[OOC] Christmas Gift list, 2011 edition!
Heather got a job pretty much solely so that she could scrape together enough cash to afford presents (...since last year she'd relied mainly on the money she picked up and failed to give back to the Department Store from Joker's Goldenrod robbery), so HERE WE GO.
Much like last year, Heather made an effort to keep things more or less practical and easy to carry around-- gotta stay light for travel, of course. The exceptions are for the friends of her who she knows has settled down with an actual place of residence, like Rise or Ken and Miles.
CASTMATES:
Harry: Gotta get something special for Dad. No candy, because she'd wind up being the one to eat all of it (C'MON DAD ONE PIECE OF CHOCOLATE ISN'T GONNA GIVE YOU CAVITIES). Not clothes either, he's already got that covered, himself. Needless to say, out of everybody, she's probably spending the most on him. Ever since they talked about how he was gonna be able to keep writing without having to sprain his thumbs and strain his eyes typing on a tiny PokeGear screen, or lug around boatloads of notebooks, she's been planning this present: a laptop, used but still in more or less new condition. The network connections are laggy and slow but it's got the most important thing: a word processor. There's nothing else to accompany it, but she figures it'll mean more than glittery Christmas frippery.
Henry: So over the course of the several-months-now that Heather has spent getting to know her unofficially-adopted-brother, she's learned a few things about him, and has gotten him gifts that address each of these traits.
1) He gets the munchies on a regular basis. And also he steals her food. A lot. So she went and grabbed a bunch of leftover bags of fun-sized candy bars that were on clearance after Halloween for him. Chocolate never expires.
2) If he isn't a stoner now, he sure as hell WAS one at some point. The number of times she's watched him totally space out staring at stuff... In any case, she spotted a set of cheap (as in, this is the sort of thing you got in party bags or at the bottom of cereal boxes. She knows Henry won't mind) rainbow-film glasses shaped like Stantler antlers, so that he can get even more hours of enjoyment out of staring at mundane things.
3) He is a nervous wreck. Seriously. Poor jittery soul. So in the interest of helping him out with the nightmares she's sure he's having, she's getting him... a nightlight. .... Okay well technically no, but same general idea. It's a little frosted jar with a solar battery in it that shines at night. There's a Solrock hand-painted on the lid of the jar. She got it from one of the shops in town.
Douglas: is getting some PRACTICAL gifts, because... well, he's an old man, and he's traveling, and Heather just... worries about him, okay? He'll be receiving a mailed box with three items in it. 1) A pair of good hiking boots. 2) A pair of thick winter gloves, aaaaaand, most important of all, 3) a single Pokeball containing a Lv. 15 Magmar.
Attached to the package is a handwritten note with the message: "Merry Christmas old man. Love, Heather. P.S. The Pokemon's name is Kal-El. You can change it if you want though. Figured you'd need a fire type to keep your old man bones warm."
Claudia: will be receiving a small, anonymous package. In it will be a small bag of nice but generic Pokemon treats, a blank leather-bound journal, a couple little bottles of plain black ink. Who could it possibly be from? There's no note, but the last thing in the box may be a little telling: several large, soft white feathers with the occasional blue or red splotch on them. The quills are slitted on the ends to make them usable as pens.
Vincent: is getting a messily-taped box (because what is wrapping things nicely. Heather can't do it) containing the small army (there's maybe seven or eight) of ugly Mr. Mime garden gnomes that she and Kaito ... uh... 'liberated' on Halloween night. Along with a note reading "MERRY FUCKIN' CHRISTMAS. -the Masons" even though Harry undoubtedly would not approve of such trolling, or the profanity.
NON-CASTMATES:
Kaito: Okay, so Heather wanted to try something a little different this year. Since he's like, one of her best friends and all, she figured hey, maybe it should be something special, right? Everything else seemed super corny So she borrowed the oven in the inn and tried to make cookies. Simple, right? AND NOT CORNY. Everybody likes food! It's not weird!
.... NOPE. She's never made cookies from scratch.
They failed horribly.
It was awful.
Dough everywhere.
Somehow, SOMETHING exploded.
There was even fire.
