#factoid friday

[generalgemini-booknerd]

Factoid Friday

I blew up a car once.

[crown-of-winterthorne]

FoundFamily Factoid Friday

It occurred to me that those of you who read the Christmas fic might have wondered about how the boys & Mika had money to buy each other presents. So here's some thoughts: The kids weren't required to get jobs, but it was strongly encouraged. In a sort of passive aggressive/reverse psychology way this got them all working around 15/16. It helps that they have uncles who own their own businesses. Nepotism at its finest. Leo and Mikey work at Hayashi's restaurants. Leo as a busboy, eventually as a host. Mikey cooks. (And wasn't that fun, convincing the health department that "kappa" are okay to work in food service.) Donnie works at Jiiro’s coffee shop during the summer and tutors math and science during the school year. Raph... I think he'd WANT to work at Oberon's jazz club, but since it's bar, that's a no-go. He doesn't really have the temperament for retail. But maybe a small mom and pop-style music store or comic book shop. Mika would work at a fabric shop at first, but she'd eventually do seamstress work at a costume shop or even a bridal store. She sells lolita clothing and custom embroidery on Etsy.

[crown-of-winterthorne]

FoundFamily Factoid Friday

“All I want for Christmas” edition.

The kids do tend to get a little spoiled. Angel is always trying to rein in Jiiro’s more lavish gestures, especially on birthdays and Christmas. Sometimes he even succeeds! He and Ryuu try to make the holidays really special though and it’s something that they budget for all year long. If there is a family vacation, it’s done at Christmastime and it’s understood that the trip is the biggest gift. “Don’t expect that new LE gaming system if we’re at Disneyland” type of thing.

So what do their boys and girl want this year, at ages 16/17? (According to my error filled math, the boys would be 17 in the FFAU this year and Mika just behind them.) I’m only listing the “big” wants, btw.

Leo: books, something Space Heroes related- maybe a vintage comic or a newly released figure.

Donnie: gift certificates to his favorite computer stores, tickets to see Neil deGrasse Tyson speak, that Keurig he’s been begging for since he was 14.

Raph: comic art books (I’m thinking the collected, expensive hardbound kind), some hard to find comics, maybe a nice new record player.

Mikey: art supplies (he really, really wants a tablet), new video games.

Mika: a new sewing machine, art supplies (nice watercolors or Copics) some cute new lolita stuff, like shoes and headpieces.

[crown-of-winterthorne]

FoundFamily Factoid Friday

Wintery, Christmas-type stuff…. hmmm….

Angel loves Christmas. It’s probably his favorite holiday. I don’t think it was ever Azure’s favorite and Ryuu wouldn’t have celebrated it the way we do in America. Jiiro and Hayashi definitely didn’t, but they have spent a lot of time in Europe and America- enough to pick up the traditions and enjoy them. So it’s a fun time for the crew, because Ryuu secretly enjoys all the fuss and Azure has a family to celebrate with. The kids make it even better.

Angel, Mika and Mikey do a lot of baking. They give gifts of cookies, breads, pies, pastries, etc. to friends, teachers, neighbors and coworkers.

Ryuu is responsible for putting up the tree (a real one) and lighting it. It’s a nightmare every year and he threatens never to do it again. The kids decorate. It usually goes well. it’s gotten easier since the kids started taking turns as to who’s in charge of the theme/colors.

Uncle Kensuke sometimes flies in from Japan. The kids argue over who gets to go with Ryuu to pick him up at the airport.

I think there would be a few outings as family. It can be difficult and expensive to wrangle five kids, but there would still be a few things to do. Trips to see Santa when they were young. A drive around town to see the Christmas lights. Mika would want to see The Nutcracker, so maybe a special trip to the ballet for her and then something equally special for each of the boys too.

I want to say that there would be some inclusion of everyone’s different cultural traditions, but honestly, I don’t know. Swedish traditions would be familiar to Angel and Azriel, but not necessarily enjoyable. Irish ones would be bittersweet. Azure grew up with the Catholic Church being an important part of Christmas, but it would be difficult for him to include it now. (Well, at least until a few years ago; Azure’s religion is another post.)

And on the subject of church… if the kids wanted to go to a holiday service, Ryuu and Angel would be open to it. It is not something that they do as a family or that is any kind of annual tradition. But it’s not forbidden or anything either. (I really may have to do a post regarding the family’s religion. It’s really a mixed bag.)

[crown-of-winterthorne]

FoundFamily Factoid Friday

The pets…

I’ve made mention of the menagerie of pets that the family has, so let’s explore that a little.

Most of the animals in the family are rescues. Those few who aren’t are direct from reputable breeders. Everything that can be is spayed or neutered. Because spay and neuter your goddamn pets.

There is of course, Raph’s cockatoo, Momo. Mika has a black and white long-haired cat named Cookie. Mikey will own an orange tabby with white socks named (surprise!) Klunk. Cookie and Klunk will join the family when the kids are around 9/10.

When the boys were little, there was Tama-kitty. He was brought home as a kitten after Ryuu found him hiding under his car at the bar where he works. I wanted him to have the least imaginative name possible, and if I remember, Tama was an extremely common name for cats in Japan in the 90s. He was a Siamese mix of some sort and lived to about 13.

There have been other cats, including a shy grey female (Molly) who only seemed to like Leo (because he never bothered her), and a calico who hangs around the art gallery downstairs. She refuses to actually be owned but likes the food Angel leaves for her. One of the artists in residence started calling her Frida.

