Haili Blassingame

Like, I don't hold the same standards that I do with real life.

And so I was more interested in making her compelling.

And I think the most compelling characters are the ones who are complex.

And that means they're going to have good and bad.

that means that they're gonna be likable and dislikable just like any any flawed human and she is very similar to me she's younger than me now i'm 30 so i don't necessarily act like this anymore but like it wasn't super difficult to be inside her brain because it's like you know and i also like in and this is a taste thing i also like bold brash female characters like

Who have a lot of agency, even if their agency is restricted, they're acting.

They're using as much agency as they can within the box at their end.

Like those are my favorite female characters.

Oh, yeah.

All evening at the restaurant, I was frazzled.

The jitters had broken through this morning's torpor, the outcome of the election looming now with menacing height.

I rushed to the fire escape on my break to call Jay, my voice of reason.

But when the phone stopped ringing, it wasn't Jay's rasp on the line.

Hello?

I held my breath.

Hello, Tristan said again.

Did you mean to call?

My hand tightened around the phone.

Oh, hi.

He paused.