(open) ☀️ beach bonfire party

[niwabi]

WHO: Everyone! You and you and yes, YOU!
WHAT: Summer Beach Party
WHEN: June 23rd
WHERE: Solarpeak Beach
WARNINGS: none for now!

BEACH PARTY

The sun is shining, a cool, crisp ocean breeze flutters across the shores of Solarpeak Beach. There's not a single cloud in the sky, the perfect day to have a party! Whether you heard about it through Yoimiya's network post, word of mouth or just happen to stumble onto the festivities, everyone is invited to Ellipsa's scorching hot Beach Bonfire Party! Grab your swimsuits, sun dresses, or whatever you feel the most comfortable in, and join in on the fun.

➤

Gonna Soak Up the Sun

Through the combined efforts of Sisu, Yoimiya, and the many kind volunteers who lent their assistance in setting up the venue, the beach party is here and open to the public! Upon arrival, everyone will be given a choice of colorful, handmade hibiscus leis or bracelets to adorn for the party. They aren't mandatory in the slightest, just a cute little thank-you gift to those who are attending. After receiving a warm welcome from the hosts, you're free to set off and have fun! Meet up with friends or introduce yourself to new people from distant worlds, the party is your oyster. Of course, there will be plenty of other activities to partake in as well. Venture forth to the fun!

Feeling brave and daring? Sitting on top of the ocean is an inflatable balance beam built especially for water jousting. Foam joust poles and life jackets (if you wish to wear one!) will be given to would-be challengers looking to scratch the itch for a fight. The goal is to assert your dominance by knocking adversaries into the water and be the last person standing. Show off your strength and become the champion of the beach!

Perhaps you might be in the mood for a bit of fun in the sand. A large area of the beach is sectioned off for the grand Sandcastle Competition. Solarpeak residents from all across the city are bustling with excitement, flocking in to watch the artists do their magic, so go wild with your creations and give them a good show! Buildings, any kind of sculpture, or even just a basic castle are all accepted, let your imagination run free. You can even drag a buddy in for a helping hand if your work of art requires assistance. For the winner, the grand prize is a summer gift basket filled with goodies for a nice relaxing spa day at home. Tucked away inside the basket are gift cards to various restaurants in Ellipsa. Don't fret if you aren't interested in participating! Anyone is welcome to walk around and marvel at the competitor's creations.

➤

A Feast for All

The hosts are bound and determined to ensure that no one leaves this beach hungry. If you're craving a cold tasty treat to stave off the heat, a bustling shaved ice stall is here to cool down roasting attendees. An endless variety of flavors are available for mixing and matching, waiting to quench your thirst. If you are feeling adventurous, there are a few questionable flavors on the menu such as Bacon, Durian, Jalapeño, Ketchup, Mushroom, Pickle juice and Seaweed. Try them at your risk or if your palette is "hungry" for something more on the "unique" side.

For those who made inquiries about alcohol, special arrangements have been made! A small pop-up bar has been set up for today's joyous occasion. The bar's pride and joy is a variety of summer-themed cocktails but you can also find other basic liquor or non-alcoholic drinks if your tastebuds are craving simplicity. To go alongside the refreshing beverages, food is also provided at this small establishment. Some of the dishes on the menu are: kebabs with a hint of rum, peach bruschetta, spring rolls, fish and chips, crab hush puppies, and a spicy jalapeño popper dip (you can also ask for the ghost pepper version of this dip if you are feeling brave). All the hosts ask is that visitors to the bar be mindful of the people who can't or aren't interested in drinking.

Decorated across the shores of the beach are tables, picnic blankets, and sizzling hot grills for the designated picnic area. In a similar fashion to the potluck that took place a while back, several tables have been set up for those who like to go crazy in the kitchen or wish to advertise their food business by bringing samples to share.

Time flies when so much fun is taking place! As the last light of day begins to fade, the stars come out to brighten up the night sky on this clear summer day. However, just because there's no more sunlight, doesn't mean the party is over. Far from it! There's still lots of excitement to be had for the attendees who wish to stick around for the night festivities.

➤

A Midsummer Night's Glow

On the middle of the beach, a blazing bonfire burns ever so brightly inside a log fire pit. Eat snacks, catch up with friends, meet new people, or get cozy with others should one be feeling touch starved. In need of an icebreaker? A game of truth or dare or telling scary stories makes for a good way to pass the time. Maybe you'll have a fateful encounter and land yourself a date before the night is over.

