2022-12-24: Christmas Gifts at Tsutsujidai HS
FOR WALLED GARDEN
On Christmas Eve, a holiday-themed recital was performed in the Tsutsujidai High School auditorium by Mari Makinami Illustrious (on vocals), Kaworu Nagisa (on piano and violin), Rei Ayanami (on viola), Asuka Shikinami Langley (on viola), and Shinji Ikari (on cello), with Alouette Kaas handling sound and lights. As part of the concert, there was a respectably sized Christmas tree set up in a corner near the stage, decorated beautifully with an array of unique, luminescent ornaments.
Each ornament had a paper tag attached to it with twine, and each tag bore a name of many of the denizens, temporary or otherwise, of Tsutsujidai. A sign on the wall next to the tree read: "Please accept your ornament. --K. Nagisa"
The ornaments are all light and seemingly fragile, but they actually won't break easily; if they're dropped or even thrown, they won't get scratched, though a concentrated effort to smash one will result in it being smashed. The insides light up at the press of a tiny button at the base, so each one can also serve as an emergency light in a pinch.
One can search for theirs no problem; indeed, each ornament was hung at precisely eye level for the person for whom it was prepared. After the recital, the tree was left out near the school entrance, inside out of the rain, for people to come by and claim their ornaments. Once rations were given out the next day on Christmas morning, if there were any ornaments left, they were removed and set on a table just inside the school's entrance for people to pick up at their leisure, as the tree itself was a gift.
The Christmas ornament gifts include:
For S. Ikari: an egg-shaped bulb, ocean blue up top and sandy beige on bottom to form a beach; a painted silver anchor rests there at a comfortable angle.
For R. Ayanami: a white teardrop-shaped bulb patterned with clear stars inside interlocking circles (or perhaps zeroes?); the internal light is Ayanami blue.
For A. S. Langley: a glittery red bulb shaped like an inverted teardrop, textured such that it looks like it's covered with countless miniscule spikes.
For A. Kaas: a wavy, onion-shaped orange bulb with dark blue tentacles painted on that drape top-down, accented in medium blue with silver suckers.
For E. Daiwel: a lightbulb-shaped green bulb with jagged black lines painted around the center; UV light filaments in the center make it fluoresce.
For M. M. Illustrious: a gaudy, hot pink cat-shaped bulb, painted an additional bright red and snow white to make it a sort of calico, with both paws raised.
For Gridman, also known as Y. Hibiki (as is stated on his present's tag): an extra-thick and thus extra-sturdy red bulb with five smaller bulbs inside; they chime prettily against each other when shaken.
For Anti: rather than a glass bulb, it’s an edible ornament made of four strips of BBQ-glazed jerky curled around each other to form a globe, sprinkled with stripes of ground nuts for the white and dotted with freeze-dried strawberries and peas for that red and green.
For Anosillus II: a turtle-shaped wooden bulb, rounded on top and flat on the bottom, with a cheery smile on the turtle's face and the musical notation for a sharp note painted on its back; its tail is a crank, and when spun, an internal music box plays Silent Night.
For R. Takarada: a dark blue bulb frosted in silver to give the impression of a snowy night, with a large, intricate white snowflake in the center.
For S. Utsumi: a banded dark green bulb with two smaller bulbs on each side; white lace banded with light green and gold hold all of them together.
For the Neon Genesis Junior High Students: a set of four connecting gilded puzzle-piece ornaments, flat with a different-colored LED light embedded; together, they frame Gridman's bulb. Calibur's is red; Borr's is yellow; Max's is green; Vit's is blue.
For A. Pommier: a round cyan bulb painted at the center with a skylark perched on a twig, eyes bright and beak open as if about to break into song.
For R. C. Shishioh: a dark pink bulb with curved lines of golden glitter arching artfully to frame a stylized depiction of a rampant lioness on its front.
For G. Shishioh: a long filament, set with little LED lights in red, blue, green, and yellow, woven into a globe; a golden rampant lion pendant hangs within.
For M. Amami and I. Kaidou: a pair of matching mercury glass-finished finial ornaments, textured and lamp-like, with a single wing on one side of each; Mamoru's is red, while Ikumi's is blue.
For Liam: a Claddagh ornament: a golden cord ties together two white hands that clutch a crowned red heart, from which light-up spires emanate.
For S. Hebikura: a clear but solid lightbulb ornament inside which a bonsai-like frosted pine and holly wreath has been set; the holly berries light up.
For H. Natsukawa: a traditional-looking painted bulb that depicts children playing near a river not in winter but in summer; the whole bulb lights up.
For Y. Ohta: a cheery, bright red bulb decorated with green, white, and gold glittering cords; a Red King in a Santa hat roars merrily on the front.
For O. Zevon: a grooved, onion-shaped bulb, frosted black on the top and bottom and shading into white around the middle, with a gold lyre painted on.
For G. Kurenai: a bright crimson round bulb with an effervescent ramune marble dangling inside; the internal light appears to come from within the orb.
For S. Schweizer: a clear bulb with a window cut open on one side; a little bird inside holds its wings aloft as if about to take flight out that window.
For L. Igaguri: a clear bulb with a stylized angel statuette within; silver glitter lines the bottom, creating a snowscape effect around the angel.
For U. Zero: a silver bulb with a black zero painted on front; red and blue lines sweep back from the zero on each side and over the top.
For J. Cektru: a textured spheroid ornament designed to look like the planet Earth, the continents curving outwards in green in literal seas of blue.
For S. S. Grace: a simple blue orb cradled by loose, knitted white cords, patterned in diamonds around the center; a tassel hangs from the bottom.
For Zan: the tree itself, it seems, is Zan's gift: once all the other ornaments are claimed, the pine in its stand is for him, nobly shimmering with tinsel and a string of white lights.
...save, that is, for the star topper: a luminescent pinkish-silver star whose tips gradually darken into madder red. After the ornaments have all been claimed--and there are many more besides those listed above--it's removed and set aside for... no one who is named, it seems.