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[cratecrasher]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, DEATH_TORNADO. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 010.02.202.04

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BACKDATED: DEC 25

[noasark]

[Merry Nattenfest, though perhaps a bit early- as close to the time as possible, Noa arranges a reason for Crash to be out for about the entire day. When he returns, he finds that the apartment down below has been completely rearranged, totally unrelated to all the questions about Crash's homelife, yep.

He also finds a warm cloak waiting for him- it might be a bit roomy, as Noa has no idea what monster he'll be at that point, and wants to be careful.]

<WhiteWizard>

[softspokenlandlord]

im sorry i never wished you a happy birthday crash

but belated is better than never, isnt it?/

so happy birthday

<KrisKringle>

[getmeoutofthedraft]

Ho ho ho! Merry freaking Christmas!

Your Secret Santa recipient this year is A.M (who calls himself 11011010101 or 0100001000 or... I don't know, some combinations of ones and zeros, do I look like a computer? on the network). Please buy, make, or otherwise procure him a nice gift before December 26! You can give this directly, or label it clearly and drop it off at Crowe Clinic C/O Hawkeye Pierce.

Remember: Saint Nick is watching, and he knows where you live!

Happy Holidays, etcetera, and so forth,
Santa Claus

<noxalas> | December 11th

[greaterbanishment]

greetings death Underscore tornado
also known as Crash

my name is jodariel
i am inquiring about interests of your sister tawny
Who i have been anonymously assigned in the Secret Santa.

[ Yeah so speech-to-text can get a little buggy, huh. ]

<DEATH_TORNADO>

[cratecrasher]

[Meanwhile, beyond the computer screen, a pig nearly chokes on their coffee.]

not my sister!

just friend

MERR CRISIS

[endlesspastability]

[Deposited outside of the front door of Crash's house by the lake is a sloppily wrapped package.

Inside is a canister of fancy hot chocolate and some even fancier home made marshmallows. A sloppily written but charming note is included.

"CRASH!

Thanks for the cocoa that one time!! I thought I'd replace what I drank. The marshmelows are home made but not by me, I am not that talented!

your famous friend,
SONIC"]

Backdated to December 24th

[heyhohey]

[Crash will find a box waiting for him, meticulously wrapped and tied off with a big red bow. It smells vaguely of peppermint, and even prior to opening it, it isn't hard to work out who it might be from.

Inside is a handkerchief, neatly hand-embroidered with a big red CB and a pattern of very cute little trotting piggies. Beneath it, there is an oversized pair of fuzzy red earmuffs, and a note:]

You saved my life when I got here - thank you so much. You are very nice, and I am sorry for yelling when we met. I hope we can get to know each other a little better!

Take care,
Alfred

backdated to 12/25 I'M SO SORRY THIS IS LATE

[leggierissimo]

[At some point overnight, a package will show up at Crash's door! It's neatly wrapped and smells vaguely like cinnamon. Upon opening, the box reveals a bundle of relatively freshly-baked sugar cookies coated in a dusting of cinnamon-sugar. They're clearly not hand-made by the sender, but rather commissioned from a local bakery.

Inside is included a note:]

Thanks for the assist back at the "amusement" park. This is a Secret Santa gift, so don't worry about refusing it as a token of gratitude. Hopefully they don't arrive in crumbles.

- J

1/2 - Christmas Attack!!

[swashgrappling]

[On Christmas itself, Crash will find a smaller package wrapped up in plain brown paper. The package is placed in his mailbox.

Upon opening he'll find a wumpa fruit recreated carefully out of beads on a small leather strip. Big enough to be a bookmark or hung up as wanted.]

The bigger gift is going to come later. Bug hell kind of derailed my plans.

- Tawna

2/2 -Christmas Attack Continues!!

[swashgrappling]

[As promised a week or so later, another gift appears.

