★Timelines: 1

★IDs

• Nonbinary of some sort, I didn't have a specific label at the time but I think I would call it genderqueer in retrospect
• Bisexual but preferred guys, especially for relationships, girls were mostly hookups when I needed my ego stroked
• Polyamorous

★Canonmates

• Howard @musicmutual
• Looking for anyone!

★General memories

• My memories start out a little sad and cliché but they get better. I also have a lot of random details in my Vince highlight.
• My parents were pretty average suburban people. I grew up in a middleclass neighborhood but went to a primary school with a lot of the lower class kids. My dad especially thought that's where I got all my ideas from. He was never really awful, like he never hit me or my mom and didn't deprive me of anything. But he made it really clear that he didn't like how feminine I was and how much I prioritized fun and arts over school. He was really the "don't waste your smarts, be a doctor/lawyer/whatever" type. He was definitely homophobic too but that didn't come up as much, I think he assumed it could never happen in his family. My mom was fine, she was sort of the generic sweet housewife type.
• I made up a lot of stories about where I was from (see: being a street kid, being related to French nobility, and being raised by various animals in the jungle) not so much because I was ashamed or embarrassed, more just because I thought my life was boring and I wanted something more fun to tell people.
• Looking back I think it was the dysphoria that made me leave. I could cope with my dad being an ass but I knew he wouldn't tolerate me dressing the way I wanted or god forbid growing my hair out. I dropped out of secondary school and either ran away or just moved out. I don't think I made it to the city but I ended up wherever the Zooniverse was, which was certainly more of a city that where I grew up.
• I didn't have a place to live for awhile, I mostly couch surfed. Thankfully I was attractive and polite so I always found somewhere to spend the night and I don't think I ever slept outside. I wouldn't consider what I did sex work, more just one-night stands with the added benefit of swiping some food and sleeping in the guy's bed. I met Leroy outside a bar and he was a year or two older than me (I was 16/17 so he must've been around 18). We became really close friends (with benefits) and he let me lowkey move in with him. He really got me into the party scene and helped me develop my look. Until I got into a relationship with Howard, he was the only one who knew like, my full backstory.
• I was starting the process of enrolling in art college when I went for the Zooniverse interview. I was smart enough to know I needed a job and couldn't keep mooching off Leroy and strangers forever. Howard interviewed me and was super distracted and flustered the whole time, looking back he was probably checking me out but at the time I just sort of thought "aw sweet no one here's good at their job, this is perfect for me."
• When Howard wanted to hire me he explained it would be a pretty full-time gig and I would've really have time to juggle school too. For some reason he really wanted me to work there though, and what really sold it for me was the keepers' shack- no more worrying if Leroy was gonna kick me out for a night.
• I ended up with a huge dorky crush on Howard once he started training me for the job. Obviously everything I did with my appearance was for my own sake (for the first time, tbh) but I also always wondered if he liked it. Every so often he would comment on my hair and I would blush for the rest of the day. I would've assumed he knew I liked him but apparently not.
• Eventually the Zooniverse went under - I think it was at risk of being shut down because it wasn't up to code but Bainbridge sold it before that could happen - so me, Howard, and Naboo were out of jobs. Thankfully Naboo was awesome and let us move in with him while he worked on opening a store to expand upon his little gift shop at the zoo. I suggested to Howard that we start a band to pay our half of the rent and he agreed. Unfortunately it never really panned out so we ended up working in the Nabootique too. We did local shows at The Velvet Onion but never had a big break.
• Most of my memories after that are source-compliant, maybe with a bit more yearning after Howard and sex with Leroy. The only major change is that after me and Howard kissed on the roof and fell on the bouncy castle, we just sorta laid there and looked at each other, talking really softly, awkwardly confessing to each other. No girls or party interrupted us. And I wasn't lying to Dennis to get out of a pinch, I was genuinely backed into a corner and just blurted out that I loved Howard.
• I don't have super solid memories after that. I do know that me and Howard got married and picked out rings for each other that matched our personalities. Howard's was simple and dark copper or something similar, with nice engraved designs and I think our initials on the inside. Mine was a bit more of a classic engagement ring, very flashy and pretty and caught the light very nicely. Gay marriage wasn't legalized yet but (surreal comedy logic) in the eyes of the law I was Howard's wife. We had a pretty small ceremony with Naboo, Bollo, Bob, all the shamans (Dennis officiated us), some of Howard's family (his parents I'm pretty sure but I don't know about anyone else), and I think my mom? Not sure if my dad was dead, out of the picture, or just didn't want to come, but he definitely wasn't there.
• In married life I relaxed a lot more with my parties and fashion upkeep. I was insecure about my stomach and thighs when I was younger, and went on quite a few fad diets, but being with Howard just made me forget all about that. I gained a little weight as I got older, just enough to be squishy around the middle. Howard never minded.