What This Archive Expects to Be Wrong About
Written early, released immediately
The Point of Writing It Down Now
A record that only contains what turned out to be right is not a record of the work; it is a record of the edit. This entry exists so that the archive's mistakes have a date attached to them, written in the archive's own hand while it still believed them.
The Positions
That undyed cloth will stay the default. Held because the first three releases sold through in it. Expected to fail the moment a piece needs to be legible from a distance.
That the record should never be abridged. Held because abridgement is where archives start lying. Expected to fail on the day the record is long enough that nobody reads it, which is a different way of lying.
That nothing should be pre-aged except by process. Held on principle. Expected to survive longest, and expected to be the one that ages worst.
What Happens When One Fails
The position stays on this page. It does not get edited into something the archive still agrees with. A second entry gets written next to it with the date and the reason, and the two are read together.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Year two, Q2 | Written and released the same week |
| Year two, Q4 | First position marked contested, not removed |
| Year three, Q2 | Second position revised in a companion entry |
“The archive is allowed to be wrong. It is not allowed to be wrong quietly.”
“A correction that replaces the original is not a correction. It is a second original.”
- Condition
- None. Released on the day it was written.
- Revisable
- No. Corrections are written beside it, never over it.
- Companion
- Each failed position gets its own dated entry.
- Review
- Annually, and the review is itself recorded.