update from sparkleup

writing/post-self/april/001.md

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ April and Ksenija hurried down along the path from the entry point of the sim ou
 
 "I still don't understand why you like this place so much," the bear grumbled good-naturedly. "I mean, it's pretty as hell, don't get me wrong, but this whole time-limit thing always struck me as a needless complication, you know?"
 
-April laughed, shaking her head. "Come, my dear. It is not [italic]that[/italic] bad, yes? It really is pretty, but also the time limit is part of the fun. We have six hundredths–"
+April laughed, shaking her head. "Come, my dear. It is not *that* bad, yes? It really is pretty, but also the time limit is part of the fun. We have six hundredths–"
 
 "Come on, April. Ninety minutes. You can say ninety minutes."
 
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ She shrugged. "Who cares?"
 
 April laughed, leaning over to kiss the bear on the cheek. "You will have enough time, my dear. I promise. Certainly more than five hundredths."
 
-"Say an hour and fifteen minutes, [italic]please.[/italic]"
+"Say an hour and fifteen minutes, *please.*"
 
 "Nope~ Come, help me spread the blanket."
 
@@ -70,11 +70,11 @@ April shrugged. "You can read it in the history books, if you like. I was just f
 
 "Oh? Would I know your name, then?"
 
-April waved a hand vaguely. "Nah, I do not think so. I was a nobody in a crowd of other nobodies, and then I disappeared a few years after the advent of the System and really [italic]was[/italic] a nobody."
+April waved a hand vaguely. "Nah, I do not think so. I was a nobody in a crowd of other nobodies, and then I disappeared a few years after the advent of the System and really *was* a nobody."
 
 "Must have been hard," the bear said, finishing the last of her sandwich in one large bite.
 
-"Oh, not at all. I am [italic]quite[/italic] happy being a nobody. I still dig politics, of course, and I love hanging out with all the other weirdos who do, too, but the important thing about the way we work is that this is the one place where the individual should [italic]not[/italic] be celebrated. This is the place for the self to dissolve in favor of the community, that the community might make real changes, yes?"
+"Oh, not at all. I am *quite* happy being a nobody. I still dig politics, of course, and I love hanging out with all the other weirdos who do, too, but the important thing about the way we work is that this is the one place where the individual should *not* be celebrated. This is the place for the self to dissolve in favor of the community, that the community might make real changes, yes?"
 
 Ksenija nodded.
 
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ She snorted. "The same fucking motto as the Council of Eight back in the early d
 
 Ksenija nodded, and April could tell that the bear's attention was waning.
 
-[italic]Ah well, that is okay. I will get my fix after lunch,[/italic] she thought. [italic]I can still enjoy this.[/italic]
+*Ah well, that is okay. I will get my fix after lunch,* she thought. *I can still enjoy this.*
 
 She set her glass down and reached out to gently boop the tip of the bear's nose. "I am going on. Sorry, Ksenija. How about you? Tell me how things were when you uploaded."
 
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ It had not, however, been cleared of April.
 
 She pushed herself back up to her feet and stretched out her back, letting the sun wash over her face, warming her black curls. She looked around at the empty snatch of field and smiled fondly at the memories of the lunch before tromping out between the trees.
 
-This was, after all, more than just a picnic sim. It was an airlock. It was a gateway. It was a subtle entrance to a secondary sim that allowed no direct entry except through this little forest. This was a layer of security [italic]and[/italic] a layer of obscurity, for everyone was swept from the sim after six hundredths — yes, about an hour and a half — without the sweeping being obvious. It was built into the experience. The sim would sweep them because that was the whole shtick.
+This was, after all, more than just a picnic sim. It was an airlock. It was a gateway. It was a subtle entrance to a secondary sim that allowed no direct entry except through this little forest. This was a layer of security *and* a layer of obscurity, for everyone was swept from the sim after six hundredths — yes, about an hour and a half — without the sweeping being obvious. It was built into the experience. The sim would sweep them because that was the whole shtick.
 
 Unless, of course, you were on the guest list, as April was.