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seasonsgreetings2024-02-16 09:50 am
seasonsmods) wrote in seasonsgreetings2024-02-16 09:50 am
Entry tags:
Test Drive Meme #7
Test Drive Meme #7
LOGS | NETWORK | OOC | MEMES | NAVIGATION
You arrive in an unknown space, dressed in white clothes (player choice what kind of clothes, as long as they cover everything). Whatever was happening to you before no longer happens. It's like everything was put on a pause and you were transferred away from the situation without you realizing it happened.
The space that you find yourself in is one of these four options:
An empty landscape filled with snow and ice, almost like a blank canvas.
A field with cherry blossom trees and spring flowers.
A sunny beach near an ocean that seems never ending.
A quiet forest with falling autumn leaves.
All of the spaces seem to continue endlessly. No matter where or how far you walk it almost seems like you're not moving at all. There are no animals here - just those who happened to wake up there at the same time, in the same place. Everyone is wearing the same kind of plain, white clothes.
Despite the possible rollercoaster of emotions you might be feeling, the place somehow feels familiar. Like somehow you belong there.
And it looks like you're not alone.
After half an hour has passed the surroundings change as everyone is teleported into a room with all the other new arrivals, no matter what space they woke up in. It's a large place with plenty of seats to sit in and beverages to enjoy. Medical attention is offered to those who need it and the doctors here are very prepared for any challenging situations.
Here, in this room, everyone gets an answer to where they are and why. A hologram of a man appears at the center of the room, waiting to be heard. He brings a message on behalf of the leaders of Ellipsa.
The Message [ Click to Expand ]
Hello, my name is Olwen. I'm one of the leaders of Ellipsa as it currently is. I'm also one of the four who summoned you here.
Our world is in trouble and we need your help. I apologize for tearing you away from your world and forcing you to come here but I hope you understand. The magic we used doesn't let us ask in advance, nor does it let us choose who we bring here.
This world is composed of four Seasonal Segments. All of them represent one of the seasons. They were the places we used to get our resources from, but now they're dangerous places no one should go into unless they have the power to fight back. All of them have their own sets of powerful monsters and natural catastrophes.
We used to have plenty of people here who could control the powers of the four Seasons. We called them Seasonal Power Holders. Unfortunately, due to a tragedy you can read about later, we lost almost all of them. Now only four of us remain and the world is in chaos. We have done our best to protect the world, but we need more power holders to do that.
That's where you come in.
All of you have been assigned to one of the seasons. Whatever space you were in just now is what season you represent. You will learn different skills based on the season and those skills are going to help you save this world.
These powers don't interfere with your own natural powers. They use a new energy that has formed inside of you. It's harmless to your health, but it's vital to your seasonal powers. Your own powers should still work, even if the dark energy outside the city might interfere with them.
Unfortunately bringing you here wasn't as simple as it sounds. We couldn't do anything about how to keep you anchored to this world other than making a simple spell that helps with it. That is, you need to touch someone else who is not from this world ideally at least once a day. It will help you stay in control of your powers and boost your magical energy. If you don't, the consequences aren't very good. But as long as you hold someone's hand or give someone a handshake, you should be fine.
That's all I have to say about the situation. The staff of the Research Center will give you more information about housing and other necessary things. I will, however, promise that you will be sent home once the situation becomes better. That's the least we can do.
The hologram can be viewed in private in a separate room later, should someone wish to look at it again. For now, the staff of the Research Center hands everyone their new smartphones with their small flower lucky charms (the flower is anything the player decides). They're also told that the building next door is where everyone can find a room assigned to them with some of their belongings there and possibly even any animal companions. Those concerned about their mount-sizes companions are welcomed to the stables downstairs to see if their friends are there. The mounts are allowed to stay there until you find a place more suitable for them.
In the Arrival's hall there are also several stands with information pamphlets.
First type of stand is for the local Guilds and about the benefits or joining one.
Second type of stands is for the Welcome Center that aim to show otherworlders what the world is like and help guide people in the beginning of the journey and helps in getting settled into the new world. They even have people to help if you're unfamiliar with the new phones.
