[ open ] jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock

[lyingheart]

WHO: OPEN.
WHERE: De Chima.
WHEN: Saturday, December 13th, 2014.
WHAT: Earlier in the afternoon, there will be base-jumping in elf costumes. Later on is the charity silent date auction and different performances by USA celebrities fundraising for charity this holiday season. OOC information post here.
WARNINGS: None now, will update later. To avoid seeing all the silent auction threads, simply press on the (Hide ## comments) under the header comment for the auction section!

[ BASE JUMPING from TARTARUS TOWER ]
For those imPorts who volunteered to jump from Tartarus Tower, arrivals for fittings into their costumes begins at 2:00 PM sharp. Each costume comes with a name-tag attached, and make-up artists are on hand to help affix elf ears to participants and work on their eye make-up for the ease of the cameras catching all this live.

The jumps will start at 4:00 PM, and after all imPort elves have jumped and successfully reached the ground, they'll join the bus transporting presents and Malik to the De Chima children's hospital to deliver gifts to the children in the cancer ward (and elsewhere). ImPorts will then be transported over to the main facilities for the fundraiser event as a whole, invited to attend the Silent Date Auction as well as listen to any of the various performances occurring over the course of the evening.

[ CHARITY SILENT DATE AUCTION in DE CHIMA ]
Starting at 4:00 PM, the doors to the conference hall made available for the ImPort Charity Silent Date Auction will open. Live music will be provided, along with refreshments and catered hor d'oeuvres, and televisons displaying both the news stories and live coverage of the fundraiser events occurring over the course of the evening. ImPorts will be encouraged to attend any of these performances in person, but will not be required to leave the conference hall unless they wish to do so.

There is lounge seating available, and free wireless throughout the building. Different conference halls are hosting different events in this event center, and the largest productions are happening on a built stage outside. There's a massive lit tree in the central front courtyard of the event center, and many small stands selling hot drinks, good foods, and wares outside by the stage and surrounding streets, all with a portion of proceeds going to various named charities.

Please comment to this log with your own starters! Only the Auction Thread will be set-up under its own sub-thread, for ease of tracking. Auction Threads can be threaded in, but initial comments to those threads should be the bids that a character is placing on someone else (or themselves). Bidding will close OOCly by this time next week (or when a player states bidding is closed on their character - send me a PM to close that thread, or comment to close it on your own). ICly, all bids close at the end of the night.

Comments

Flame Princess | Silent Auction | OTA

[wayhot]

[Flame Princess can be found going back and forth between the hall where the auction is being held, and the courtyard. Admiring and standing close - but not too close - to the giant tree there. This is... nice. Just being out and trying to have fun without having to worry about a bunch of bad stuff suddenly happening.

Plus, being here feels like it could be a good way to meet new people, which is part of why she signed herself up for the auction thing. It seemed like a fun way to spend some time and maybe meet new people or get to know somebody better, if anyone bid on her. Either way, she's feeling pretty good.

... And that tree is still super pretty.]

[lyingheart]

[ Annie's also admiring the tree, taking in all the lights, the star on top... maybe she can see some of why Aracely wants a smaller version at their house. Still seems unnecessary, but it's the nice kind of unnecessary. Annie's pulled a coat on over the elf jumpsuit she's been wearing since that afternoon, fake elf ears still attached to her own since she doesn't feel like dealing with the spirit glue yet.

She recalls Flame Princess from her first time here, noting at some point she'd returned. ]

Do they do things like this where you're from?

[ She asks, nodding her head upward to indicate the tree. ]

[wayhot]

[Flame Princess glances over at Annie and offers her a small smile.]

Not really. All this Christmas stuff is pretty new to me. But I like it - or at least I like the way people decorate stuff for it. [Like the tree!]

What about you? Do they do stuff like this, too?

[lyingheart]

[ She gives a small shake of her head. ]

No, nothing quite the same. There can be feasts toward the middle of winter... not these kinds of celebrations. Candles on trees might be a little more dangerous than these lights.

[wayhot]

Yeah, the lights are a good idea. Wood burns super easy. [She's certainly burned more than enough herself. It's why she's making sure to admire the tree from a safe distance.] The tree would probably still be pretty on fire [uh] but I think that'd just freak everybody out.

The lights are better, anyway - they're so colourful!

[lyingheart]

[ Yes... yes it probably would be one kind of pretty while it burned. ]

Mm, fire tends to only come in a certain range, true. Besides... this way it lasts longer.

[ Than one night, that is. ]

Not that the lights are just on trees. Some of the houses I've seen are lit up all around the edges, on the yards, with animals, or all kinds of odd things.

[wayhot]

I've seen those, too. Like weird moving deer made of wire and lights in somebody's yard, or the lights around windows that are always flashing!

I think I still like the trees better, though. They're less in your face.

[lyingheart]

[ She nods, agreeing with the sentiment. ]

They're calmer. Especially when the lights aren't racing and blinking.

[ Slower fades in and out are fine.. along with the continuous burn, but some of the fast blink settings are eye-catching, but not very restful. ]

People take their decorations to absurd levels here.

