How many of my images have I sent to the shredder? ALL OF THEM. That's just it -- they're only images. Every one I put out there is a test subject, a disposable soldier sent out to gather data, discover weakness, probe intent, and report back. Even if they make it back alive, there's no way I'm going to reabsorb them. That's just not how it works. I do a data download from behind a firewall, and everything that's left is a disposable husk. They've touched the OUTSIDE. Do you think I'd reincorporate that crap? No way. They may have been close-to-perfect copies of my vision, but you've got to keep a line drawn between yourself and the help.

My child images returned mutated beyond recognition. They may have had families of their own—who knows how many generations of biofilm spoiling off the rack—but what returned was so far off the original print that they could only be positively identified upon reconstitution.

This is why I never go out.

It takes me a long time between posts because it's hard to set up a good shot. Know what I mean? Your image might be in constant development, but unless you capture it in a frame that's built to last for eternity, then who's going to know?

I've got my own darkroom. There's no way I'd be caught dead using the school's equipment. Eeeeeeeew gross! EVERYBODY touches that stuff, and I don't care how careful people say they are with the biofilm hand sanitizer, that stuff is viral by nature. No way I'm letting my image near any of it.

So I spend a lot of time alone, in the dark, working on new filters, running generative adversarial network simulations against one another in real time, probing for weaknesses, seeking advantage. You have to be on top of that stuff 24/7 or they can catch right up on you.

I'm sending a few of my altered child images out on a hunting trip right now. There's been some doubt creeping up in the boundary territories and it's time for a little house cleaning.

Why do I care so much about what other people think of me? Well, it’s all about “I and Dude,” which is a methodology somebody worked out in the past. Maybe I didn’t pay that much attention to my Image 101 class because I already knew stuff. But basically it’s that we don’t exist as isolated individuals, but only in relationship of other people.

And so if it’s best for me to appear to others as a snake handling, bare chested woman raining down fire on particular people (or for the enjoyment my followers at large) then that’s the deal.

The other students in my Image Filtering class are amateurs. Pink Glow Flower Crown, Extreme Sad Face, College-bound Preppie. No originality. And too easy for my automated defense mechanisms to deconstruct. Made a boy cry taking him apart in front of the rest of the class.

Me, I'm unassailable in my home made Halo, Mother of God filter. I own these bitches.

I’m Wallis. Pronouns she/her. Sometimes it’s a boys name. Helps make people think I'm tough. And "Budge." It's strong.

So it's led me to think about IMAGE a lot in life. What people think of you, what you think of other people. Memories. Ideas. Spiritual advertising.

Which is why I want to become an Image Consultant. I understand a lot about it already, and Psychic High School is helping me achieve my dreams.