Headers

content/_headers

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+/*
+  X-Clacks-Overhead: RJ Brewster

content/read/002.md

@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ Caitlin and Sarai, the stage manager, joined them with the rest of the crew. The
 
 "Good job, I think we're there. Still, a bit more polish never hurts. No flubbed lines, and mostly relaxed, but Sarah, you gotta loosen up. It's not Shakespeare, you can chill out. Crew, you guys got a little sluggish toward the end. I know it's late, but so are our shows. Don't work yourselves too hard, but keep on top of things, okay?"
 
-RJ, Sarai, and Caitlin murmured their assent.
+RJ, Sarai, and Caitlin nodded their assent.
 
 "Tomorrow night, back here at four."
 

content/read/003.md

@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ AwDae smiled faintly, returned the squeeze. "Sasha, you know it wouldn't--"
 
 "No, I know. I just wish there were more guys out there like you." When AwDae stiffened in eir seat and looked away towards the window, Sasha splayed her ears and added quickly, "Sorry dear. I keep putting my foot in it, don't I?"
 
-"Sorry, no, you're fine." AwDae grinned apologetically. "I should get a thicker skin, maybe. Stand up for myself. I spend night after night hiding in here, and even then, can't seem to assert myself any. I appreciate you trying, though."
+"Sorry, no, you're fine." AwDae smiled apologetically. "I should get a thicker skin, maybe. Stand up for myself. I spend night after night hiding in here, and even then, can't seem to assert myself any. I appreciate you trying, though."
 
 Sasha smiled cautiously and nodded. "You came out like fifteen years ago, AwDae. I should still be doing better."
 
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ More rumination. Rumination edging into drowsiness.
 
 "Hey, Sasha, I gotta get going. I know I just got here, but I'm starting to crash hard."
 
-The skunk nodded, tail drooping. "No, it's alright. It's late there, and I know you've been in rehearsals for a while. Go get some sleep."
+She nodded, ears drooping. "No, it's alright. It's late there, and I know you've been in rehearsals for a while. Go get some sleep."
 
 Both stood up and exchanged another hug, AwDae reveling in that dandelion scent of eir friend. Memories of school, drowsy, dreamlike. Dandelions in the lawn. An impromptu picnic. Rubbing one of the flowers on the back of eir hand, leaving a yellow stain. Sasha explaining that the smell always reminded her of muffins.
 

content/read/004.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ But to have one that just barged in on eir vision and endocrine system like this
 
 At least ey didn't have to get out of bed to deal with it.
 
-The opacity on the message was turned up high so that even in eir dark room with eir eyes closed (and heart still pounding), ey could see the fox. Bipedal, dressed sharply. It was sitting on a plain wooden chair situated in an empty room. The room had wood floors the same color as the chair. Something light: maple or pine. The walls were concrete where they weren't glass. Outside the glass was a sere shortgrass prairie, a cloudy day.
+The opacity on the message was turned up high so that even in eir dark room with eir eyes still closed (and heart still pounding), ey could see the fox. Bipedal, dressed sharply. It was sitting on a plain wooden chair situated in an empty room. The room had wood floors the same color as the chair. Something light: maple or pine. The walls were concrete where they weren't glass. Outside the glass was a sere shortgrass prairie, a cloudy day.
 
 The combination of the fox's white fur, glistening and iridescent, combined with the room and landscape was all so painfully postmodern. Ey didn't think emself much of a pomophobe, but this was...intense, to say the least.
 
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ The combination of the fox's white fur, glistening and iridescent, combined with
 
 Ioan grunted. The message was simplex, thank goodness. One way. No interaction required.
 
-*"My name is Dear, Also, The Tree Was Felled --- or just Dear --- and I am a member of the Ode clade. I am an artist--"* The word seemed to come with a tone of distaste. *"--and...performer. I am not just telling you this to, ah, toot my own horn, I believe the phrase is, but to underline the fact that I am woefully unprepared for the situation at hand."*
+*"My name is Dear, Also, The Tree That Was Felled --- or just Dear --- and I am a member of the Ode clade. I am an artist--"* The word seemed to come with a tone of distaste. *"--and...performer. I am not just telling you this to, ah, toot my own horn, I believe the phrase is, but to underline the fact that I am woefully unprepared for the situation at hand."*
 
 The fox smiled, looking tired, and continued. *"I need some help finding someone. Someone that does not want to be found. It is personally important, but also potentially damaging to the image of our entire clade."*
 
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ Ioan furrowed eir brow.
 
 *"This person has information, a name, that they have supposedly shared. We --- the other members of my clade and myself --- do not precisely know if they actually did, unfortunately, we just have word from some perisystem notification that someone said the Name."* Ioan could hear the capital letter.
 
