Tree Lighting Ceremony: Official Event Thread

[Polaris]

​

The Tree Lighting Ceremony is a yearly winter Holiday tradition for the Islanders. Today, at dusk, Oceania Park is open to all Islanders that want to see, and help decorate, the big tree at the center of Oceania Park. The big tree is a marvel in itself, and its lights could be seen throughout the city throughout the season. Everyone is encouraged to put up decorations of their own, meet new friends, and share in the Holiday cheer!

There are a lot of fun activities to be had during the Tree Lighting Ceremony. There's an ice skating rink, a field with snowball fights, and a small buffet table filled with snacks and beverages for everybody to eat.

See the official event thread here.
Rapid-fire, short posts and socializing encouraged.​

 

[Sarrain]

Lorenzo Moretti​

Enzo had been holed up in the house long enough. Not long ago he'd finally gotten around to exploring some of the island, primarily the city. The strip was one of the more interesting places to him. He had to admit; there were a lot of attractive people around. Almost as many as there were freaks.

Lorenzo stood and stared up at the tree with a half-sneer. It wasn't as beautiful as New York City's lighting; that was for sure. He peered around, trying to find someone interesting to talk to. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his long overcoat and he looked far from friendly.
​

 

[Hyper]

[ June Orwell ]​

There were a lot of things June loved about being outside on a December. One was obviously because it was his birthmonth and being outside with people on such occasion literally gives him life. Second was seeing the city lighting up with decorations, reminding him that Christmas was just around the corner. He wasn't much of a religious man himself but the holiday cheer lifted his mood.

Of course, he couldn't miss the Tree Lighting Ceremony. He never missed it since he moved into the island. He brought his own ornaments for the tree, just as he did the years before, hanging them in a convenient part of the tree where he could reach. June took a few steps back, admiring the ornament for a bit. A friend had given it to him saying it reminded them of him. It was a sweet gesture if he did say so.

After that, he slipped away, making a beeline for the skating rink; he hoped he could run into someone he could hang around for a while longer.

 

[Phoebe]

Peace​

Peace was early to the Tree Lighting Ceremony. She had found a place on the grass of the park to place her belongings; an ornament for later as well as an extra coat, wrapped in a picnic blanket and left in plain sight. She was always that trusting, though, and believed nobody would take any interest in what she had. Then she stood up and gazed at the massive tree, magnificent and festive in the evening light. Nature calmed her, and knowing that it was valued in Manta Carlos was reassuring.

She dressed warmly, with dark jeans, a long woollen sweater and leather boots subtly showing off her curves. Her hands were in knitted gloves, matching the beanie on her head which tamed her curly hair, allowing it to sit along her shoulders and back, but not her face. A touch of lip gloss was added to her lips but she wore no other make up.

Intending to wait a while before she hung her ornament, Peace thought she may as well join in with the festivities. She wasn't hungry or thirsty, and didn't wish to participate in a snowball fight with the children, so she slipped on ice skates and entered the rink. She had never really done this before and wasn't practiced in physical activity but her enhanced capabilities as a Goddess and the balance and flexibility she got out of yoga gave her all she needed to pick it up relatively quickly.

She managed to stumble around the rink a few times before steadying herself into an even glide around. Unwilling to try anything tricky yet, she attempted to slow herself enough so that she could talk to a nearby guy. She stopped before him, though she had to grab one of his shoulders to come to a halt. "I am so sorry! I didn't mean- I'm new at this," she stuttered, motioning to the rink. "My name is Peace. Nice to meet you." Well, that was a good start to the night, she thought. Not to worry, there was plenty of time left to not mess up.

 

[Poppy]

Dorian Crawford​

Dorian always went to the big community events, both for promotional purposes and because he was just, by nature, a social person that loved to make new friends wherever he went. He was dressed in an Armani dark grey winter coat and a rather lengthy dark red scarf. He was accompanied by some of his co-workers to the event. They had a whole box of promotional decorations made by their costume and background staff, some ornaments merely company logos and others were more elaborate with the company tags.

Dorian had one prepared he personally wanted to put. It was a king's crown made up of, and covered with, Swarovski crystals. The bottom didn't have any sort of Company tag. It just said, in beautiful script writing, 'Dorian Crawford'. He loved it. It was gaudy, like he was. He climbed the ladder, because everyone knew kings were always on top, and placed the crown near the star. It was a brilliant little piece that shone when light hit it.

He climbed down the ladder and helped the others with the rest of the decorations.

@Kadakism

 

[Kada]

EMMETT ORENSTEIN​

Emmett wasn't usually one for big social functions like this. He mostly went to them to put himself out there for prospective clients. But something about the tree lighting ceremony had intrigued him. When he had first heard about it, some several days before, he had gotten an itch to make an ornament for it.
So here he was, standing head and shoulders over most of the crowd, wading through the people in his unseasonable t-shirt in order to get to the tree. He hung the ornament from a higher branch, then stepped back to admire his work. He smiled, a genuine thing that he had been doing more of lately. It felt good.

Malara Tor​

Malara could barely contain her excitement. This was her first ever Christmas, and her first ever tree lighting. But that wasn't exactly why she was excited. She knew Dorian would be here, and she wanted to give him the gift she had poured so much thought and care into designing. It hadn't been easy, sneaking around and getting help from the other Crown modeling employees without Dorian finding out.

