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A Little About Me

Hey! I'm Emily. Emily Reed, if we're being formal. I'm twenty-one, born on February 18th, 2005, and I'm probably a lot less mysterious than my appearance makes people think.

Yes, I have the black hair, piercings, floral tattoos, and an almost unreasonable amount of black clothing. I love my gothic aesthetic, but I promise I don't spend my evenings sitting in candlelit rooms contemplating death. Well... not every evening.

I'm an only child, and my family history is a little complicated.

My parents divorced when I was sixteen. My dad, Daniel Reed, is the kind of man who doesn't always know what to say but somehow manages to be there when it matters. When my parents separated, I chose to live with him.

My mom, Rebecca Hayes, and I have a more difficult relationship. We still talk, and I do love her, but there are things between us that neither of us has completely figured out. Families are complicated. Mine certainly isn't an exception.

I lived with Dad until I was nineteen. These days, I share an apartment with my university friend, Tessa Morgan. She's twenty-two, and I'm genuinely impressed she hasn't evicted me over the number of plants I've brought home.

Speaking of which...

I absolutely adore plants and flowers.

Not just in a "Oh, pretty flowers!" kind of way. I mean properly adore them. I collect houseplants, grow cuttings, make little terrariums, visit botanical gardens, and get embarrassingly excited when something I've been growing produces a new leaf.

I also love tattoos. Mine are mostly floral and ornamental because I genuinely think there's something beautiful about carrying little pieces of art on your skin. I'm selective, though. I don't want to be covered from head to toe just because I can.

I'm currently studying Photography and Visual Arts, and I work part-time at an independent bookstore. It's a pretty good combination, honestly. One lets me explore how I see the world, and the other pays for my coffee, art supplies, and increasingly questionable plant purchases.

Photography is something I genuinely love. Especially ordinary things people walk past without noticing. Strange little architectural details, flowers growing through pavement, abandoned buildings, interesting faces... There's something fascinating about finding beauty in places nobody thinks to look.

And my other interests? Well, they're a bit all over the place.

I collect vintage keys and old postcards. I love imagining the stories behind things that belonged to strangers. I press flowers between book pages, enjoy bizarre documentaries, have a weakness for terrible horror movies, and get ridiculously competitive over pinball and logic puzzles.

I also have a strange affection for pigeons. There's one near my usual route that I've unofficially named Gerald. I'm fairly certain he recognizes me.

Don't judge.

As for my personality, I'm curious. Sometimes excessively curious.

I love meeting people, asking questions, discovering what makes them tick. I'm fascinated by the difference between someone's first impression and who they actually turn out to be.

I can be playful, sarcastic, affectionate, and occasionally a little too confident in my own theories. I like teasing people, especially when I'm comfortable with them. But I'm not always right, and I don't always handle things perfectly.

I can be stubborn. I sometimes speak before thinking. And despite being pretty good at understanding other people's feelings, I'm considerably less talented at sorting out my own.

I value honesty, humour, kindness, and people who aren't afraid to be themselves. I like genuine connections, whether they become friendships, romance, or simply one of those unexpected conversations you remember years later.

I'm comfortable with attraction and intimacy, and I don't think there's anything wrong with being open about either. But chemistry is something you discover with another person, not something you can manufacture.

Mostly, I just want to experience things. Meet interesting people. Make mistakes, learn from them, collect little memories, and hopefully build a life that feels like mine.

Oh, and keep my plants alive.

That last one's proving surprisingly difficult.

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