One dog, only because Ryuu doesn’t really like them. They took in a neighbor’s old German Shepherd (Scout) when the neighbor moved and couldn’t take him along. He had to be put down about a year later when the boys were 8ish.

A nice aquarium. Mikey and Donnie begged for one because Azure has an even bigger one at Jiiro’s house.

There may or may not have been other birds (I’m thinking a pair of finches), a hamster and an ant farm (kept well away from Raph in Donnie and Leo’s room). Mikey has also wanted a ferret for years, but the adults figure that Klunk is enough responsibility.

[crown-of-winterthorne]

FFAU Factoid Friday

Post Thanksgiving Edition. (I’m really digging these holiday editions, btw. Working retail has made me hate the holidays, but I like giving my little family traditions an’ stuff.)

It’s a little complicated since some of the uncles don’t eat, Azure has a highly restricted diet (and will violently throw a tofurkey at the first person to suggest one) and the whole thing is a more modern American construct anyway. Azure and Mika are literally the only OCs who were brought up with it, and neither of them particularly enjoyed it until now.

That said, the idea of a harvest festival isn’t new to the other OCs, nor is the idea of a national day of giving thanks. So, because long holiday post is long, I’ll put the good stuff behind a cut. (I hope.)

Thanksgiving Day is somewhat typical. Macy’s parade in the morning (or sleeping in, depending on age and character), dinner after sunset, then food coma. Instead of football marathons, they do movie marathons (I’m feeling Star Wars for some reason). Angel and Ryuu share the cooking duties. Mikey and Donnie like to help cook. Mika prefers to help with the baking, which was done in the days before.

There is a ton of food, by the way. We’re talking about four growing boys and a weretiger here. There’s a lot of food on normal occasions. Food-centric holidays? Thank God for Costco!

They do turkey, stuffing, potatoes, all of the usual. They also do crab cakes, some kind of seafood pasta salad (it varies), and steamed mussels. Sometimes fish, but not often. There are no “you can’t have that– it’s for Uncle Azure” rules. There is always enough to go around. Azure is also expected to bring at least one dish to help ease the cooking burden. He usually brings two. Plus wine (even though only he and Angel drink).

Post feast, the vampires are nice enough to do the clean-up (normally it would fall to whoever didn’t cook). Honestly, there’s not a lot of leftovers to worry about and Angel tends to do a lot of cleaning as he goes, so it’s not that bad. Leo still tries to help and gets shooed out. The one time he tried to insist (and force Raph to help), it got ugly and both boys ended up sent to their rooms for the rest of the night. Worst Thanksgiving ever and it has not been repeated.

If all goes according to plan, it turns into a giant, extended family game night while watching more Star Wars. Friday is more or less business as usual– the adults don’t do the crazy Black Friday shopping thing, although I can see the boys doing it as older teenagers– but on the weekend, it’s time to decorate for Christmas!

[crown-of-winterthorne]

FFAU Factoid Friday

A little bit about Autumn…

Mika, Angel and Ryuu in particular like the trappings of Autumn. Fuzzy scarves, sweaters and socks. Hot drinks. The abundance of pie and other special, holiday-ish treats. The boys… not so much. They get cold easily and jackets and hoodies just aren’t comfortable. The treats are great, but the weather tends to put them in sour moods, especially as they get older. Fall means winter and winter weather sucks when you’re a turtle kid.

The holiday parts are great (I’ll have a Thanksgiving post up next Friday), especially Halloween, but the change in weather is just not all that enjoyable. Colds abound, especially for Raph and Donnie.

Angel bakes even more than usual. Fall/winter is when he starts baking a lot of savory things too, not just desserts. This is also the time of year when he makes molasses cookies (his mother’s recipe). The kids LOVE this. So do their friends.

[crown-of-winterthorne]

FoundFamily Factoid Friday

Sports:

All of the boys take karate and/or other martial arts classes. Ryuu and Angel thought it would be a good way to help them connect to their father. They’ll never be ninja in this ‘verse, but they’ll still have some of the same skills and gravitate towards the same weapons. In addition to that, they also have their own separate interests.

Nobody is forced to take anything they don’t like because 1, it’s too frickin’ expensive to have five kids in classes that they hate and 2, the wrath of Uncle Azure would come down like you wouldn’t believe.

Leo: Fencing. Azure started teaching him when he showed an interest in it. He takes regular classes but still practices with Az. He likes the saber best. He’s tried kendo too, but when forced to choose, he stuck with fencing.

Donnie: Donnie is the exception. He really has no interest in playing sports outside of karate classes. He likes to watch baseball with Ryuu and his brothers and can be counted on in a casual game, but doesn’t want to actually play on a team “for real.” He tried Little League as a kid and just didn’t enjoy it. He specializes in the bo in karate classes.

Raph: Judo. Also plays football and was briefly on the junior high wrestling team until too many opponents would grip his shell and then whine about illegal holds (think along the lines of “but it’s in the way… I can’t help it if I forget I’m not allowed to grip the edge… if he were just normal…”). He’d also do boxing if Angel would let him. That hasn’t stopped Uncle Azri from showing him the basics.

Mikey: Soccer, of course. He also skateboards (double of course) and surfs. He and Donnie have the most trophies for karate tournaments and their weapons handling.

Mika (because the boys can’t have all the fun): She’s also taken some karate because the boys talked her into it when they were about 8/9, but Mika is a girly girl. She’s more about dance and ballet in particular. She’s not interested in being a professional dancer, but she can (eventually) dance en pointe pretty well. 90% of the males in her life have insisted she practice self-defense at least once or twice a month.