Third type of the stands is for The In Touch Support Group that is led by the Otherwordly Ambassador, Kamisato Ayato. The pamphlets have contact information for businesses looking to help Otherworlders. They also focus more on the lore of the World and what they have discovered so far, as well as a guide on what to think about when preparing to venture out to the Segments.
Once you get your smartphone and necessary information, you're urged to go out and find your apartment. After that whatever you want to do is up to you.
Part 3
The building next door is where everyone can find their new apartments. As you enter, you're told by a friendly native that for the first two months you can live anywhere rent-free and five meals a day are paid for you. After that they get a monthly payment that helps with some of their living expenses, but otherwise they have to have a job to support themselves.
All of the apartments are comfortable, two bedroom apartments with all necessary utilities. They are also completely soundproof. Sometimes the magic system, however, does glitch and you might find yourself rooming with a stranger. This is not the intention and the staff will immediately prepare you your own room if you ask them. But maybe having a roommate isn't all that bad?
In the Arrival's hall there are also several stands with information pamphlets.
First type of stand is for the local Guilds and about the benefits or joining one.
Second type of stands is for the Welcome Center that aim to show otherworlders what the world is like and help guide people in the beginning of the journey and helps in getting settled into the new world. They even have people to help if you're unfamiliar with the new phones.
Third type of the stands is for The In Touch Support Group that is led by the Otherwordly Ambassador, Kamisato Ayato. The pamphlets have contact information for businesses looking to help Otherworlders. They also focus more on the lore of the World and what they have discovered so far, as well as a guide on what to think about when preparing to venture out to the Segments.
Once you get your smartphone and necessary information, you're urged to go out and find your apartment. After that whatever you want to do is up to you.
The building next door is where everyone can find their new apartments. As you enter, you're told by a friendly native that for the first two months you can live anywhere rent-free and five meals a day are paid for you. After that they get a monthly payment that helps with some of their living expenses, but otherwise they have to have a job to support themselves.
All of the apartments are comfortable, two bedroom apartments with all necessary utilities. They are also completely soundproof. Sometimes the magic system, however, does glitch and you might find yourself rooming with a stranger. This is not the intention and the staff will immediately prepare you your own room if you ask them. But maybe having a roommate isn't all that bad?
Nightwake City is now full of posters for a new place that has been opened recently. The Titanic Dome is accessible with a teleport crystal from any of the Guilds. It's specifically made for those who want a safe place to fight with their powers without worrying about harming their surroundings or others. It also has enough room for giant transformations to fit comfortably.
There are two different arenas. One of them is a private one that needs to be reserved beforehand, but the other one is a public one that has audience seats for those who don't mind people watching. It's here where there's an event going on to celebrate the opening of the dome.
Riki's Rewards has provided a free single dose of the Enlarge potions for anyone to use. These potions give the user a temporary boost in height and general body size (including clothes). Abilities will work the same as in "normal" size, but may appear bigger. When the potion is consumed, all the person has to think about is how large they want to become and that will happen. This limited version of the potion has a limit of 60 meters / 196'10 feet and only lasts for one hour at a time.
Using these potions, people are challenged to a giant pillow fight. All the pillows are very soft and fluffy and won't do any actual harm, but if someone is "defeated" by a pillow they will gain a bunch of feathers all over their body and hair for the next five hours as a silly punishment.
There's a scenic route you can also take from or to the Titanic Dome. It's a longer hike: the journey takes three days in one direction on foot (less with horses or snowmobile). The whole route is protected by barriers, so even natives sometimes find joy in just taking the longer route in the wilderness. There are even small gazebos for taking a break and dedicated spots where you can set up a tent.
Of course, sometimes natives do get out of the paths and might need rescuing from wayward winter monsters or wild fauna. Usually it's because something looks shiny and they go to investigate because "what could go wrong with a little visit outside the safe route".
Some of the "shiny things" the natives see are various frozen flowers that shine in different colors. The closer someone gets, the more tempted they are to touch the flower. All of the flowers give a different effect. Red flowers boost the feelings of love and will make someone show more affection towards people, platonic or otherwise, purple flowers make someone want to show their feelings through physical means (even negative, so a punch would also be included) within character's boundaries, yellow flowers will make someone (temporary) fall in love with the first person they see and orange flowers will make someone more giggly and more likely to make jokes, with the possibility to make others laugh with them. All the effects last 1-3 hours.
