Cycle I: Coming on Strong
The Hidden Voice
The Nerve · 16 (v2.00)
THE HOUSE OF ZAN — Zan

“I’m a guy. You’re attracted to girls.”
“I see you’ve been taking notes. Historically, yes, that’s true.”
— Chasing Amy

A category may be accurate and still make someone imagine the wrong person.
The word can describe attraction.
Community. History. Comfort.
Then the guesses begin.
Beliefs nobody expressed.
Preferences never claimed.
A personality built from the usual assumptions.
One label seemed sufficient.
Curiosity stopped.
Categories save time.
That shortcut gets treated as knowledge.
Soon the definition feels more believable than the person.
A description starts acting as a rule.
Anything outside it becomes a contradiction.
Change looks dishonest.
Its meaning remains correct.
The biography around it may be fiction.
Naming one part of someone can make inventing the rest feel like understanding.