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Cycle I: Coming on Strong
The Hidden Voice
The Hidden Girl · 16 (v2.00)
THE HOUSE OF ZAN — Zan

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Playlist Track: MUNA — “What I Want”

The site keeps telling her that the profile is incomplete.

One empty field asks about orientation. She has used different answers in different places. Each one felt right until other people began using it to fill in the rest.

She selects queer and saves.

The suggestions rearrange themselves.

Before she closes the edit screen, a stranger asks whether the label means she wants women. She has never spoken to the sender.

She changes the field to prefer not to say.

The profile meter drops. The site asks her to finish what she started.

In the bio, she adds, “ask if it matters.”

She likes the sentence until she imagines people actually asking.

Another message appears. This one is from the nearly empty profile. He wants to know whether she meant to view his page.

She answers, “no, sorry lol. i’m still figuring out how this site works.”

Apparently, half the settings are buried, and she is not the only one having trouble.

She reacts to the message and closes the thread.

When she returns to her profile, the orientation field reads not specified.

She wanted to leave it empty.

The site found words for the empty space anyway.

She tells herself that is fine, then returns to the conversation that began by asking whether she follows instructions.

Her reply is still there: depends who’s asking.

She reads it again. This one does not make her want to explain herself.