The flowers will melt after they're touched, only to grow back somewhere else later. They will also melt if they're brought to a warmer atmosphere. If one manages to put them in a potion there and then, they work as a highly potent ingredient in long term love potions.
All around Nightwake, a special festival is taking place. Even if the seasons are very fixed in all of the districts, they still want to host celebrations according to calendar, like this time: it's a festival to say goodbye to winter and to say hello to spring.
All of the districts have set up bonfires here and there that will be constantly burning. They're not at the centers of the districts, so they're easy to avoid, if someone wishes to. These bonfires are gathering places, where people come to dance and celebrate in costumes that are inspired by both winter and spring. Various masks are sold at the booths, for those who want to get into the mood but don't want to dress up. The masks represent devils, witches, goats, swamp fae, and other joyful and frightening characters.
Otherworlders new and old are also asked to act out the battle between winter and spring. One of them will be dressed up as winter: big sized (additional pillows stuffed in clothes if necessary), wrapped in various furs. The other one will be dressed up a spring: a scrawny person in much lighter looking clothes. The only advice they're given is: make it dramatic and let the spring win in the end!
Another important part of the celebrations is the pancakes. All districts have booths where people can either make their own pancakes or buy from others. There are various different toppings and fillings that can be added, as well as warm and cold drinks to enjoy them with.
Some of the districts may have slightly different views on how to make a proper pancake and what can and cannot be added to it. Especially the winter and spring related districts are constantly bickering over whose pancakes are better and will shamelessly promote theirs in the others' district. It seems Coldreach is the only one that falls in between their silly argument, considering it's in between the two seasons (and the alcohol they serve there might also have something to do with the peace).
Inspired by the friendly (?) competitions, a new mini event has appeared! It's called the Pancake Tours! The goal is to visit each and every district to taste each of their pancakes and rank them. This all doesn't need to be done on the same day, at least. Those who complete the tour and bring the results to the Research Center will get a spell that will make anything taste good, even things they would normally hate the taste of and 2000 Moon Coins.
Attracted by the smell of pancakes, a new creature has appeared in the city. These relatively small creatures are called jellycats, due to looking like cats that have jelly-like shells protecting them. The shells wiggle everytime they purr and they can retreat back into them whenever they're uncomfortable. Despite their appearance and name, they're not edible.
Jellycats come in a variety of colors and smell different to each person. A yellow jellycat, for example, may smell like lemons to someone, but flowers to another, depending on preferences. The scent becomes stronger the more a jellycat likes and trusts a person.
Befriending these creatures is rather easy: they really like anything and everything sweet, which is why the pancakes attract them so much. It is also likely for a jellycat to follow someone home.
- Ask your questions related to the TDM here.
- The TDM is available only to friends of the mods and their friends. If you want to play in the TDM, please leave a note here to inform us who invited you over. We will get to you as soon as possible.
- Test Drive is open for current characters to make a top level as well. New characters can add TDM on their subject line to indicate they're new!
- Current characters cannot access the starting area again to meet new arrivals. They can, however, be at the Research Center when the newbies are teleported in.
- The TDM is game canon so anything in the TDM can happen for your character(s) in the game as well.
- Smut is not allowed on the TDM. You can play situations leading to it, but if the thread is turning into smut, please move it to a private space such a post in your character's journal, or a locked post in the game's log community if you decide to app!
- Check Locations: City to find more areas to explore inside the city. Every place in the districts are open.
- Similarly, Locations: Segments is useful for outdoors adventures.
- You can find monsters to encounter on Beastiary.
- FAQ has information on characters' smartphones as well as general things about the world that might be handy.
