Chameleon Magazine

She gave her youth to a cause, and all she got was a police record and the cold stare of a nation scrolling past.

👁️ Staring Into the Void of a Broken System

Look closely into the eyes of Gretna—no, not the brand, not the meme, not the headline—but the human. You’ll see it. That subtle, hollow flicker. A girl who once burned with fury, now just… burnt out.

This is what happens when a teenager trades her years for protest signs and a dream that only she supports. When she chooses lectures on climate collapse over TikToks and boy bands. When she bets everything—her time, her voice, her childhood—on a belief that if she just shouts loud enough, they will listen. 🌪️📢

But “they” never did.

Instead, Gretna finds herself sitting on cold pavement, surrounded by riot gear and flashing badges. Her reward for radical compassion? A system so calcified, so indifferent, it considers empathy a public disturbance. A government that tears up protest laws like parking tickets and hands out terrorism charges like Quality Street. 🍬🚔

And so she stares—not in rebellion this time, but in realisation.

That maybe the system was never broken—it was built this way.

That maybe empathy isn’t the foundation of power, it’s the first thing buried beneath it.

That maybe—just maybe—she wasted her golden years on ghosts: progress, justice, humanity. All fairy tales, politely ignored by a machine that doesn’t believe in happy endings.

And the British public? Tired. Cynical. Scrolling.

Because why feel when you can forget?

💣 Challenges 💣

Has the system hollowed out your hope too? Did you once believe, like Gretna, that change was possible if you just cared enough? Tell us what you see in those eyes. Drop your heartbreak, your disillusionment, your fury, your sarcasm.

👇 Hit the blog comments. Make noise. Be heard. Or at least, see each other.

The rawest, realest takes will be published in the magazine. 📚🖤