Malara was easily recognizable from a distance. Of course there was the two foot tall column of flame that created a halo of sorts around her head. But beyond that, her attire was something out of a fashion nightmare. Her plain black leggings were fine, but they were mostly hidden under an oversized Christmas sweater for which the word ugly would have been a compliment. Colors clashed horribly, the script of 'HO HO HO' was stitched in comic sans, and the image of Santa that took up the center of the design was far creepier than it had any right to be.

In her hands was the fruits of her snesking, all for Dorian's sake, tucked neatly in a paper shopping bag. She didn't want to spoil the surprise too soon. Malara jumped once, scanning the crowd for her boss. There he was, climbing down the ladder from placing his ornament near the top like the egotistical dweeb he was.
Luckily, Malara's fiery hair caused most to give her a wide berth, and she ran through the gaps in the crowd until she nearly slammed into Dorian, a big stupid grin on her face.

"Hey boss man~ Merry Christmas. I got you a little something. It's not your real gift, I promise. But I worked hard getting it for you."

@Poppy

 

[Poppy]

Dorian Crawford
​

Dorian wasn't paying attention to anything happening around the crowd. When Dorian was focused on something, it was a cutting laser focus, and Christmas tree ornaments were serious business. That was why he didn't notice Malara barreling through the crowd towards him. He almost got knocked into the tree (and that would've been yikes), but he held onto her arm, saying nothing but a confused, "Abuh?"

Malara. And she looked like... His entire face went red looking at her. He covered his mouth and laughed. "Really?" He gestured at her sweater. "Was your sweater made by color blind people? And what's someone's creepy uncle doing hanging out around your tits?"

Something, huh? Dorian held his hands out for it, ready. Well, he thought he was ready. It was even uglier than the sweater Malara was wearing. And, pardon his exaggeration, uglier than anyone has ever worn, in the history of the planet. The stitching was alright, but the clashing colors and Comic Sans looked straight out of MS Paint. It said "Merry Fitzmas" in bright magenta font. It had lights.

"Are you telling me... you're giving someone who worked for 4 years in the fashion industry this abomination of a sweater?" He gave her a very flat look... then hugged the sweater to his chest. "I love it."

He put it on. He didn't bother taking off his coat and just put it on over his expensive Armani coat. He turned on the lights, and reveled in being more colorful than the Christmas tree.​

 

[Kada]

Malara Tor​

Even as Dorian grabbed onto her arm to keep from flying backwards into the Christmas tree, one of Malara's hands was striking out to grab at him as well. Once he was steadied, she mumbled out an apology, her grin dropping for a fraction of a second in a look of genuine concern.
She didn't get to worry for long if he was upset at her nearly toppling him over however, as he immediately began tearing her choice of attire apart. Each jab and criticism was like music to Malara's ears. She had, of course, chosen this sweater particularly because it was hideous. She craved attention and had no qualms about making a fool of herself to get it. And if she knew Dorian as well as she thought she did, he felt much the same way.

"Everything about my outfit is grotesque, and you focus on my tits. Typical," Malara said with a whine and a sarcastic pout. She thrust her arm out at him, holding the bag with his gift in it.

The corners of her mouth crept up into a renewed grin as she watched Dorian pull his own sweater out of the bag. The way he examined the material, the design, it was all so meticulous and professional. But there was also the undertone of abject horror. Malara was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet as she watched and waited for him to give her an answer.
And answer he did. I love it. And then he put. it. on.
The sudden rush of giddiness from the demigoddess was almost uncharacteristically child-like. She clapped her hands together and wrung them tight, her grin growing ever wider.

With a fake sigh of relief, she dramatically wiped a hand across her forehead and said, "Oh I'm so glad. I thought I might have to apologize by showing you what I'm wearing under my sweater."
She embellished her sentence with a sly wink and added, "But since you love it, I guess I'll keep my top on."

 

[Hyper]

June had one around once or twice around the rink in a comfortable glide, sometimes a few moments of him getting show-offy when he made his turn by skating backwards. He waved to a few familiar faces every now and then but found they were with other company. He didn't mind though; just being outdoor on a lovely evening was perfect as it was.

He'd been taking a break along the sides when he'd felt a hand on his shoulder. June turned his attention to the girl, a curious look on his face as he regarded her before it faded into a smile. "It's okay; no harm done," he said, turning to fully face her to introduced himself. "June; and please, the pleasure is all mine." He extended his hand to her like offering to lead her to dance, "I'm not quite an expert myself but I'd be glad to skate with you."

@Phoebe​

 

[Nicole]

She had never seen a Christmas tree before. not in real life that is. recently Narraine had begun to research what Christmas was, as it was the big holiday of this point in the year, and she had been pleasantly surprised by it. the more she learned the more she had wanted to take part in the festivities associated with it. That included the tree lighting ceremony.

She had texted Jared that she was going and that she would love if he met her here. So hopefully he would show up right away. In the mean time she was doing well to take in all the sights and sounds of the event. Clearly the tree itself was the center of the affair, and islanders were flocking to it to place their ornaments. Narraine had one of her own to put on, but she wanted to wait until Jared was here before she did it. For now the ornament sat in her hoodie pocket.

With a rather large grin she slipped over to the food table and poured herself a rather large cup of hot chocolate. Inside that she tipped in a chai teabag to add a little spice to the otherwise smooth chocolate flavor. Once the lid was on she made her way back towards the tree to look over the other ornaments that people had left.

@Saberteck