-*"I am sorry, I am getting sidetracked by details."* The fox shook it's head, ears flopping from side to side. *"I try to be prepared for conversations and messages like this, but I am a little worked up. Excited, I guess. Can we meet?"* It listed an address. *"Even if only to talk. Even if you are not interested, I would still like to meet you. You seem neat."*
+*"I am sorry, I am getting sidetracked by details."* The fox shook its head, ears flopping from side to side. *"I try to be prepared for conversations and messages like this, but I am a little worked up. Excited, I guess. Can we meet?"* It listed an address. *"Even if only to talk. Even if you are not interested, I would still like to meet you. You seem neat."*
 
 The message ended.
 

content/read/009.md

@@ -29,13 +29,13 @@ Fox and writer settled for an L-shaped couch, facing each other across the bend.
 
 After a moment's hesitation, Ioan began, "I must apologize, Dear. I'm not sure that you have quite the right person. I'm not really a detective, wouldn't know the first way of finding the one you spoke of."
 
-Dear shook it's head. *"No, I'm pretty sure you are the right person. My search of the markets was quite specific, and you topped all the lists. I am not really looking for a detective, per se. There's enough of those in the Ode clade. They will suss out the whens and wheres."*
+Dear shook its head. *"No, I am pretty sure you are the right person. My search of the markets was quite specific, and you topped all the lists. I am not really looking for a detective, per se. There are enough of those in the Ode clade. They will suss out the whens and wheres."*
 
 "Then what--"
 
 *"There are a few types of people in the world, Ioan,"* the fox said, voice low and calm. Low enough and calm enough to take the sting out of the interruption. *"There are forgers and honers. Most are familiar with those. Forgers build a thing and plow ahead, and honers settle on a thing and perfect it. Artists generally fall into these classes, and they map to two outcomes in particular: prolific and unfruitful artists, respectively.*
 
-*"But you are not an artist. You write, yes, but that's ancillary to what you do. A side effect. After all, there are some other types of people out there, too. Catalogers, feelers, experiencers."* Dear shrugged. *"For its own reasons, the clade needs-- I need someone to experience this along with us. Someone specifically out-clade There's a lot of history in this, a lot that we've forgotten before uploading, a lot that we're trying to remember. Maybe even some that we're trying to forget. I want you to help figure out the history of this, yes, but I also want you to experience it and tell a coherent story after."*
+*"But you are not an artist. You write, yes, but that is ancillary to what you do. A side effect. After all, there are some other types of people out there, too. Catalogers, feelers, experiencers."* Dear shrugged. *"For its own reasons, the clade needs-- I need someone to experience this along with us. Someone specifically out-clade. There is a lot of history in this, a lot that we have forgotten before uploading, a lot that we are trying to remember. Maybe even some that we are trying to forget. I want you to help figure out the history of this, yes, but I also want you to experience it and tell a coherent story after."*
 
 "An amanuensis," Ioan said.
 
@@ -83,11 +83,11 @@ Dear splayed its ears, grinning sheepishly, *"It is perhaps not a very good poem
 
 Ioan nodded, once more steering the conversation away from more sensitive topics. "It must be quite long, then."
 
-*"One hundred lines divided into ten stanzas. There are only ever ten branches as direct ancestors of Michelle, and each branch only ever has ten long-lived up-tree instances. We may be Dispersionistas, but we are a small clade."*
+*"One hundred lines divided into ten stanzas. There are only ever ten branches as direct ancestors of Michelle, and each branch only ever has nine long-lived up-tree instances from the initial fork. We may be Dispersionistas, but we are a small clade."*
 
 "And the poet? Who are they?"
 
-Dear bristled, then mastered some complex set of emotions Ioan didn't understand. *"That is the Name that we don't share. The information that someone supposedly did share, I mean. Someone of the clade or close enough to it to know."*
+Dear bristled, then mastered some complex set of emotions Ioan didn't understand. *"That is the Name that we do not share. The information that someone supposedly did share, I mean. Someone of the clade or close enough to it to know."*
 
 Ioan's brow furrowed, startled by the fox's reaction, not to mention the concept of not sharing a name that was clearly important. "I see," ey said down to eir coffee, covering eir confusion. "So you'd like me to help in finding this person and act as amanuensis along the way?"
 

content/read/010.md

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ The hulking director laughed. "You're here five minutes early, RJ. What on earth
 
 "Nah, I'm fine. I mean," RJ frowned, squinted. Anything to get emself in the work mindset. "Yeah, sorry. Woke up early and spent a bunch of time researching. Guess my head's still elsewhere, boss."
 
-"Well, alright," Johansson rumbled. "So long as you get your head around work by the time we start. Hey. More crew."
+"Well, alright," Johansson said. "So long as you get your head around work by the time we start. Hey. More crew."
 
 RJ bustled into the theater and made eir way down to the pit where the mics had been stored. Ey handed them out to the actors who would be wearing them, ticking off the cheat-sheet to align proper mic to correct actor.
 
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ No answer, no apology, no acknowledgment that a note had been made. No signal.
 
 "RJ?"
 
-"What's going on up there?" Johansson's subvocalization rumbled through the director's channel in the sim.
+"What's going on up there?" Johansson's subvocalization trickled through the director's channel in the sim.
 
 "Something's wrong, boss, lemme back out and check up on RJ."