[ 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

base jumping

[yatagarasu]

[Kay, alias "Enthusiastic Elf", was actually one of the first jumpers, and has been waiting on the target for everyone else, cheering the others on as they took their leaps of faith and drifted down on their parachutes.

As Shepard nears the ground, she recognizes him instantly.]

Hey, Mr. Shepard!

[sassguard]

[ Any other person would perhaps be a little perturbed to be jumping into thin air with little more than fabric and a harness between them and becoming a mush of meat and bones on the floor -- but Shepard's reasoning is that he's already died once, and if he dies again, it will be a good chance to test how well the nanites work at knitting someone back together.

That, and it's for a good cause -- but the fact that it comes with a hell of an adrenaline rush doesn't hurt.

When Kay waves at him as he descends, he waves back He'd noticed Kay among the other jumpers before, but hadn't had time to offer acknowledgement. His landing is short and graceless, but he comes up from the ground with a fierce grin. ]

Are they sure we can't do that again?

[yatagarasu]

[She laughs, still riding the high of the jump.]

I wish we could, after the gift-giving part! [Kay's schedule is free anyway, she didn't get onto the date auction bandwagon.]

[sassguard]

Not going to the party later?

[ Oh right, they still have that gift-giving bit to do. Already, with the last of the jumpers coming down, the organizers are preparing to direct the imPorts over to the next stage of the event, and Shepard grunts as his parachute is swiftly detached from him, though he's left in his elf costume. ]

[yatagarasu]

[She shakes her head.]

I already have a boyfriend. [Kay spreads her arms and shrugs. It's no big deal, she already has someone to poke if she needed a date anytime.] Besides, I have to start planning Christmas gifts. [Girl has a lot of presents to give.]

[sassguard]

[ Isn't she a little young for a -- you know what, Shepard's absolutely the last person to speculate about other people's love lives, given his pointed lack of one, so he just takes the revelation in stride, shrugging. ]

Aren't you leaving it a little late? There's only ten days until Christmas.

[yatagarasu]

[Kay was 17 when she hooked up and is 18 now. Plus, their relationship isn't even the ooey-gooey super clingy sickly sweet kind.]

Don't worry. [She has her I-got-this face on.] Some of them are just gonna be baked so I only need to stock up on ingredients.

[sassguard]

[ Shepard can't help that he comes from Western media the impression he gets of her is so young, okay. It's more the attitude than anything else...

Also, he's not sure what Kay's cooking skills are like, but he's a biotic, so food always gets his attention. ]

What are you planning to make?

[yatagarasu]

[wow that's actually accurate

And yes, she certainly doesn't always act her age...]

Cookies...and maybe a Swiss roll.

[sassguard]

What's a Swiss Roll?

[ Baked products aren't really Shepard's area of expertise. ]

[yatagarasu]

[Kay gasps, a hand flying to her mouth - DRAMATICALLY.]

What? It's a kind of cake - chocolate, with cream inside, and rolled up into a roll! [She looks so astounded.] You're missing half your life!

[sassguard]

[ Her expression almost makes Shepard feel bad. Almost. ]

Sounds fancy. [ And tasty... ] I usually only had cake on special occasions when I was growing up. Alliance wasn't exactly what you'd call luxurious.

[yatagarasu]

Well...Christmas is coming, and it's a special occasion! You should have a Swiss roll while you're here!

[She sounds eager and excited to make him try one and see his reaction.]

[sassguard]

[ He can't quite comprehend why she's so excited over baked goods, but -- ]

I'll try anything once. [ And okay, it does sound good. ]

[yatagarasu]

Great! There are some cafes around that make really good Swiss rolls.

[They're the best baked goods ever.]

You could take your date to one of those cafes!

[sassguard]

Maybe I will. [ Shepard snorts, laughing. ]

It'll depend on whether they actually like Swiss Rolls, though.

[yatagarasu]

You should find out! [She says it like it's so easy.]

[sassguard]

I'm not even going to know who I'm going out with until the end of the night. Isn't there a saying ... don't count your chickens before they're hatched?

[ As if Shepard's ever seen a live chicken. Spaaace, man. ]

[yatagarasu]

Oh...right. [Kay deflates accordingly.] But sooner or later, you'll find out anyway...

[sassguard]

[ It's just about time to move on, though, so Shepard straightens, flashing Kay a quick smile. ]

Tell you what -- send me the address of one of those cafes, and when I find out who I've got to take out, I'll ask them if they're interested in going. Sound good?

[yatagarasu]

[Kay nods, giving him a thumbs up.]

Good idea!