maskormenacelogs | [ open ] jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock

Entry tags:

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

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Kaneki takes a sip of his coffee, smiling behind the cup ]

Aha- I think it depends on the movie. The ones I watched were too predictable. [ or maybe he just reads too much so nothing surprises him anymore ] Though I never watched the ones in this world...

[ anyway! ] Did you sign up for the Silent Date Auction on your own, Annie?

[ Annie never watched any until here, and then the first one she did had an unfortunate sense of timing and triggering what she'd rather not have had be triggered. Either way, she moves to the side, glancing back over her shoulder to look at the room. Ultimately she's going to have her back to the corner as well. ]

I was asked by Import Affairs. I said yes.

[ The logic had been presented. She can understand having some sense of positive public relations, and since she herself isn't good for that in a direct interface, more roundabout like this works better. A name that adds to a sum of money going to things people on this world feel are important.

Some of those "charities" are ones she can find useful, too. That helps. ]

Is this a repeat of last month for you, or did you know you'd be on the table?

[ He hums softly at her response, finally placing down the empty cup - he had drunk all the coffee (and whatever he added to it) by now ]

I suppose it's good, since you are involved. [ he means it and he isn't being condescending. Annie has chosen to be involved and investigate - and go to dance contests to talk to the jury - and in a way, Kaneki finds it amazing. he doesn't have it in him to try to get involved with a world that isn't really his, in all honesty.

But the question causes Kaneki to scratch the back of his head ]

... Nishi-kun signed me up. [ Not out of kindness, mostly because he wants to annoy Kaneki. Push his buttons. And Kaneki won't be talking about the fact that nishi broke into Kaneki's new place and saw the body parts he keeps in the fridge. Nor how Nishi is actually a psychopath who loves dead bodies and the thought of people dying in horrible ways ]

Edited 2014-12-13 23:04 (UTC)

[ Kaneki... it might... actually be wise to share that sort of information. He's so legitimately worse at this information share thing than Annie. She lifts her eyebrows a hair at that confession. ]

What inspired him to do that?

[ Rhetorical. Nishi likes to antagonize, this would be a thorn in Ken's side, even if he doesn't outright say so. Ken doesn't say no, because that's what he does. Cycles that rise and repeat. ]

I wonder who signed him up.

[ Kaneki did say he wouldn't bring Annie into this sort of thing, so no. He will deal with it himself. Try to, at least.

He also doesn't answer the question. While Nishi has a kick out of antagonizing Ken - that's for sure - he also appears to be... eager to see Kaneki's reactions. Or the consequence. In any case, Kaneki shrugs softly ]

Possibly someone that dislike him. I'm not surprised if the list is long. I don't think he cares about it, anyway, though.

[ See, that doesn't make sense to Annie, since... promoting someone here is what. Supposed to end in an act of embarrassment if no one bids? That's the only angle she can see, since otherwise it's a joke on its own. Signing people up here is not leaving them to be tortured. She lets that subject drop, instead resting a hand on her hip for a moment while she surveys the room. ]

Would you like me to bid on you, Ken?

[ Because she does know this can't be comfortable for him, and it's the only time she'll make the direct offer to help him avoid an unfavorable situation, if he'd prefer. she won't presume. ken's adult enough to make his own choices as he moves through life. sort of. ]

[ Annie still had much to learn and Kaneki wouldn't be able to answer her questions if she did decide to ask it. It's just a sense of self-consciousness and embarrassment, not only because someone is finding you pleasing enough to bid on you, but because there is a date after. At least, this is how Kaneki would see it.

Since Kaneki isn't drinking coffee any longer, he simply stays in his corner, not looking too far away from the area he is in.

But the suggestion does surprise him a bit ] Would that be alright?

[ of course. She is offering. But something crosses his mind and Kaneki chuckles softly ] would we have to go on a date after? [ he is joking ]

[ Her attention stays on the room at large at first. ]

Hmm?

[ Would they? Hah. She slides her eyes back his way, giving a small shrug of her shoulders. Her elf ears hold her bangs back better than her usual ears. It's about all she can appreciate about them. ]

Sounds like work. We could just go for coffee after Saturday morning training.

[ Her not too subtle reminder that he shouldn't avoid her forever. He'd been learning, and she would find it a waste if he upped and stopped just because she's better informed on who and what he is now. ]

[ when annie mentions such, he looks away for a second, before he stares down at his own hands ]

I'm sorry. [ for avoiding her ]

Is it really that wise? To keep on like this? [ kaneki would never attack Annie, but after she heard he eats people... well, certainly he expected her to want to keep her distance ]

It's not comfortable. It's not more comfortable avoiding you. [ She says, mildly enough. ]

What's wise here is not drawing lines over differences that aren't about choices we've made.

