This story is told by three intertwining narrators. Connor is passionate about his future and wants to leave a past but has effects of bystander guilt after witnessing domestic violence at a former friends house. Connor has a crush on Mira, who is Muslim, and he is Christian. This has been pushed behind the story, but Im hesitant to overuse this as a distinction between decisions they make throughout the story. Mira’s subplot may need work, but it is in struggles with trusting peers and finding individuality and artistic passion. Trusting her competencies and overcoming fears while not wanting to be afraid of things are among conflicts in her story. Candice has prosopagnosia (face blindness), loves makeup, uses makeup and sticky notes to identify and distinguish people. She is tentatively a lesbian and has a crush on Connor’s ex-girlfriend. This interferes with Evelyn’s role throughout the story, and her choice between her friends, Connor and Mira, and her love-interest. There is also a conflict between how she would like to constantly improve her thinking and simultaneously make things clearer, not only do people understand complex things, but so that complex things don’t get distorted. Her mom, for example, teaches complex topics but Candice insists she should be a bit clearer. Connor was falsely accused of rape, made believable via a video that is fabricated with ai-generated tools. I’m receiving feedback to have more accurate implementation regarding AI and how this would work.

Comparable Stories:

All Your Twisted Secrets, One of Us is Lying, Every Last Word

Trigger Warnings:

This involves rape, forced intoxication, bagtery, vulgar language, and cybercrime.