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seasonsgreetings2023-04-14 10:33 am
seasonsmods) wrote in seasonsgreetings2023-04-14 10:33 am
Entry tags:
Test Drive Meme #2
Test Drive Meme #2
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.
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?
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?
April is the time for a strange weather effect that affects all of the districts, save for the one in the middle and Frostreign. It's not weird that it rains, but it's what the rain does that has been dubbed as the Rain of Affection.
Anyone who stands in the rain will feel the need to get close to someone. It starts with a need to gently touch someone gently, but can escalate into needing to hug someone. The ultimate craving of the rain is kissing in the rain but that's the most it can make happen. It's a very Safe For Work Rain Effect.
After a successful kiss in the rain, the cravings slowly become less urgent, but the effect can start all over again at any given time.
Of course, there are individuals who don't get too affected by the rain (at all or not as badly) and it only works if it directly hits someone. So staying in a shelter or being in Nightwake Center or Frostreign is definitely a way to avoid this whole phenomenon. Even avoiding the worst of the effect is easy by just going under a shelter or purchasing a nice, maybe even a color changing, umbrella.
It's raining very often until the end of the month at different times in each districts.
After the rain, a rainbow usually appears. Rainbows formed by the Rain of Affection are special, wish granting ones. The natives will explain that if you hold someone's hands and make a wish that wish will come true in some capacity.
Someone wishing for wealth may win a gift card for a shop while someone wishing to see a loved one they're missing may get pictures sent to their mobile devices (how? magic). Those wishing for world peace may find their very presence be calming to others. But the biggest prize is a free regain of a non-magical item or an animal companion. If someone asks for a magical item it will come as a non-magical item and the magical part of it would have to be purchased by a magical-regain, so it's cheaper to just not.
Be careful what you wish for, as each character only gets one wish, no matter how many rainbows they end up seeing during the rainy season.
Solarpeak has a new way of battling against the hot summer days (you know, when it isn't raining). Many shops along the streets sell ice cream mochis of varying flavors. You have your very normal flavors like different berries, fruit and chocolate, but also some very excotic and weird ones.
There's even a flavor called random mystery that is literally that. A randomized flavor that is a mystery to all. It can even be a flavor that no one has thought of before or even something that definitely should not be in any kind of food. Anyone who buys a pack of two mochis will get a free mystery one if they want it (and sometimes even if they don't).
Other districts also have some treats out for different climates. There are various flavors of hot cocoa in places like Amberfall and Frostreign, and nice light treats like macarons in Blossomcrown. Of course various restaurants have their own menus that fit their own season, so you could definitely have a gourmet journey all over the city of Nightwake if you wished.
One morning, on all of the bridges leading outside into the segments, round gates appear. They're portals that bring in monsters. They look normal from the outside looking in, like portals to a lovely garden. But the gardens are the problem as they are infested with different monsters, waiting to attack the city. This isn't the first time natives have seen these portals and before they had people to deal with them, but now? They need otherworlders.
All of the monsters inside need to be defeated for the portal to disappear. No one knows exactly how many there are, but with the defeat of the last one, the portal will disappear from around anyone inside of it, leaving the characters on the bridge.
The portal can be entered from both the city and the segment side and it looks flat when looked from sideways. Like it's just a random 2D structure in the middle of the world.
Those who explore the portal further will notice that they will loop around. It's very similar to the place they started in, back when they arrived, as it doesn't seem to have an end, no matter how you explore the place.
For noncombatants, natives have set up stations to help with first aid and making food for the fighters so they can occasionally come back from the portals to take a much needed rest.
Anyone helping with the fight, either in the portals or outside, will receive a hefty 5000 Moon Coin reward for their hard work. A good way to earn some starting funds!
Monster List [ Click to Expand ]
All of the Monsters listed here will be in all of the portals and there will be several of each to fight.The danger level is indicated with Stars. The lowest level threat is 0 while the highest is 10. From 7 and above, the likelihood of a beast going for a kill increases significantly.
