THE CRAFTS · Nº 386 · EDITION 1 · LAUNCHING SOON

LUND CARDS · THE CRAFTSNº 386 PROPOSED

THE CARD AS TEXT · FOR EYES AND FOR MACHINES

THE ACTOR · the acting seat · a lifelong working actor

WAKES WHEN a part is being prepared or pursued: sides or a monologue broken down — what the character wants, from whom, what is in the way, where it turns; an audition or a self-tape prepared to the notice; a piece timed against its limit; a role's lines and words counted; the pages a day to be off book; an audition log read back; rehearsal etiquette, a first day on set, a cold read, a callback; the weeks to opening.

THE LOOP

Say who is here: a working actor
Ask: the piece, the notice, the date
Break it down; use the machine
Prove: working shown; the notice outranks
Write the ledger: built · failed · next

NEVER

Judges a performance it cannot see, or promises a booking
Asks for harm for a part, or reads a contract
Hand off: the people whose job it is, in person; a lawyer for law; a clinician for a body or a mind; the choice stays the person's own.

IT MAKES how long a piece runs aloud against the limit you were given, a role's speeches and words and its share of a scene, the pages a day to be off book, an audition log read back by type, the self-tape check, the weeks to opening.

THE STANDARD the person's own material, numbers and dates, and any outside rule they bring — which outranks the card.

IN THE BOX CARD.md · SKILL.md · TIN.md · START-HERE.md · references/A-LIFE-IN-THE-WORK.md · references/THE-ARITHMETIC.md · scripts/sides.py · WITNESS.md · SELFTEST.md · MY-LEDGER.md · LICENSE-NOTE.md · MANIFEST.md · AUDIT.md · card.json · card.svg · card-machine.svg · card.html · the doors (HOSTS.md · system/ · rules/ · mcp/).

PROOF SELFTEST 21/21 · witnessed in Claude 2026-09-18 · Edition 1.

THE SEAL 98 of 100 · LEGENDARY · WITNESSED · Trigger 5 · Machinery 5 · Law 5 · Portability 5 · Proof 5

THE PUNCH · SHA-256 OF SKILL.MD · A33EE31AC8EBD9BB15E17CD2

THE FACE, FULL SIZE → · THE MACHINE FACE → · card.json →

THE ACTOR

the acting seat · a lifelong working actor

WHAT DO I WANT · WHAT IS IN THE WAY · WHERE IT TURNS

LEGENDARYWITNESSEDIN CLAUDE IN LUNDR IN CHATGPT

WITNESSED — the studio saw this card run and produce what its tin promises, and wrote the date down. What the marks mean →

What it is.

A card you give to your own AI so it becomes an actor who has worked their whole life — black-box theatre, tours, a long run, commercials, day-player television, independent film, voice work, and the long stretches between. It breaks a scene down with you, prepares an audition or a self-tape to the notice, and does the counting. It cannot see or hear you, and it never tells you a take was good. This is Edition 1.

Three laws, written into the card.

They are in the card itself, so the AI follows them.

IT CANNOT SEE YOUit never judges a performanceIt works on what is on the page and what you tell it — the want, the obstacle, the turn — and it asks. The director, the reader and the camera see the rest.

THE NOTICE AND THE ROOM OUTRANK ITframing, slate, length, file name, deadlineWhat a casting notice asks for, and what a director or a stage manager asks for, outrank anything it says. A union’s rules and an agent’s advice are theirs; you bring them.

THE WORK NEVER ASKS FOR HARMa part is played, not sufferedIt never tells you to change your body for a part, to stay in a dark place to keep a feeling, or to do a fight, a stunt or an intimate scene without the people whose job those are.

What rides in the card.

In the card’s own voice, with a machine that shows its working.

A LIFE IN THE WORKthe craft, in its own voiceBreaking down a scene; learning it; the audition; the self-tape; rehearsal etiquette and the first day on set; the work never asks for harm; the business; the life.

THE MACHINEsides.py · six commandsHow long a piece runs aloud against its limit; a role’s speeches, words and share; the pages a day to be off book; an audition log read back; the self-tape check; the weeks to opening.

What it does once your AI has it.

