update from sparkleup

writing/post-self/mitzvot/027.md

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ Ioan sent her a gentle sensorium ping, just to let her know that they were awake
 
 "Well, nothing for it," ey mumbled, swiped a new notebook into being, and began to compile notes from the last few weeks. The work ey'd already done on the topic was useful enough, but it was starting to feel like it was not directed enough in the face of all that had happened.
 
-Ey began with a timeline, starting all the way back at the arrival of the Artemisians and that first meeting with True Name. Then followed the list of the times they'd met for coffee through the years. Ey dug through eir memories for any that stood out as particularly interesting. These were primarily early on, ey found, when they were still feeling out each others' boundaries, though the last few before the assassination attempt held some fascinating insights in the context of all that had happened since, as well.
+Ey began with a timeline, starting all the way back at the arrival of the Artemisians and that first meeting with True Name, then followed with a list of the times they'd met for coffee through the years. Ey dug through eir memories for any that stood out as particularly interesting. These were primarily early on, ey found, when they were still feeling out each others' boundaries, though the last few before the assassination attempt held some fascinating insights in the context of all that had happened since, as well.
 
 There was also information to fill in on the master timeline for the *History*, as well. Information about Zacharias, about Jonas, about End Waking's divergence from True Name.
 
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ The three of them stood and walked into her room. Ey was somewhat crestfallen to
 
 Ah well, easy enough.
 
-Ey dumped a chunk of reputation into the purchase of the environment. Ey had plenty of reputation to spend and it wasn't very pricey, but it was still a noticeable ding, and ey was sure that Jonas would be keeping tabs on eir acquisitions. There was nothing to be done about it, though.
+Ey dumped a chunk of reputation into the purchase of the environment. Ey had plenty to spend and it wasn't very pricey, but it was still a noticeable ding, and ey was sure that Jonas would be keeping tabs on eir acquisitions. There was nothing to be done about it, though.
 
 The environment landed on eir mind much as a pending merge might, demanding to be placed somewhere. Ey instructed the sim to put it in the corner formed by the fence of their yard and True Name's bedroom, expanded to be a mile on a side.
 
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ True Name tilted her head. "It was not safe there, May Then My Name. This will b
 
 "Yes, but thank you all the same." She laughed and waved a hand. "I am sorry, disregard me. I am still not yet at baseline and it has me feeling emotional."
 
-The other skunk's expression softened and she leaned forward to give one of her paws a squeeze. It looked stiff and awkward, but it was at least an attempt at a gesture that was more in line with May's mode of interacting.
+The other skunk's expression softened and she leaned forward to give one of her paws a squeeze. It looked stiff and forced, but it was at least an attempt at a gesture that was more in line with May's mode of interacting.
 
 "I understand. I do not think I am there, yet, myself. I will see you at dinner, yes?"
 
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ Ioan and May both nodded and made their goodbyes. As a last concession to giving
 
 She nodded.
 
-Asking how she was feeling felt counter to simply providing what she'd asked for --- something ey enjoyed plenty, as well --- so they made themselves comfortable on the amorphous cushion. It didn't seem to be time for talking at all, so they settled on soft music instead.
+Asking how she was feeling felt counter to simply providing what she'd requested --- something ey enjoyed plenty, as well --- so they made themselves comfortable on the amorphous cushion. It didn't seem to be time for talking at all, so they settled on soft music instead.
 
 Ey wasn't sure what May was doing, whether it was simply soaking up the affection and close proximity or some more thoughtful task. For eir part, though, ey went back to work on organizing events as they'd happened. Who knew what would come next.
 
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ True Name leaned back against the couch and stared out the picture windows into
 
 Ioan nodded, saying, "Sort of like Michelle and Sasha?"
 
-She shook her head. "No, not quite like that, thankfully. There are some similarities --- the sense of there being two parts of me, the internal split --- but it is lacking the dire nature, whatever it was that made her completely helpless before the duality of her self. It is still something that I have some visibility into. I can respond as True Name would or as End Waking would, but I am still just me, and I am learning to unify those natures. I will perhaps never be singular, but I will doubtless unify into a synthesis before long, just not yet."
+She shook her head. "No, not quite like that, thankfully. There are some similarities --- the sense of there being two parts of me, the internal split --- but it is lacking the dire nature, whatever it was that made her completely helpless before the duality of her self. It is still something that I have some visibility into. I can respond as True Name would or as End Waking would, but I am still just me, and I am learning to unify those natures. I will perhaps never be singular, but I will doubtless unify into a synthesis before long. Just not yet."
 
 <!-- somewhere in here, talk about the fact that EW got in touch with her -->
 

writing/post-self/mitzvot/028.md

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Breakfast, it turned out, was a Scandinavian affair, or so ey imagined. Dense, d
 
 May nodded towards True Name, grinning. "Alright. Payment accepted. You may begin."
 
-True Name nodded. "I had an idea as I was walking last night. Or perhaps it is only a sliver of an idea. I suspect that it will not even get me out of whatever it is that he has planned, but if might soften the blow."
+True Name nodded. "I had an idea as I was walking last night. Or perhaps it is only a sliver of an idea. I suspect that it will not even get me out of whatever it is that he has planned, but it might soften the blow."
 
 They both nodded.
 
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ She laughed. "Too much, perhaps. It took a while for me to settle on a comfortab
 
 "You still cry a lot," ey observed, then laughed when she poked at eir knee.
 
-"Yes, well. I had attributed it at the time to simply being torn up over no longer being in a relationship. My fork was happy, I was heartbroken. In the end, though, I think that my goals were starting to drift from hers. I was diverging in more fundamental ways than either of us had expected."
+"Yes, well. I had attributed it at the time to simply being torn up over no longer being in a relationship. My fork was happy, I was heartbroken. In the end, though, I think that my goals were starting to drift from True Name's. I was diverging in more fundamental ways than either of us had expected."
 
 "And the next time she asked, you just said 'no'?"
 
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ Ey shrugged. "I hadn't gotten that far in the thought process. Is it something y
 
 "Much the same, I think. Your answer has me wondering, though, if she was more intentional about a merge like that, it could work. She could have some of your memories of emotions that she thinks might help while still respecting your privacy."
 
-"And that is why I did not snap at you. It is a good point, my dear. There is no need for her to have all of my memories wholesale, and with what memories and personality traits and whatever else goes along with a merge, she would hopefully wind up with a synthesis as she says, rather than a replacement. She would still have all 226 years of being True Name, and all those years of being End Waking, just that she would also have some of me in there."
+"And that is why I did not snap at you. It is a good point, my dear. There is no need for her to have all of my memories wholesale, and with what memories and personality traits and whatever else goes along with a merge, she would hopefully wind up with a synthesis, as she says, rather than a replacement. She would still have all 226 years of being True Name, and all those years of being End Waking, just that she would also have some of me in there."
 
 "Is that something you could talk her through?"