Baking is apparently better left to more culinarily-inclined people. And also people who don't have Henry over their shoulder constantly sampling all the ingredients. Needless to say, she managed to salvage the fallen-apart gingerbread-man cookies by getting creative with the food coloring and decorating them as the victims of a zombie attack.
So... Merry Christmas, Kaito. You're getting a tray of zombie cookies.
And a book about the history of Johto's Pokemon-aided magicians, because she'd feel guilty if zombie cookies were her only Christmas contribution.
Rise: Like last year, Rise is getting one written coupon redeemable for a complaint-free shopping spree (admittedly with the addendum "But no making me try on schoolgirl outfits. I draw the line there.") But in accompanying the coupon are a pair of soft, stylish winter boots with a Drifblim color-scheme (pale purple, yellow, and white) complete with a couple of little Drifloon pom-poms dangling from each cuff. Lastly, there's a ... distinctly spherical shiny-colored Hoothoot plush. In a little bag. The note says it's so that Fukuro will have a buddy.
Crow: A knitted white scarf with black Murkrow patterns on it, as well as a matching hat. Because HAHA GET IT, 'CROW'?? AHAHAH okay yeah Heather isn't very creative. She also got him a small pouch with some chocolates and Rare Candies because come on everybody loves candy.
Cooper: The first thing Cooper gets is an ice cream sandwich. You know, one of the cheap kinds you can get out of ice cream vending machines. She'll hand it to him with a totally straight face and be all "Merry Christmas."
.... And then at some point she'll give him the actual gift. Which consists of a small bundle of candy canes, and two books: The Art of Pokemon-Assisted Meditation: Medicinal Benefits of Hypnosis, Stun Spores, Sleep Powder and More! (because HEY YOU LIKE TO MEDITATE RIGHT?), the most recent edition of the yearly Johto Police Almanac, which details the many Pokemon-related crimes recorded over the course of the year, which range from sinister to hilarious (it would seem that Heather's already gone through the whole thing and marked a couple of her favorite ones with Post-it notes. The best one, in her opinion, is the one where a guy with a Ditto tried to steal a priceless artifact from a museum in Goldenrod, executed the entire thing completely perfectly, narrowly escaped the police in a brilliant display of luck and strategy, only to find that he had escaped with his own Ditto, which had transformed to look like the artifact.)
Ironhide: What do you do when you can't think of anything to give to someone? SEND 'EM TONS OF FOOD. Except in this case, Heather's actually doing it for a reason. Because SOMEONE'S gotta get Ironhide to try new things. In any case, he'll be getting a pretty traditional food basket, with breads, cheeses, a few fruits, a thing of salami, some jams and nuts and stuff, pretty standard. The note says "TRY EVERYTHING IN THIS BASKET. If there's something you don't like, I dunno give it to Cliff or your Pokemon or something. Merry Christmas!! (that's a holiday), -Heather".
Arriving in a small, separate package (since she had to order the food basket from a company and stuff) is one (1) Metal Coat. Chosen for obvious reasons.
Otacon and Liquid: For her two favorite big bros, Heather's handing everything over in one big box. Otacon gets a remote-control toy Porygon, a coupon for downloadable PokeGear apps, and a box of green tea Pocky. Liquid gets a first-aid kit like last year (because SHE KNOWS WHAT HE'S LIKE WHEN HE GETS HURT) along with TM 56: Payback (accompanied by a note reading "This is for the POKEMON to use, not you!")
Ken Amada and Miles: The boys get a pretty hefty box in the mail-- consider it a house-warming gift as well as a Christmas one! The box (which has "DON'T OPEN UNTIL CHRISTMAS MORNING" and a crude skull and crossbones drawing on it) contains:
1) Two simple blankets. THEY'LL KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH 'EM. SPOILER: FORTS.
2) A healthy amount of candies and junk food because of course that's exactly what they need to stock their house up with.
3) Some joke-y prank toys like a "canned Zubat" (it's a can with a plush Zubat squashed inside), some other cans with sproingy Ekans in them, Ditto-putty, little wind-up Rattatas, etc.
4) Pokemon treats!
