#my dyslexic friends are lovely but. well. can’t they just get rid of the dyslexia for me. aren’t I enough

[whimseee]

people who are good at words need to be more accessible

[purplesurveys]

694

What song are you listening to right now? I’m not listening to anything but the last song I played was Violet by Daniel Caesar; I don’t actually know the song but it was part of a playlist on Spotify. Admit it -- you want a Snuggie. What design/color? I don’t even know what that is, but if it came in pink I’d want one. Do you prefer movies at home or movies at the theatre? Home is cozier and costs much less, haha. How many songs does your iTunes have? Ooh, I haven’t used my iTunes in like half a decade buuuut I think it peaked with around 400-500 songs? Idk, I didn’t explore much as a kid and I liked to stick with my favorite singers/bands. Do you take a shower in the morning or the night before? When I’m off school I like to shower at night - much more comfy that way, and I fall asleep faster. But when I have to leave the house whether to go to school, the mall, to crash at someone’s place, etc. I always bathe a few hours before. Always. I hateeeeee not feeling fresh when I go outside.

What's your academic niche? (History, math, science, etc.) History for sure, but there are some science topics I’m also okay in. Who's your youngest teacher? They’re all already pretty seasoned lol I can’t actually tell. I think it’s Ma’am Cai; welp, at least among my current professors, she’s the one that acts the youngest. Have you ever had the samples people offer you at Costco? I’ve never been in a Costco but I typically don’t get samples from our local groceries because idk, they just look nasty :/ The only samples I get are the free ones they hand over at Starbucks and Coffee Bean, haha. If you had to name your kid after a food, what would his/her name be? I’d take olives and turn it to Olivia, which was always my choice for a girl anyway. But if it really had to be food-inspired I’d go with... Brie for a girl, or Sage for a boy. Miley Cyrus: Inspirational role model or a ho? Get with the times, 2009 survey. This question won’t get away with that word today. Anyway, Miley is a badass. I never changed my mind about her, maybe except for that time she did that performance with Robin Thicke. Are you stressed about anything? Right now no. I’m on a six-week break, I wanna enjoy it without thinking about the stuff that would typically stress me out. When's the last time you had a rock, paper, scissors match? It’s been a few months. What's your favorite anime? I don’t watch anime... the only show I got into was Pokemon. Did you cry when Ash let his Butterfree go with the other Butterfrees? I vaguely remember that but I probably got sad over it when I was younger. Don't you hate it when Facebook auto-corrects your smiley faces and hearts? I don’t mind it. Skinny, flared, ripped, or faded jeans? Ugh I hate all of these. I have a lot of skinny jeans in my closet but they’re always a last resort - my go-to these days is mom jeans. What are you excited for? Meh, nothing in particular. I wanna say my birthday? but who knows what the world is gonna come to be by then. Are you part of the Farmville cult? No I never played. I wasn’t allowed to make a Facebook account at the time when games like that and Petville and Plants vs. Zombies were big. What were you for Halloween? Last year I went as Dora. AND IT WAS SO ANNOYING because the party we were invited to prohibited shorts??? And 1) Dora wore shorts and 2) I searched far and wide for a pair of orange shorts? It was the first time I heard of a dress code that strict for a college party lmao I couldn’t believe it. Thankfully Rita had just bought a pair of orange jeans so she let me borrow those. Have you ever had braces? Back in high school. What year of high school are you in? I am not. What's your favorite flower? Peonies. Would you ever bleach your hair? Probably not. My hair has faced enough damage. Have you ever stood on a frozen solid body of water? No. That sounds scary though. I’ve heard and watched people fall through ice :/ Would you ever take up smoking or drinking? I’m already doing both. Thanks, college and peer pressure! Do those girls with 1,000 friends on Facebook REALLY have that many? I dunno, who knows? It’s always possible. I have a bigger problem with the fact that this question just singled out girls lmao. What holiday is your birthday closest to? Uhh Earth Hour, if it counts? If not, we have Araw ng Kagitingan on April 9 which commemorates the Fall of Bataan during WWII. Are you cyberdyslexic? Is this even a thing? I’ve never heard of this until today. Are you regular dyslexic? No. Is there irregular dyslexia? :((( What would your name be if you were a boy? I don’t know. My parents didn’t think about this either I think. Which person from way back when would you love to hang out with? My great grandpa. Either him or his cousin who wrote a book on history. What color are your eyes? Dark brownnnnnnn ugh this will FOREVER be in surveys won’t it. The forever on-going question: Is Twilight stupid or actually brilliant? It’s so stupid. BUT I LOVE IT ok.  Did you carve pumpkins for Halloween this year? No. We don’t do that here. Does your family use a real pine tree or a plastic one for Christmas? I think most households here use artificial trees. I was already a little old when I found out other countries would use real trees. Do you know anyone with a play-on name? (Chris P. Bacon, Justin Case, etc.) Not personally but super recently someone named their kid COVID BRYANT and it was all over social media for a few days. Covid Bryant. Let that shit sink in. Only Filipinos, man. Do you have any foreign exchange students at your school? Yeah, mostly Koreans and Japanese people. If you had a week to live, what would you do? I don’t have much of a choice, do I... I’m gonna be stuck at home and do the stuff I’ve already been doing in the last three weeks, and just hope I had fun.

