OPEN | let's change from the heart, let's shout

[nomorules]

Who: Anyone and everyone! That means you! Yes, you, c'mere.
Where: The stream and the lake.
When: July 12th, evening.
Rating: PG in case any of y'all get wild with that decorating.
Summary: Come and take part in a mini lantern ceremony, Wonderland-style. Mingle away, comrades!
The Story:





The evening of the 12th, visitors who feel like moseying their way to the stream where it empties out of the forest will be able to enjoy a summer celebration in the Japanese style. Outdoor lights illuminate the area, and tables hold all manner of art supplies and blank paper lanterns waiting to be decorated.

Didn't catch the network 411? Someone around will surely explain: it's a nod to toro nagashi, the paper lantern ceremony meant to guide the souls of the departed by decorating lanterns and setting them loose. Maybe you have a departed soul you'd like to remember, or a prayer to make. Maybe you'd just like to write a note message-in-a-bottle style. Maybe you just feel like taking the air and enjoying the sights. The choice is yours!

Either way, once the sun has set and lanterns have been decorated, the candles inside will be lit (remember fire safety, kids!), and the lanterns will be released into the water.

Gather at the lakeside afterward to watch them empty into the lake and enjoy the ambiance with some food and drink. Because we could all use a little more light in our lives, no?

Comments

[angewiesen]

"Shut up," Jean said in a conversational tone as he tried to concentrate. He was a fine speller, so he wouldn't need that help, but he wasn't so great with words on-the-spot. He needed time to think and plan...

Marco

Damn, that was weird to write. It felt like it'd been centuries since he'd last addressed his best friend.

I'm sure you're doing good. I'm okay, so don't worry. I just wanted to let you know that those things you said to me meant a lot. I'm doing my best to do good by you, and by everyone else. You were gonna do great things, so I figured I've got to do them for you now. Hope you aren't disappointed. I know you weren't planning on the Survey Corps, but I felt like it was what I should do.

There are a lot of people there with you now, so give them my regards. A lot of them aren't gonna like to hear it. Sorry about that. You're good with dealing with that though. You always were.

It'll be a good long time before we meet again if I have anything to say about it, but I'm looking forward to seeing you again, whenever it happens. Until then, I'm sure you aren't hurting for friends.

Jean

It took awhile for him to finish. Time to think, and then time to write. He was neat about it, careful to keep his lettering small enough so everything would fit. Hmm... He capped his marker, and held the lantern out so he could look at everything now that it was finished.

[nomorules]

Ryuji? Shut up? Ask for pigs to fly, why don't you. "Ain't you a damn taskmaster." But this was all for a good cause, so... good boy behavior. He sighed sharply in a way that plainly stated he wasn't a fan of being ordered around, but nevertheless remained quiet.

At least for awhile.

There was only so much peaceably admiring the water he could do, and with the other boy bent to the task he had a feeling of deja vu like he were back in Yusuke's studio intruding on someone's artistic process as Yusuke plodded along on a sketch of Ann.

By the time the "letter" started winding down, Ryuji had exhausted all avenues of entertaining himself: slowly sipping at his soda, idle people-watching, and straightening his shoe laces, and was hauling himself to his feet to leave Jean to when the other paused to examine his work. "Get it off your chest?"

That was a more polite question than pushing his face over Jean's shoulder to see if his advice had helped him organize his thoughts any. It was an intimate and personal ritual; he could the privacy of it.

[angewiesen]

"...Yeah," he nodded, "I think so."

It was weird. He never had the chance to vent this, and to write it all down... That was really concrete. There were thoughts down on this paper that he had never fully formed in his own mind, and conclusions he never reached. And while so many here had told him "talking" would make him feel better, that he should "share..." this was the first time he'd ever really benefited from it.

"They have some pretty good ideas where you come from."

That was his way of saying thank you. It was about as roundabout as it could be, but Ryuji would have to take what he got.

[nomorules]

"Well, Japan is the best," Ryuji agreed, smile turning gloating. It was, perhaps, his own way of acknowledging what Jean couldn't put words to.

The two of them being extremely manly men and allergic to mushy shit (true facts), Ryuji had already come dangerously close to getting sappy through their conversation, but he couldn't help the lightness draining from his tone, to be replaced with genuineness.

"I'm glad you told me all that stuff," he went on. "It didn't have to be me, just... someone. That's too much for one person to carry by themselves."

He pointed to the lantern, newly minted in neat, orderly lines of writing.

"Just remember that's the shit that matters. The world might go to hell, but you'll always have that. I'll let you get back to it, but if you want you can come join us when you're ready. Hang out with my friends and me." There was no replacing the teammates Jean was in a hurry to get back to, he knew that. But that didn't mean Jean had to be alone here in Wonderland. "We're all gonna release ours together."

[angewiesen]

Too much? Jean never thought of it that way. There was always someone else with more shit to deal with that kept it together, or some kind of excuse for him to keep his mouth shit about his personal worries. He was many as hell (of course) and gushing feeling wasn't something men did, right?

"...Don't need you to tell me," Jean finally mumbled, and stood up as Ryuji did, intending to follow him to where-ever his 'friends' were. Because, honestly, he didn't feel like being alone anymore.

It would be dangerous to get used to this, but even he needed some camaraderie in his life. If he had to borrow it from others, so be it.

[nomorules]

If Jean had wanted to keep working on his own, Ryuji would've been content to leave him in peace, but as the other boy stood up to join him it occurred to him that perhaps Jean was more eager for company than he let on.

Ryuji's gaze followed his movements. He thought he was starting to glimpse the shape and form of the wall Jean had up around himself--the attitude being part of the mortar holding the whole image together.

Laughing suddenly, he put his arm out and aimed a friendly slap at Jean's back. "I'm gonna take it on faith your friend Marco was right," he declared. "Come on. You'll like everybody, they're weird like you."

Somehow it managed to sound more like a compliment than an insult.