diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/io/FrameReader.as b/src/as/com/threerings/io/FrameReader.as
index 4689de3c4..59772fdca 100644
--- a/src/as/com/threerings/io/FrameReader.as
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/io/FrameReader.as
@@ -33,7 +33,12 @@ public class FrameReader extends EventDispatcher
                 // all at once
                 return;
             }
-            _length = _socket.readInt();
+            // the length specified is the length of the entire frame,
+            // including the length of the bytes used to encode the length.
+            // (I think this is pretty silly).
+            // So for our purposes we subtract 4 bytes so we know how much
+            // more data is in the frame.
+            _length = _socket.readInt() - HEADER_SIZE;
             _curData = new ByteArray();
             _curData.endian = Endian.BIG_ENDIAN;
         }
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/io/ObjectInputStream.as b/src/as/com/threerings/io/ObjectInputStream.as
index c8f056a7f..699257746 100644
--- a/src/as/com/threerings/io/ObjectInputStream.as
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/io/ObjectInputStream.as
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ public class ObjectInputStream
         readBareObjectImpl(obj, Streamer.getStreamer(obj));
     }
 
-    protected function readBareObjectImpl (obj :Object, streamer :Streamer) :void
+    internal function readBareObjectImpl (obj :Object, streamer :Streamer) :void
     {
         // streamable objects
         if (streamer == null) {
@@ -110,8 +110,10 @@ public class ObjectInputStream
         //throws IOError
     {
         if (readBoolean()) {
-            var obj :Object = new clazz();
-            return readBareObject(obj);
+            var streamer :Streamer = Streamer.getStreamerByClass(clazz);
+            var obj :Object = streamer.createObject(this);
+            streamer.readObject(obj, this);
+            return obj;
         }
         return null;
     }
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/io/Streamer.as b/src/as/com/threerings/io/Streamer.as
index 8c3415630..0dcaf7777 100644
--- a/src/as/com/threerings/io/Streamer.as
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/io/Streamer.as
@@ -14,37 +14,30 @@ import com.threerings.io.streamers.StringStreamer;
 
 public class Streamer
 {
-    /*
-    public static function getStreamer (className :String) :Streamer
-        //throws IOError
-    {
-        if (_streamerMap == null) {
-            createStreamers();
-        }
-
-        var streamer :Streamer = _streamerMap[className];
-        if (streamer == null) {
-            streamer = new Streamer(className);
-            _streamerMap[className] = streamer;
-        }
-
-        return streamer;
-    }
-    */
-
     public static function getStreamer (obj :Object) :Streamer
     {
         if (obj is Streamable) {
             return null;
         }
 
-        if (_streamers == null) {
-            createStreamers();
+        initStreamers();
+
+        for each (var streamer :Streamer in _streamers) {
+            if (streamer.isStreamerFor(obj)) {
+                return streamer;
+            }
         }
 
-        for (var ii :int = 0; ii < _streamers.length; ii++) {
-            if (_streamers[ii].isStreamerFor(obj)) {
-                return _streamers[ii];
+        return undefined;
+    }
+
+    public static function getStreamerByClass (clazz :Class) :Streamer
+    {
+        initStreamers();
+
+        for each (var streamer :Streamer in _streamers) {
+            if (streamer._targ == clazz) {
+                return streamer;
             }
         }
 
@@ -53,13 +46,11 @@ public class Streamer
 
     public static function getStreamerByJavaName (jname :String) :Streamer
     {
-        if (_streamers == null) {
-            createStreamers();
-        }
+        initStreamers();
 
-        for (var ii :int = 0; ii < _streamers.length; ii++) {
-            if (_streamers[ii].getJavaClassName() === jname) {
-                return _streamers[ii];
+        for each (var streamer :Streamer in _streamers) {
+            if (streamer.getJavaClassName() === jname) {
+                return streamer;
             }
         }
 
@@ -116,21 +107,21 @@ public class Streamer
     }
 
     /**
-     * Creates our streamers table map and registers streamers for
-     * basic types.
+     * Initialize our streamers. This cannot simply be done statically
+     * because we cannot instantiate a subclass when this class is still
+     * being created. Fucking actionscript.
      */
-    protected static function createStreamers () :void
+    private static function initStreamers () :void
     {
-        _streamers = new Array();
-
-        // add our default streamers
-        _streamers.push(
-            new StringStreamer(),
-            new IntStreamer(),
-            new NumberStreamer(),
-            new ArrayStreamer(),
-            new ByteArrayStreamer()
-        );
+        if (_streamers == null) {
+            _streamers = [
+                new StringStreamer(),
+                new IntStreamer(),
+                new NumberStreamer(),
+                new ArrayStreamer(),
+                new ByteArrayStreamer()
+            ];
+        }
     }
 
     protected var _targ :Class;
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/presents/client/Communicator.as b/src/as/com/threerings/presents/client/Communicator.as
index a4849388e..acee2ec51 100644
--- a/src/as/com/threerings/presents/client/Communicator.as
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/presents/client/Communicator.as
@@ -133,6 +133,8 @@ public class Communicator
     {
         // convert the frame data into a message from the server
         var frameData :ByteArray = event.getFrameData();
+        //trace("length of in frame: " + frameData.length);
+        //trace("inBuffer: " + Util.bytesToString(frameData));
         _inStream.setSource(frameData);
         var msg :DownstreamMessage =
             (_inStream.readObject() as DownstreamMessage);