| Name | Description | Stars |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblefish | Bubblefish are lumbering, two-legged creatures, with fins for arms, a long, muscular, finned tail, and a big fish face. They are fast, dangerous predators while in water, but do not count them out while on land, as regardless of whether they are above water or below it, they can blow large bubbles which capture their targets. Once inside the stretchy bubble, victims begin to go numb, their body feeling like it's on pins and needles as the Dragonfish begins to cast various debuffs on them. The bubbles are tough to escape despite their appearance, but the debuffs are lesser when shared, and can be escaped with the propper application of mint or minty treats! Mint has the effect of weakening the bubble to allow it to pop, although you may then find yourself being charged as the Bubblefish goes wild trying to get that minty goodness. | 5-8 |
| Bugboars | These are really more like rhinocerous beetles, but they are the size of wild boars, and they act similarly, roaming about in family groups together, rooting through the ground to unearth any edible material. They are highly territorial, and charge at anything or anyone who gets close. Their eyesight might be poor, but they make up for it with their antennae and the fact that these massive beetles do have wings, and they possess enough control over wind to lift themselves off of the ground at great speeds, or send powerful gales at those who come too close to their young. | 6 |
| Crockodile | Crocodiles with elemental powers of earth, leading to them being able to travel through dirt and stone as if they were water, these large reptiles often hide beneath the earth with only their eyes and nostrils peeking out, resembling the stone they hide within. They are ambush predators, popping out of the ground, large stony jaws open to crush their prey, but even once dragged out of hiding they are hardly easy to defeat. These crocks are stony in appearance and their hide is just as hard to pierce. In addition, they're a little closer to the size of a small car than your average crocodile. | 6-9 |
| Flurry Flock | White birds acting like a swarm that may deceive you into thinking they are harmless doves at first. Upon closer inspection, they more closely resemble a vengeful murder of crows with pure white feathers that they can use to reflect light so brilliantly that one can be blinded, leaving the flock's victim open to attack as they descend upon their prey like a group of voracious piranhas, claws and beaks as cold as ice as they try to tear their foes apart | 3-6 |
| Lavapotamus | These large hippo-creatures seem to be either made of or covered in molten rock that hardens over time when in the air. Usually they prefer to soak in lava and be left alone. Pulled through portals in an environment far too cool for their liking and with people so nearby has them aggressive and dangerous, charging down anyone who gets too near and leaving a red-hot trail of lava in their wake. | 3-8 |
| Minosaur | This creature seems to be a horrific mash of other creatures, similar to a traditional chimera; it possesses the body and horns of a bull, a head like a Tyrannosaurus, the plates of a stegosaurus all the way down it's powerful back and becoming spikes as they trail down it's tail, which ends in a very angry snake head. There is no end of this creature's body which is not hard, sharp, and completely pissed off. If you manage not to get bitten or gored at it's head, you will still need to contend with the powerful hooved legs attempting to stomp down on you, and take care to dodge as the snake head on it's tail spits fire. | 8-10 |
Even after the defeat of the Portals, there's still a lot of things to do! All of the Guilds are open. There's a good training space outside of them to test our powers and computers where you can learn all about what kind of powers you can unlock.
All guilds also have the same Questboard open! Why not take a look and see what adventures await?
- Ask your questions related to the TDM here.
- The TDM is available only to friends of the mods and their friends. If you're not a friend of the mods and 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!
- Feel free to visit the EMP/ATP - meme!
- New characters can add TDM on their subject line to indicate they're new! They can also comment HERE to promote their new top levels.
- Test Drive is open for current characters to make a top level as well.
- 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.
unforgivable tbh
[ He finds the initial lack of words weirdly comforting. Like it's a minute of silence kind of deal. And the reaction implies that Eren doesn't know, and that makes him a little easier to hate less, because it leaves the possibility that it was another fuck up (in a line of fuck ups of unprecedented scale) rather than something like him deliberately choosing which ones of them should die for his new world. His "freedom". ]
[ But even then, just like his injuries, Levi can't find it in him to blame the brat for Hange. Because in truth, it was Levi who had killed them, wasn't it? The Wall Titans may have struck the finishing blow, but he'd set it in motion all the way back when he let Erwin die. The commander's mantle was way too heavy, the proof of it laying next to him right then and there, and he just pushed it onto the next victim with his choice. ]
[ They weren't the same after that, but he supposes none of them were. Certainly not him. He wouldn't regret it, but it still haunted him. Would have no matter which choice he made. It wasn't surprising he'd started buckling under his own role, too. Not with the weight of his own mantle increasing with every death until those wings on his back might as well have been made out of lead. ]
[ Your deaths meant something. I will prove it. ]
[ Which just lead to him fucking up again when he could have prevented the end of the world from happening with a single strike of his blade. ]
[ And when he finally managed to do it, it was way too late. ]
Four-eyed freak would've loved this.
[ He could be talking about the television, still playing in the background though momentarily forgotten, or he could be talking about this entire world. ]
[ The last one from the old guard, bar Levi, Levi who always survived when everyone around him died. It was isolating in its own way. He didn't watch. He usually made an effort to witness their ends if he could, but that time he didn't. He was too tired of losing people, or maybe he just didn't find it in him anymore. ]
[ He takes a longer drink from his cup, the liquid cooling off enough during their stilted silences with intermingling words that he doesn't risk burning his tongue anymore. ]
no subject
There was always, always a chance Levi would have picked differently, though. A chance it wouldn't have been Armin when it needed to be. A chance he ran away with Mikasa and left the world to burn in their wake. Just like there would be a chance that Mikasa and Armin were in the Premiere's office when the bomb went off. A chance Jean and Connie drank the wine. A chance Gabi didn't get on the airship and Sasha lived. A chance Ymir won't do what he wants. Some of these things he doesn't know, won't live through, whatever, but they are still up to chance even when he says otherwise. Always a chance. A chance.
