly, more than just watching, I'm deeply extroverted, so I like people chatting. This is the most interesting place I've ever worked at!

I'm a bohemian when I'm off the clock, and honestly when I'm on it, too - my money goes into fashion and an extravagant makeup collection. I need three more words for word count!

My ambition: I am a social butterfly. I will know and be known by all of the most interesting people. It's a goal defined by the journey rather than the destination.

At first glance, it doesn't look like the sort of ambition that requires great risk. That's when I'm meeting the easy people, who I love, but who are rather uninteresting after you've met the difficult people. The secret agents, the far-out technologists, and the newly introduced fae folk, those people are a real trip to chat with. I like to pick their brain, get their perspective on things.

I wouldn't harm a fly, basically ever, it's not in my nature. To hurt another would put me in a genuine bind.

As to how close I would come to death... we will see! I am bold and forward, in a social way more so than a physical way, but I am not adverse to a little danger. If I were scared of harm, I wouldn't work at the Waffle House.

The opening of worlds, of course!

When I first met a fae, it was revelatory. Here was a sociable, interesting, and utterly alien creature. Their goals, their perspective, purely unrelatable to me. And yet, I was drawn to the challenge of relating! I try to find common ground with everyone, that is where friendships form. Where there is no common ground, I fall into that common human trap of the similarity bias, and simply assume that common ground exists where there is none.

So, I count fae folks among my many friends. At a basic level, we don't "get" one another, but that's alright! We'll get there.

Ma! She's a retired school teacher. I am absolutely her favorite child, although she would never tell the others, since I'm the youngest. She doesn't necessarily approve of my lack of direction and academic accomplishments, but she loves me just the same. We talk maybe once a week, and she's who I call when I need a shoulder to cry on.

RJ Ravenswood. One of the regulars at the Waffle House. They're an odd one! Always talking about the occult, they're an anthropologist I think, which is far out. They're nice enough. They never tip, I think they're broke as an empty wallet. They sit and grade student papers and drink the endless refills of coffee, which they drink black (yuck!). I understand maybe a quarter of what they talk about, but I feel like I learn something new every time we chat, about the infinite variation of the human experience. Talking to them is like staring at a mandala, the more you look the details, the less sense it makes, but if you squint and look at the big picture, it makes a very complex sort of sense.

Rob Sullivan. Local police lieutenant. Maybe he's sweet on me? Hard to tell, he's got a good poker face. He is all work, all the time - and I do mean all the time, he comes in at the weirdest hours. I learn the depths of human depravity from Sully, and oh boy, that well runs deep. I listen with a morbid fascination, the way you might listen to a true crime podcast. I have a hard time squaring my view of people, where I view people as mostly good and nice, with the stories Sully tells. He should lighten up, the world is a nice place!

My childhood was a study in rejection. I'm nonbinary, and there just aren't a lot of people like me. My classmates and teachers struggled to mentally classify me, and that made the social pecking order of school really chaotic and confused. My bubbly and sociable personality is a response to this experience. Instead of becoming bitter and isolated, I leaned in the opposite direction. So in my unique way, I did not fit in, but I made the best of it.

My parents are a retired school teacher, my Ma who checks in with me regularly, and my Da, who unfortunately passed away when I was young - he was a sailor. I wonder what he was like. Knowing people is important to me, so it's a stone in my shoe that I do not know this person who was so fundamental to my life.

I'm close to the character count I think...

Oh god! What a question.

Yes. I have many friends, I tend to form very close bonds with people. I'm an emotive creature at my core, and my primary emotions are warm and affectionate. I often tell my close friends that I love them. I hope I am a source of brightness for them.

Romantically, I'm not certain if I've been in love before. The fact that I am uncertain fills me with a rare social anxiety. Have I missed something, I'm normally so good at interacting with other people? Other people seem so sure about it, and that subtly worries me, it's like a low level of background radiation in my life.