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seasonsgreetings2024-02-16 09:50 am
seasonsmods) wrote in seasonsgreetings2024-02-16 09:50 am
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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.
no subject
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. ]
no subject
[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?
no subject
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.
no subject
Nevertheless, her eyes widen slightly as he explains. The Attack Titan. That titan was never as prominent in her memories as the others, and she wonders why that is. Even for her with her royal blood, most of the memories of her ancestors don't come in a neat chronology, but rather in unbidden bits and pieces, brought forth by anything and nothing - by innocuous sights and sounds, in the most unwelcome moments.
So it was Eren's father... and he was a traitor to Maryley, as far as Frieda is concerned, because Marleyan-born Eldians should be uplifting their birth nation. For the Founding Titan to have fallen into the hands of rebellious Eldians is just about the worst-case scenario. She can well imagine the Eldians' living conditions in the nation they once oppressed; it's only natural for the tables to have turned in the century since Karl Fritz' exodus from the continent. But for them to be selfish enough to want to use that devastating power for their own gain once more..!
Just as she's about to interject, now less calm as dread rises up insise her, Eren surprises her by revealing that he doesn't want to go back to their homeworld.]
You plan to stay here?
[That throws her for a loop. Does he not care for his father's ambitions? Does he simply want to escape it all - the chance of freeing the Eldians of Marley, the risk of being defeated and having Marley capture the Founding Titan for itself? Or is he calculatedly removing the Founding Titan from their world, stealing its powers away from either side?]
What do you think will happen back home?
[She asks that sincerely, because she doesn't know. Marley still possesses the other titans (to her best knowledge), and with the Founding- and Attack Titans now lost for Paradis Island, they may well conquer it with those titans' powers alone... but it'll certainly be a harder battle for them. Much as it annoys Frieda, the Walls do have the Survey Corps. Moreover, she realises that Eren and Historia, unaffected by Karl Fritz' will, must have told their people the truth about the outside world, enabling them to prepare for the attack. It'll be an all-out war - but one in which the greatest trump card is missing.
There's one more thing about his anger that bothers her, and while she expects him to get angrier at her question, she still wants to ask it, so she tacks it on to her last question before he can respond.]
Why has life within the Walls been hell to you?
[It wasn't meant to be like that. The Walls were meant to be a safe refuge, a paradise without pain, without even the guilt of the Eldians' sins crushing their hearts. Obviously, the reality didn't turn out that way - Frieda knows of the inequality among her people, the crime in both the cities and the countryside, the nobility's lack of care for the lower classes -, but for Eren to hate it that much..! She thought she could, if nothing else, give her people a chance to live innocent lives. (Again, it wasn't her who had those thoughts and intentions, but she can't tell the difference.)]
no subject
[ He really means that in the worst way, but it's fine, probably. He doesn't really mean to cause damage, but if that's what it takes for them to stay here, he wouldn't hesitate at all. It's a character flaw.
He stares at her for a minute, trying to suss out what that question is about. What do you think will happen back home?
What a loaded question. Ultimately, he decides it isn't a trap. He draws his gaze away from her again, out at the Coordinate always in the distance wherever they look. He has stood inside it and will again and is now. He will use this place and its branches to talk to every living Eldian, to tell them that the end of the world is coming.
Some of them will get caught in it, crushed by it, the walls or the titans. Frieda will be long dead by then. ]
Who knows? As long as we're here, I don't think it matters much. We're all from different times anyway, so…I don't think anything we do changes whatever will happen at home.
[ It's a sort of non-answer, but his tone is dismissive enough to be convincing. This is the kind of lie Eren is best at telling: the one where he's told the truth, technically, but hidden the rest of the meaning somewhere else.
Of course they can't change what will come at home. It's already happened. It will happen. There was never any other outcome, no matter how much time Eren steals in other worlds. At home, the end is still the same.
He looks back to her again, surprised at her second question. Is she fucking kidding? Anger clouds his expression, a familiar sort of thing as it settles onto his features, his green eyes dark. There is still so much rage in him. ]
You think dying like livestock in cages is anything but hell?
[ He shakes his head. He has always hated, will always hate, that kind of fate. It galls him enough that Ellipsa, too, is a kind of cage. He has no idea who to blame for that, but woe be to them if and when he finds out. ]
You think watching people go out and die and come back in pieces is anything but hell? We didn't have medicine. We didn't have enough food. Outside, they had flying machines and photographs and I don't even know what else. All we had was people being culled when we ran out of food after they broke the fucking wall.