5) A letter commanding them to go play in the snow, with orders to provide photographic evidence of them doing so. No sarcastic standing-around-in-the-snow photos allowed.
Sora: In memory of Douglas the Mystery-Solving Poliwhirl (who is still running his own independent agency out there in the Ilex Forest), Sora is getting a Poliwhirl plush. Heather took the liberty of taping a paper beard and little plastic magnifying glass to him. Included are some candy canes and chocolates.
Envy: God knows where Heather found it, but Envy is getting a 'Zombidoof' plush with a note saying "It's a good thing you're not a zombie because otherwise you'd look like THIS. EWWWW." In a slightly more serious vein though, she's also giving him a dark green woolen scarf, a box of chocolates (with instructions to share them with France), and TM 67: Recycle.
Minnie Mouse: A necklace. Heather couldn't afford anything TOO fancy, but it's a single small Dragonair pearl hanging from a length of black cord. Accompanying it is a note reading "Thank you for being there for me. --Heather". Minnie will likely know what it's referring to.
Artemis and Beckett Fowl: The brothers get plaid scarves (did Heather deliberately choose something ugly? ... Probably) as well as hot chocolate mix and some of those cinnamon sticks that you put in hot drinks for spice. For Beckett in particular, there's a little Ponyta plush (since he got along so well with Carousel while Heather was watching him) and a note telling him to 'annoy Arty for me'. Even during the holidays, Heather's a bad influence.
Roxas: will be getting two items: a box of blue-raspberry Buizelpops and a small instant camera. Guess who remembers that evening on the rooftops when she tried her first seasalt ice cream?
Barney: She was pretty surprised by the actual... NICENESS of his gift, so rather than getting him another clown suit, she actually went the civilized route and got him some chocolates, a tin of treats for his Pokemon, and a... well. A vuvuzela. He seems like the kind of guy who'd like one. NOT included is a note of apology to whoever's in his immediate vicinity on Christmas morning. She really should have thought of that.
Professor Layton: This is probably the bazillionth puzzle he's getting, but she spotted it in some old antique shop in Ecruteak and couldn't help it. It's a little wooden house. The catch? It can't be opened unless you figure out how to puzzle open a little drawer attached to it with a key inside! ... If he can do that (of course he will, he's the Proff'.) he'll find some mints and a little card from Heather wishing him a merry Christmas.
Jack Skellington: What's that, Jack? You've lost faith in horror film? Well, too bad, because Heather found a DVD of "Santa VS. the Deoxys" and that's what you're getting for Christmas.
Wataru: Beside the usual added candies and the like, Wataru is getting two items: a King's Rock and TM 27: Return. His Pokemon are actually a lot stronger than Heather probably thinks, but either way, any advantage in a fight, right?
Bakura: Heather figures this poor guy needs as much help on the toughening-up front as he can get, so along with some chocolate cookies, is several X Attacks as well as a few Protein drinks for his Pokemon. DON'T WORRY BAKURA YOU'LL BE ABLE TO DEFEND YOURSELF AGAINST THOSE FANGIRLS BEFORE LONG.
Larry: Escape ropes. Like, four of them. What is it about Ace Attorney characters and falling off of things? She figures Larry will be able to use these. Needless to say, it's accompanied by a tin of sweet stuff. You know, cookies, candy canes, the like.
Chie: A pair of cleats. Probably not the kind of kicking Chie usually does, but ... well, kicking and cleats just GO together, okay?
Vanitas: is getting a bottle. Just... a glass bottle. It has a label slapped onto it that reads "COMMON SENSE". Inside the bottle is a note reading "When you're about to do something totally stupid, turn the bottle upside down over your head and pretend you suddenly know better. Merry Christmas."
Steph: A map. ... Which may not seem like much, especially since there's a map function on all the 'Gears, but this one's unique because Heather apparently went wild on it with a marker. All sorts of things are marked, everything from good streets and buildings to hide in ("UNATTENDED DUMPSTERS BIG ENOUGH TO FIT INSIDE DOWN THIS ALLEY--->") to recommended restaurants ("BEST COFFEE EVER: RIGHT HERE"). Gotta help newbies out wherever possible, right? It's rolled up and tied with some string, along with some candy canes.
to come, assuming Heather gets anything besides coal!
