Everywhere, Somewhere

From across the world, Sotce tells Kirsten Chen about life as the internet's eeriest muse.

Published in Takeaway Spring/Summer 2026. Get your copy here.

Interview by KIRSTEN CHEN
Photos by ELSA HAMMARÉN

Kirsten Chen: Hi, Sotce. Where in the world are you?

Sotce: Thailand. It’s 10:30 p.m. here. Sorry, I look kind of scary. I got micro-needling done, and now I have a black eye.

Kirsten: What are you doing in Thailand?

Sotce: I’m working on my novel and preparing a retreat in Estonia for July.

Kirsten: What is your novel about?

Sotce: How to love. It takes place in a secluded monastery. The protagonist falls in love with the guru and with a fellow disciple.

Kirsten: Is there a type of novelist that you aspire to be?

Sotce: I don’t know, but novelist is just such a fun word, like it’s so elitist and niche. Calling myself one, I feel like I’m a little girl wearing her mom’s high heels. But I guess I like when I read something that’s so precisely related to an experience of mine that I could never articulate myself. I do feel so overwhelmed by the amount of books there are in the world. I try not to think about it.

Kirsten: People want to talk about how many clothing brands there are, but nobody’s talking about how many books there are, and books are the oldest thing.

Sotce: Yeah, exactly. But in general, there’s probably too much of everything—or maybe not enough.

Kirsten: How many hours a day do you spend writing?

Sotce: Not many.

Kirsten: What about drawing?

Sotce: I guess it varies, but most of the time I think I just do the same shit as everyone else.

Kirsten: Who is Sotce?

Sotce: An image that perfectly fills a role, and is watched and listened to.

Kirsten: How do you pronounce it?

Sotce: Sot-see.

Kirsten: Where did she come from?

Sotce: I needed someone to be braver than I was. For a long time it was a specific storyline and professing the questions related to that. Now, I think I will always work under this name. It’s nice to have some privacy.

Kirsten: How much of yourself as Amelia goes into Sotce? How do you draw the line?

Sotce: It is all me just without the heavier bits, and I try to make everything fresh-seeming and universal.

Kirsten: Do you ever want to stop being Sotce?

Sotce: It can be a bit lonely, to keep something going that makes no sense. And the entertainment industry can be quite risky and harmful. But I like her. I will keep being her.

Kirsten: Did you spend time online when you were young?

Sotce: I was in fairy forums with other little girls.

Kirsten: Where did you grow up?

Sotce: I grew up on both coasts of America and moved four times by the time I was 9.

Kirsten: What did you want to be when you grew up?

Sotce: A pilot.

Kirsten: What is it about flying that you like the most?

Sotce: The feeling of being nowhere.

Kirsten: Have you ever worked a more conventional job?

Sotce: Not really. I’ve been kind of exempt from that, but I wish I knew what it was like. I guess I worked at [redacted] at 18, but let’s not include the name... I feel like it’s a little too earthly to keep in.

Kirsten: Is there a mantra you currently live by?

Sotce: Improve or dismiss. No fear. Focus on safety. Courage and decency. Every day is an opportunity.

Kirsten: What kind of protection do you maintain for your spirituality?

Sotce: I’m very, very private about that stuff, especially as I go further into my public domain.

Kirsten: Privacy is a great form of security across all aspects of someone.

Sotce: Do you think privacy is lying?

Kirsten: No, for me, it’s when I get to be the most truthful. Do you have any spiritual advice on masturbation?

Sotce: Keep calm and carry on.

Kirsten: What are some words that you do not let enter your daily life or vocabulary?

Sotce: I never curse.

Kirsten: Is spiraling good, bad, neutral?

Sotce: I think the body shows you where it needs more support. A lot of the time, we can step back from our emotional currents and understand them as a reaction, whether that means a need for safety or quiet or exercise.

Kirsten: If a person doesn’t have the vocabulary for something, are they safe from feeling it?

Sotce: This is kind of Lacanian, like how when we call something by a name it ceases to be what it actually is because the truth of it is indefinite. The names assigned to things flatten them. There’s more purity to the undefined experience, like, how when a baby cries, you feel it in your heart because it’s so true—just this pure emanation of suffering.

Kirsten: How do you know when an image is right for a meme?

Sotce: To be honest, I use everything I have. If I take something, it’ll go somewhere. I do like things that have a kind of creepy feel.

Kirsten: Are memes a lazy form of communication?

Sotce: No. I think we’re all just trying our best. Do you make memes?

Kirsten: No, I want to be nostalgic, like, write me an email.

Sotce: Do you get good emails?

Kirsten: I’m writing paragraphs to some deep-sea fisherman in rural Alaska right now.

Sotce: Is he hot?

Kirsten: Eh, I think he’s bored. What are your thoughts on yearning?

Sotce: You’re probably the fifth person to ask me this. I like when someone else wants something, but I don’t like when I want something.

Kirsten: What do you think people want from you?

Sotce: Freedom.

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