With a sky full of beautiful stars, a bustling bonfire, and a large open space, the atmosphere is perfect for dancing. The DJ for the evening is the bright and energetic Aimoto Rinku, here to bust out an array of sick beats with her turntable. There's plenty of fun to be had in a group conga line or grab a partner for a slow, romantic bolero, and dance to whatever music piques your interest. A small makeshift stage is also set up for those who wish to sing, Rinku will be more than happy to work with any potential performers. From upbeat EDM to ballads, all types of genres fill the air with music. Let loose, enjoy the melody, and dance the night away!

➤

Festive Mementos

For one of the hosts, summer just isn't the same without fireworks exploding across the sky. To end the evening with a bang, a beautiful barrage of fireworks paints the night sky in various colors and patterns. As a final gift to the attendees, Yoimiya has prepared sparklers for everyone to play with. There are a variety of colors to choose from, pink, red, blue, green, orange, purple, yellow, etc. No matter what color catches your fancy, with a little flick of the wand, all of them appear like twinkling stars sparkling and flickering across the stick.

To end off the light show, fireworks representing each of the seasons burst into the sky. Blue snowflakes for Winter, pink cherry blossoms for spring, a yellow sun for Summer, and red maple leaves for Autumn. After the vibrant display, a final golden ray of light flickers and explodes into a bright, heartwarming message for all of the guests. "Thank you for attending! You are all amazing! Let's have a great time in Ellipsa!"

(OOC: Make your own top levels, mingle and have fun! ♡)

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Comments

[dreamsofwings]

"Yeah," he answers. "It takes a lot to do it, though. It'll be cool if I ever figure out how to stop the fire."

That's his biggest weakness with fire magic in general; he can't control it. He can create it and direct it but once that's done, he can't put it out or even stop it from getting out of hand. Having Levi there as insurance is helpful, but he can't rely on the captain every second.

He catches that stumble. Sounds like couldn't. Is that related to dying? He's not sure, but he doesn't want to push that button too hard right now.

"Reiner has training that I don't," he says, slowly. He knows this is a line he has to walk, but it's not a secret that Reiner and Bertolt and Annie are traitors. "So he had the upper hand. I can counter that move next time."

He probably can, though Reiner has him beat in brute force.

"The captain says I need training. Like you."

[rustyhonesty]

"I guess I could try to teach you a little about fire control", Jean offers. He hasn't been there that much longer, but he's focused on fire more than any of the other abilities, so why not.

Jean watches Eren speak. Training that Eren doesn't. Just like Annie, huh. Some of her moves were definitely not taught to them. "I guess I might encounter those myself, at some point." Considering he's training with Reiner quite a bit. Anything to get stronger.

Speaking of training, he supposed.

"... definitely not as much as I do."

[dreamsofwings]

"Yeah? You good at stopping it?" he asks. There's no animosity like there might have been when he was younger. He's just curious. Why can't he do it? (It's the rage, Eren.)

"You planning to fight Reiner?" he asks. He might be teasing.

"It had to do with using a rifle as a hand to hand instrument and not a gun. I can show you, but I'm obviously not as good at it. I just learned from him doing it at me."

Or he learned by manipulating Reiner into fucking up, whatever! Details!

He snorts. "He's being hard on you. But maybe more training isn't a bad idea."

[rustyhonesty]

"I am. I can put out fires. Mostly the ones I make myself, but I'm working on outside sources too." He's not sure what the difference there is, but that's how it has been, for a while.

Jean snorts. "I did punch him when we first met. But now we're... occasionally sparring together. He's helping me train." He's not really sure how beneficial helping Jean is for Reiner, but he's not about to complain about the extra help. Then he shrugs. "It would be interesting to use his own techniques against him, suddenly."

Would that make him delusional? There was a chance for that. So he's not sure if he'd actually go through with it.

Jean's expression goes a bit more serious.

"I know and I'm grateful for it. I'll take all the training I can get, no matter harsh it is."

[dreamsofwings]

"I think I just make them worse," Eren says with a frown. It doesn't always get wildly out of his control, at least, but actually putting them out? Not a chance.

He looks a little amused — as much as he can without his face changing too much — at the idea of Jean punching Reiner. Of course he did, though; Reiner is an enemy who killed Jean's best friend. He doesn't know anything past that. Eren knows that eventually they work together against him, thanks to future memories, but the circumstances get hazy.

"I thought you hated Reiner," he says. "But if you're sparring…yeah, he'd be surprised to see you use something like that."

Would it maybe freak him out? It could happen, but how is that Eren's problem?

Eren nods.

"There's no one better to push you. I mean…Mikasa, but she might go easy on you since you're her husband and all."