[wayhot]

Sometimes absurd can be fun. [She's from Ooo, absurdity is part of everyday life over there.] But too much of it just starts to be kind of boring after a while. [Nothing's very fun or shocking if everybody is doing it, after all.]

Or annoying. [Usually, it's annoying.]

[lyingheart]

I'd probably find it annoying.

[ She knows herself well enough that absurd isn't usually fun for her, and boring isn't part of her vocabulary. She has too much to do almost all the time, so... annoying is the likely way for that to fall. (Unfortunately.) ]

I'm just thankful there aren't many decorations in the government housing section where I live.

[ since only two houses are occupied. ]

[wayhot]

That's good. [That there aren't so many obnoxious decorations where Annie lives.] It would be nicer if people just stuck with the trees and junk, though. The other stuff just seems like people are trying too hard with decorating everything.

[Hm.]

I still don't get why so many things have to be red and green for Christmas, though. [She's seen those colours everywhere. It isn't that she has a problem with them, they're nice - heck, she's mostly red! - but.] I wonder if there's a reason for that.

[lyingheart]

[ She's not so sure herself. ]

A tradition, probably. Who knows what it was about originally. Some things stay the same long enough, and people just accept that's what it's supposed to be.

[ Even with far shorter memories suffering alterations, people follow those kinds of patterns. ]

All the red in green in clothing is a little odd. Not that the colors are... but it feels almost too uniform sometimes.

[wayhot]

[Flame Princess nods a little absently. What Annie says makes sense. Not everyone can remember when whatever tradition started, but they're still tradition. She can understand that.

Still a little weird to see those colours plastered everywhere, though.]

At least the colours and the obnoxious stuff won't be like this for that much longer. I mean, this Christmas stuff is only supposed to be for about a month, anyway.

[mantlepieces]

[ A little bit after Reggie makes his bid, he can't help but notice Flame Princess wandering around the hall -- given that she's apparently, well, made out of flames -- and wonders with some alarm if that's the girl that he just bid on. Fiery? Did they mean that literally?

Well...

He slides up beside her, though keeps a safe distance. (Is she flammable?) ]

Hey. [ Be cool. Say something like "hot stuff," girls think that's charming, right? ] Don't trip, you'll burn the place down.

[ Swing and a miss. ]

[wayhot]

Wh-- I'm not going to trip! I'm just standing here!

[And also keeping her distance from anything flammable, because burning the place down is definitely a risk. It comes with being made entirely out of fire.]

[mantlepieces]

Look, I'm just saying -- you have to move sometime.

[ He crosses his arms, eyebrow raised. ]

Can you control it any, or are you a walking fire hazard all the time?

1/2

[wayhot]

Of course, I can control it! [ANGRY FWOOSH.]

2/2

[wayhot]

[And back to normal. Nothing burning except Flame Princess herself. Though the air around her (and him) still feels significantly warmer than it did before.]

See? [Still grouchy. Maybe questioning the self-control of a sensitive girl made of fire isn't the best of ideas.]

[mantlepieces]

[ His hands are up! Eyes wide! Chill! Wow!! ]

Okay! Okay -- relax! No need to get... hot under the collar about it... [ (sweats) ] I was just curious, all right?

[ Hands still up, but she has the advantage of being threatening enough to make Reggie back off insults. Not to the point of apologizing, of course.

He clears his throat. ]

S-so what's your name, anyway?

[wayhot]

[Flame Princess relaxes slightly, but she's still angry. She folds her arms and frowns.] You can be curious without insulting somebody!

... And I'm Flame Princess. [Yup. She is indeed the girl you bid on and won a date with, Reggie.]

[mantlepieces]

It wasn't an insult -- you're just way too sensitive.

[ He scoffs. Yes, it's all her fault for being offended, gawd.

Not that he should be surprised that this turned out to be "Flame Princess," because really, what else should he have been expecting? Still, that means he should probably try to salvage this conversation. ]

I'm Reggie Mantle. Look, it's a compliment. I'm saying you look interesting, aren't I?

[wayhot]

[Wow, Reggie, you are actually terrible at talking to women.]

I'm not sensitive! [Actually, yes, she is. Very much so, but she's not about to let that little fact get in the way of her arguing.]

And if you think I look interesting, just say I look interesting! [NO NEED TO BE A JERKBUTT ABOUT IT etc etc.]

[mantlepieces]

[ He's good when he makes an effort! Which is... sometimes! When he feels he needs to. So... yeah... ]

Fine, you look interesting. Happy now? [ He throws his hands out, visibly giving in. But he doesn't want to be set on fire, so... ] But a guy can't help but wonder the logistics involved, y'know?

[ Like, if she went on a date, could they just not touch each other? Ever? Seems harsh. ]

[wayhot]

I'm made of fire. I can't touch anything or anyone unless I'm wearing foil, or else I could burn everything really badly. So I always have to be careful because I don't want to hurt anyone just by being around them! [She sighs and folds her arms.] Are you happy now?

[mantlepieces]

Happy isn't the word I'd use.

So-- [ He raises an eyebrow, sounding more genuinely curious now and not just giving her shit: ] How's a date with you supposed to go, then?

[ Since she's here and all. But also, maybe, challenge accepted? ]