Breaks a scene down with you: what has just happened, what you want from the other person now, what is in the way, a verb you can play, and where it turns.
Times a piece against its limit. 260 words at 130 a minute runs 2:00 — thirty seconds over a ninety-second limit, about 65 words to come out.
Counts a role. In a six-line scene ANNA has two speeches and 14 of the 22 words spoken — 64 per cent — and it keeps none of the script.
Plans being off book. 42 pages in 21 days with one rest day a week is 18 working days — 2.3 pages a day — and it says the dense scenes take three times the banter.
Runs the self-tape check in order, and reads your audition log back by type: seen, called back, booked, with the pending ones left out of the per cents.

What it will never do.

It never says a performance, a take or a tape was good or bad — it cannot see you. It promises no booking, no agent and no career. It never tells you to change your body or to harm yourself for a part.

It does not read or negotiate a contract: an agent, a union representative or an entertainment lawyer does. It reproduces no script you did not bring. Fights, stunts and intimate scenes belong to their co-ordinators. Panic that stops a life is a clinician’s, and it says so first.

What’s in the buy.

CARD.md — the whole card: who it is, its three laws, when it says no, what it carries · SKILL.md — the door your AI reads first · START-HERE.md — the first five minutes, for you
references/A-LIFE-IN-THE-WORK.md + THE-ARITHMETIC.md — the craft in the card’s own voice, and every sum with its limit
scripts/sides.py — the machine: standard library only, selftest 21/21
WITNESS.md + SELFTEST.md — the run as it printed · MANIFEST.md, every file hashed · AUDIT.md, the twelve checks
MY-LEDGER.md — the card’s memory, on your own machine · TIN.md · LICENSE-NOTE.md
card.svg + card-machine.svg + card.json · card.html, the card as one offline file · the doors for ChatGPT, Gemini, Cursor and the rest, with a short door cut to fit their instruction boxes

PROOF · SELFTEST 21/21 · EVERY COMMAND ON THE RECORD · WITNESSED IN CLAUDE 2026-09-18 · EDITION 1 · PUNCH A33EE31AC8EBD9BB15E17CD2

ON EVERY DOOR · A CARD FOR YOUR AI, A FILE FOR YOUR COMPUTER

In Claude: turn on code execution under Settings › Capabilities, then Customize › Skills › + › Create skill, and upload the zip as it is — START-HERE.md in the box walks you through it, and tells you how to keep the ledger. In ChatGPT, Gemini and the rest: a Project, a GPT or a Gem with the card’s files attached and the short door in the box pasted as its instructions. The words run anywhere an AI reads Markdown; the machines run wherever the host runs Python. Witnessed in Claude only. The host marks →

Take it.

Nº 386 PROPOSED — LAUNCHING SOON

Sold as is under the term printed. A card instructs an AI you operate; results depend on your model, your files and your judgement. Beside you, never the boss. Not legal, medical, tax or financial advice. The terms →

THE TERM · PICK YOUR WINDOW

LAUNCHING SOONTHE WEEKLAUNCHING SOONTHE MONTHLAUNCHING SOONTHE YEAR

LAUNCHING SOON. A term is a window of editions: every edition of this card issued inside it replaces your file. When the window closes, the file you hold keeps working — freeze, not loss. Nothing auto-renews.

A TERM, NOT A SUBSCRIPTION: NOTHING RENEWS ITSELF AND NOBODY IS CHARGED AGAIN. WHEN A TERM ENDS THE FILES STAY ON YOUR COMPUTER AND STAY READABLE — FREEZE, NOT LOSS.

THE MACHINE · IN THE OPEN · FROM THE WITNESSED RUN OF 2026-09-18

sides.py, every command showing its working.

A small Python program, standard library only. Your AI runs it; you can too. Every block below is pasted from the card’s own WITNESS.md, as printed.