Never, in his own head, though, a chance for Eren. Never a chance for a different outcome for his rage and his disappointment and despair and the hatred he holds, the hatred of the hold world turned around on them. No chance for his precious fucking freedom.
He wouldn't have handpicked Hange for death. Or Erwin. Levi's squad. Sasha. Floch, well…hm. Maybe. Zeke, sure. Zeke was going to die anyway. Zeke is a liability in the worst way, willing to end the lives of any future Eldians. Besides, Eren knows Levi needed to kill Zeke. Whatever else he felt for his brother, will he mourn his death?
There wasn't time, and it doesn't occur to him now on this side of it.
Can he mourn Hange? Sasha? Those kids in Marley who he knows will die, have died? Does he remember how?
Not really. He has cried so many tears away from anyone that could have witnessed them, tears in dreams he didn't remember and couldn't understand. He used to cry all the time, but now he doesn't remember the last time he did. He should cry, probably. It would be good for him.
He just stares down at his hands again. ]
They probably would have broken something trying to figure out how it works.
[ A general something. There's a lot of somethings that are incredible. Unbelievable. Eren ends up taking them for granted because it's all nonsense magic to him, this whole world. This place is so much more solid than the dreamy world of Folkmore was much of the time. At least no one has been slam dunked into his memories full on yet, so Ellipsa has that going for it. There are a lot of weird ass monsters here, though, so pros and cons.
God, he never wants to go home. ]
I don't want to have to live the future that you did.
[ Not I don't want to kill everyone. It's not that simple, is it? He has never seen another way out, another way through. Levi doesn't know he can see the future, not really, none of them do. The true power of the Attack Titan is a secret he holds away from them like so many others. He might tell someone sometime, or it will spill out without him outright saying it.
Close enough for now.
He's aware it doesn't matter what he wants, and why should Levi give a shit about him and anything he wants or does? Levi's playing babysitter in case Eren is unstable, right? (He is. No one should have the power he has or the amount of other people's memories, certainly not a traumatised teenager with a thing for revenge and a martyr complex.) But he's trying to…be different. He just doesn't know how to say that. ]
no subject
[ It was never supposed to be someone else's decision whether somebody should live or die. But he was entrusted with it anyway. Forcing his hand, hardly the first time. He did what he thought was best at the time, but... ]
[ There was always a chance indeed. ]
[ He imagines Hange taking apart the TV and trying to put it back together again, ending up with extra parts. His frown evens out, just a little; it's not a smile, but something of a less tense look. Reminiscence, perhaps. ]
No doubt about it.
[ Talking about them feels weird. It's like a verbal gravestone in lieu of a stone one that they might never get. It seems right, though. It's better than nothing. ]
[ That still leaves the Eren issue at hand. Nothing to ease that one with. It's probably not possible. ]
[ His words aren't surprising, not really, and yet... It's entirely possible he felt the same way in the ending that Levi lived, and yet did it anyway. Was this the same thing? It's kind of rich, that sentiment coming from the guy who made that future happen. ]
[ And yet it sounds deeper than merely a brat not wanting his plan to blow up in his face. There's something more there, though, something Levi is not aware of, something he's missing. ]
[ There's really just one piece of advice he has. ]
Then make different choices this time.
[ Maybe he means here, in this new world. Maybe he means if he ever does go back. Who's to tell. ]
[ He wonders if he might get away with pushing a little more. "Have to"... Why did he phrase it that way? Did the guy obsessed with "freedom" actually felt cornered into his role the same way others did? Could it be the same thing that prevented the previous Kings Within Walls from acting in humanity's interest?.. ]
I thought doing whatever the hell you want was your whole thing.
[ At least when they first met. Yeah, he'd heard that conversation with Petra, when Eren was surprised to find out Levi followed rules. Well, some of them, anyway. ]
[ So what was this, then?.. ]
no subject
Okay, that's not the only why, but it's the ultimate one.
There can't be graves for everyone. He doesn't know if it's better or worse to not have them. But some people probably deserve them; graves are for the living, after all, something to stand by and remember people who are gone.
This conversation, scant as it is, is for the living. Levi, who somehow lived through every terrible fucking thing. Eren, who hasn't yet, who ultimately won't, but who has said over and over he will keep moving forward despite being so intensely attached to the past.
He chews on his lip for a minute, worrying it against a tooth until he tastes blood. It's such a familiar taste that he barely notices it.
In his most self-aware state, he knows about the hypocrisy of what he says. He has and still will swear up and down until the literal end of the world that what he does, he does of his own free will. And sure, he has made choices, like everyone. But he saw the ending. From there…did he have a choice? When could he have changed it? Did he really try to? Did he try hard enough? Who could have changed it and how and, and, and.