The creation is more complex in comparison to the first. A beaded scene of a palm tree, with three sleeping bandicoots piled together. The sky is vaguely implied with faded colors, but the attention was put on the three figures. Crash can likely pick out the familiar features of Coco, himself, and Tawna. The delicate bead work is fairly intricate.]

Merry Christmas, Crash.

Thanks, for everything. You've made this easier. This whole experience is ranking up there in being very weird, but, you're making it less so.

I've never been great at expressing myself in written form, but, I wanted to at least thank you.

- Tawna

<DEATH_TORNADO> | Still Backdated to Crimmus

[cratecrasher]

[After admiring his bounty of presents from friends and new friends, it doesn't take long for Crash to reach out to at least Tawna.]

I have snack gift to share! :)

[Because of course he's in much better health and spirits well after the bug park.]

Want to come over? Or should I visit? You got snowglobe too?

MEGALATE NATTENSFEST

[noasark]

[A very merry christmas Crash- while it might seem somewhat in poor taste, Noa's had replicas of his mask friends made for him to have as keepsakes. He did his best- but between memory and having them commissioned, they aren't going to be quite right. Still, he tried right? There's also a large container of holiday food. A must, he's sure.]

June 3rd- Sometime after first feeding

[pendulumentertainment]

can you meet me at lake dala- im gonna head there we can meet half way


theres something i wanna um- talk about i guess


[It's a very sudden network message, if Crash were to answer it, he would not get an answer.]

[cratecrasher]

sure Yuya, what about?

[Though when enough minutes pass that the kid doesn't reply, the nymph obliges by walking out his door to meet him at the lake shore. Crash is still a next-door neighbor to the Hill House after all. And remains very orange from the neck down to his ankles and elbows.]

action, backdated to some time after the wasteland

[ibalsamina]

[Considering her complete lack of experience with dinosaurs (even the word is new to her), Lusamine had done a remarkable job keeping the T-rex that stumbled into her possession healthy and well-fed in his true owner's absence. Training him, on the other hand, had proven impossible—and today, when the creature suddenly runs off for the umpteenth time while out on their walk, she can do little but call feebly after him as she gives chase.]

Oh—now where are you off to, you silly thing? To me! For goodness' sake, to me!

[Alas, Baby T seems to have no intention of returning to her, as he's spotted a familiar face in the crowd...]

[cratecrasher]

[Stubborn 'little' guy isn't he? While humans give a wide berth to the charging dino, there's one monster that despite declines to move out of the way and actually perks up excitedly at the sight of it.]

Baby T...!

[The T-Rex bellowed out as if fully acknowledging the call and immediately bumped their snout into Crash's face like an oversized puppy. And in response, the dino's furry surrogate mama bust out laughing aloud, with even his eyes getting wet with happy tears as he petted and nuzzled his giant scaly baby back.

Gosh. He'd almost forgotten all about the poor thing back in that wasteland, with how much had been going on.]

<Grappled> - Sept 24th

[swashgrappling]

Hey, you.

I wanted to say, goodbye. I'm sorry about the way things shook out, but I still care about you, Crash. Hard not to. You're my first friend and my first love. We're kind of stuck on each other in a lot of ways.

I just knew I was hurting myself and you by sticking to the relationship when I wasn't as ready as I thought I was. I need the time to grow and heal things. So it's never been you.

I don't regret trying things again with you. I just wasn't ready enough for it.

You know where to find me if you need me. I'll probably go out of town for a bit to explore, but you know me.

I'll be back. Like a bad penny, I'm hard to get rid of.

See ya,

-Tawna

<WhiteWizard> finally got to this, backdated to divorce 2 time period, but before mid month bs. :')

[softspokenlandlord]

hello crash

do you have any leftover wumpashine? i can pay you for it, it needn't be free.

um, also...do you want to hang out, maybe? for a little while. not long it's just

i don't want to be alone

does that make sense? it doesn't does it?

[This is the weirdest line of messaging ever, especially for Ryou, who is generally just a bit more put together than this when he's texting. Even Ryou can tell...so shortly after--]

on second thought you don't have to deal with this. please ignore me.