Frieda Reiss | Attack on Titan | Spring | Current Character
[An arena for spars between particularly powerful fighters was certainly a good investment, given how beginner-friendly the Grand Collosseum in Dayrise is, but what piques Frieda interest most is that it's advertised to be large enough to accommodate people's huge monster forms. She only ever used the power of the titans once, when she inherited the Founding Titan, and she intends to passively guard it until it's time to pass it on to the next person - an event that, as she has learned here, will happen in an unplanned and unforeseen manner -, but despite that, she feels drawn to the Titanic Dome. She won't participate in the duels, but both on the opening day and on later occasions, when the fun pillow fights are over and people are training in earnest, she can be seen watching the matches in the public arena.]
A) [If you're a fellow spectator, feel free to sit with her!]
Isn't this incredible? At this size, most of the monsters in the Segments should be no match for them, don't you agree?
B) [If you're a fighter and stick around afterwards, she may approach you, whether you're back to normal or still gigantic.]
This form is impressive. What is it?
[She'll ask that even on the off chance that it's a titan, though in that case, her heart will be beating hard and fast, despite her calm demenour. After all, the other titans besides the Founding Titan were left behind on the mainland to raise up the nation her people oppressed for so long. Anyone who holds one of them must, by default, be an enemy to her - and maybe that's why she wants to meet them.]
Flour, Sugar, Egg, Magic
[Frieda enjoys the pancake festival and the rustic masks and plays! When she's not attending classes at the Magic Manor, she can often be found partaking in either or both. Right now, she's once more a spectator of the fight between Winter and Spring, sporting a swamp fae mask (turned to the side of her head so she can eat her pancakes).]
I feel almost ready to play the role of Spring..! I just don't have the right effects for Winter, you know?
[Anyone can play either role, but isn't it the most immersive when Winter can actually make ice crystals appear and Spring can summon a gentle breeze to thaw them? Her wind magic is still quite amateurish, but she can create harmless gusts if nothing else!]
A
She huffs at this young woman's comments almost as hard as she huffed at anyone offering Enlarge potions to her. What a great impression from this Asian-looking young woman, who happens to be wearing Scouts uniform, has her long hair on a braid and has her red scarf wrapped around her neck as usual.]
No.
[Well, the place? Yes, she could call that incredible. The skills? Depends on how she looks at them. Some other things? Hell no.]
They aren't a match to some people from all of these other worlds either.
[.... not saying it but that includes this sunshine with a deadpan look on her face, who happens to be a mix of Asians and Ackermans and makes her home world so obvious with her current clothes too, while her eyes are focused on watching the match instead of looking at her company for now. Hello (:]
no subject
She dislikes the Survey Corps. As a child it upset her to hear her father and uncle talk about how many on them died again on the latest given expedition, but she could still understand their wish to see the outside world. Once she inherited her ancestors' memories, however, the entire military branch became a thorn in her side. Finally understanding the walls' purpose, she felt an old upset and irritation whenever she thought of them. Why do you leave the walls I raised to protect you? Is this paradise not enough for you?]
...
Are the monsters out there that frightful?
[At first, she thought that the other girl had to be a new arrival from Paradis Island if she was still wearing the uniform rather than something more casual, perhaps not having had the time to buy clothes locally yet... but her confident assessment regarding the monsters makes that unlikely, doesn't it? (Besides, the people who join the Survey Corps are exactly the kind who'd wear their uniform all over the place even in another world.) Given the diversity in powers sported by the otherworlder population, she can't even argue against what the sullen girl said.]
I suppose you're right, though. I heard that there are even deities among the otherworlders.
[Something else bothers Frieda, though. In the short exchange of words, a series of small but rapid memory snippets flashed in front of her... and while she won't be able to identify Mikasa as a member of the Ackerman clan by looks alone, her Azumabito heritage is plain to see. That's... troublesome.]
B
[She'd have so much fun with that power if she could do it as often as she wanted...
She crouches down next to Frieda.]
Want me to pick you up?
Re: B
Would that be alright?
[Back home, titans are far too dangerous to go near (unless you're crazy enough to be in the Survey Corps). Of course, Evangeline still looks like herself - a normal, proportionate human -, not grotesque and monstrous like them, but Frieda still feels like it's enough of an approximation that she should go for it!