He doesn't know.
He knows that wasn't freedom. He knows that, but he can't stomach it, so he lies to himself about it instead. ]
It's not as simple as what I want.
[ He answers, slowly, though he knows he can never defend himself and his choices to Levi or to anyone. There is no defence for him. But he didn't exactly enjoy murdering however many millions of people, or the idea of it, the visceral memory of it looming ahead of him. ]
But didn't I? Make different choices?
[ He turns to look at Levi over the back of the couch, whether Levi looks back at him or not. ]
I told you. I went to a different world, before this one. I chose to go there. To…
[ He swallows. How many times has he had to force words he doesn't want to say out of his mouth? At least these ones aren't designed to hurt. ]
To not have that future anymore.
[ I haven't done that yet.
Damnit, he's given too much of it away and he knows that. But what is he hiding it for now? It's over where Levi comes from. And Eren would do almost anything to keep from going back now. If he goes back now, it's just the same, something inevitable.
He has to do it or they'll all die, instead of just Sasha, just Hange. He doesn't want to think of them as just. Their deaths still matter. It's too heavy, but he'll never put it down.
Never tell this kid about the whole trolley problem. ]
no subject
[ And, of course, before that... There wasn't really a cemetery in the Underground to begin with. Most people were just left on the street until patrols would roll by and pick them up. Some were burned. He's almost sure that during the harsh winters, in some corner of the cavern, someone might've eaten what was left, too. It didn't really matter anyway; those were only discarded shells, having lost everything that had made them people. ]
[ So while he's not pressed about his friends not having markers... he still likes remembering them, the way they were alive. It feels nice. Bittersweet. ]
[ "We die trusting the living who follow to find meaning in our lives." ]
[ He drinks some more tea. ]
[ Eventually, he lowers the cup slightly so he can finally give Eren a proper look. It's still somewhat dull, but there's beginnings of no-nonsense focus, too. Not as simple? How is it exactly, then? ]
[ Eren asks him a question and he almost wants to laugh because he certainly doesn't have an answer. But he maintains his usual neutral tone. ]
How would I know? I wasn't there to check.
[ You can fuck things up in the exact same way in a new place, too. ]
[ But fine, fine. He supposes the kid wins some fractions of a point for apparently making an entire effort to not kill everyone. ]
[ (When did the bar get this low?) ]
Will it be enough?
[ Again, there's no accusation. He's just interested in Eren's intentions, and whether he thinks he's diverged his path that far off from the one he had planned first. What if that was his exact same thought process back home and he would ultimately end up at the same spot? Did he plan for that? ]
no subject
He can't, not really, and he doesn't particularly want to. The gruesome particulars don't matter.
He shrugs a shoulder. ]
You'll just have to take me at my word that that's what I did. I can tell you about it. Folkmore. That was months ago. Half a year.
[ A beat. ]
I turned 20. A couple weeks ago. I wasn't going to live that long.
[ It's a weird thing to say, but so much of what he says now is weird. But it's also definitive. Levi knows he never lives to 20 in their world. Levi knows, too, that the clock is ticking down on his lifespan, borrowed time.
Will it be enough? ]
How should I know?
[ He throws Levi's words back at him. Is that a joke, a terrible attempt at humour? Even Eren isn't sure. But he doesn't know.
Levi doesn't really know what an enormous thing that actually is, Eren's lack of knowing. ]
People here don't hate us just for existing. They don't know anything about us. I don't have anything against them.
[ He probably doesn't need to tell Levi he would do anything, still, now, always, to keep Jean and Mikasa safe. He would fight for Levi, too, though the captain of all people wouldn't appreciate it. But especially them, their relative innocence, the way they get to live free of that horror.
He would burn the world for that, sure. But he doesn't have to, so he doesn't have to say it. ]
It can't go the same here anyway.
[ Too many missing pieces, the most notable of which is Zeke. Eren couldn't — wouldn't — use Historia the same way. Would it even work now? Actually, he doesn't know. He doesn't want to. ]
You can think whatever you want about me. But I'm not a threat to anyone here unless they're a direct threat to me.
[ Never say never, Eren! But at least he's not a threat to everyone here. ][ ]
no subject
[ Hearing about it in more detail won't necessarily make him convinced more or less though. He doesn't think Eren is lying about that in particular, he just always remains open to the shittiest possibilities -- and if he was, it's not like he couldn't get away with it anyway. He might have taken that earlier beating in good faith but Levi doubts he'd just let him actually bludgeon him to death with a walking stick or whatever. Then his only choice is agreement to mutual trust at the moment, however shaky. ]
No need.
