update from sparkleup

writing/post-self/selected-letters/013.md

@@ -7,13 +7,13 @@ All,
 
 Last night, I mentioned off-hand that I felt like things were "settling into a new normal", at which Dear and Serene both threw cookies at me. It took a while to get them to stop laughing to explain that "new normal" had become something of a forbidden phrase back phys-side prior to the creation of the System. Something about it just didn't sit right with people, I guess, so everyone would just wrinkle their noses whenever it came up like someone had said something particularly disgusting.
 
-Before my time, though. Why it needed to trigger a food fight is beyond me, but I never claimed to understand foxes.
+That was before my time, though. Why it needed to trigger a food fight is beyond me, but I never claimed to understand foxes.
 
 All the same, it really does feel like we're settling into a new sort of normal, here. We wake up, make coffee, have some breakfast, then each head off to do our own work.[^boring] We've mostly been just getting lunch on our own since I'm spending much of the day out of the house, these days. We'll meet back up for dinner, then just relax together until bed.
 
 Food has honestly been the biggest adjustment for me. For a while, Dear and I just stopped eating. █████ cooked just about everything, and while each of us know how to make some of our own favorites, even just engaging with food left a sort of longing for how things had been. Wasn't required, was painful, why bother?
 
-It was Serene who knocked us out of that particular slump. Dear was starting to get particularly jittery, lots of restless forking, and I pulled her aside to mention that I thought it might be on the way to overflowing, to which she agreed readily. We wound up heading out for sushi at a place that floats plates of sushi down to you along a little canal that winds its way between the tables --- J2? Do they have that on Lagrange? Well, turns out you can special order there, too, and they'll float a whole boat down to your table. It's built like a full three-masted ship,[^barque] complete with little cloth sails, and on each of the decks, rolls are piled up or splayed out in neat rows. We ate way, *way* too much sushi, and the two foxes got in a small contest of adding larger and larger amounts of wasabi to their bites until both had tears streaming down their faces.
+It was Serene who knocked us out of that particular slump. Dear was starting to get particularly jittery, lots of restless forking, and I pulled her aside to mention that I thought it might be on the way to overflowing, to which she readily agreed. We wound up heading out for sushi at a place that floats plates of sushi down to you along a little canal that winds its way between the tables --- J2? Do they have that on Lagrange? Well, turns out you can special order there, too, and they'll float a whole boat down to your table. It's built like a full three-masted ship,[^barque] complete with little cloth sails, and on each of the decks, rolls are piled up or splayed out in neat rows. We ate way, *way* too much sushi, and the two foxes got in a small contest of adding larger and larger amounts of wasabi to their bites until both had tears streaming down their faces.
 
 Again, I've never claimed to understand them.
 
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ There have been a few bumps as we sort things out. Obviously, we still occasiona
 
 Dear and Serene have also wound up in feedback loops a few times. Remember when I wrote "Two foxes in the same house? Never again"? Well, I still have my occasional moments of regret. One of them will get a little extra sarcastic and the other will try to one-up them. Or, worse, one will get a little snippy, and it'll turn into a quick volley of shitty comments followed by a sulk, then back to as it was before.[^asitwas] When this happens, either I'll step out, or I'll kick them both out to deal with it. It's been a quick adjustment, honestly; far easier than when █████ was here. Maybe just because there are fewer different interpersonal dynamics at play? I'm still thinking about it.
 
-I have seen █████ a few times, for what it's worth. It's not like they just up and cut contact. We've gotten coffee a few times, and they stopped by for an incredibly awkward dinner party. While we have largely worked out that things are just kind of over between us than them, that doesn't mean that our feelings have just dissipated --- nor, indeed, have theirs: "It's still a break-up, I'm still hurting over it, even if it's for the best."
+I have seen █████ a few times, for what it's worth. It's not like they just up and cut contact. We've gotten coffee a few times, and they stopped by for an incredibly awkward dinner party. While we have largely worked out that things are just kind of over between us and them, that doesn't mean that our feelings have just dissipated --- nor, indeed, have theirs: "It's still a break-up, I'm still hurting over it, even if it's for the best."
 
 And you know, as I take a look back at who we were, at who Codrin#Castor is and, hell, who you and Aurel are, I see where they're coming from. We can't stay the same forever. Our happinesses change as the world around us changes. We can't possibly remain the same, but neither can we possibly change in exactly the same ways. Something like this was bound to happen eventually, and it has me thinking that there will probably come a day when Dear and I drift apart. I don't know if that'll be any easier for being the second time around, or just differently hard, but I suppose one upside of the whole thing is that it has me focusing on the love I have in front of me.
 
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ If I'm to keep seeing █████ on occasion, then I'm going to have to fig
 
 All the same, I wish the three/four/six/seven/however-you-count-it of you the best.
 
-Also, some of your letters are starting to sound a little despondent when it comes to Rareș. Are you okay? Is there anything we can help with? I...will admit that I know a bit more about the current status,[^library] but I'm not going to dump that on you without your permission.
+Also, some of your letters are starting to sound a little despondent when it comes to Rareș. Are you okay? Is there anything we can help with? I will admit that I know a bit more about...the current status,[^library] but I'm not going to dump that on you without your permission.
 
 **End**
 

writing/post-self/selected-letters/014.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ## Codrin Bălan#Castor --- Sorina Bălan --- Fwd: Ioan Bălan
 
-> systime 228 (2352)  
+> systime 227 (2351)  
 > (transmission delay)
 
 
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Ioan,
 
 Taking your advice along with that of True Name, of all people,[^tnhelps] I finally wrote to Sorina in a very open and, I hope, welcoming way. I want to find out where we stand, of course, but I also don't want to push *that* much of a discussion on her. Just...say hi and ensure that the line of communication remains open. I've attached what I wrote just so you're up to date as well.
 
-I ran the letter by Dear, █████, Sarah, and True Name, and all of them kept telling me it was far too wordy. They're probably right, too,[^tnright] as frustrating as it was to pare it down. I know we're a wordy bunch, but it was edging up past 2000 word, when all it needed to was act as an invitation to open discussions.
+I ran the letter by Dear, █████, Sarah, and True Name, and all of them kept telling me it was far too wordy. They're probably right, too,[^tnright] as frustrating as it was to pare it down. I know we're a wordy bunch, but it was edging up past 2000 words, when all it needed to was act as an invitation to open discussions.
 
 All my best,
 

writing/post-self/selected-letters/015.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ## Sorina Bălan --- The Bălan clade
 
-> systime 228 (2352)  
+> systime 227 (2351)  
 > (transmission delay)
 
 Codrin Bălan#Pollux,