Are you good at brain teasers? Some, but I don’t enjoy doing them in general. Is your handwriting nice? I can handle a pen pretty well, if I do say so myself. I have a neater penmanship than most people I know. What's your second language? English.  Is it uncomfortable for you to take showers in glass stalls w/out curtains? Not really but the door has to be locked. Finish the sentence: Remember, remember... The fifth of November? I dunno why I know about that though. Did you understand Shakespeare? No. I always bought the No Fear Shakespeare editions cos I had absolutely no patience to try and understand the original text. What do you want to be when you're older? Rich. What's your favorite dog breed? Golden retriever or pitbull. Are you one of those people who take like, 50 Facebook quizzes at a time? I’ve never taken a Facebook quiz. What was the last shot you got? It was at the roof of my mouth, back when I had a tooth extraction. Ever gotten cavities? A few times. Can you differentiate between the words "your" and "you're?" Yes. Do you use hair ties as bracelets? Lmao always. Don’t most girls do this? What was the last school project you did that you couldn't wait to turn in? My book report for my business journalism class. After I proofread it like 6 times and triple-checked the word count, I couldn’t waitttt to get rid of it. Have you ever graded papers? Sure. I’ve said it in past surveys, but my org hosts journalism workshops to interested schools, whether they’re in elementary, high school, or college. At the end of the day they have to come up with their own articles, and then we check each of them, correct the mistakes, grade them, and give it back to them with our comments. What was your favorite year of school up to this point? Third year of high school. I don’t really have a favorite year of college... I had lows in each of them. What's the latest you've ever woken up? 11 AM. Can you recite the alphabet backwards? For a time I did cos Angela taught me. Then I just never sang it again so I ended up forgetting. If you could master one language in thirty minutes, what would it be? Korean. Are you a sucker for foreign accents? No. Sometimes I find it hard to understand. Where were you born? Is it the same place you live currently? I was born somewhere in Manila, and I live faaar away from there now. How often do you remember your dreams? What did you last dream about? Only if I note them down on my phone. The last dream I remember having was too lengthy for me to want to type it all down, but it involved me and Gabie being exes, and she had her own kid hahaha. When did you learn the ninja turtles were named after Renaissance artists? Pretty early, I guess. I’ve never seen the show though. Do you do yoga? Nope.

[necrotixs]

Development Memes

Gabriel Black of Blackwood Sanctuary

☠ : Are there any recent/daily thoughts they have about death or dying?

Oh of course. Gabriel endeavours in the arts of necromancy. Spirits are a fascinating mystery to unravel. He doesn’t necessarily want to die, but he often thinks about what death would mean for him, and what it would be like being part of the spirit realm. He is afraid of the uncertainty but he looks forward to experiencing the mystery.

Gabriel considers the question for a long moment. He opens his mouth before shutting it again. Interrupting himself so he could think about the question more.

“Sometimes when I fall asleep I think about it. Not so much the dying part. But what it’s like afterwards. When you work with spirits you meet so many different ones.

Sometimes I can’t help but think about what sort of spirit I would be. And how I would get along with the others. I don’t want to die. But I’m not afraid of what might come.

☯ : Do they believe for every darkness there is a lightness? If not, why?

Gabriel isn’t exactly philosophical. He doesn’t believe good morals can be separate from bad morals .He doesn’t believe in good or evil, only the gray in between.

“I believe killing for my projects is wrong. My master does not. He is working for what he says is the the greater good. To protect others from the demons. His work studying spirits has gone a long way to developing barrier and containment magic. He does what some would call evil, but there is much good in it.

Some would think I’m good for sparing some. Others would think I’m evil for not thinking of the people I could save. Of putting the comfort of one over many.

People say necromancy is evil. But if it saves lives...? There is only a light to the darkness if you perceive it that way.

♥ : Name one thing about the way their emotions work that they despise.

Gabriel has issues with inadequacy. He’s dyslexic. He can’t read. At times he feels unworthy for being selected to study magic. He thinks his master chose him because Gabriel was desperate, and it’s easy to manipulate a desperate person. Given the illegal nature of Necromancy his master needed someone who would follow his beck n’ call. Gabriel believes there is a debt to be paid.

☆ : Would they ever wish upon a falling star? If so, what would they wish?