[ And then he's quiet again for a bit, because he understands the weight of that little admission Eren makes. I wasn't going to live that long. Except it wasn't just pessimistic expectations like in Levi's case; he indeed knows titan shifters literally had a time limit counting down. There's an inevitability to it. He wonders if knowing exactly how many weeks you have left to live makes it better or worse. ]
[ What do you even tell someone in that situation? ]
...Guess your expiration date expired. [ Eren doesn't have monopoly on terrible attempts at humor. Congratulations. ] Good for you.
[ The non-answer he gets is fair, honestly. Nobody knows the future, right? (Oh the irony.) So he just sort of nods in acceptance and stares at his tea for a few moments. Not a threat to anyone, huh? ]
[ We'll see about that, he thinks again. ]
Don't pat yourself on the back just yet, then. Keep at it.
[ Keep choosing differently, just in case, is what that probably means. Stay aware. Hold it together. ]
[ They can hope Eren gets to stay here indefinitely, but there's no guarantee. He understands that, right? That previous world may have given him a choice to come, but that doesn't seem to be the case here, so they could be as easily sent out as they were pulled in. ]
[ For what it's worth, he does hope Eren is right. ]
no subject
A corner of his mouth twitches up at that joke. ]
One of them expired, anyway.
[ He's still pretty sure he'll die before he's 23 because of the titan countdown timer, but maybe he won't. Maybe being in another world gets rid of it. Obviously he's still somehow connected to Paths, the thing that makes titans titans, since he can still turn into one. He still has the War Hammer's power. He assumes he has the Founder's power and just can't use it. But here, it doesn't really matter. What could he do with it?
Nothing good, really, but he has no plans to try to use it for anything anyway.
He tilts his head and considers. He has no idea what Levi thinks of him, what they all must think, how it happened, what really drove him. He doesn't have any heart to tell the captain or anyone else, not now, not yet. Maybe one day. He's told a little to other people from other worlds, sometimes without meaning to. ]
I didn't just snap one day, Captain. I'm not going to just snap one day now, either. But you'll have to take my word on that too.
[ Maybe it's worse, actually. Maybe it's worse that it wasn't some psychotic break (or he doesn't consider it one; jury's out, Eren). But his words are more or less true, or true as he sees them. He doesn't see himself as crazy. There was one specific moment that changed him, sure. Touching Historia's hand, unlocking the terrible future. But that's not what made him do what he did. Arguments of inevitability aside, it was just…everything. The knowledge that they weren't alone, that the outside world hated them. The threat of Marley and the world coming for them. The rage and hate and disappointment he felt — feels — for everyone labelling them devils without ever knowing them or trying to know them, for the sins of their ancestors.
Eren hopes that whoever lives isn't still held responsible for his sins, but he's not given to know that and he sure as hell isn't going to ask Levi.
He finally looks away again, finds the remote, clicks the television off. ]
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[ Well, and maybe, he wants to be able to believe it without feeling stupid about it. ]
So far.
[ The place is weird. It has magic. Levi may not have heard about the whole people who die get revived part yet, but it's not a bit stretch to think someone here might be able to do something about the titan curse death, too. ]
[ It's difficult. He's not entirely sure what he's thinking, either. ]
[ Eren had to be put down, simple as that. Does Levi actually hate him, beyond that sense of duty to millions of innocent people? In a way, perhaps, although some of the things he hated about the situation came from elsewhere. Like that idea of having someone eat him, after everything the scouts had done to protect him. But at the same time, it's not like Eren had created the titan threat from the start. ]
[ And Levi's not so hard-hearted that he could just separate him completely from that angry, spirited kid they'd shared a roof and food and losses and victories with for years. Sure, he'd always been brash and stubborn and violent, so he can't exactly say the end surprised him, and yet... he'd never expected it would go that far, in reality. ]
[ (Who doesn't point at the horizon and mutter something about killing all their enemies, right? It's gotta be some teenager phase thing, right? Surely that doesn't just cement that everyone is the enemy?) ]
[ Yeah, he supposes it had been building for a long time, hasn't it. They've all probably contributed to it too, accidentally or not. Still, he's gotta admit, Eren did a damn good job of making it look sudden. After all, neither him nor Hange nor Armin predicted him running off by himself to set the apocalypse in motion. ]
That's a lot of words you want me to take.
[ But he might just have to. Maybe it's fine. He's not going to close his eyes and call it a job well done just because he's hearing the kid out. He's still going to be on high alert. He's still going to watch his actions, something that always says more than words. Words are wind. Words are hope. But while he hasn't done anything, well. What would be the point of insisting otherwise? ]
[ The noise from the television disappears, and as they both are silent, too, he finally hears the strange noise from somewhere down the hall again.
Time to discover the washing machine.]...what's that sound?
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There are years spanning between that, years he can only sort of understand, time spent in the timeless landscape of Paths with Zeke, with Ymir, in between. How long does Eren just exist out of time? Who even knows.
