The evening began with a ton of rad auctions, giveaways, and contests. Grant Imahara called in, geeked out about Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and told us how Jamie from Mythbusters eats hamburgers. Alex’s shift was a sleepover theme, so those of us who had been told dressed up in pajamas.

We hit $150,000 in donations this year at 8:53! It was amazing.

We had a very special guest stop by…

Alex and Kathleen told some spoopy stories, but pissed off Grumpy Dad Beej. We got pizza delivered, which was AMAZING, and it did not have a tentacle on it (suck it, Morgan!)

We got #DB007 trending on Twitter. I put out the call for Cheevo icons, which WE STILL NEED, so check the blog post and send your icons to cheevos@desertbus.org!

At about 3:00, Alex hit us all in the feels with a writing challenge calling for inspiring stories of hardship, recovery, and emotional support from our viewers. We got an overwhelming amount of incredibly personal, wonderful stories, which made me cry and made us all realize that we are not alone in our struggles. <3

Then the horse mask got put on top of the auction light.

Alex hosted a wonderful Derpline, we had more giveaways and a Minecraft Creeper Memorial art challenge, and I realized that I’d been blogging for eleven hours and brain no work.

SO MIA GO SLEEPYBYE NOW SEE YOU ALL NEXT ZETA SHIFT. I LOVE YOU.

P.S.: I will properly collect and assemble all of the feels posts into a big document during my next shift. You guys put a lot of trust into me to read these, and so I will honour that and will compile everything next time I am on. I love all of you. <3 -Doctor Mia

UPDATE: We still need cheevo icons, folks! You’ll go down in DESERT BUS HISTORY for creating them, so send them in. Please note: the list below has been updated to reflect the icons we need; please submit designs for these only. 

I’ve linked the background image below, so please use that as your base and get creative. This year’s theme is white on blue background; head over to the Achievements page to get an idea of what we’re looking for, and send your submissions to  cheevos@desertbus.org.

Here’s a list of the cheevo icons we need:

• Don’t Stop Me Now!: We crash the bus
• Walrus Tickle Dance Bance: A marathon dance session of Carmelldansen
• Clubbing a Dead Horse: Someone gets ‘clubbed’
• Kid Gloves: Someone drives Desert Bus with socks on their hands
• Dog Catcher: Someone in the chat notices Spot the Dog
• It’s Named Nick: Something previously unnamed is given a nickname by the chatroom
• Corporate Takeover: Desert Bus is consumed by benevolent corporate overlords

Click for the
full-size template!

This was a tough one, folks. I didn’t even realize I’d compiled 14 shortlisters until I was going through them with Alex; it was an AGONIZING process, but the winner of Alex’s Tan art challenge is Simon Beaudoin!

The other four short-shortlisters are:

And the rest are below the cut!

I get a lot of people who tell me that they “just don’t get Twitter.” Well, viewers, I know YOU guys are savvy to the little blue bird, and you know of its immense power; last year William freakin’ Shatner learned about Desert Bus and tweeted about us.

That was cool, but we  can do better.

So, your mission, should you choose to accept it: Get the official Desert Bus 7 hashtag, #DB007, ranking in Canada, the US, or worldwide (OMG) in the top ten. If you can do it, we have some truly ridiculous swag to give away; it’s so fantastic that even I don’t know what it is yet. So tell your followers, live-tweet the Zeta shift, and get us trending, guys!

Okay, Desert Bus fans, the lovely Kara has expectations, and when she has expectations you do not want to disappoint.

Here’s the deal: we need icons made for some of our achievements, and the best ones will be put up on the Desert Bus website and used as official badges when we trigger the cheevos! I’ve linked the background image below, so please use that as your base and get creative. This year’s theme is white on blue background; head over to the Achievements page to get an idea of what we’re looking for, and send your submissions to  cheevos@desertbus.org.

Here’s a list of the cheevo icons we need:

• On the Road Again: Reach 1 point
• Road Trip!: We reach 5 points
• Don’t Stop Me Now!: We crash the bus
• Vegeta Extreme: $9001 donated by a single donor
• Fancy Hat: Someone puts pants on their head
• Two Heads are Better Than One: two people sing a duet
• Walrus Tickle Dance Bance: A marathon dance session of Carmelldansen
• Saturday Morning: A sing along of an old cartoon theme song
• Clubbing a Dead Horse: Someone gets ‘clubbed’
• Kid Gloves: Someone drives Desert Bus with socks on their hands
• Dog Catcher: Someone in the chat notices Spot the Dog
• We <3 Handmade: Awarded when a Craft-Along item auctions for over $2000
• Who’s Cutting Onions?: Someone at the Moonbase is moved to tears by “all dem feels”
• It’s Named Nick: Something previously unnamed is given a nickname by the chatroom
• Corporate Takeover: Desert Bus is consumed by benevolent corporate overlords
• We’re Helping!: When the chat solves a problem nobody at the Moonbase can

Click for the
full-size template!

We’d like to take a minute to thank Ken Smith, a writer at the video game blog Pixelitis, for an article about Desert Bus he wrote earlier this week!

In his article, Ken wrote:

“Of all the charity live streams on the Internet, Desert Bus for Hope is probably the only one where the viewers have no interest in the game being played… so the streamers earn their donations by performing ridiculous antics to the great amusement of the viewers. Upon one such viewing, I was treated to the entire room singing “Kung Fu Fighting” and doing karate kicks. That’s basically what you should expect.”

It’s articles like these that help us bring it home for the children, so thanks to Ken and the entire Pixelitis team! We think your website is pretty fancy too.

Read the article here or go right to their website at Pixelitis.net, an ever growing source of news, reviews and insightful features on the industry you care about.

Alex has initiated his first contest of his shift! Draw a Tan mascot girl for Desert Bus and you could win this sweet Capcom 30th Anniversary Encyclopedia.

Send in your submissions to contests@desertbus.org before 1:30 am PST.

We’re heading into Zeta shift, but that doesn’t mean we’re slowing down (not that you can, in Desert Bus…). We have these outstanding silent auctions running. Bid now, bid later, but make sure you get in your bids, because this block is really impressive, you guys.

Ending at 2am PST:

The adorable Whale Plaid Whale Plate!

A Spooooooooky-cool Bullseye Glass Minecraft Skeleton Plate!

Totally Radical TMNT Coffee Sleeves!

Ending at 6am PST:

The Faaaaantastic Windborne Pack!

A Gorgeous, Signed (!!) Defense Grid Poster!

This absolutely mindblowing Zelda Doll!

WE HIT THAT IN DONATIONS THIS YEAR. YOU GUYS!

Whale dong, you guys. Whale dong. <3

After a fantastic set of submissions, we’re pleased to announce that the winner of Kathleen’s ‘Draw Pel’ Contest is RoseNightshade!! They will receive this sweet D&D pack for their trouble. Congratulations to all who made the shortlist, because Kathleen was truly impressed–and she is a lady of very high-quality taste.

The rest of the finalists are below the cut!