Whether Evangeline picks her up or lets her climb on her hand, it's an entirely new feeling to be held by such a large being (well, person, in this case - titans aren't people, either not anymore, or they never were).]
no subject
Absolutely! The view from up there is incredible.
[She puts her hand on the ground, palm-up, for Frieda to climb into.]
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Sorry, Evangeline, she's going to mildly dissociate for a moment as memories of titan warfare flash behind her own eyes. At least she's sitting down and won't be falling off!]
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[She stands back up, lifting her up with her, and when Frieda doesn't say anything she frowns.]
You doing alright there?
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[She really should be better at focusing her attention, shouldn't she? Even now, she still can't stop the memories from intruding into other moments. She could just claim to have gotten a headache - it's proven the most straightforward excuse -, but it's becoming unpleasant to lie to others, and she could share at least part of the truth with Evangeline, who's been nothing but friendly and forthcoming to her.]
I was thinking of the titans of my world. You look nothing like them, but your size alone... it's my own fault. I should have figured that I'd be reminded.
[Or rather, that she wouldn't be able to control her focus and make a new memory here, one that'd be an antithesis of the titan horrors her ancestors' memories are full of. As if to apologise for relating Evangeline to such horrible monsters, she gently runs her hands over her palm.]
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[Gently, carefully, she sits back down to put her hand down on the ground again, so that Frieda can climb off.]
I know that a lot of people here have bad memories of creatures this size. I don't want to scare anybody.
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You didn't scare me! It's the thought of the real titans that did. You're too kind, Evangeline.
...
Do you enjoy being big like this?
[Since Frieda has no recollection of the one and only time she turned into a titan, she can only imagine. Given how intertwined the two concepts are for her, it'll be for the best if she doesn't take the potion - also because she doesn't want to fight, fun as a pillow fight should be at any size.]
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I do! The view really is incredible, and I feel more confident like this. Like all the things that scare me at regular size couldn't possibly hurt me anymore.
[Also it's hot, but like, she's not going to try to explain that part.]
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I'm glad it helps you with that. I just feel like it'd be so easy to lose sight of the little people on the ground... but that's what this arena is for, right?
[With the separation between enlarged fighters and regular-sized spectators, no one can be trampled by accident. Still, Frieda never saw it from Evangeline's perspective before. To feel confident and not scared... how many people are out there wishing for that?]
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[Does she know Jean? She kind of assumes all the Titan-world people know each other.]
The spectators here are definitely safe, you don't have to worry about that.
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A
In the end, no one is seriously injured and Eren's exhausted a lot of his stamina by the time he leaves the dome. He's sweaty and tired and doesn't bother putting his shirt back on. He'll go home and shower.
His attention snags on Frieda, recognition trying to surface. He doesn't quite get there, his too-full mind rejecting the knowledge. He'll catch up in a second. ]
What, were you watching all of that? It's been awhile since I fought something that much bigger than me.
[ He's only 15 meters tall as a titan, after all, and the temporary buffs let people be a lot bigger than that. ]
no subject
You fought well.
[He must have experience using his titan. Is he one of Marley's titan warriors? Frieda struggles internally. She's scared of revealing her identity to a presumed enemy, but at the same time she wants to connect with the Eldians who helped atone for their empire's sins by raising up the long-oppressed nation. For a moment, she's torn between being honest about her intentions and taking a different approach.]
My name is Frieda. We must have come here from the same world.
[Saying that, she offers him her hand. Of course, if contact between them results in the same sensation as with Reiner - that strange attunement that was different from merely glimpsing the memories of her people - Eren may realise that she did it on purpose, but unlike back when she took Reiner's hand, this time she's prepared, and so she hopes to be able to look at his memories for longer rather than having them pass by in a flash of colours and sounds.]
no subject
That might be true, but Eren is so much worse. He's responsible for killing Frieda Reiss, if indirectly. He knows it happens. He's been in that room, physically at 15 and metaphorically(?) at 19. He hasn't lived through it. He's not sure how he gets there with Grisha.
Even if you die. Even after you die. You started this story.
He's staring, quiet for too long.
He glances down at her hand. Is it weirder to take her hand or to refuse? The Attack Titan's memories will remain his own, he thinks. Besides, he knows how the Founder works now. If she touches him, doesn't he also have that temporary access?