[ And making allies hahahaha HAHAHA THAT'S IMPORTANT TOO. Plus, how does anyone stay friends with Titan shifters knowing the extent of what they've done? ]

If you'd prefer me to leave you alone, say so. Being indirect about it won't matter to me.

[ Indirect she can choose to ignore. ]

Annie, right now this isn't about me. [ it's not his choice to make ] If I could, I would have never told you. I would have pretended to be human forever. [ it's obvious why. it's not just about his place, but also because he enjoys annie's company and friendship. ]

But as it is right now-

it's you who decides if you want to stay away or not. And I can't promise you everything is alright and that I won't do something wrong, all I can promise is that I will try my best not to. [ but he doesn't know if that's enough for Annie ]

Who's your stop-gap measure if things go wrong?

[ She looks away again, watching the people in the room. Seeing people who can probably help stop Ken, even when he's fast and strong and hard to slow down. ]

Life doesn't lend itself to promises. I've only made one... and I don't know that I'll ever be able to fulfill it. None of us are fully human, Ken. But we're not lacking in what it means to be human here.

[ She touches her temple, then lets her hand fall to her heart. ]

Even if it might be easier if we all were.

Edited 2014-12-14 18:26 (UTC)

[ Stopgag? There is no stop-gag. If he does something wrong, if he goes hungry, if he flips out and attacks someone, the measure is to kill him. And he doesn't even know how can someone kill him without a nullifier, he doesn't know who can.

He lets her speak, though, silent. because some can pretend to be human better than others and how he envies them at times ]

...

I don't have a stop-gap measure, besides someone killing me. [ and that is a lot harder than it seems, but a Titan could certainly do it ] I have asked for a nullifier and it stops my strength and all the enhanced abilities I have, but... it's doesn't stop my hunger. Actually, with a nullifier, I get even hungrier. [ it feels like it, at least. ]

Killing me... it works. [ yes, he is repeating it. ]

Killing someone always works. I'm asking for another measure.

[ As if this is normal conversation. It's enough to have Annie look back to Ken. ]

Your abilities might be helping you repress your hunger to a degree. Still, that's a resource intensive process, since you ill get resurrected. Id' prefer something that doesn't rely on continuum. That's a conversation better had in another venue.

[ She adds, canting her head just a few degrees to the side. ]

... there's no other way. There is no other measure.

This is how a ghoul lives. Always, every day.

[ kaneki looks back at the people chattering, checking the bids or placing bids on the people they see. He doesn't move from his stop as he watches them, the small and soft smile on his lips already faded away.

Ghouls who are born as that know how to live. How to control themselves, how to hunt --well, most of them-- and not be noticed. They don't need another measure because they aren't driven to starvation since they can control that starvation-

Kaneki.... well. He plays around that limit. The limit of "almost hungry" but never crossing it. And now with his own place and the fridge, even less since he is eating once a week. But it'll never be like a ghoul, an actual ghoul. He can't eat much, he will feel disgusting and disgusted. ]

The only way is to keep fed.

There is, to prevent you from causing unnecessary harm. You deal in absolutes, Ken. The world doesn't work that way.

[ She's told him before her thoughts on him flirting with that edge of hunger, and she will, again, should that flirtation end in tears. Not just his, but anyone else's. The tearing apart at the seams he feels all the time when it comes to his dual natures is unfortunate, and immense, but it's part of him. One day or another he'll have to accept that, or accept the consequence for being unable to accept what he needs to do in order to live.

Annie hesitates, reaching out with one hand in a subtle motion, resting two fingers on his arm. She's not a touchy feely person, and this is more of a check in than it is a clasped shoulder or companionable sort of action. ]

Do what you musts. Remember that while you may be alone in some things... you're not truly alone.

[ Unintentionally or otherwise, he's made that much true as well. ]

Annie, if I feed too much I will drown. [ he will forget the value of life. Be like Rize. because it's feels so good to eat. ] I deal in absolutes because I only have absolutes. If I feed to much, I'll get addicted to it and become like Rize - if I don't eat enough, I will feel like I'm dying over and over again until I just let instinct take over. I'm not good at being... this. I don't know how to be this.

[ he can't just feed more. he doesn't have that self control, his kagune is incredibly unruly and seems to have a life on his own, his hunger far too crazy and he is plagued by Rize as he fights to keep his humanity.