Much like last year, Heather made an effort to keep things more or less practical and easy to carry around-- gotta stay light for travel, of course. The exceptions are for the friends of her who she knows has settled down with an actual place of residence, like Rise or Ken and Miles.
CASTMATES:
Harry: Gotta get something special for Dad. No candy, because she'd wind up being the one to eat all of it (C'MON DAD ONE PIECE OF CHOCOLATE ISN'T GONNA GIVE YOU CAVITIES). Not clothes either, he's already got that covered, himself. Needless to say, out of everybody, she's probably spending the most on him. Ever since they talked about how he was gonna be able to keep writing without having to sprain his thumbs and strain his eyes typing on a tiny PokeGear screen, or lug around boatloads of notebooks, she's been planning this present: a laptop, used but still in more or less new condition. The network connections are laggy and slow but it's got the most important thing: a word processor. There's nothing else to accompany it, but she figures it'll mean more than glittery Christmas frippery.
Henry: So over the course of the several-months-now that Heather has spent getting to know her unofficially-adopted-brother, she's learned a few things about him, and has gotten him gifts that address each of these traits.
1) He gets the munchies on a regular basis. And also he steals her food. A lot. So she went and grabbed a bunch of leftover bags of fun-sized candy bars that were on clearance after Halloween for him. Chocolate never expires.
2) If he isn't a stoner now, he sure as hell WAS one at some point. The number of times she's watched him totally space out staring at stuff... In any case, she spotted a set of cheap (as in, this is the sort of thing you got in party bags or at the bottom of cereal boxes. She knows Henry won't mind) rainbow-film glasses shaped like Stantler antlers, so that he can get even more hours of enjoyment out of staring at mundane things.
3) He is a nervous wreck. Seriously. Poor jittery soul. So in the interest of helping him out with the nightmares she's sure he's having, she's getting him... a nightlight. .... Okay well technically no, but same general idea. It's a little frosted jar with a solar battery in it that shines at night. There's a Solrock hand-painted on the lid of the jar. She got it from one of the shops in town.
Douglas: is getting some PRACTICAL gifts, because... well, he's an old man, and he's traveling, and Heather just... worries about him, okay? He'll be receiving a mailed box with three items in it. 1) A pair of good hiking boots. 2) A pair of thick winter gloves, aaaaaand, most important of all, 3) a single Pokeball containing a Lv. 15 Magmar.
Attached to the package is a handwritten note with the message: "Merry Christmas old man. Love, Heather. P.S. The Pokemon's name is Kal-El. You can change it if you want though. Figured you'd need a fire type to keep your old man bones warm."
Claudia: will be receiving a small, anonymous package. In it will be a small bag of nice but generic Pokemon treats, a blank leather-bound journal, a couple little bottles of plain black ink. Who could it possibly be from? There's no note, but the last thing in the box may be a little telling: several large, soft white feathers with the occasional blue or red splotch on them. The quills are slitted on the ends to make them usable as pens.
Vincent: is getting a messily-taped box (because what is wrapping things nicely. Heather can't do it) containing the small army (there's maybe seven or eight) of ugly Mr. Mime garden gnomes that she and Kaito ... uh... 'liberated' on Halloween night. Along with a note reading "MERRY FUCKIN' CHRISTMAS. -the Masons" even though Harry undoubtedly would not approve of such trolling, or the profanity.
NON-CASTMATES:
Kaito: Okay, so Heather wanted to try something a little different this year. Since he's like, one of her best friends and all, she figured hey, maybe it should be something special, right? Everything else seemed super corny So she borrowed the oven in the inn and tried to make cookies. Simple, right? AND NOT CORNY. Everybody likes food! It's not weird!
.... NOPE. She's never made cookies from scratch.
They failed horribly.
It was awful.
Dough everywhere.
Somehow, SOMETHING exploded.
There was even fire.