[ He can't be neutral about it. He isn't capable of that. ]
I know you're bound by Karl Fritz's ideals. You don't give a shit what I say. But being trapped inside walls where the people on the inside get enough to eat and grow complacent while the Survey Corps sacrifices people in droves just for a shot of getting rid of the titan threat? Of course it's hell.
[ He takes a breath. If he gets going too hard he might say something they'll both regret. When he speaks again, he's less heated. ]
We did it, you know. We killed almost every titan on the island. By then we knew what they were, but it was still them or us. Not like we could save them anyway.
no subject
His frustration and anger over life within the Walls were once shared by her, but the memories of the world changed her perspective so much that even with Eren having broken the bloodline succession, his feelings are hard to understand for her - and the revelation in the end is once more a complete surprise.]
You killed all the titans?
["You" as in the Survey Corps. Is that really possible? He has no reason to lie to her, but it seems unbelievable. The titans outside the walls killed so many of them over the years - unnecessary sacrifices she'd have loved to see avoided, but they just had to go out, didn't they? In fairness, Eren is primarily speaking of things that happened after her death - or, at best, started on the day she died, going by what he implied earlier.
It stands to reason that there'd have been food shortages after Wall Maria's breech, if that was all that happened. Wouldn't the Marleyan forces have tried to make it all the way to Mitras? Why damage Wall Maria and leave it at that?]
I wouldn't have expected Marley to use a siege tactic by driving us into narrower walls, but I suppose it accomplished their goal... or it would have, at least.
[If Marley's goal were the extermination of the Eldians of Paradis Island - but it doesn't seem to have been that. Perhaps they only wanted to extract the Founding Titan, not caring about the rest of them, but couldn't find any signs of it after infiltrating the Walls, since Eren's father was hiding it at that point before passing it on to his son. Regardless, it seems that in the time after than initial attack, Historia and Eren experienced the hardships he detailed and eventually came to hold their current positions.]
...
I hoped it would be quick, but the suffering we subjected the other races to wasn't quick either. It was a long torment. Many generations were born and died as slaves under our rule.
[It's what he doesn't want to hear, she knows - Karl Fritz' ideals that he resents. But if nothing else, she needs to impress onto him that what he considers hell was better than any of them deserved.]
Once an Eldian turns into a pure titan, their existence is nothing but torment to them and others. This is why all Eldians should die. The Walls were a mercy we didn't deserve, a chance of a peaceful life. They were meant to protect us from the world as much as the world from us.
[If Wall Maria was broken and her people suffered the consequences, but Marley left it at that and the Survey Corps, somehow, managed to eliminate the titans eventually... then that means that the people of the Walls were able to leave their cage and enter the outside world once again. Granted, things probably remained at a stalemate, with island and continent each feeling the tension across the sea, and given Eren's disappearance from their world, it's unclear what will happen next, but Frieda can really only see one way forward: War.
She really hoped it would have been quick - that the Walls would be overran and its population decimated, just like the Eldians of old overran and decimated the nations they conquered, but the time that elapsed and the knowledge her people gained through Eren allowed them to prepare. Despite the disadvantage brought about by the remaining titans all being in Marley's hand, the Eldians of Paradis will renew the bloodshed Karl Fritz hoped to end for good.]
no subject
[ Marley could make more, too, but they have bigger things to worry about. Most of those things are Eren. ]
I don't think it was ever a siege. They were only there to get the Founder. I don't think they even knew we had the Attack Titan.
[ He's almost certain they didn't know; he's not sure when the last time Marley knew the whereabouts of the Attack Titan even was. ]
When they came to kill us, it would have been with ships and flying machines and guns.
[ He knows. He saw those things, tore those things to pieces, utilised them to his own ends. The Marley volunteers had taught the islanders to build their own such things, but he doesn't need to tell Frieda about all of that. ]
Do you know what it's like to be shot? Of course you don't. But I do. Anyway, people who die quickly in agony still get the agony part.
[ He knows that better than anyone could ever know. He can never push away the memory of all of those people crushed under the weight of countless colossal titans. ]
I don't give a shit what people 2,000 years ago did. I'm not paying for their crimes any more.
