entranceway | [ 009 | Video | Dated 11/25, Post-Event ]

[When the feed opens, Jo looks a little worn around the edges. She's pretty sure that look is going around at the moment -- the event had been a hard one for a lot of people, enough so that she'd almost considered not issuing this invitation at all, but she and Tohru had discussed it and decided together that sticking with the original plan was probably for the best. Events came and went all the time in Wonderland, and deciding not to deviate was probably the best medicine for any ills this one had caused. Still, there was a little more weighing her down than just that. She hadn't seen or heard anything from or about her mother in days, and considering they hadn't been on the best terms lately, it had her stomach in knots.

She clears her throat a little before putting on her best face, offering the feed a tired but genuine smile.]

I know this probably feels a little bit last-minute. Ned and Tohru and I have been talking about it for awhile, and I'd planned to say something earlier, but things came up.

[The event, mostly. She's pretty sure she doesn't have to elaborate on that.]

I've heard people talking a little about Thanksgiving, and awhile back, I talked to Ned about hosting it for everyone, like some of us helped Dean do last year. We'd talked then about wanting to make it a tradition, do it every year, even for people who don't normally celebrate it, and I wanna hold to that. The bar is huge and has room for everyone -- I'd like to do it there again. I know some people here have family or friends they'd like to do their own gatherings with, and we don't want to interfere with that, so--

[She pauses, the mention of family making her smile flicker just the tiniest bit before she reinforces it.]

What I'd like to do is host it tomorrow, the day before Thanksgiving. Some people have family here, either biological or otherwise, but not everyone does. I know not everyone gets along, but for one day, it would be nice to be able to put everything aside and check our problems at the door. Remember that we're all in the same boat, just for a little while.

So-- no matter who you are, whether you celebrate Thanksgiving back home or not, everyone is welcome. Food will be on at about three PM, and while we've got some stuff mapped out, we're glad to accept any help that anyone else wants to offer. Everyone is free to contribute and come to spend as much or as little time with everyone as they'd like.

[Weapons will be checked at the door, just in case, but otherwise the open-door policy stands.]

There's no telling how long any of us are stuck here. Some of us have been here a long while, others are new, but whether we like it or not, we're a community. It would be good to focus on the upsides of that and remember the good parts about being in Wonderland, instead of letting the bad weigh us down.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It's a very human thing, she realizes, seeking out someone to talk or to vent to, and maybe Castiel will never take her up on it-- but she'll always keep offering. That's what friends do. They makes sure the people they care about know how they feel. They're there for the people who need them. Even if Cas doesn't need her the way she's needed to lean on him in the past, she still wants him to know.]

I can only imagine what that feels like.

[She doesn't have any powers to lose, but she can only assume that it's like misplacing some huge part of yourself.]

Being human isn't so bad, in the long run, but if you're not used to it... probably feels incomplete.

[It does feel as if a part of him has been ripped away whenever he's without his Grace, even if it's only repressed as opposed to completely gone.

But that's not even as bad as it can get.]

I would rather have no use of my powers than have no control over them. [He's too powerful for that kind of thing to be abused, and he'd harmed a number of people without ever meaning to. Even Dean...]

It's for the best that we didn't encounter each other during the event. [That's all he'll say.]

I didn't realize--

[No, she'd been too busy running from her own demons, so to speak, and trying desperately to stick to her anchor once she'd found it. It had helped, some, but she hadn't considered how the event might have effected someone who had more than just regrets to get the better of them. Losing control of power when you had as much as Castiel... that was deadly.]

Yeah... it probably was. [Pause.] I'm glad it's over. For all our sakes.

[Not everyone had been as lucky as Jo, to have avoided him, but Castiel has no words to confess to the things he did. Even if he hadn't meant for any of it, he's still carrying the guilt around with him. It's not rational, he can acknowledge that much, but it doesn't help the feeling go away.

It's only a matter of time before another event puts them through the wringer, but he doesn't need to pull down Jo's mood when she's trying to do something nice for everyone.]

I'll see you tomorrow.

[And with that abrupt send-off, he ends the call.]

[ 009 | Video | Dated 11/25, Post-Event ]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]