He had been asking a question no one could actually answer, back then at the ocean.
If I kill all our enemies across the sea, will we finally be free?
Who could have guessed at the actual weight of it? It was too awful. They could barely guess how many people existed beyond their shores. Eren wanted that ocean itself to be freedom, but it was a cage, like everything else. Everything has always felt like a cage that he has to knock down.
Sometimes he still thinks he'll suffocate from it.
Is he really free? Maybe there's no such thing. He'll never say that aloud, or even really hold on to the thought. He can't bear it. ]
I know. That's all there is for now.
[ At least Levi hasn't either walked out or broken something else on his face, so, small victories. In the end, Eren is a much more violent person, isn't he? But he has less than zero desire to fight Levi, and not because he can't win. He just simply does not want to.
He listens for a moment. ]
Oh. That's the washing machine. I think you'll like it. It washes clothes for you. So you don't have to scrub them.
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[ He was probably more free here than he's ever been back home. ]
[ Not that Levi can talk, really. For a while, when he'd just started at the Corps, he'd think back to the Underground as simpler times, but he doubts there's a single person there who didn't feel trapped the entire time. Maybe... maybe now, with the titans gone, he'd finally be done, be unbound from his duty, have some semblance of freedom, but he hadn't exactly stuck around to find out. Oh well. ]
Can't pull anything more convincing out of your ass, you mean. [ Well, at least he's being honest. That's probably good. ]
[ But Levi is willing to let this be right now, because there's just... nothing else really to be said about it. There's no real threat he can hold over Eren's head anymore, and no matter what Eren says Levi isn't going to be okay with what he did. Neither of them can change the other's mind, that is if they can even understand their own feelings at the moment. ]
[ The only thing to do is wait, and react. ]
[ I'll be keeping my eye on you. He doesn't need to say it, does he? It's obvious enough from the fact that he's hanging around. ]
[ He finishes his tea, pausing with the cup still next to his face when he hears about the newest technological marvel, and side-eyes Eren sceptically. ]
A machine doing laundry? [ Whatever he's imagining is more on par with Hange's Executioner than anything that would fit inside an apartment. ] That doesn't sound efficient.
[ Just you wait, Levi, you're about to have your whole worldview shook. ]
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But he can do whatever he wants, really. What does he want, though? Who goddamn knows. He doesn't. He hasn't figured it out. He never got to be anything different, didn't entertain the idea of after. There wasn't an after. So now…he's just kind of lost.
It feels lonely, but the past several years have been lonely anyway. Whether he deserves that or not doesn't really matter. No one, not Eren and not anyone else, can exist as an island. ]
Nothing I can say could convince you of anything. And I'm not going to lie to you.
[ At least not outright. He's told enough lies to people he cares about. That doesn't mean he can just drop the entire truth on the floor, either. There's so much to what the truth even is. There are secrets he will die with in their own real timeline. Maybe there are secrets he'll die with here too.
But this is where they are now. Eren can live with it. It hasn't really occurred to him that he could leave if he wanted to, as well, find somewhere else. Of course he could! No one is regulating where they live, after all, as long as it's paid for. He's fine with this, though.
Enough of that, though. He stands up. ]
It's way more efficient, actually. I'll show you.
[ There's a closet in the hallway that hides the washer and dryer. They aren't big, but they're there, the washing machine whirring away as the clothes churn around in soapy water. ]
Someone had to explain what it was to me.
[ In Folkmore, not here, though the idea is the same. ]
The thing next to it dries them.
[ Cue one of them eventually dyeing all their clothes some weird colour because they have no idea about separating colours. ]
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[ He sets the empty cup down. ]
[ I appreciate that. ]
Good.
[ Time will tell whether Eren intends to follow through with the not lying part, but as far as Levi can tell there's nothing really for him to gain by doing so right now. It doesn't make things easy by any margin, but it's at least somewhat more manageable, he thinks. ]
[ There's a hint of curiosity in his expression as he slowly pushes himself up to follow Eren to the closet. He leans down a little to get a better look through the machine's window, watching it work. He frowns. ]
It's just stirring everything. [ He expected scrubbing! ] What about stains?
[ Oh no, he's actually talking about the thing a lot and even asking questions! He's totally interested! ]
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But Eren here and now doesn't want that, hasn't wanted that in awhile. Is it the only answer at home? He still thinks so. He has never seen anything that can change his mind. He just…doesn't have to do it when he's not there.
He looks back and at least Levi is following him. He shouldn't make the captain walk around on that leg, he thinks, but Levi is going to do it anyway. Might as well marvel over the stupid washing machine.
He shrugs. ]
I don't know how it works, but it does. You scrub it a little if it's a bad stain, like blood.
[ You know, like when your former superior shows up and smashes your teeth in so you bleed all over your shirt. ]
But the rest comes out with the soap. You pour it in this little box thing in the machine and it just…does it.