<DEATH_TORNADO>

[cratecrasher]

wouldn't ignore you just because something happened, friend

I'm free to hang out if something happened again

[He has... a vague feeling about this, but can't put his finger on it.]

<KrisKringle>

[getmeoutofthedraft]

Ho ho ho! Your Secret Santa giftee is BRUNO MADRIGAL, cheerfully called "AGhostOfTheManIWas" on the network. He's more fun than he sounds. I think.

Buy or make Bruno a gift by December 26, or Santa will come down your chimney and box your ears.

If you need more information, contact me C/O Hawkeye Pierce at Crowe Clinic, and I'll delegate him to tell you to do your own research.

SECRET SANTAMAS

[unholey]

[Fugo might not have signed up for Secret Santa on his own but, as promised, he is not the kind of asshole who'd blow it off anyway. Although he doesn't know Crash personally, after consulting with his friends and coworkers, Fugo was able to learn a little more about him. Or, at the very least, that he coincidentally also happens to live on the shores of Lake Dala. After some thought and, upon remembering Crash's offhand mention that he likes messing around with percussive instruments a proper idea finally occurs to him.

On December 24, a neatly wrapped package containing a drum and double-sided stick, along with a small sealed container of soft chocolate-coated cookies. A note, written with sharp and precise handwriting, reads:]

This drum is meant to be played on its side using the tipper; brace the hoop under your arm for stability. The cookies are called mustaccioli, courtesy of Libeccio's.

Happy holidays, season's greasons, and All That from your Secret Santa.

[If Crash messes around with the drum, this is what it might sound like! Neat.]

Christmas Gift

[aquilasshadow]

Happy Nattensfest!

Post event, Jan 23rd ish

[polarvoid]

[Somehow, someway, Basil has made it to Lake Dala from Bavan. It's likely thanks to the help of another, who was able to get him this far but the rest of the trip back he'd have to make on his own. A little easier said than done when you're...well, very much human and ill equipped to navigate a massive lake like Dala on your own. It would be daunting for Basil on a good day, but this last week has been harrowing despite how little of it he can remember.

So when he comes across a little cottage nestled at the lake's eastern side...he's compelled to approach, hoping against hope that whoever lives inside isn't going to see him as a convenient snack delivered right to their door.

He knocks on the door softly. Nervously, before taking a quick step back from it.]

[cratecrasher]

[What day is it? What time is it? Those are the first questions in Crash's groggy brain as he trudged toward his kitchen while cracking at some strangely persistent aches and pains. Might be the right time to get himself a mug or two of strong coffee. His ears briefly attempt to flick upward toward the sound of the gentle knock, but honestly, besides looking up from his mug to squint sleepily at nothing while dribbles of the lightly steaming coffee cling to his bristles... maybe it was nothing. Maybe he's just hearing things.

Basil might have heard some shuffling noises mixed with the tapping of thick talons against wood flooring. But nothing that indicates that the initial knocking registered in their earshot. Maybe if the kid knocked again?]

<WhiteWizard>, post-1/29

[softspokenlandlord]

i'm sorry for what i said on the network, Crash. it wasn't my place to try and hurt you like that, and i wouldn't have under normal circumstances, not ever.

i consider you a friend, and friends don't do that.

so if you were too hurt...i understand if you'd rather not be friends...

<DEATH_TORNADO>

[cratecrasher]

[After a while that may or may not leave Ryou squirming on the other side...]



can you... tell me what I missed?

I might've... slept through the week

somehow

NATTENSFEST 2k23

[endlesspastability]

[HO HO HO MERRY CHRISTMAS OR NATTENSFEST OR WHATEVER.

From Sonic, Crash will get a handmade fleece hat (it's lopsided and a little too big) and a jar of... wumpa fruit preserves??? There's also a note;

"I LEARNED HOW TO MAKE JAM"

Ah. That explains that.]