He might be joking, though Mikasa had gone easy on Eren sometimes when they were younger, too. She probably still would, he thinks, which is something he's not sure what to do with anymore. He never wants Mikasa here to have to hate him. (He has not accepted that Mikasa will never hate him, no matter what he does, even at the end of the world.)

"All of us should train together sometime. Like old times." Whether he includes Reiner in that equation is anyone's guess. But it might be nice, a throwback to when the world seemed simpler because they knew nothing, back to when Eren didn't know the whole world was his enemy.

[rustyhonesty]

"Well, I'll try to help you, at least. I can't guarantee anything, but it's worth a try, right?"

If he can help make accidentaly arson less likely by helping - especially if he can do fire as a freaking titan - that would be good in his books.

"... I do hate him. He killed Marco for fuck's sake, among other things. But I can't just erase three years of being his friend." And here's the thing he's not said out loud a lot: "And I guess a part of me is thinking how Marco would handle all this. He'd try to see past the hate and find a peaceful solution."

It's not something he owes to Marco, but considering how much of his anger towards Reiner was due to what happened to Marco he feels like it's appropriate to take a page out of his book.

But he has to laugh at the comment about Mikasa. "You're joking. The fact I'm her husband only makes her push me harder so I don't fuck up again. She's never gone easy on me and never will." Which is one of the many, many reason he loves her. She's not picking favorites with him. "But... yeah. It might be nice."

[dreamsofwings]

"Yeah, it's worth a try," he agrees. After a second, he adds, "Thanks."

Luckily for literally everyone, Eren doesn't use fire as a titan very often. He's still figuring out how to do it without wiping out afterwards. It takes a ton of energy to do it at all, but he'll get better at it.

I do hate him, Jean says. Eren hears the rest of it, what Marco would try to do. The reasoning makes sense.

"I..."

Does Eren hate Reiner? He doesn't know anymore. He can't forgive the attack that killed his mother, not ever. But his hate is no longer so concentrated. There are worse people than Reiner. There are people who are less deserving of his rage than Reiner, who he knows don't deserve it, but who will bear the brunt of it anyway. Who already did. It's complicated.

"I think you're right," Eren says, worried if he says anything else, he'll sound like a lunatic or he'll say too much. Marco was much kinder, after all. Eren has never been kind or compassionate. He's always been on a revenge crusade, since the day he was born.

He listens to Jean scoff about the idea of Mikasa going easy on him. Well, fair enough. Jean isn't Eren, after all. Eren would swear up and down he doesn't need anyone to go easy on him. He doesn't, not anymore.

"The captain told me I can show up to training. I don't think it was a suggestion."

Levi can't actually order Eren to do anything, after all. Or maybe he shouldn't be able to. But Eren more or less follows orders to hold on to familiarity, the same way he never calls Levi by his name.

[rustyhonesty]

Eren starts to say something, but never finishes what he was going to say. Jean figures it was another thing he shouldn't pry about - it feels like it might be linked to the future. Though he does feel kind of bad that Eren can't talk about everything with him... but it's better this way. It was okay for him to be selfish about this, right?

"... I do sort of sympathize with him right now, though. His last memory was Levi almost killing him. Now he's in the middle of all these enemies, with just a cousin who grew up suddenly without him knowing as his ally." Mostly he sympathizes the most recent memory being nearly dying. Jean can relate to that. He's quite often reminded of his own. He tries his best to hide it, now that it has been a while, but it just hasn't gone away.

They both fell towards their death. One of them survived, even if barely. Jean squeezes his right arm with his left hand.

"I can train with him and hang out with him, but I can't and won't forgive him for the things he's done."

It's not too weird to hear Eren call Levi captain, still. Jean's moved on from that and only uses it as a petty thing. "Then maybe you should. It might do good to do more familiar things together and not just when there's an emergency."

[dreamsofwings]

Eren looks a little surprised. So that's the truth about Reiner's memories of what happened before coming here. He'd only told Eren part of it. But they'd been enemies then, in a way they no longer are. Probably.

He sees how things just seem in Jean's view, the death thing, all of it. Jean, who in Eren's timeline wouldn't kill Gabi after Sasha. Jean, who always did what was necessary but wasn't bloodthirsty about it, not like Eren, not even like Reiner. He doesn't really get it, since he's been revenge hungry most of his life.

Then again, Eren didn't kill Reiner when he had the chance to outright do it, when Reiner begged him to. Reiner here is still younger, not crushed by the world yet but still carrying his own trauma, baggage, brainwashed Marleyan propaganda. It isn't that Eren has grown tired of bloodshed. But he doesn't want to be at odds with Reiner anymore. That doesn't matter here.