Baking is apparently better left to more culinarily-inclined people. And also people who don't have Henry over their shoulder constantly sampling all the ingredients. Needless to say, she managed to salvage the fallen-apart gingerbread-man cookies by getting creative with the food coloring and decorating them as the victims of a zombie attack.
So... Merry Christmas, Kaito. You're getting a tray of zombie cookies.
And a book about the history of Johto's Pokemon-aided magicians, because she'd feel guilty if zombie cookies were her only Christmas contribution.
Rise: Like last year, Rise is getting one written coupon redeemable for a complaint-free shopping spree (admittedly with the addendum "But no making me try on schoolgirl outfits. I draw the line there.") But in accompanying the coupon are a pair of soft, stylish winter boots with a Drifblim color-scheme (pale purple, yellow, and white) complete with a couple of little Drifloon pom-poms dangling from each cuff. Lastly, there's a ... distinctly spherical shiny-colored Hoothoot plush. In a little bag. The note says it's so that Fukuro will have a buddy.
Crow: A knitted white scarf with black Murkrow patterns on it, as well as a matching hat. Because HAHA GET IT, 'CROW'?? AHAHAH okay yeah Heather isn't very creative. She also got him a small pouch with some chocolates and Rare Candies because come on everybody loves candy.
Cooper: The first thing Cooper gets is an ice cream sandwich. You know, one of the cheap kinds you can get out of ice cream vending machines. She'll hand it to him with a totally straight face and be all "Merry Christmas."
.... And then at some point she'll give him the actual gift. Which consists of a small bundle of candy canes, and two books: The Art of Pokemon-Assisted Meditation: Medicinal Benefits of Hypnosis, Stun Spores, Sleep Powder and More! (because HEY YOU LIKE TO MEDITATE RIGHT?), the most recent edition of the yearly Johto Police Almanac, which details the many Pokemon-related crimes recorded over the course of the year, which range from sinister to hilarious (it would seem that Heather's already gone through the whole thing and marked a couple of her favorite ones with Post-it notes. The best one, in her opinion, is the one where a guy with a Ditto tried to steal a priceless artifact from a museum in Goldenrod, executed the entire thing completely perfectly, narrowly escaped the police in a brilliant display of luck and strategy, only to find that he had escaped with his own Ditto, which had transformed to look like the artifact.)
Ironhide: What do you do when you can't think of anything to give to someone? SEND 'EM TONS OF FOOD. Except in this case, Heather's actually doing it for a reason. Because SOMEONE'S gotta get Ironhide to try new things. In any case, he'll be getting a pretty traditional food basket, with breads, cheeses, a few fruits, a thing of salami, some jams and nuts and stuff, pretty standard. The note says "TRY EVERYTHING IN THIS BASKET. If there's something you don't like, I dunno give it to Cliff or your Pokemon or something. Merry Christmas!! (that's a holiday), -Heather".
Arriving in a small, separate package (since she had to order the food basket from a company and stuff) is one (1) Metal Coat. Chosen for obvious reasons.
Otacon and Liquid: For her two favorite big bros, Heather's handing everything over in one big box. Otacon gets a remote-control toy Porygon, a coupon for downloadable PokeGear apps, and a box of green tea Pocky. Liquid gets a first-aid kit like last year (because SHE KNOWS WHAT HE'S LIKE WHEN HE GETS HURT) along with TM 56: Payback (accompanied by a note reading "This is for the POKEMON to use, not you!")
Ken Amada and Miles: The boys get a pretty hefty box in the mail-- consider it a house-warming gift as well as a Christmas one! The box (which has "DON'T OPEN UNTIL CHRISTMAS MORNING" and a crude skull and crossbones drawing on it) contains:
1) Two simple blankets. THEY'LL KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH 'EM. SPOILER: FORTS.
2) A healthy amount of candies and junk food because of course that's exactly what they need to stock their house up with.
3) Some joke-y prank toys like a "canned Zubat" (it's a can with a plush Zubat squashed inside), some other cans with sproingy Ekans in them, Ditto-putty, little wind-up Rattatas, etc.
4) Pokemon treats!
5) A letter commanding them to go play in the snow, with orders to provide photographic evidence of them doing so. No sarcastic standing-around-in-the-snow photos allowed.
