Write an Essay on the Psychological Effects of Biological Shifts in Sex. (5 pts.)
Opening a small wardrobe containing a handful of clothes, a student plucked one garment out without much thought. It was a robe: simple yet classy, and the perfect indicator of its wearer’s student credentials. Next came a pair of pants to hedge against an upturned hem; two half boots fit for fieldwork; and, as perhaps the only statement piece to note, a belt to tighten the baggy clothes at the hip so as not to create an unflattering contour.
“Perfect.”
In a room full of cheap furniture, the lone symbol of wealth was a large mirror—a gift from her master. He’d given her a hand mirror too; both served as unspoken reminders that anyone who wished to claim the title of magus needed to look the part. Theirs was an institution where pointing out a fleck of dirt on an ankle-length robe was the highest degree of disparagement, and he didn’t want his disciple suffering that shame.
Ever elegant; ever beautiful; ever neat. For a class of bureaucrats so often judged on merit alone, appearance was one of the few avenues of performance they had to prove their sociability. Confirming that hers was up to par, the student stuffed her wand and school supplies into a bag and put her home in the low quarter behind her.
The Mages’ Corridor was lined with a number of dormitories rented out to the promising yet poor talent that migrated in from the countryside. Built to suit the price, these student housing units were less than luxurious, as if to compel their residents to study harder in order to escape this miserable lifestyle. The rooms were cramped and the mess hall—which was only open on working days—could hardly be considered fine dining, even if it served enough to fill an empty belly.
Yet the magus hopeful wanted for little here. After all, her home had been much the same; rather, the simple fact that she didn’t get snowed in for a whole season at a time every year was enough to consider this comfortable living. So while she remained fixed on her goal of ascending to magushood in the future, the relative poverty of the present weighed on her little.
Though, as she walked through town, there was one thing on her mind.
For you see, the young student’s name was Mika, and she was a tivisco. She and her kind bounced from male to female with agender periods sandwiched in between; now in her feminine state, her sensibilities had shifted to match. Show windows had begun to gain popularity in the city as of late, and the reflection of a plainly dressed girl staring back at her in the glass gave her something to think about.
Here she was without the faintest touch of rouge or a single ornament to adorn her hair. Would she be better off polishing her looks like everyone else her age?
Recently, her classmates had begun spending great amounts of time and effort on looking nicer: they were at that curious age, after all. Dressing up handsomely or cutely to catch another’s eye was a simple matter of course.
This being the Mages’ Corridor, the show window Mika was staring into belonged to a mage’s shop. Hair accessories made from flowers that would never wilt were lined up next to necklaces with minor enchantments.
A blooming white lily caught the girl’s eye: it would suit her friend perfectly, she thought.
This friend was a boy, but his limbs were lithe and his features a touch tender: the lily would fit brilliantly. Although he wasn’t delicate per se—there was also a bit of prickly strength and virility about him—he looked at his best in sleek aristocrat-adjacent clothes.
I wonder how he’d react if I put this flower in his hair, the student thought with a goofy smile. I bet he’d pout and say, “Come on, who do you think I am?”
Catching a glimpse of herself grinning in the glass, an offhand thought paid her a visit. Was it because the hairpiece on the other side had lined up with her reflection? Or was it perhaps a gendered flight of fancy brought on by her current state?
Whatever the impetus may be, her mind drifted to daydream: What if he put it in my hair?
There he was: her friend—her best friend in the whole world—standing before her with a beaming smile and the lily in hand. He was close enough to put the ornament in her hair, maybe a fist’s width away at most. His gentle smile was so close that the breaths she took in were the ones he let out.
Finally, he raised his hand. Knowing him, he wouldn’t use a brush: yes, he ran his fingers through her hair like he just meant to comb it, enjoying the feeling of the smooth raven waves. Her locks fluttered, carrying the scent of her hair to him, and then...and then!
As the fantasy reached its terminus, the girl in the glass exploded into a bright red puff—and of course, so too did the student causing the reflection. Realizing how honeyed a situation she’d conjured, the blushing girl quickly turned away from the shop window.
“C-Calm down... I’m not like the people in class!”
Mumbling to reassure herself, the student hurried off toward Krahenschanze. Yet even as the cool autumn breeze danced across her face, it would take some time for the scarlet in her cheeks to fade.
[Tips] Smart dress is a courtesy in high society.
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