Critted by AKAM80 (you found the autocarrots, resolved my hesitance about the beginning two paragraphs' existence, and gave me reassurance about posting), Vishardsh (you gave me knowledge of what worked and what didn't, and although I kept the metal sheet I made it (hopefully) more comprehensible, and it is wildly amusing that we both wrote such aligned works), and Rosie (you enthusiastically took screenshots of the WIP into your DMs without question). Pretty sure I'm missing someone, but we will see.
This was written in the heat of the moment and I kept opening and then closing the window I had open to the multiplayer menu of Minecraft as I did it — each time choosing not to because I knew that if I took a break via non-writing medium it'd never get finished. Pleased with how this came out, and I am desperately hoping I didn't offend with stepping on military topics without having experience myself. I am certain that I messed up the ranks and order of events with how activities work, but at a certain point I said, "the story comes first" and crossed my fingers that nobody notices too hard. I did do some research, though (most notably half-forgotten wikiwalks, the appendix of Canadian military slang, and looking at posts from disillusioned members of the various branches of the US military on Reddit over the years) and hope it's not too playacted or pretend-pretentious-actually-shameful-or-harmful. That's my greatest worry about the work, right ahead of whether it's good or not. But that aside, I am pleased.
Have any of you ever written a poem inside of a training for work that teaches you how to do physical holds on a child? Me neither, until today! Wild stuff. Concentrated black tea drunk too fast and now your stomach hurts and you feel like you're going to throw up even though you know you won't.
-Styg
What is life if not the contrast between what has been and what will become?