He wouldn't use Historia, because he loves her. This woman who he condemns to death, though? He has no such attachment. He knows enough of how the Founder works, combined with the Attack Titan's own ongoing resistance, to keep the worst of it from her.
He hopes. ]
Eren Jaeger. We must have.
[ He meets her eyes with his blank, unreadable face and takes her hand.
He always thinks he's ready for it after that first time at the medal ceremony, but he never is. The world slips out of time in his head, a confusing swirl of past/future/present, the crystal cave, his father yelling, memories of his childhood in Shiganshina. Now there are bits of this place, Ellipsa. He and Reiner kissing in the rain. Armin, younger than he should be, on the beach.
The Paths, full of people who do not belong there, and their memories that Eren has managed to touch as well.
It's a mess, really. ]
no subject
She saw his memories, yes - or those of his predecessors, who could say? -, but there were so many more. Images and sounds overlapping, echoing, the laughter of children mixing with screams and explosions as different memories play out in parallel, a tree in a green field, blood splattering onto flowers, Reiner - she recognises Reiner! -, a woman brushing her hair and startling as she notices her - wait, isn't that her? -, a man with glasses crying as he pleads for his family's life--
Just like when Frieda touched Reiner, she can't stop the maelstrom, can't dive into any one memory like she can with regular Eldians (not that she makes a habit of doing that; the first few times it happened it was by accident - and maybe that's what her inability comes down to; an utter lack of practice and understanding). And then, there are so many more memories, of foreign worlds, of foreign wars, of foreign people who aren't Eldian or even human. (Eren may see her memories, too - but then again, he's had access to those for a long time already.)
When the storm of memories, so much more intense than it was with Reiner, finally stops, Frieda has no idea how much time passed. She feels like she just woke up from a long sleep... and she really is lying on the ground, or rather, in the sand. She sits up halfway and looks around, seeing an endlessly spanning desert - and Eren.]
Where are we?
[This has to be the outside world. But... would the outside world have a tree made of light as the only landmark in the distance? She's still reeling from the emotions she felt from Eren (whether they're all authentically his, or passed down through the succession, she isn't sure) - unending love for his(?) friends, a desire to be with Reiner (that one, surely, is Eren's - after all, they're both here in Ellipsa together), and a burning, all-consuming hate towards... she isn't sure towards what or whom, but the sensation is enough to leave her shaken.]
no subject
[ He doesn't even realise he says it out loud, but it's the first thing he says when their hands part, the endless sand of the Paths around them. He knows this place; he knew it before, though he hadn't actually been there. (He is always there, the way time just exists in tandem, everything going at once.)
He can feel panic clutch at his chest. He feels like he just got out of trouble with Levi about this. He looks around for a moment, feels with that extra sense he has. But…the only other person's memories that exist here today are…
Frieda's. He's seen some of this already, when he held the Founder's power. He'll see more of it someday, when he sees everything, too much of everything and everyone's memories fracturing his already questionable hold on time and reality. For now, it's less obvious to him than all that.
He settles a little, though that fluttering panic remains.
He doesn't have a word for this place, really. ]
The coordinate, I guess.
[ The tree of light always in the distance. They could reach it if they really wanted to. Eren has some control over things here, but it's pretty shaky. He hasn't had the time to learn it, and he doesn't have Ymir to help him. Ymir is nowhere to be seen, just like the last time he ended up here. Maybe it's some magic of Ellipsa. He really doesn't know; in the end it doesn't matter. ]
I didn't mean to bring us here.
no subject
This is the coordinate?
[If nothing else, she knows what that means, if only in theory. It's knowledge she wasn't able to share with anyone, not even her own family. It's obvious, too, how Eren can share her understanding. His memories - their shared memories - revealed to her that he's the one Historia told her about: Her friend, the one who was in the Survey Corps with her (the Survey Corps, of all things!), Frieda's unwilling successor. He looks even more startled and scared than she feels, so she keeps her voice calm as she speaks.]
This must have happened because we both hold the Founding Titan.
