Introduction

Hello there! I'm Kirryn Lia! I'm also called Rin and Kirr and Arwen and River and Evie and Cassie and Misa and September and Boop and K-Pop and probably a whole list of others I've forgotten. You can and probably will call me whatever works for you ♥

I'm a she/they, and I don't think about my gender all that much except I know one thing: I am NOT male. That's about as deep as I get on that front! I have no hangups about your gender (or your lack thereof); why should I? Why should anyone? Identify with what makes your soul sing, baby. It's too awful to do elsewise, and life's way too short.

The vital stuff in a nutshell: I was born precisely in the middle of March, on the Ides, which probably says everything about me. Pisces sun, Capricorn moon, and Gemini rising -- incidentally, the exact same trine as one of my favourite fictional characters, which I am chuffed about to this day. I'm a Scottish-Australian, Victorian-born adopted Brisbanite (and yes, I barrack for the mighty Lions!). Scholar interrupted (UQ pride forever) by a dreadfully misunderstood illness known as ME to the knowledgeable (and CFS to the greater population, very unfortunately). I'm also MI/ND; I'm open to questions asked in good faith. Knowledge is power, kindness is the soul's ambrosia.

I was a scholar by choice, but I'm a writer by heart. Writing is just...something I do. Even when I'm concentrating on something else. I do still consider myself a scholar (or, at least, a scholar on a forced indefinite hiatus), but not quite the same way I think of myself as a writer...a poet in particular. Being a poet is innate, being a scholar was something I fought hard to attain. If that makes sense. (Which is why it hurt so very much to lose that side of myself.)

Here's some truth: you can't write when you're in the throes of mental illness, particularly depression. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either ignorant, misinformed, or just a flat-out liar. Don't believe the "depression makes good artists" BS, because it's exactly that. Depression makes good artists kill themselves, that's all. Ave Sylvia, Virginia, Vincent, Ian, Kurt...

My living situation has gone from emotionally eviscerating and intolerable to...vaguely tolerable but still hurtful, so that's probably why I come off as kind of a downer a lot of the time. Sorry about that. I'm doing everything I can to, if not actually escape, then up my happy levels, but it's very difficult these days. Joy is hard won, but worth the fight.

I'm a Daoist witch. Or a witchy Daoist. I'm not sure which, and I'm really not sure it matters -- paganism and Daoism are oddly syncretic in a lot of places! I wouldn't say I'm one of those crunchy weird whitey-with-dreads types, exactly, but I've got a lot of neo-hippie in me. Like, I got my first pack of tarot cards at 13, horoscopes are fun to play around with, and I believe shoving a crystal down my bra will help me calm down, but I'd never suggest it to someone else (unless I knew they were on the same wavelength).

Love one another, man, and remember: if there's a bustle in your hedgerow, it's just a spring clean for the May Queen.