"I don’t think forgiveness matters all that much," he says, slowly. He's never forgiven anyone for anything, so maybe he can't talk here. "You can have connections with people you don’t forgive."

He thinks of Levi actually thanking him for helping get Hange to safety. He thinks of Hange still enamoured with the titan form he has. He doesn't ask for their forgiveness. He could never earn such a thing. But...they can still move forward. That's all they can do, after all.

"It's strange being with everyone sometimes. I can't pretend it's not strange."

[rustyhonesty]

Jean thinks about what Eren says. Having connections with people you don't forgive... Well. It's not like he forgave Mukuro for ending her world or being a murderer; yet they considered each other siblings. Then again, it wasn't really up to her to forgive her, since it wasn't his world. But it was still something he had had to come in terms with one way or another.

"I don't want to fight him, that's for sure. I don't want to seek revenge on him anymore. I punched him and yelled at him, but it didn't make me feel better." Not when Reiner was so shocked about Marco and thinking his only regret was not saving him from the titan. Not when he had no idea what he had really done. But even if he had taken all the blame for it... it wouldn't have changed anything. "I guess that makes me soft."

At least according to a certain mayonnaise-crazy policeman that he calls his brother.

Jean smiles a little though. "I feel the same. It's only been me and Mikasa for years, so having you all around now is weird, sometimes. In a good way, though."

[dreamsofwings]

Eren knows he's unforgivable, though Jean will never know that. Still. Hange and Levi do and they still have decided to try and trust him. He doesn't take it lightly. His promise to Levi to be better is a big part of why he and Reiner didn't just throw down that first day, rain or not.

"You didn't feel better punching me, either," Eren points out. But Jean didn't have real hate for him, as far as he knew. Reiner…that's a different situation.

He's quiet for a second.

"I like you soft," he finally says. "It's better than letting the world make you cruel."

He would definitely know. It's hypocritical, really. He chose — or did he? — to be a monster. He has to choose now, repeatedly, not to be one. It should be an easy choice, right, but it's not always.

"After so long without us, yeah…at least we can still be friends."

There's no way to tell Jean how much that matters to Eren. But it wasn't a secret in the end that he cared about all of them. Jean here hasn't heard him say that they're the most important people to him, but it doesn't matter. Even if he never hears it, it will always be true.

[rustyhonesty]

"I didn't, but I don't hate you so that might be part of it." There it is. The admission of not hating Eren. Not that he was very convinving with it anyway. "Though a big part of why it didn't help was Reiner ... completely thinking he didn't leave Marco to die on purpose at the moment. That his only sin was not killing the titan before it killed Marco. It was like he was genuinely thinking it."

It was weird and threw Jean's rage off the rails pretty fast. The genuine emotions of guilt - but towards not saving a friend instead of causing his death. He hasn't brough up Marco since and he wouldn't. He didn't want to deal with that set of complicated emotions again.

"... thanks? I guess." Jean's not sure how to feel about that. He's had to taint his hands a little bit, but he'd like to avoid doing it more if he could.

Jean playfully smacks his fist on Eren's shoulder. "Of course we can be. I may not be the best at being a friend, but... I want to be one."

[dreamsofwings]

"I'd hope you didn't hate me," Eren says. This Jean shouldn't have a reason to. Anyway, he flat out said they were friends. Whatever his faults, Jean has always been reliable.

Right, the thing about Marco…the way Reiner could be two different people, almost. He'd fucked himself up mentally from the strain of…well, Eren's not entirely sure. Marco? The invasion of Paradis, realising that the so-called devils were humans, were friends? Eren relates, but he's not fractured into pieces like that. He just can't keep time straight, which isn't entirely his fault.

"Reiner…forgets which place he's in," Eren says. "With us or against us." He thinks of the beach game, the way he used that against Reiner, the worst kind of weapon. He had (mostly) regretted it afterwards, but he knew what button to push.

"You're wrong. You're a good friend. I want to be one, too, I just…"

Can't. Don't remember how. Don't deserve it. He's not sure how to finish that.

"We just do the best we can, like always."

[rustyhonesty]

"... so it wasn't just that instance", Jean says. He had a feeling. Especially after he was so happy about him and Mikasa being married. Like they were still friends happy for achievements in each others' lifes. Jean wondered what triggered the changes, if anything. Marco seemed to be one trigger, at least.

Well, it wasn't really something he wanted to discuss too much further. At least not today. He's mentally exhausted as it is, with calming Reiner after Levi and then fighting with Hijikata.

"How about we just agree we both have to work on things. And now we have a chance to, without worrying about survival."