[A paradox. She feels like she can point it out freely - Eren must know that she's his predecessor. One thing remains strange, though...]
Why are you free?
[She asks that way around because she can well imagine what her own shackles represent in this realm, but Eren, lacking royal blood, shouldn't be able to use the Founding Titan's power any more than she can. Little does she realise what a pointed question it is to ask him of all people.]
no subject
That is, technically. This place is…
[ He struggles to answer that. Without Ymir here, without the knowledge he knows he has but still can't quite reach, he can't explain it well. ]
Eldians are all connected here.
[ Close enough.
He turns to look at her. Chains. Some dark recognition snags in his memory but it slips away again before he can hold on to it. He doesn't chase it. There are things Eren figures he's better off not knowing. He knows too much as it is. He will always know too much; that's part of the whole problem, isn't it?
It takes him a minute to answer. ]
Because I was born free. I'm not bound by the will of the first king.
[ His eyes narrow slightly. ]
How much do you know about it? The things you've been keeping from us for a hundred years?
[ There's not quite venom in his voice, but it is an accusation. The Reiss family lied to everyone, kept them in the dark, killed most of the Ackermans. He's never had time or inclination to be sorry for their deaths. If they lived, the island would die, crushed under Marley's military boots.
Instead, the rest of the world will die — or most of it, anyway — crushed under the titans holding up the walls, their cage bars turned into weapons by Eren's mix of love for his friends and hatred for those that seek to take away their freedom. Eren knows the cost is too great, but it's one he's already paid. Eren himself is part of that cost, his humanity, his life, even the freedom he so covets. ]
no subject
Eren's answer to her question makes sense, somewhat. He is free of the first king's will, even if he's still powerless in his own way. If that means that he can walk around freely in this realm, so be it. It puzzles her, but it doesn't bother her. If she's surprised by his return question, her expression doesn't show it. Why should she squirm under his accusing tone? Keeping the truth concealed was the only way to maintain the peaceful paradise she built for her people. (It wasn't her. It was the first king. But what's the difference, really?)]
I know of the history of the world. You do too, don't you? I'm sorry you had to learn about all those terrible things. You were never meant to get involved. It must have been painful.
[Despite everything - despite knowing that her people must perish for their sins, that they're all living on borrowed time - she doesn't want them to suffer unnecessarily, and surely, an ignorant person suddenly becoming aware of the Eldian Empire's long and bloody history constitutes suffering. (She sees no conflict between her compassion for her people and her lack of hesitation in having dissidents and other threats exterminated. A king needs to tend to his kingdom like a gardener tends to his garden; weeds need to be removed.)
Given what Frieda knows of the future of the Walls after her death, Historia will assume the throne - publicly! - while Eren holds the Founding Titan, unable to use it. There's only one logical outcome to the situation: Historia will take the titan from him, whether by her own will or (more likely) due to outside pressure. While neither of them will be able to use its immense power, having the titan within the royal bloodline will provide the Walls with a stronger deterrent against outside attacks.
Frieda, as a person, felt deeply for her sister when Historia explained her position to her. She understood that Historia didn't want her friend to die. She felt for Eren, too - an unaffiliated person who got caught up in the theft of the Founding Titan, and whose mind had to be in shambles from what he saw in the memories that came with it. But what is Frieda as a person compared to the first king's will? Eren has to die. Historia has to inherit the Founding Titan. Marley may or may not make its move on Paradis Island, and whether within her sister's lifetime or later, Judgement Day will come for the Eldians of the Walls.]
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I know the history of the world, yeah.
[ There's venom in that, not even disguised. He stares off at nothing and keeps going, his simmering rage evident in all his words. It's been awhile since he thought about it so starkly. ]
The Eldian Empire committing sins everyone expects us to pay for for eternity. The lies of the first king and Marley, so that they can destroy us whenever they fucking want to and we can't do anything to stop them.
[ He chews on the inside of his cheek for a moment until he tastes blood. It's a bad habit he has, destroying himself in little ways when that's all he has. Really, he's not even mad at Frieda, though he knows her shitty propaganda, the way that Karl Fritz makes sure his descendants agree that the people in the walls deserve to die, caged in and brainwashed.