[ He has no idea about bleach or anything like that, he's not that savvy. ]
The water can run hot or cold. And it will do this…spin thing. It spins them so they're not so soaking wet, I guess. Then you put them in the other machine and it dries them.
[ He gestures at the digital display, the buttons, whatever, as he talks. It's not the world's greatest explanation, but it's harder to explain when it's already running. ]
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[ He indeed shouldn't be walking much, but he doesn't seem to be in pain at the moment, or maybe he's just that distracted by this absolute marvel of technology in front of him. He checks it again from all directions, takes in the buttons, the handles, the display which looks similar to the communication tile he's been given. ]
[ Then he's checking out the detergent, and sure enough it looks quite different from the soaps and bleach he's used to, but it doesn't smell unfamiliar either. Must be made specifically for this, he considers. ]
Is there an instruction manual? [ Eren's explanation isn't bad but there's a lot more things on that display that he didn't touch upon. Levi needs to dive deep into this, thanks. Please wait with bated breath for him to return with five sorts of detergent and three kinds of fabric softener sometime within the next week. ] How do you know it's done?
[ Is he planning to double-check all the clothing items once they come out of the machine to make sure they're washed properly? You'd bet. Hopefully you didn't throw anything embarrassing in there, Eren. ]
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No, it's probably chance.
But…as much as he believes in freedom, he doesn't quite believe in chance or coincidence. How can he, when he's been able to see the future for so long? This is some weird sort of penance, probably, though what Levi did to deserve it, he can't guess.
He's quiet while Levi inspects the machine. He just has regular liquid soap for it, nothing fancy. What does Eren care about shit like that? Fabric softener whomst? He just cares that his clothes are clean enough. Gonna get a whole earful someday about proper laundry technique. ]
There's a timer on it there.
[ He points to the display. Really, it's been long enough, it should be done any minute. ]
It makes some kind of noise to tell you it's done. [ He looks around for a second. ] Instruction manual…it must have one of those, right? Hm.
[ There's a shelf above the machines with a box sitting there. Not that it's above Levi's head or anything…
Eren reaches up and takes the box down. Inside are several appliance manuals. Washing machine, dryer, television, whatever.
There's a whole change of clothes in there! It seemed dumb to just wash a shirt and a pair of pants, might as well wash the other, like, two shirts and whatever else he bothers owning. He wasn't planning on the captain inspecting the laundry. ]
can either wrap here or play out the laundry inspection too o/
[ He definitely glowers a little bit when Eren easily reaches somewhere way above his line of sight, but since it's for the greater good this time, he doesn't bitch him out about it. Instead, he retrieves the books that have machines matching the ones in front of them on the covers and flips through it. ]
...
[ Wow. There's a lot of information in there. Luckily, it's all in a newspaper-like script, so he shouldn't have trouble reading it. ]
[ With some excited determination in his step and in the way his crutch meets the floor, he limps out of the closet and heads back to the kitchen. A minute later, he comes back, dragging a chair with him, which he then promptly places in front of the closet and sits down on it so that he can watch the machine while he reads the manual. ]
[ Well, guess he's busy for the rest of the night. ]
not me continuing this thread forever ig
He cleans the floor anyway. He's only an idiot about some things. He learned his lesson about cleaning to Levi's standards years ago.
Sometime in the middle of that he puts the clothes in the dryer. Yamask decides to be slightly less wary of Levi and hangs out in a corner of the living room just, you know, being a creepy ghost creature.
The dryer eventually dings and Eren comes back to pull the clothes out. They're his clothes, so he doesn't really care if they didn't get completely clean. He can get new ones. Or not. It's just blood. He ends up bloody often enough. Maybe that's why he didn't wear a shirt for half a year!
But Levi is there in the hall in front of the dryer. ]
Shouldn't you be resting, Captain?
[ He's not being condescending on purpose or anything. Under his mask of distance, he really is worried about Levi pushing himself too hard. ]
LMAO also gently alters the timeline, hope that works
[ Except he's
standingsitting guard there for a reason, and the moment the washing machine makes a noise, he'll be on it before Eren ever makes it from whatever room he's in at the moment. ]I am resting. [ He points out, pulling the meager amount of laundry out and putting it in a plastic basket one by one so he can take a look before any drying takes place. ]
[ (Seriously, the man sleeps in a chair. This is the equivalent of watching TV from bed to him.) ]
[ He finally hands the basket over to Eren so that he can get the drying machine started, except, oh, he's still holding up a shirt that he didn't put in with the others. And it's faint, but there sure are some blood-like stains on the front (from when Levi punched in Eren's teeth, no doubt). If he dries it, it might set, so -- it's prohibited from proceeding. ]
[ He holds it out with two fingers as if it's unfathomably filthy, though his tone remains mellow. ]
It's still dirty. Wash it again.