He wouldn’t wish upon a falling star. But he would tell his companion the romantic statistics of how necromancy is influenced by the cosmos. It’s not very romantic...

☁ : Describe how they would spend a stormy, overcast/rainy day.

Inside, likely nose deep in his experiments.

☂ : Storms or clear skies?

Clear skies. Why would he want to get wet and muddy?

εжз : What about nature do they find calming? What about nature do they find disagreeable?

“The most calming thing is when I go inside. The most disagreeable part of nature happens anytime I step outside. “

He doesn’t like nature. It’s too much of a hassle.

☎ : List three or more people they would call out for during an emergency.

He shrugs.

Gabriel wouldn’t go to his master unless the situation needed him. Otherwise he would just try to work it out by himself.

☛ : What is their typical response to being given orders?

Gabriel is happy with orders from superiors. He likes to please. He knows precisely what he needs to be doing. And if he can do it well it’s a small point to success to boost confidence.

☢ : Describe a thought or dream that would cause them to have a mental meltdown.

Being banned from the college and no longer being able to study magic. Damaging his leylines so severely he could no longer call upon his magic. This is his life’s dream. And another chance would be hard to come by.

✄ : Are there any reasons why they would ever think of self-harm? If so, what are they?

Not like cutting. But he might “punish” himself for failure. Like skipping a meal to punish himself for failing an exam. He may also mentally berate himself to the point it becomes toxic.

❤ : Describe a physical action that shows complete trust.

[ still developing ]

❥ : Describe a verbal way they would express complete trust.

He doesn’t like to let people know something is wrong. Gabriel doesn’t like telling people his issues and inner workings. So for him to tell his stories without tweaking it to sound better, it takes a lot of trust.

✗ : Explain how they portray feelings of hostility or dislike.

Likely be standoffish and not very talkative. Lots of glaring and short answers.

⊗ : What is something that causes them to question themself?

Failure.

☾ : On a sleepless night, what would they be found doing?

Working on their experiments or discussing theories with colleagues. If Gabriel is staring off into space he often traces his leylines (magic veins) on his skin.

☤ : Is there anything about their health they are continuously on edge about? Something they disregard?

Lack of exercise.

✓ : Name at least two people who can trust them with their life.

In our current RP, none. This only develops later down the road when he comes to Blackwood Sanctuary.

❣: Describe a way that will earn affection (whether platonic or romantic) from them.

It’s not difficult to earn affection. The standards are low. He makes friends easy. Just be friendly and he’ll be more than willing to strike up a friendship. He’s fairly open about sleeping around and one night stands but don’t expect anything serious.

✖ : Describe a way to make them uneasy or apprehensive.

Tell him there’s going to be a written portion on the test. Or tell him he’s in trouble with a superior.

♆ : Are they prone to violent outbursts or thoughts?

Nah.

✏ : What are their creative outlets?

Art! He loves drawing or looking at other’s works of art. He likes plays and musicals. He loves to dress up however given that he’s fairly limited on money and anything he brings in goes towards research....he usually just sticks with sketching.

✉ : Do they tend to rely on words or actions more?

[still developing]

♡ : Is there a certain scent that brings about nostalgia? If so, describe a memory this scent brings back.

The smell of dead in summer

[ The Following is something Gabriel has never shared ]

The scent is familiar now. But every now and then he gets a whiff that sends him back to that day.

“It was my 15th name day. My grandfather had surprised me with a fiery Imperator mare hand selected from the King’s Stud. She was young and probably too much of a handful for me. But I had magic in my veins and she was from a long line of mounts bred for battlemages. I was proud to call her mine.

My grandfather organized a special hunt for the occasion to break in my new mare. It was to be just my Grandfather, few of the elders, and of course me.

Before the horns sounded he pulled me aside and apologized; that he had to do it for the good of the family. He kissed my cheek and said he loved me. I can still remember the quake in his voice as he held me.

I didn’t understand. Soon the hounds had caught a scent and we were off to find the stag.

I didn’t understand until I realized they weren’t hunting the stag.

They were hunting me....

My mare had outrun them but I was lost. It wasn’t a surprise when I was thrown from the saddle. I was terrified. But I managed to find a town after a few days. My name-day clothes specially woven for me were torn, blood-stained, and muddy. I looked no different from any other beggar. I wandered dazed until I collapsed.

I awoke to find myself laid out next to several dead bodies. Each one was being thrown into a garbage pit. Apparently that was how they disposed of the poor who had died in the streets.

I was too weak to protest. Only later did a scavenger find me still alive...

۞: Are there any inner demons they can never seem to get rid of? What are they?

Feeling inadequate. He was to be heir of a great family one day. He struggled to perform his duties due to his dyslexia and inability to read. His family loved him but they were disappointed by his progress. Some were cruel. It isn’t the first time he was called stupid or unworthy of his family’s name.