Never Let Them Define You

ONE YEAR LATER

She rocks back in her chair and smiles. "I guess I'm just happy with how things turned out."

The journalist scribbles something and she asks inquisitively, "How would you say your unprecedented level of success has affected you?"

"Hmm, good question, well, it really gave me a deeper appreciation for life; that wasn't what I was expecting, I mean, I went into that project originally trying to sabotage my chances of getting famous. I was afraid, but I loved performance, still do and I never won't, and a lot of people convinced me to do it. 'Life's too short,' is what they said in some way or another. I went for it, here I am, I have a great house that I had my eye on, and the best husband you could imagine; slipped a ring on him as soon as I could." She chuckles and licks her lips, then tilts her head. "What's this for?"

After a moment of scribbling, she puts down the pad. "People are intrigued, obviously, and they're inspired; they've never seen a woman do anything like what you did."

"I've never seen a man do anything like that, either."

"Don't worry, I understand, but you know how they supposedly set the bar." She rolls her eyes and clears her throat. "Anyways, your mind is so fascinating, you have such a way of picking things apart; where would you say you get that from?"

"I'd love to give my mum credit, but really, I think it has more to do with being an American. This country has a profound effect on the psyche of the artist; when you're taught to see everything as value, that comes out in your art. You're just a pop artist if you sing about the small beauties in life, but if you want to be a 'real artist,' you gotta sing about the whole system and how it flows. You're forced to view the world through this very pseudo-objective lens, which makes you see not only your work as a product, but also yourself. It's not a blessing, it's a curse; I mean, it's a blessing for you, because it comes out so perfectly massive and yet concise at the same time, but it's like ramming your head against a brick wall just to make it.

"You just write and write, you sing your heart out, and you ball your eyes out 'cause you're a lump of flesh and not a robot; excuse me if my metaphors are getting a little too esoteric. I can't imagine what it'd be like to make something and just think, 'what's my mom gonna think of this?' and not, 'what's a million faceless spectators, all from different classes and backgrounds, gonna think of this?' It's just mad, really."

"Interesting...so where'd the pig mask come from?"

She laughs riotously, before calming herself, then shakes her head. "They won't get it."

"Ooh, that's a good quote...so, what's next for Cassandra Nova?"

"I'm gonna take some more time for myself, keep working on new material, and it's gonna be better when I come back. It won't be, 'here's a random girl from some corner of the world,' it'll just be, 'I'm back,' so it's an exciting prospect."

"You're saying we should expect more from you next time than before?"

"I'm saying you have no idea who Cassandra Nova is."