He wishes it was simple. he wishes he wasn't half ghoul. But this is how he deals, and he still hasn't found any other way to deal. ~~he will find it, after he gets tortured~~

The hand that reaches for him causes Kaneki to go silent, though, looking back at Annie before his eyes fall to the ground ]

... I do regret bringing you into this. [ but she'd get it, she'd find out things by herself and it'd be so much worse ]

... thank you. [ for still talking to him. ]

[ She remembers how much it'd meant to her, over a month and a half ago, to have some sort of human contact. Reiner is a lot better for these kinds of things. He's a more comforting presence in general, and if and when she realizes she's taking a cue from Houka Inumuta instead, she should probably laugh. She lets the hand she has touching his arm move to find his hand, not really concerned with if he's holding anything or not. The contact's all about brevity, but best as she can, she'll give his hand a short squeeze. Her fingers are cold, her palm a warmer contrast.

She lets her hand fall away soon after. It's just a small reassurance. ]

You're welcome. Ah... and Ken. Don't stop trying to swim... but reach out for help before you lose the will to keep your head above the surface on your own. Most people drown because they lose energy and the will to fight.

[ And swallow water and disappear beneath the surface, but this wasn't a perfect metaphor from the start. ]

That doesn't have to be you, too.

[ it's really weird. he hasn't had any sort of contact with another person in a long time; Hide was the one who always hugged him and was all over his personal space, but other than that, not really. Of course this is excluding the dance lessons, since that contact is meant with a purpose of dancing and not really sharing warmth.

He smiles a little as he thinks once again how much he misses Hide, but also how he is glad there is someone.

Even if Annie can't really go deeper into the whole ghoul subject, even if Annie is also pretty awkward about comforting and touching. It's fine, he is glad she is there, even if he tried to avoid her for a week or so.

He nods softly as he hears her words. He is tired, it's true, but... he can't. He can't bring her into this; because said water is full of sharks.

See, the metaphor is good enough to make use of it. ]

Thank you. [ he is repeating himself. And his hand reaches to touch his own chin because Kaneki knows he won't call for her help. It's fine. He is the one who will be hurt, not her. ]

Uhm- did you jump? with the parachute? [ changing subjects is a go ]

[ Annie knows it too. And she does, for what it's worth, think he's an idiot, if one trying to be that way for better reasons than most.

Still, she's not going to bring that up. She's made her thoughts clear. Beating a dead horse has never accomplished anything in the long or short term. ]

Yes. I was asked... given the relationship it has with where I work in Nonah, it made more sense to go along with it. Besides, what they paid as an incentive is what I can turn around to use here.

[ That's... exactly what she's doing, actually. Welcome to how Annie spends money: she had to do one act for a corporation to pay her for compliance, and she'll dump those funds back into charity, letting it funnel through here because this whole thing was a PR set-up in the first place. Image is, undoubtedly, key. ]

[ yes, he is an idiot. But his life is also quite difficult because the universe hates Ken Kaneki, no matter what universe we are talking about. And everything around him is flipped up-side down and he can't bring anyone along with him. It'd break him if anyone was dragged because of him ~~and it will break him, later on, when he eats Hide~~

Kaneki nods softly ]

What is your job, exactly? [ he never got to ask her, not really ]

And giving money to charity like that... it's very kind of you, Annie.

[ ~~his life of incessant suffering looms before him~~ it's a hard knock life, and ain't nobody out to adopt them into something infinitely better, even if one of them is named Annie.

she looks away from him, crossing her arms over her chest. [

It's not kindness. Or not about kindness... [ she adds ] ... before you correct me on that. I don't need the extra money on hand right now, and it amuses me to take anything from one of these large companies and see it be used to help with a problem we all knew back home. What's the real cost to me?

[ nothing. so she can donate, "selfishly," because it doesn't harm herself or anyone (and anything) she cares about. ]

As for what I do... test outdoors equipment for various sports and hobbies.

[ ~~if he thinks is life is bad right now, he's going to have a surprise~~

Kaneki tilts his head as he hears the explanation, but he still smiles gently while he touches his own chin ]

even if you say that, the charity and the people needing it will certainly thank you, regardless. Even if you do not consider it kindness, they have a chance to live better and that is a good thing.

[ as for the answer, he chuckles softly ] I'm not sure if that fits you or not.

I'm well aware of that.

[ The lack of suitability in her "job," along with how these donations help people beyond herself. They also help imPort image all around. There's an awareness of politics as they move around all of them... but not an isolated awareness. ]

You do realize you could bid on yourself, Ken, don't you?

[ If he's too worried. Or, like she had made that offer earlier, but she doesn't bring it up again. She just shifts topics once more, not wanting to discuss suitabilities - she's using her job to help herself, and that's that.

That's so often simply that. ]

[ kaneki pauses, blinking ]

... I can? [ what. He can? This is news to him???? ] They won't mind?

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

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)