#before the interview

[anewbrother]

What?

Freemasonry is a group of good men who come together to make good men into better men. As well as collecting conspiracy theories like a white shirt attracts red sauce. They also donate enormous amounts of money to charity, and have an impeccable sense of style. I'm an FtM man in my mid-thirties who is probably finished with the medical parts of my transition, I work in the community (meaning, my full-time job, my colleagues, all of our customers and most of the contractors are all queer), and I dabble in writing and painting and fibrecraft.

For convenience, I and everyone else will be pseudonymous, so get ready to meet Brother Dude, Brother Fellow, Senior Warden Tish and Junior Warden Tosh, Worshipful Brother Ignotus, Master of this Lodge, etc, as I set my left foot forward on the way to joining the Lodge Of Anonymity.

For now, I'm Chap, hopefully soon to be Brother Chap, Entered Apprentice, and eventually many years down the line Brother Chap, Master Mason.

Why?

A little bit of a lot of things. I want to have ritual in my life, which has meaning to other people and isn't just something that I do alone. I like the idea of knowledge being paced out over months and years and decades, rather than binged when the whim takes me, and of being knowledge which is attached to people, where someone teaches me and imparts their own ideas and nuances rather than just reading from a cold book. And related to that, I would love to have some formal moral instruction, to not constantly be poking at my ethical gag reflex alone to work out where the line lies between something that is morally wrong and something that just irks me. I want community, especially with people who aren't immediately similar to me, and paradoxically with people who share more literal landmarks with me - Having more friends who go to the local pubs, walk on the local lanes, shop at the local shops, rather than all my friends being a train ride away. I am hugely enthused by the idea of a place where I CAN NOT talk about politics, and anyone bringing up politics to me will be censured for it. I want to take on a responsibility that isn't life-or-death for my community, but that still feels more grounded in other people than my gym routine. Also, the Masons make better men, and I would love to be a better man.

So where are you now?

I'm not a Mason yet. I had my first meet and chats in November and will have my interview in February, and between November and now me and another few prospective new brothers have been coming down to the Lodge every other week to start to get to know the Brothers. I've been told to expect to be Entered around St George's Day if I pass the interview. But first... The interview, and I must admit I am nervous.

But Why Blog About It?

Because there's a lot of talk online about trans people. A lot of Masons in the States insisting both that no trans man would be able to have the character to become a Mason, and would always be blackballed even if their Grand Lodge technically admits them, and that no trans woman should ever be allowed to stay a Mason, because the simple fact of transitioning is unmasonic conduct.

But, the United Grand Lodge Of England says;

A candidate for admission to Freemasonry under UGLE must be a man. Should a person who has undergone gender reassignment and has become a man apply to become a Freemason then his application must be processed in the same way as for any other male candidate.

A Freemason who after initiation ceases to be a man does not cease to be a Freemason. We expect that Freemasons will act with compassion and sensitivity towards their fellow Freemasons.

We hope that no Freemason would engage in unwanted conduct relating to another Freemason’s actual or perceived gender reassignment or gender transition.

No candidate should be subjected to questions about their gender which could make them feel uncomfortable.

The full text is here, but the gist is: Trans people of all stripes are welcome in the Grand Lodge Of England, and being hostile towards them is unmasonic. https://www.ugle.org.uk/gender-reassignment-policy

There aren't many examples of trans Masons online, and all of the ones that I've seen have been already Master Masons before transition, so I thought I might as well share my experiences as they happen, for good or ill.

Also, if you are trans and a Mason, please drop me a message, I would love to have more Brothers and maybe we can visit each other if I pass the interview and am entered.

[gracerings]

daniel molloy character of all time once again: like imagine you’re a 20-something drug addict and a terrible journalist on account of being 20-something and a drug addict and you randomly meet a vampire at a gay bar and you think wow I might get drugs, gay sex and a story out of this and instead what you get is psychologically and physically tortured by his husband and your memories of it all erased and then 50 years later you’re DYING and those vampires show up in your life again to ask you to write the story of their happy marriage and your memory might be fucked but ON GOD you WILL ruin that marriage if it’s the last thing you do. and then not only do you succeed and walk out of it alive, but also with a bestseller, millions in your bank account AND immortality AND the knowledge that your annoying human ass was somehow the one thing that made that 500+ year old predator so mad that he broke his lifetime vow to never turn anyone. AND, on top of that, you’re out of the CLOSET.

[cryptocism]

It would have taken another immortal to keep up with him.

so i haven't read the books but i did read the Devil's Minion chapter and this part made me laugh out loud:

[interviewwiththevampireart]

Death and the Maiden (Marianne Stokes, 1908)

2.06 “Like the Light by Which God Made the World Before He Made Light”

[paunchsalazar]

she’s with me

[anna-scribbles]

old doodles from the archives 🫶

[queenoftheimps]

Imagine you're Louis de Pointe du Lac, you've just divorced your second husband and reevaluated all of your life choices, you've spent a cool $10 million on what are essentially your therapy bills, you hop on a 12-hour flight across the world, you return to your hometown, you reunite with your first ex-husband, you process your grief over your daughter a little bit, you're stuck in a hurricane but it's all okay, it was all worth it because you're in a better place now emotionally and can start to move forward

And then, on the vampire-exclusive psychic channel, you hear the voice of your Definitely Still Human buddy Daniel going "hey Louis uh quick update for ya"

[r3burials]

kicking these sketches over to u

[if-i-look-straight-look-again]

Daniel Molloy, 70 year old baby vampire: you know what would piss off both Louis and Armand and be very funny simultaneously?

Lestat de Lioncourt, queen of drama and biggest bitch in any room he walks into: what?

Daniel: if you and I fucked.

Lestat:

Lestat: tell me more.

[eohachu]

WATCHED IN 2024:

Interview With the Vampire (2022-), season 2, episode 5

ASSAD ZAMAN as ARMAND

"you're going to teach me how to be fascinating."

[jaypentaghast]

Maybe the real interview were the friends we made along the way.

[in-kyblogs]

Funniest thing in the world that the man playing Lestat De Lioncourt is the ‘do not perceive me’ type of introvert

[alenseress]

Did you hear about that, mother?

Broke her daughter's legs in two

And said it's too dangerous out there to walk

So

I had to save you

[cryptocism]

"just as I did, in 1983."

you'd never know my favourite parts of the show are the fucked up insane bits when my first instinct is to draw the cheesiest thing imaginable

[thebenevolentvampire]

[luminarai]

The first and only time Lestat ever tells someone not to scream because of him (probably right after clawing his outraged way out of the abandoned hot topic that I can only assume was built over his snoozing spot)

Kudos to @stlelios and @pimini whose posts appeared on my for you page and launched these images directly into my mind’s eye