ellipsanet | Mini Event: Weekend of Misfires

Somewhere in the Research Center...

"Meowr?!"

"AAAAAHHH!! Oh no! Buttercup you can't just drop my coffee onto the server! Bad kitty! Bad! -- Ohh, Helene is going to be so pissed off once she hears... better start fixing this. Buttercup, this is the last time I bring you to work!"

"Mreow..."

"... you're right, it's not. But I'm still annoyed at you, you little cutie troublemaker."

Note: The above is not something anyone would be aware of, just a "how did this happen"

Welcome to a Mini Event which is basically: network server has been damaged, so all network messages have a chance of going to the wrong recipient. It doesn't need to happen, but there's a high chance of misfires happening for the duration of the mini event.

This post can be used for sending out messages that can end up for anyone and everyone completely without meaning to. Feel free to also just send a blank message with your character and receive messages from others! Whatever works best for you and is most fun~!

This event will happen for the whole weekend, starting from now and ending on late Sunday night once they finally manage to fix the mistake.

Remember to put warnings up if you want to post anything NSFW-ish and especially link pictures; however if it evolves into "sexting", remember to move it to another post.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Pretty insane, and yet nothing really compared to what's here. So be easy on yourself, alright?

[ More like 'Peace' depended on where you lived. It was still plenty violent depending your country... and the stability of the government. But Japan was deceptively peaceful.

'Earlier than most' and what age had Jean started training... 13 or so?

...Earlier than that, possibly, was.. ]

We talking pre-teens here?

[ It's strange to receive that reassurance. When was the last time Reiner could be easy on himself? He tries to recall, but … he genuinely can't. He's taken it easy in a general sense, unwinding and relaxing on days off, but taking it easy on himself…? That hasn't been an option in a very long time. ]

Thanks. I'll keep it in mind.

[ If only because it's so bizarre to hear. Maybe he'll actually be able to apply it sometime.

As for the question: ]

Slightly younger. I was 10 when I formally joined my current unit. Before that, I was a "Candidate" for a few years: part of the unit but still in training.

[ ...Oh. Wow. That... sure does bring bile to Dojima's throat. A 'few years' would put him at... ]

[ Nanako's age. As a candidate for war. Imagining one of the little boys in Nanako's class doing that-- Imagining Souji in those pictures his sister sent him-- ]

I want you to know that in my world there are laws against having kids anywhere close to that young in the military. That is... extremely fucked up, kid.

You deserved better.

Edited 2023-07-15 03:49 (UTC)

[ For a while, all Reiner can do is stare at those last words. "You deserved better." His throat tightens, breath catching, swallowing suddenly difficult. "You deserved better." Three words. Three words that cause Reiner's hands to start shaking, tears pricking the corners of his eyes. "You deserved better."

Did he? What would "better" even look like? His mother wanted this; she wanted a better life for them. He gave her that. He gave everything. His childhood, his future, his heart, his sanity. Everything. And if he hadn't, where would he be?

"That is... extremely fucked up, kid."

Kids. They were just kids who didn't know anything. Four kids sent on a mission they didn't understand. What the hell were they supposed to do? ]

I don't

[ He stares at those words. Starts to delete them, but his trembling fingers accidentally hit "send" instead. Cursing, he wipes the heels of his hands over his eyes. Clenches his fists, then stretches his fingers out, willing them to quit shaking. Tries again. ]

It's complicated.

War and conflict usually is complicated, messy and always a tragedy, but its something adults should have to deal with, not teenagers, or especially kids.

[ ...Maybe he was saying too much, but this always got to him. Kids should be kids. ]

...You should have been playing around with friends and having fun outside with the only worry in your head about what you were having for supper and seeing if you could stay up later that night. Not military training. Not preparing to fight in a war or whatever they made you do, kid.

[ There it is again: "kid." Usually, Reiner would object to such a label. Back in his world, he hasn't been considered a kid in years. But … that's the whole point, isn't it? This person, Dojima, they have a nephew his age. Seventeen and still in school. Reiner can't even imagine a life like that.

Maybe if he were born to different parents, his childhood would've been like the one Dojima describes. But that was never a possibility for him, was it? ]

Your world sounds nice.

[ Even if it does have complicated wars. ]

[ That... made Dojima pause.

Was his world 'nice'? Maybe compared to the hell this kid and Jean had lived in, but...

There were still wars. Still injustice, still murders. Still plenty of cruelty and people taken advantage of. Still people who had to hide who they were to even have a chance at a better life-- still people hurt by simple things as just their interests being a bit different than the norm. Their lives not fitting in with what was 'the norm'. ]

[ It would be a bit before Dojima replied back. ]

I don't know if it's really 'nice' or not, all things considered. It's a roll of the dice if you get an easy shake of it, or not. But... those are the ideals, I guess, that we strive for as a people.

[ Ideals that Dojima himself tried to live by, even if he failed more than not. ]

So while you're here... take it easy for a bit. You got time to think and just catch your breath. You don't have to be whatever you were forced to be back home. Alright?

[ A roll of the dice. Reiner supposes that's how it is for most people back in his world, too. But for people like him? He thinks of his mother sobbing, her fervent wish that their lives could be different, that they could be something else. The wish Reiner sacrificed everything to grant.

A roll of the dice. A really shitty roll. ]

I guess every place has its problems, huh?

[ He smiles ruefully at those last lines. Taking it easy, having time to think and breathe… If only it were so simple. Maybe it would be if Reiner weren't alone among enemies with his beloved cousin standing in the potential crossfire. But, well. Here he is.

Still, he appreciates the sentiment. So he writes, ]

Thank you. I mean it.

Mini Event: Weekend of Misfires

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