Sora: In memory of Douglas the Mystery-Solving Poliwhirl (who is still running his own independent agency out there in the Ilex Forest), Sora is getting a Poliwhirl plush. Heather took the liberty of taping a paper beard and little plastic magnifying glass to him. Included are some candy canes and chocolates.
Envy: God knows where Heather found it, but Envy is getting a 'Zombidoof' plush with a note saying "It's a good thing you're not a zombie because otherwise you'd look like THIS. EWWWW." In a slightly more serious vein though, she's also giving him a dark green woolen scarf, a box of chocolates (with instructions to share them with France), and TM 67: Recycle.
Minnie Mouse: A necklace. Heather couldn't afford anything TOO fancy, but it's a single small Dragonair pearl hanging from a length of black cord. Accompanying it is a note reading "Thank you for being there for me. --Heather". Minnie will likely know what it's referring to.
Artemis and Beckett Fowl: The brothers get plaid scarves (did Heather deliberately choose something ugly? ... Probably) as well as hot chocolate mix and some of those cinnamon sticks that you put in hot drinks for spice. For Beckett in particular, there's a little Ponyta plush (since he got along so well with Carousel while Heather was watching him) and a note telling him to 'annoy Arty for me'. Even during the holidays, Heather's a bad influence.
Roxas: will be getting two items: a box of blue-raspberry Buizelpops and a small instant camera. Guess who remembers that evening on the rooftops when she tried her first seasalt ice cream?
Barney: She was pretty surprised by the actual... NICENESS of his gift, so rather than getting him another clown suit, she actually went the civilized route and got him some chocolates, a tin of treats for his Pokemon, and a... well. A vuvuzela. He seems like the kind of guy who'd like one. NOT included is a note of apology to whoever's in his immediate vicinity on Christmas morning. She really should have thought of that.
Professor Layton: This is probably the bazillionth puzzle he's getting, but she spotted it in some old antique shop in Ecruteak and couldn't help it. It's a little wooden house. The catch? It can't be opened unless you figure out how to puzzle open a little drawer attached to it with a key inside! ... If he can do that (of course he will, he's the Proff'.) he'll find some mints and a little card from Heather wishing him a merry Christmas.
Jack Skellington: What's that, Jack? You've lost faith in horror film? Well, too bad, because Heather found a DVD of "Santa VS. the Deoxys" and that's what you're getting for Christmas.
Wataru: Beside the usual added candies and the like, Wataru is getting two items: a King's Rock and TM 27: Return. His Pokemon are actually a lot stronger than Heather probably thinks, but either way, any advantage in a fight, right?
Bakura: Heather figures this poor guy needs as much help on the toughening-up front as he can get, so along with some chocolate cookies, is several X Attacks as well as a few Protein drinks for his Pokemon. DON'T WORRY BAKURA YOU'LL BE ABLE TO DEFEND YOURSELF AGAINST THOSE FANGIRLS BEFORE LONG.
Larry: Escape ropes. Like, four of them. What is it about Ace Attorney characters and falling off of things? She figures Larry will be able to use these. Needless to say, it's accompanied by a tin of sweet stuff. You know, cookies, candy canes, the like.
Chie: A pair of cleats. Probably not the kind of kicking Chie usually does, but ... well, kicking and cleats just GO together, okay?
Vanitas: is getting a bottle. Just... a glass bottle. It has a label slapped onto it that reads "COMMON SENSE". Inside the bottle is a note reading "When you're about to do something totally stupid, turn the bottle upside down over your head and pretend you suddenly know better. Merry Christmas."
Steph: A map. ... Which may not seem like much, especially since there's a map function on all the 'Gears, but this one's unique because Heather apparently went wild on it with a marker. All sorts of things are marked, everything from good streets and buildings to hide in ("UNATTENDED DUMPSTERS BIG ENOUGH TO FIT INSIDE DOWN THIS ALLEY--->") to recommended restaurants ("BEST COFFEE EVER: RIGHT HERE"). Gotta help newbies out wherever possible, right? It's rolled up and tied with some string, along with some candy canes.
to come, assuming Heather gets anything besides coal!