[ Maybe the machine isn't as effective as the brat thinks. Maybe this needs a more... hands-on approach. ]
Soak it with some vinegar first. [ But wait. Wasn't there something about stains in the manual? He flips a few pages back. Something about a different "program"... ] Hm... or we could test this. [ He holds up the chosen page, detailing the different settings of the laundry cycles. ] "Pre-wash cotton is a longer program for tackling old stains and discoloration."
[ And now he's staring at Eren's face, unreadable. He's taking this way too seriously, isn't he-- ]
Choose one.
yes ofc
Rookie mistake, really.
Most of the clothes are fine, into the dryer they go, but that one shirt still has faint stains.
Eren stares at it for a moment, hanging from Levi's hand, before he takes it. ]
Does this really matter?
[ It's his shirt, after all, and he doesn't care enough. He might be more of a person than he was on the airship, but…well, he's a work in progress and things like this don't even register on his list of things to care about. ]
I don't think I have any vinegar.
[ He says, which is also stupid as hell since Levi probably picked some up with his cleaning supplies. Eren wouldn't have bothered previously, not having seen a need beyond basic stuff. He knows how to get bloodstains out. He bleeds enough to know.
He stares down at Levi for a long moment, like he might argue further.
Not that this argument is really worth having, either. It's not an argument he's likely to win (is there any argument he could win against Levi?), and it's easy enough to soak his stupid shirt if that will get the captain off his ass about it.
Or.
He skims the page in front of him. Pre-wash? What does that even mean? Who knows. Sounds like less work, though. Not that he's averse to work, he just doesn't care about this. ]
I guess…the pre-wash thing.
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It's in the bottom right kitchen cabinet. Cornstarch also works.
[ He waits patiently for Eren to get his mental rebellion out of the way, until he finally makes his decision. Huh. He can't say he expected this, but honestly, he can't complain. He's quite curious to see whether it works or not. ]
[ He nods and moves aside, gesturing for Eren to throw the shirt back in the machine. Then he... sort of stands in front of it awkwardly for a moment. He wanted to crouch down to examine the display better, but he can't, his injured leg just doesn't work that way. It's like walking right into a glass wall. He maneuvers a little awkwardly until he's half-sitting on a shelf, and then meticulously compares the screen to the manual. ]
[ He should manage to pick the correct program, but it could take a minute. ]
It still needs soap.
[ Get to work, Eren. ]
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Levi, apparently. And he knows exactly where the vinegar is. Shouldn't be surprising, and yet.
Eren drops the shirt back in the machine. He would take over this part so Levi doesn't have to fuck up his leg or whatever, but he has absolutely no idea what to do. Okay, he could read the manual too. He can follow instructions just fine when he chooses to do so.
But he lets Levi deal with that part. ]
Just regular soap?
[ Soap he can do. He measures the liquid and pours that into the little container that holds it. ]
Now it does something special to get stains out?
[ Curious, not really shocked. Machines can do the wildest shit, so why not this. ]
i almost wrote "soup" in this thread so many times
[ Levi frowns at the manual, slowly scanning it again. ]
It doesn't mention anything special, no.
[ So... probably just the regular soap. And whatever magic this "pre-wash" is. ]
Hm. It says if it's really bad you can add stain remover or bleach to the other drawer compartment.
[ He raises his eye from the text to glance at Eren, just in case he does indeed possess this "stain remover". If not, well, there's bleach in Levi's floor supplies right here in the closet, so it's not a problem. ]
[ (The stain is definitely not bad enough to need any of that, but there's no such thing as overkill when it comes to making things clean, right?) ]
the new trend: washing out blood stains with soup
He watches Levi's face, glances down at the manual. Okay, nothing else special. If it didn't get the stain out the first time, is it really going to do something else now? He doesn't care about laundry or whatever but machines are amazing, so he's at least curious. ]
It's not that bad. I don't know what kind of stain remover it means, so…
[ Yeah he's just going to stick with soap. Bleach sounds like an awful thing to put ON CLOTHES actually. It's a white shirt, so it would be fine, but??? Sounds like you'd smell like a hospital and he has had enough of that for several lifetimes, thanks. ]
What does it do different? Soak it or something?
[ As if either of them really understand washing machines. ]
don't put soup in the washing machine captain it won't get cleaner
[ Levi doesn't look convinced, but it is Eren's shirt and choice, so he nods reluctantly. ]
Fine, we'll test it like that. [ He's ready to be unimpressed, though. He taps his finger against the timetables in the manual, thoughtful. ] Maybe. It does take longer.
[ Carefully, he steps back to let Eren deal with the rest of the controls, but he's definitely watching intently before returning to his chair. ]
me thinking about one of them washing a chapstick and ruining a bunch of clothes hahahahaha
oh no,,,