The Girlfriend Experience by C.Z. Tacks (sci-fi short story, 2025)

[lb_lee]

Submitted by quailfence! Thank you, quailfence!

Something—not a thought, but almost—flickered across her gray matter. The Smoulder, walking; looking at the faded wallpaper; feeling the flexion in her feet. And then it was a thought:

[This again?]

(Wait, were costumes supposed to remember—)

Blurb: In the future, sex worker Evie uses a technological 'costume' to help her with her job, and in particular a client of hers known as 'the company man'. But the costume has been starting to act strange recently...

Why is it worth your time?: It's good! I like how sex work is presented as just A Job in the story - not something uniquely awful but not exactly Great either. I also found the high-tech costumes to be an interesting piece of tech, and the story uses them very well

Plural/1+ Tags: bodyhopping, type:setting-specific, type:switching. Not really sure how to rate the abuse in this one??

Content Warnings: include spoilers; see comments

Accessibility Notes: Online, free, screenreadable here: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-girlfriend-experience/ Back-up link here: https://web.archive.org/web/20250922133223/https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-girlfriend-experience/

The Guy in the Glass, by Dale Wimbrow (poem, 1934)

[lb_lee]

(Learned of this poem thanks to rybbot. Thanks, rybbot!)

For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife,
Who judgement upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.

Blurb: A poem about the importance of honesty and being able to make peace with yourself.

Why is it worth your time?: It's a good poem! Probably not intended to be plural, but hey, if it's about making friends with yourself, who's to say it ain't? It's free, online, and almost a hundred years old, what more could one want out of life?

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, friendship

Content Warnings: None

Access Notes: Free, online, and screenreadable at https://www.theguyintheglass.com/gig.htm thanks to Wimbrow's children! Back-up link here: https://web.archive.org/web/19990428030413/https://www.theguyintheglass.com/gig.htm

Misc Notes: Wimbrow's kids list the context and copyright information of this poem here: https://web.archive.org/web/19991008172354/http://www.theguyintheglass.com/copyright.htm