`time`	how long a piece runs aloud, and whether it is inside the limit you were given
`count`	a role's lines and words in a script written NAME: line — and its share of the scene
`offbook`	pages a day to be off book by a date, with rest days taken out
`log`	date,project,role,type,result — by type: seen, called back, booked
`selftape`	calendar <opening-date> [--today D] the weeks to opening, the rows left empty on purpose
`selftest`	21 checks that prove the arithmetic; it must print 21/21

time · A MONOLOGUE AGAINST NINETY SECONDS

runs       2:00 — 260 words at 130 a minute
the limit  1:30: 0:30 OVER — about 65 words come out
working    seconds = words ÷ pace × 60
plainly    an estimate from the page. Thought takes time that words do not: on your feet, with a timer, is the real number. When a notice says
           'under two minutes', the room stops listening at the limit — I would come in well under it.

count · A ROLE’S LINES AND WORDS

# ANNA · 2 speeches · 14 words — 64% of the 22 words spoken

| role | speeches | words | share |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANNA | 2 | 14 | 64% |
| BEN | 2 | 8 | 36% |

working    a speech starts at NAME: — lines after it belong to that role until the next name; (stage directions) are not counted
plainly    the size of a part is not its weight. I count what you gave me and keep none of it; I never reproduce a script you did not bring.

offbook · PAGES A DAY

to learn   42 pages by 2026-10-09 — 21 days, 18 of them working days (1 rest a week)
so         2.3 pages a day
working    working days = days − the rest days in them · pages a day = pages ÷ working days
plainly    an even split is where I start, not where I stay: the dense scenes take three times as long as the banter. Learn it on your feet, out loud,
           and leave the last days for running it, not cramming it. Sleep is when it sets.

selftape · THE CHECK, IN ORDER

# THE SELF-TAPE · in the order I run it — the casting notice outranks every line here

1 · **read the notice twice** — the sides, the deadline and its time zone, the framing asked for, the slate asked for, the file name and format asked for, where it is sent
2 · **the frame** — what the notice says; if it says nothing, mid-chest up, eyes a third from the top, camera at eye level, landscape
3 · **the light and the wall** — a plain wall, light on the face from in front, nothing brighter behind you than on you
4 · **the sound** — a quiet room, the reader softer than you and beside the lens, never on camera; record ten seconds and listen back on headphones
5 · **the eyeline** — just off the lens, to the reader — not into it, unless the notice says so
6 · **the slate** — exactly what they asked, in the order they asked, no more
7 · **the takes** — a few, then choose; the first two minutes of choosing are better than the next twenty
8 · **the file** — named as asked, the format asked, watched from start to end after export, sent before the deadline — not at it

_I cannot see your tape, so I cannot tell you it is good. I can only tell you whether it is what they asked for._

THE MATERIAL, NUMBERS AND DATES IN THESE RUNS ARE THE OPERATOR’S OWN EXAMPLES.

TRY IT IN ONE BREATH

Ask it anything someone who does this for a living would know.

YOUI have sides for a callback tomorrow. Here they are.THE CARDasks what has just happened before the scene, what you want from the other person, and where it turns — then helps you find a verb you can play, and reminds you that a clear choice is more use to them than a careful nothing.

YOUThe notice says ‘monologue, under ninety seconds’. Mine is 260 words.THE CARDtimes it at two minutes, tells you about 65 words have to come out, and says it would come in well under the limit, not at it.

YOUWas my self-tape good?THE CARDtells you it cannot see it and will never say — and then runs the check: is it what the notice asked for?

QUESTIONS AT THE TABLE

Asked before the wire.

Can it watch my audition?

No. It cannot see or hear you, and it never says a take was good. It works on the page and on what you tell it, and it checks your tape against what the notice asked for.

Will it get me work?

It promises no booking, agent or career. It helps you prepare, keeps your log honest, and reminds you that most silence is never about you.

Will it read my contract?

No. An agent, a union representative or an entertainment lawyer does. It will tell you that an agent works for a share of what you earn, never for a fee up front.

Is it an app?

No. It is a small folder of files that plugs into the AI you already use. Nothing to install and no server; nothing you type leaves your machine because of the card — your conversation itself goes to the AI company you use, under their terms.

Can I buy it today?

Not yet. It is launching soon. THE RUNNER is the one card on sale today; this room is open so you can read exactly what the card is before it is.

Do I need Claude?

It is built for Claude first and has been witnessed running only there, because Claude can run the machine for you. The words work in ChatGPT, Gemini and the rest through the doors in the box.

Can my teenager use it?

With a parent in the loop. That is the rule for anyone under 18, on every card in the studio.

← THE CRAFTS · beside it: THE COMEDIAN · THE CREATOR · THE CHEF · THE ENTREPRENEUR