[ In a twisted way, that's not true. He's the last one to pay for the crimes of their ancestors, the last one to commit untold atrocity. Death isn't really justice, but it's the only answer. He has to die to keep the people he loves safe. If he doesn't die, the others from the island can never be trusted. He will die half a martyr and half a villain, younger than he is here and now, the future/past he has orchestrated. Maybe after that, no one else will die for the sins of Eldia. He can't stand this crap.
He wants them all to be free, but he's aware that Frieda can never understand that.
He wonders if she would get along with Zeke. Probably; he also thinks all Eldians should die. Eren can't abide it, not then, not now, not in his destructive future. He can never accept the oppression of people in the present for the crimes of the past.
Sure, he will punish the world for things many of them didn't do. He's aware of his own hypocrisy. Doesn't matter.
He looks down at her again, that self-righteous fury plain on his face. ]
You weren't always like this. Shame you can't remember what you were like before.
[ It's almost a nonsense thing to say, but he's not just spewing garbage. He knows. He has her memories as much as he has anyone's, though the memories of those that held the Founder before him are a lot more muddled and hazy. But Eren has seen basically all of time at once; that's what cracked him open and turned him into the thing he is now, whether or not he wants to admit or recognise it. ]
If you wanna die so bad, that's fine with me. But other people want to live.
[ Not that it matters what people want, in the end. ]
I've had enough of this.
[ He remembers enough of this place and how it works. He really doesn't want Frieda to get too familiar, just in case. (Eren knows he shouldn't get too familiar either.)
But it's enough that if he thinks hard enough about it, he can dropkick them right out of here and back to the real world.
It's only been the blink of an eye, two people who look eerily alike staring at each other, hands clasped. Eren still looks angry, but that might just be his face. ]
no subject
Had she been given the opportunity to meet Zeke, they'd likely have been besotted with each other immediately. Finally, someone who understands that there's no atonement for Eldia's sins! Finally, someone with an Eldian extermination plan that is as humane as it gets! Finally, someone willing and able to implement it!
But that element of willingness would have faltered whenever Frieda would have had a clear-headed moment - a moment where it's only herself in her head. In such a moment, she'd have recoiled from Zeke, and she might even have reached out for help in the direction of Eren, who's dead-set to not let the people of the Walls pay the price for their ancestors' deeds - only to draw back from him too, given his readiness to spill the blood of the outside world.
Between the Jaeger brothers, there ultimately wouldn't have been space for her to subsist in, not as herself, not as a person. In the end, Zeke would have needed her titan, not her, and his adoration would have been for the person she became through the first king's will. Voluntarily or not, she'd either have aided him, or Eren would have been forced to take her out to prevent that from happening.
As it is, right here and now in the Coordinate's light, Eren's anger is every bit as self-righteous as Frieda's persistent, suicidal non-violence, and neither of them can chip away at the other's resolve even a tiny bit. When he tells her that she wasn't always like this, she doesn't react in the slightest. Of course I wasn't always like this. I was an ignorant child, little more than a sheep bleating about how it'd do away with all the wolves, knowing nothing of the world.
She's about to finally respond, having let him express himself while quietly listening, to tell him that it doesn't matter if the Eldians of Paradis Island want to live, because Judgement Day will come for them rightly and regardless - but he beats her to the punch, deciding to end their fruitless stand-off.
And just like that, everything disappears - the endless sands, the starry sky, the light tree, even her chains. They're back under the sky of Ellipsa. For a moment, she stares at their clasped hands, her mind a whirl of all sorts of things. How ironic for them, who revealed themselves as ideological foils, to be brought back still in this pose.
They let go of each other at the same time, and Frieda can't stop looking at Eren. You're my enemy. For the first time, metaphorical gears that were never allowed to turn before start moving inside the labyrinth that's her thoughts and memories and inherited will. The revelations will need time to settle, to be digested by all the parts that make up Frieda Reiss and the Founding Titan and everyone else whose memories she holds inside.]
...
I heard you.
[A cryptic thing to say, and the only thing she says. She won't be the first to move, but if Eren leaves, she won't stop or impede him.
Much later, the Frieda that still lives inside the labyrinth will be able to look at all the things about Eren that frighten and repel her in this moment and find kinship with him, as well as a sense of compassion for knowing that it has to be as hard for him as it is for her. But right now, she can't sense or communicate anything but frosty guardedness. He's dangerous.]