He can't tolerate it. He never could. ]
They're afraid of us. The rest of the world. They think we're going to wake up the titans in the walls and crush them.
[ He doesn't give away the ending, not yet, but he's known for so long. The Attack Titan sees the future, after all, and there is only one ending — the ending that Eren and the Founding Titan's power kept from the other Attack Titan holders so they could never see that far. Not that it could have changed anything, he thinks. It doesn't matter now. ]
Did you know they train children to take the other titans? They sent them after us, to break the walls. You were alive for that, weren't you? The day the wall came down?
[ That might turn into an accusation here in a minute if he can't get a handle on his temper. ]
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[Not everybody can see the future, Eren! But Frieda's expectations of how she'll react to the invasion of Paradis Island line up with Eren's reality. After all, what else can the Eldians, their ruler included, do but pray for some kind of divine forgiveness as they await their deaths?]
As for Marley and its methods, it has every right to avenge itself for two millennia of injustice. If the children of Eldia support that effort, they're doing their part in righting the wrongs of our history.
[It's ironic that Frieda, too, was still a child when she determined to sacrifice most of her lifetime and suceed her uncle Uri, frustrated by the titans keeping her people caged behind the Walls. Of course, she was naive to think that her uncle and grandfather and all their predesessors didn't have good reason for their inaction - but once, not too many years ago, she wasn't all that dissimilar to Eren.
Eren's anger, the ferocity in his voice, concerns her. How can he have seen the atrocities their people committed and not align himself with the first king's ideology? But then again, most people are weak and selfish. They'll try to survive and protect their loved ones at any cost, even if they don't deserve it. It takes a strong mind to overcome those natural urges, hence why Karl Fritz ensured that his successors would inherit his strength. (Little does Frieda know that, in the very end, even she will try to protect her family.)
He's dangerous. Unable as he may be to use the Founding Titan's powers, it doesn't seem like he'll willingly surrender it to Historia, much as the latter expressed an unwillingness to inherit it. It shouldn't be a big problem - the Walls will fall with this strange power division in place, then, with Eren able to fight back against Marley's titans for a bit at the most -, but it makes Frieda feel uneasy.]
...
Why was the Founding Titan taken by a person not of the royal bloodline?
[She needs to understand if it was simply a desperate attempt to wrangle control away from the Reiss family, or if there was a plan behind it.]
Was it a traitor to Marley?
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Locking Eldians behind cages and walls isn't justice. The people alive now are not responsible for the sins of their ancestors no matter where they're from.
[ He can't help his outlook any more than she can; they're both products of their environment, though she's literally influenced by Karl Fritz and Eren is only influenced by his own mad crusade for freedom and destruction. (Or maybe that's debatable, with all the memories in his head. Who knows.) ]
You can't be a traitor to a place you were never loyal to.
[ Still that animosity. ]
My father took the Founding Titan to liberate Eldians from Marley. He gave it to me.
[ There's some question about who is responsible for what in that situation, but obviously he's not going to get into it. Besides, Grisha's choices were influenced by Eren, but not set in stone by Eren. His father made his own choices long before Eren was born that led them to the now inevitable end of everything.
He shoves his hands in his pockets, still balled in fists because he can't relax. ]
I can't just sit and let them wipe us out. The Attack Titan has always existed to fight for freedom, even against the Founder. And now I have both.
[ He also has the War Hammer but why would he say that! ]
As long as we're here, none of it matters. I'm not even sure how we reach this place here. The last time I did, it was…worse.
[ An understatement.
He tries to cool his temper. Frieda can't help but be brainwashed, especially here. He knows that. He escapes from it by not being of royal blood. He assumes Historia would likewise be affected; he knows Frieda once believed in freedom for Eldians, too.
He can accept what Reiner and the other warriors did, because he gets why. The Reiss family…it's harder to accept them, ready to die behind walls, ready to sacrifice their own people.
He imagines Zeke would have a field day with this, Zeke and his slower genocide. ]
Our world is a special kind of hell. Most people don't deserve that hell. I don’t have any plans to ever go back there. We're better off in Ellipsa.
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